1 John 3:7
[7] Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
Children can sometimes be easily deceived because of their lack of knowledge. The same is true about those who are spiritually young in the Lord. John is going to establish a truth that every believer must get a hold of to prevent them from being deceived by false teachers. He wants young believers to realize that we have a belief that behaves.
Find out what someone believes, then you will know how they will behave. There are many today who are living in unrighteousness. They promote their sinful lifestyles and applaud the acts of others who indulge in wickedness. They love their sin because they do not have a new nature. Sinning is the only thing they know to do. I do want to add, that a person is not a sinner because they sin, they sin because they are a sinner. This is a reflection of who they really are inside.
Those that do righteousness, do so because they have a new nature. Christ living in the believer gives them the ability to live a righteous life. They no longer want to continue in sin but have a desire to follow after righteousness. Their belief effects their behavior. What has happened on the inside, has produced a change on the outside.
There are a lot of people who claim righteousness, but they live in unrighteousness. Why is this? The answer is very simple. Though they might say they believe the Bible, and what it says, their life tells us another story. I know a child of God can backslide, but the truth is, there are many who really don’t believe what they say they do. Their actions speak louder than their words. They are not backsliding, because they have never lived righteousness a day in their life. They have no desire to live a righteous life. A person who is saved will live a righteous life.