“They are not His children, Because of their blemish” (Deuteronomy 32:5)

Moses was referring to the generation who died in the desert, who “could not enter in because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:19). They had a factual belief in God, but it didn’t save them. You can tell a child of God from an unbeliever by their sensitivity to sin. While unbelievers have no power over sin, children of God have a heart to please Him, and the Holy Spirit to help them repent when they sin.

If a Child of God sins accidently, he repents, and learns from his mistake so as not to repeat the sin (1 John 1:9). The unbeliever may feel sorry for sin, but he has no power to repent, or if he does seem to repent, it’s only temporary, and sooner or later, he’ll repeat the sin, like, “a dog returns to his own vomit” (2 Peter 2:22).

Unbelievers have evil consciences, but children of God keep their consciences clean by constantly turning to Christ. They “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having their hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience” (Hebrews 10:22).

Children of God habitually “practice righteousness” because of their New Nature. “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God” (1 John 3:10).

Children of God not only believe the facts about Christ, they are “born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). Unbelievers are not born again, and need to keep seeking God until He regenerates them.

“Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).