1 John Chapter 3 Verses 6 – 9

• Before we talk about what this means lets first address what this does not, cannot mean. In the context of the entirety of scripture, this cannot mean that if I ever sin again then I must not be born of God. I know that’s how it sounds when you read through this section of scripture, however, that cannot be what John is saying as that would entirely contradict not only the Gospel message itself but even what John himself said earlier in this book.

• We’ve already heard from John in 1 John 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” And 1 John 2:1, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” The fact is that Jesus Christ, by dying in my place, has provided for forgiveness of all sin in my life…, past, present and future. And the one condition of my salvation, being born of God, is not that I now live sinless but that I accept the finished work of the cross, receive the grace of God through faith in Jesus, and anything more than that, anything more, is not only anti-biblical but it demeans and truly counts worthless the price Jesus did pay. Anything but salvation by grace through faith is an offense to the Father!

• Jesus said to Nicodemus in John Chapter 3 Verse 3, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus then asks Jesus what that means, and Jesus responds in John 3:16, “For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life!” The gospel is salvation by faith alone, through grace alone, in Jesus alone. Not of works lest any man should boast…

• Remember what I said on Wednesday!? Some groups, people, movements and religions push “cross-plus” way but God’s way is CROSS-FIT! HA! The cross fits! Ok, that’s dumb but its easy to remember (hopefully)!

• So, what on earth is John saying here? Think back on the first five verses of this chapter. Receive and absorb the discussion we had last week concerning what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us…, that we should be called children of God! Receive and absorb the revelatory truth that sin is lawlessness and whoever commits sin commits lawlessness that erodes, destroys, ruins, poisons… Couldn’t see that before being a child of God… See it now…!

• And this sin that is lawlessness has nothing to do with Jesus. So, any sin in my life in no way strengthens my connection and relationship with my Savior whom I not only appreciate, whom I not only desire because along with His presence comes fullness of joy, but in my heart of hearts, I love the Lord for all that He is, who He is, who is He to me, who He is for others, what He’s done for me and all that He does do for me!

• Ok, take those three things. I am now a child of God, His Spirit abides within me constantly ministering to me. I know and discern and perceive and understand that sin damages and sabotages me. And, I love the Lord for all that He is… Take those three truths which will be and are present in the one who has believed on Jesus, these things will be present in one who is truly a Christian…, now, can I live in some sort of sin comfortably? With those three things present in my life…? NOT A CHANCE!

• The word sin that John gives us here in verse 6 is in a tense meaning there is a continuation… It’s happening, and happening again, and happening again and happening again…, and for the child of God, if you are going on and on and on and on in the same sin, yes you can do that and still be saved but it’s eating you alive from the inside out! Whoever abides in Him does not continue in sin. Does not live a life unto sin. You simply cannot! Why? Because the love of God abides in you. Because you can’t believe how moronic you’re being hurting not only yourself but knowingly counting worthless the sacrifice of your Savior! Hurting not only you because ultimately that’s what sin does but knowingly hurting Jesus whom you love?

• Don’t be comparably concerned if you find yourself sinning (compare to the next statement because we should always be concerned when we are sinning). Be comparably concerned if you find yourself able to continue and practice sin with no conviction or desire to change/stop! Whoever is able to do that has neither seen Him nor known Him! Scary words!

• John says, “let no one deceive you.” I’m a “one” too and today we have the oddest scenario where the Word of God calls it sin, has called it sin for thousands of years, and yet some (professing believing) people are convincing themselves through group-think and self-service that what the Bible calls sin is not sin… Careful that we don’t fall into the same thing.

• Paul said in Galatians 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

• Got any hatred? Are you contentious? Live in jealousy? Outbursts of wrath? Selfish ambitions? Dissension? Getting drunk and high as a matter of habit? There are a ton of self-deceived people in the church today and have no desire to even see these things about themselves and yet raise their hands during worship…! It’s just the oddest thing…

• Watch out for self-deception because if you can live in these conditions without wanting to be changed, conformed more into the image of Christ, willing to go to war against your flesh and the works of the flesh…, well think of it this way, just as the enemy can whisper in your ear that you’re terrible and God doesn’t love you, he can also whisper in your ear that you’re good with God and God loves you just the way you are…

• How do you know? How do you know if you’re self-deceived? If you take pride in your flesh…, yea I’m contentious, deal with it. Yea I’m hateful, deal with it. Yea I’m a jealous person, deal with it. Be warned! Children of God don’t think like that! Christians cannot live like that! The Lord within them simply does not allow that! For the Christian its, “Yea I’m contentious, God change me! Yea I’m hateful, God change me! Yea I’m a jealous person, but I’m dealing with it and give me some time! I will change!!” See the difference?

• Whoever has been born of God cannot continue in sin, John says, “does not sin,” in the perfect tense… We cannot! Not because we have rules, not because we have religion, not because God hasn’t forgiven us already of all sin past, present and future… We cannot continue in sin with hard-hearts simply and only because we have been born of God! Just like Jesus said in John Chapter 3…

1 John Chapter 3 Verse 10

• Practicing righteousness is to be prioritizing your relationship with the Lord in your life. That’s really all it is, simply. And Jesus said that is the first commandment above all others, which is tied to, connected to, the same as and hand in hand with the second commandment, which is to love each other as we are loved by God.

• And John says, this is it… this is Ancestry.com in the spirit! The holy paternity test! How each one can tell of which family they come from. It’s not scripture knowledge, worldly or ministerial success, it’s not even knowledge of righteousness, (what is knowing right and wrong)… It’s exactly as John says is… The desire, ability and reality of living unto Jesus which means, ultimately…, living more and more like Him…

1 John Chapter 3 Verses 11 – 12

• Did Cain love Abel? The crazy answer is yes. He was his brother. Grew up together. Kicked the wheat-ball together (not sure what kind of toys they had, ha!). And John says here, love one another, but not with the kind of love Cain had for his brother. Which was what? A love that took second place to his love for himself… proof that God was NOT his Father.

1 John Chapter 3 Verses 13 – 15

• In a world that thrives on “likes,” God calls us to thrive on and stake our personal value on not how others treat us but how we treat others. And that’s a tough one. Reminds me of Jesus… God Himself, perfect love, perfect man, perfect friend, perfect citizen, perfect perfect…, and yet He had (and still does have) a stack of enemies and people that hate him!

• The opposite of sin is love. The world is trying it’s best to create and encourage a love that is sin… But this is family talk. Family of God talk. While the whole world lulls into a deeper sleep with every generation that gets closer to the Lord’s return, the righteous will live by faith.

• It’s like a big ole pig. You can take a pig out of the mud, clean him up really well, make him smell good, put some pig lotions on him, ha! Bring him into the house out of the pig pen…, and it will soon look for a way back to the mud because that is its nature. The work of salvation is not reformation or cleaning you up or making you behave better…, it has to be a nature-change. A family change… from the family tree of Cain to the family tree of Christ…