Living Like the Son

Who is someone your life models? One of my favorite commericials is the Progressive Becoming your Parents. Where they have someone named Dr. Rick who is trying to help these new home owners from doing the things that their parents did. While it is funny, it is true for people to model their parents, because they spend so much time with them. Does your life model God? Does your life show that you are born again? Remember John is writing to these believers because one of the main things they were struggling with was dealing with false teachers who thought that they could live how they want and still be righteous. John is letting them know that one of the ways they can tell who is false and who is true is by how they live. How you live shows whether or not you are abiding in Christ. Remember abiding means to walk as Christ walked. Does your life show that you are born again? It needs to.

How should your life show that you are born again?

Contrast

Sin is contrasted with righteousness

They are two opposites, one can not righteously sin

Sin is listed as transgression (or breaking of the law) in v. 4

So righteousness is keeping of the law

Sin is children of the devil, righteousness-children of God

John 8:39-41, 44 “If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. 40But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 41Ye do the deeds of your father. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.

One hard part about married life is dealing with in-laws. My wife’s family is very different from my own. I tend to react to things the way my parents do, she reacts the way her parents do. So there are times, we get into a discussion because we each do what we know to do. We reflect our parents. If you are comfortable living in sin, it can mean because you still have Satan as your father and not God.

Conduct

There are some strong words in v. 6 and 9. It almost sounds like we need to be perfect.

1 John 1:8-10 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

People tall about stumbling into sin, but in all reality we do not stumble, we dive head first. But when we do it, we should feel convicted, I should not have done that

The word sinneth, the form that the Greek word is in means to continue in sin. It means a lifestyle that is characterized by sin. So the other is a lifestyle that is characterized by righteousness.

It means that we as Christians will be striving for being pleasing to God, and we will fail. It also should mean we are miserable when we are rebelling against God.

Cause

The reason why we do not live in habitual sin

The Bible in v. 9 mentions that God’s seed remains in us

The Bible talks about how God will make Abraham’s seed, meaning his posterity, or his children, and children’s children. Seed has reference to a father, and we are born again by the Father.

John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

1 Peter 1:23 “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”

It is through the Son, as verses 5 and 8 says that Jesus was manifested to destroy the works of the devil.

What happened when we became born again?

Ephesians 1:12-14 “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

We have the Holy Spirit in us, which has given us a divine nature. This has given us the ability to live godly. We do not just have a sinful nature but we also have a nature that wants to follow God. Although it is not true, it is like the angel on one shoulder, the devil on the other When we are yielded to the Holy Spirit, we will not sin. However we are not yielded to the Spirit all the time. To yield to the Spirit is to obey the Spirit’s promptings in your life. An example is your parents ask you to clean your room. You do not want to, but you know you need to obey. So by doing what your parents ask of you is an example of yielding to the Holy Spirit. It will make us more like Christ

Are you livng after your father? Or are you still living in the old man?