Jesus Destroys the Works of the Devil

June 25, 2023 – 1 John 3:4-9 – Jesus Destroys the Works of Satan

Last Sunday I preached from John 1 and we considered a few of the things the apostle John wrote concerning Jesus. John began his biography of Jesus by explaining that (1) Jesus is God, (2) Jesus has existed from all eternity past, and (3) Jesus is the creator of all things. Then John proceeded to tell of the incarnation of Jesus and how he was received. John gave three categories of people. The first is the people of the world. John wrote in verse 10 that Jesus came into the world but the world did not know Him. The second is the Jews. John wrote in verse 11 that Jesus came to His own people, but they did not receive Him. Then in verses 12 and 13, John writes about the third group. He describes them a people who were born of God, and because they were born of God, they received Jesus and believed in His name.

John counts himself as a member of this third group; the people who received Jesus and believe in His name. So he writes in verse 14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory…” The word “beheld” means to see something with your physical eyes, but to see it with understanding. It’s possible to see something and not understand what you’re look at. As I show you this schematic of a simple LED circuit, all you can see it just fine, but only a few of you understand it. And as I show you this schematic of a computer power supply, once again, all of you can see it just fine, but even fewer of you understand it.

When the apostle John says that he beheld the glory of Jesus, he’s saying two things: (1) he’s saying that he saw the glory of Jesus with his physical eyes, and (2) he’s saying that he understands what he saw. The glory of Jesus was made evident to John; he clearly saw and understood that Jesus is the King of glory.

Another word the Bible uses for making something know like this is “manifest.” That’s the word that appears in verse 5 of our sermon text, “And you know that He [Jesus] was manifested to take away our sins…” We understand this to be saying the Jesus is both seen and known by those whose sins He has taken away. John makes a very similar point back at the beginning of this same epistle. In 1 John 1:1-2…

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life — 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us…

But you might ask the question “why?” For what purpose was Jesus manifested to us? Verse 5 of our sermon text answers this question, “And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins…” That’s a great answer which is deserving of our full consideration. But before we get too far into that consideration, notice that verse 8 speaks about the purpose for Jesus being manifested, as well, but it gives a different answer, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

So which is it? Was Jesus manifested to take away our sins? Was He manifested to destroy the works of the devil? Or is it both? I submit to you that John is giving the same answer in verses 5 and 8, he’s merely describing that answer from two slightly different angles. In verse 5, John is focusing on what Jesus does for the elect sinner: He takes away our sins. And in verse 8, John is focusing on what Jesus does to our adversary: He destroys the work of the devil. So when we put these together, we understand John to be telling us that Jesus destroys the works of the devil by taking away our sins.

By making this connection, John is not only giving us a better understanding of the work Jesus does, but he’s also giving us a better understanding of the work Satan does. Satan attempts to work in direct opposition to Jesus. The work of Satan, therefore, is to keep people in their sins. He does this by exerting his powerful influence over them. He works upon the lusts of their flesh, drawing people deeper and deeper into sin. He works through the enticements of this world, luring people into all manner of slavery and idolatry. And he cheats people through empty deceit and philosophy that’s according to the basic principles of the world, leading them into more and more depraved ways of thinking. This is the “work” Satan performs to keep people in slavery to sin.

But as powerful as our adversary is, Christ Jesus is more powerful. He frees His people from our bondage to sin by destroying the works of the devil. Romans 6:5-7 describes it in terms of our union with Jesus in His death and resurrection…

For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.

So the devil no longer has dominion over those who have been united to Christ by faith. But that doesn’t mean the devil gives up on us. Quite the contrary. He walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour… and he would love nothing more than to devour the children of God. But you ask, “How can he devour those who are united to Christ by faith? How can he devour those who have been set free from their bondage to sin by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?” He can’t. It’s impossible for the devil to devour us. Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. But that doesn’t mean we won’t be made to stumble. That doesn’t mean the child of God cannot be partially misled and deceived by the trickery and devices of Satan.

One of our adversary’s devices is to make us believe that sin still has dominion over us. Even though the word of God explicitly declares that sin no longer has dominion over believers, Satan insists that it does. He does this by reminding you of all the terribly sinful things you’ve done in your life. He tells you that you’re not good enough to measure up to God’s standard of righteousness. He tells you that your sins have caused the Lord to become angry. He tries to make you feel inferior by comparing you to other people who appear more righteous than you. And he tries to make you give up all hope by telling you that you’re not worthy of receiving God’s favor.

This diabolic tactic is better described as a “deception” than a “lie,” because it’s true that your sins have made you unworthy of receiving God’s favor. And it’s true that you cannot possibly be good enough to measure up to God’s standard of righteousness. And it’s true that your sins have caused the Lord’s to become angry. All these things are true.

You see, when Satan wants to remind us of the terrible things we’ve done, he doesn’t need to make anything up. We’ve all committed enough real and actual sin in our lives that he doesn’t need to lie about it.

Nor does he need to lie about God’s displeasure with sin. Satan is only restating what the Bible says when he tells us that God’s eyes are too holy to look favorably upon sin.

But what the devil does not remind us of is the grace that God gives to His people. Satan takes the truth of your sin, and the truth of God’s displeasure with sin, and he presents these to you in such a way as to make it appear hopeless for you. But it only appears hopeless because he maliciously and deceptively omits God’s grace! As believers, our righteous standing before God is secured entirely by grace.

What is grace? How do we define God’s grace? It’s God’s favor and kindness shown without regard to the worth or merit of the one who receives it, and in spite of what that same person actually deserves.

You’ve probably heard about the Thomas Jefferson Bible. Thomas Jefferson was a naturalist; he didn’t believe in the preternatural or supernatural. He thought that Jesus was a good moral teacher, and therefore people would benefit from studying the life and teachings of Jesus, but Jefferson didn’t believe in the deity of Jesus and or in the miracles Jesus performed. So in 1819, Jefferson compiled a so-called “Bible” by cutting out everything that he considered objectionable. He said those things only “complicated” the moral instruction that can be learned from Jesus, so Jefferson cut them out.

If you were to pick up a copy of the Jefferson Bible and read it, the things you would read are true. But you wouldn’t have an accurate picture of who Jesus is and what He was manifested to do, not because of what’s in the Jefferson Bible, but because of what’s not in the Jefferson Bible. The Jefferson Bible has omitted essential truths about Jesus, and it’s the omission of those truths that create the deception.

Well this is the same deception Satan uses when he tries to make us think we’re still in our sin. It’s what he does not say that makes it so treacherous. It’s the omission of God’s grace that makes this deception such a terrible distortion of the truth.

By referring to this a deception, I’m not saying that Satan never tells lies. He does tell lies. He’s the father of lies. Nor am I denying that deception is a form of lying. It is. Lies are told by communicating false information, and lies are told by communicating incomplete information. Nor am I saying that Satan doesn’t have other tactics that he uses against believers. Certainly, he does. He has a variety of tricks that he uses against us. This is why 2 Corinthians 2:11 says that we shouldn’t be ignorant of Satan’s devices (plural).

But what I am saying is that one of the signature tactics the devil uses against believers is to try make us despair of our sin by telling us how unworthy we are. And I’m making the distinction between deception and lying because the sins he calls our attention to are real… and the displeasure he tells us God has for sin is real. This diabolical tactic, therefore, can be very effective against us if we lose sight of the very important truth that we’ve been saved by grace. God has shown us kindness and favor without regard to our worth or merit, and in spite of what we actually deserve.

There’s a statement Peter makes in the first chapter of his second epistle that’s relevant to this point. In verses 5-7, Peter writes to his readers…

…add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

There are eight virtues that Peter lists in these 3 verses. Faith is the first one and love is the last one. Peter is telling his readers that they’ve already obtained precious faith from the Lord when they were regenerated by His grace, so now they need to add all these other virtues to their faith; virtues that ultimately culminate in love. Then in verse 9…

For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

Brothers and sisters, Peter is warning us that it’s possible for a Christian to forget that he has been cleansed from his old sins. This happens when a Christian has neglected his sanctification; that is, when a Christian has neglected to add virtue to his faith, and knowledge to virtue, and self-control to knowledge, and so on.

When a Christian neglects these things, he becomes “shortsighted,” Peter writes; shortsighted even to the point of blindness. And when blindness happens, the Christian forgets that he’s been cleansed from his old sins.

This is when the Christian is especially vulnerable to Satan’s deceptive attacks. And the Christian has been neglecting his sanctification, Satan has been seizing opportunities to heap guilt and condemnation upon the Christian. The devil’s been reminding him of his sins and of God’s great displeasure with sin… but the devil never reminds him that God has graciously cleansed him from his sins. And since the complacent Christian has forgotten that he was cleansed from his sins, he suffers under these harassments of the devil. He begins to experience doubts and insecurity. He suffers spiritual oppression within his soul. He wallows in the guilt of his past sins. He questions whether God can truly love a sinner like him.

He looks around at all the other people in the church and he sees many of them joyfully worshipping God, but he doesn’t have that same joy in his own heart. So he thinks to himself, “There must be something wrong with me. I don’t wake up on Sunday morning and say to myself, ‘Oh good! I get to go to the house of the Lord today! A day in His courts is better than a thousand elsewhere!’ No, for me, the Christian life is more of an obligation than it is a joy. It’s more of a duty than it is a privilege. I don’t desire to worship God. I don’t desire to serve God. I don’t desire to pray to God. I don’t desire to read and meditate upon His word. If I do any of these things, it’s because I feel obligated. Maybe I’ve just been deceiving myself all these years. Maybe I’ve just been pretending to be a Christian. I’m not sure I’m really saved. If I were to die today, I don’t know if I’d spend eternity in heaven or hell.”

Brothers and sisters, do any of you feel this way? Do any of you question whether God really loves you? Whether He’s pleased with you? Whether you’re His child?

Do you feel burdened by your sins? When circumstances or conversation remind you of something from your past, does a huge wave of shame and guilt ever comes crashing over you?

Do you ever feel disqualified to come before the Lord in prayer? Do you ever think to yourself, “God’s not going to listen to me! I’m just going to make Him angry if I ask Him to forgive me again. I’ve already asked Him so many times, and every time I’ve promised Him that this will be the last time I’ll need to confess this sin. But then I do it again. I’m a hypocrite. I’m a sinner. I’ve totally disqualified myself from ever coming into His presence again.”

Brothers and sisters, those are the thoughts of a Christian who has forgotten that he’s been cleansed from his sins by the grace of God. Those are the thoughts of a Christian upon whom the deceptive tactics of the devil are working. This is what Peter was writing about in 2 Peter 1:9. If this is you, dear friend, then understand that you’ve lost the assurance of your salvation. Notice I didn’t say that you’ve lost your salvation; for that is impossible. What I said is that you’ve lost the assurance of your salvation. Those are two very different things.

Losing the assurance of your salvation will rob you of the peace you experience as a child of God. It’ll diminish your joy in worshipping the triune God. It’ll stagnate your desire to grow in your knowledge of the Lord. It’ll erode your confidence to pray to Him. It’ll take away your appetite to read and study His word. It’ll even take away your ambition to live your life for Him, because all these things flow out of a heart that’s thankful to God for cleansing you from your sins. But if you’ve forgotten that God has cleansed you of your sins, then where will your gratitude come from? And how much motivation will you have to serve Him?

The work of the devil is a real, brothers and sisters. He’ll do everything he can to have you and sift you like wheat. Peter understood this. Peter had first-hand experience with this type of thing. And what Peter tells us is that when you’re not diligent about adding to your faith, you give the devil foothold in your life. That’s when you become most vulnerable to his tactics. But as oppressive as his tactics might be, the devil can never take away the salvation that Jesus has earned for you on the cross.

Let me say that again because this is something every Christian needs to hear, especially those of you who are experiencing feelings of doubt, defeat, despair, or insecurity. If you’ve been neglecting your sanctification, you’ve opened the door for the devil’s tactics to oppression you. He may have taken away your hope, he may have taken away your peace, he may have taken away your joy… but he can never take away the salvation that Jesus earned for you on the cross. Romans 8:33 rhetorically askes, “Who shall bring a charge against God's elect?” Who is it that condemns God’s elect? The apostle answers these questions by pointing the Christian back to the manifest work of Jesus…

It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Once again, this is rhetorical. The point the apostle is making here is that Jesus is alive in heaven, actively making intercession for you before the Father; actively petitioning the Father to extend His sustaining grace to us so that your faith will not fail. So with the intercession of Jesus, there’s nothing that’s ever going to be able to separate you from the love of God.

This is such an important point that Paul doesn’t feel comfortable stating it only once. He wants to make sure that every believer whose reading Romans 8 fully understands the security they have in Christ Jesus, so he repeats himself, beginning in verse 37…

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul could not have written a more comprehensive list the things which are unable to separate us from the love of God. If you notice, his list includes angels, principalities, and powers. That’s where Satan and his demons fit in. So it’s not as if Paul was ignorant of Satan’s devices when he wrote Romans 8. Paul understood Satan’s devices very well, but he also understood the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And he understood the ongoing intercession Jesus makes for His people. So the apostle Paul, like the apostle John, is amongst those who beheld the glory of Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And Paul, like John, was able to affirm that the Son of God was manifested so that He might destroy the works of the devil. Which is why Paul tells us that our union with the death and resurrection of Jesus makes us more than conquerors over Satan and his demons.

The Christian life, therefore, must be lived with our focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ. When we focus is on what Jesus has accomplished and how the benefits of His blood, His righteousness, and His intercession are ours by the grace of God, then we will have assurance, and we will have joy, and we will have peace, and we’ll walk in the confidence of knowing that Jesus was manifest to take away our sins. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus has already accomplished everything that’s necessary to secure God’s favor and approval of sinners. Living in the finished work of Jesus leads us to an assurance that’s unshakeable; to an assurance that’s resistant to the tactics of the devil because it’s an assurance that’s established in the grace of God and not the imperfect efforts of a weary pilgrim.

This is why it’s so important that weary pilgrims are regularly assembled together for worship. Hebrews 10:24 tells us that when we come together for worship, it to stir up love and good works in one another. That’s what we’re doing here today; we’re stirring up love and good works amongst each other. So if you came here feeling depressed, or discouraged, or anxious, or doubtful, or overwhelmed, or if you’re just feeling a little beat up by the difficulties of life, you came to right place. You made the right decision by coming to church. You’re exactly where you ought to be right now, because this is where weary pilgrims assemble together to stir up love and good works in one another.

But you ask, “When and how does this activity of stirring up love and good works happen, because I come to church every Sunday and I can’t remember the last time somebody pulled me aside, put their arm around me, and gave me a little pep talk.”

It’s a good thing when we pull somebody aside, put an arm around them, and given them a little Romans 8-type pep talk, but that’s not the only way we stir up love and good works in each other. Nor is it primarily the pastor who does the work of stirring up love and good works amongst the people of the congregation. You, brothers and sisters, do this work when you sing. You stir up love and good works when you sing aloud the songs that are sung in our worship services. This is what it says in Colossians 3:16…

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

So when you sing out loud with grace in your hearts to the Lord, you’re not just singing to the Lord, you’re also singing to the people around you. This is why the lyrics of the songs we sing are so important. When you sing those lyrics out loud, you’re teaching and admonishing the people around you. And this is why the placement of the songs within our liturgy is so important. There are songs that are appropriate for praising God. There are songs that are appropriate for confessing our sins. There are songs that are appropriate for giving thanks to God. There are songs that are appropriate for committing ourselves to God. And there are songs that are appropriate for giving glory to God. When you sing aloud these songs within the context of our liturgy, you’re teaching and admonishing the people who hear you singing, and this is one of the significant ways you stir up love and good works in others.

So when Satan is trying to make you feel defeated by your sins and he’s telling you how unworthy you are of God’s love, you need to be assembled together with the people of God. And you need to hear your brothers and sisters in Christ singing to you, “When Satan tempts me to despair / And tells me of the guilt within / Upward I look and see Him there / Who made an end of all my sin!” This should stir up love and encouragement within your hearts, dear friends. This should have the effect of redirecting your thoughts away from the deceptions of the adversary and onto the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, because these lyrics are a beautiful articulation of what it says in verse 5 of our sermon text, “And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins.”

Brothers and sisters, it’s the grace of God that establishes our souls upon the firm foundation of Jesus. It’s the grace of God that causes us to know and remember that Christ Jesus has delivered us from the dominion of sin and cleansed us from all unrighteousness. And it’s the grace of God that makes us prevail in our desire to live holy and righteous lives in submission to Him.

Do you know this grace? Is there evidence in your life that you’ve received this grace? The apostle John tells us in our sermon text what the evidence of that grace will look like. In fact, he tells us what it looks likes to have received the grace of God, and what it looks like to not have received the grace of God. In verse 6, he writes, “Whoever abides in [Christ] does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.” And John writes something similar in verse 8, “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.”

We read these statements and we ask ourselves, “If the absence of sin is the distinguishing mark of a Christian, then how can I have assurance of my salvation?” This is a logical question because our life experiences tell us that we all continue to sin. There’s not a single Christian who doesn’t continue to sin.

So is John really setting the bar that high? Is he really saying that only those who live a life of sinless obedience can have an assurance of their salvation? No, that’s not what John is saying. Earlier in this same epistle, John makes it very clear that he doesn’t believe Christians can live a sinless life. In chapter 1, verse 8, John wrote, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” And then again, at the beginning of chapter 2, he wrote, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins…” Clearly, John isn’t trying to suggest that Christians are able to live perfectly sinless lives. Yet here in chapter 3, he writes, “Whoever abides in [Christ] does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him… He who sins is of the devil.”

So how are we to understand this? This is a case where the limitations of the English language make it difficult to accurately translate what has been written in Greek. The sin that John is writing about in our sermon text is ongoing sin; a sin that persists over time. So John is in not writing about a single expression of sin, or even a short season of sin; he’s writing about the person who’s content to continue sinning.

So when we read in verse 6 that those who abide in Christ do not sin, it’s saying that those who abide in Christ do not content to continue in their sin. In other words, the Christian’s life is not characterized by sin. Yes, there will be episodes of sin. Genuine Christians will stumble into sin on many occasions, but they won’t remain in that sin. Which is to say, the genuine Christian will repent of his sins. He’ll confess them to the Lord and turn away from his sin. Whereas, the unbeliever will not repent. He’s content to persist in his sin.

So what does that look like in the real world we live in? A Christian might give himself over to the sin of fornication for a short time, but he’s not going to cohabitate with his girlfriend and live in a persistent sinful relationship with her. A Christian might commit the sin of adultery, but he’s not going to maintain an ongoing adulterous relationship. A Christian might use pornography for a short time, but he’s not going to persist in that sin. A Christian might have occasional outbursts of anger and wrath, but that’s not going to be characteristic of his behavior. He’s not going to be the person around whom you need to walk on eggshells, else you upset him.

Do you get the point? As Christians, we labor under the infirmity of the flesh, yet we struggle against the flesh. Like the apostle Paul in Romans 7, we can truly say that when we sin, we’re doing the evil that we don’t want to do. Consequently, we’re grieved over our sin. We’re disgusted with our sin. And we repent of our sin.

That’s not the experience the children of the devil have. The children of the devil go back to their sin. As a dog returns to his vomit, so the fool repeats his folly. Our sermon text is telling us that the person who persists in a course of sin has never truly beheld the glory of Jesus Christ. He has never seen the beauty, grace, fullness, and loveliness of Jesus. He has never seen the Lord so as to enjoy Him and have sweet communion with Him. Nor has he ever known the Him as his Savior, for though he may profess to know Jesus with words, he denies the Lord with his works. Luke 6:44-45…

For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.

This is what John is teaching us in our sermon text. The children of God are those who confess and forsake their sin, while the children of the devil are those who persist in their sin. And this was written to serve as a comfort to Christians. This was written to increase the assurance of salvation to everyone whose life bears the righteous fruit of repentance. John is presenting Jesus to us as our Advocate with the Father. He’s presenting Jesus to us as the propitiation for our sins, if indeed we confess and forsake our sins in the name of Jesus. So if your life bears the righteous fruit of repentance, brothers and sisters, then you have redemption in Jesus Christ. And you have the unshakable promise that nothing can separate you from the love of God which is Christ Jesus our Lord.