1 John 3:4-10
Notes
Transcript
Sin is Always the Problem and Jesus is Always the Answer
Sin is Always the Problem and Jesus is Always the Answer
Good morning my friends!
I hope you have had a great week. The days can be very challenging at times, I see many today that are traveling down a path way they did not expect.
The causes (why they are on that pathway) really does not matter, what matters is two fold. 1. We as the church do what we can to bless one another, encourage and help one another. 2. No matter our circumstance, we remain faithful and walk close to our Lord.
The reason I say that is we (the church) have the capacity to help and the Lord always has what we need each day.
We need each other....
Life is full of challenges, right? And understand there is one who seeks to hurt and diminish the life of the Christian. That is the devil…
But… Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world. 1 John 4, 4
But, whether we are walking in good times or bad, we must be careful to keep our focus on Jesus and not allow our self to be distracted or led astray.
Now I say that because it is easy, very easy to allow our eyes to focus on the storm and not the one who calms the storm. Think of Paul in Matthew 14, He was walking on the water until he took his eyes off Jesus.
So we must be careful...
This morning we come back to 1 John 3, and we wil examine verses 4-10.
Let’s being with this thought today.....
1. Sin is the Problem
Sin is a problem that can be defeated but it takes effort, effort in that we strive to live for Him and not sin. Sadly, some people have a hard time breaking the cycle of sin in their lives, it is a constant struggle for us in the flesh we currently occupy.
Lets open with verse 4… see what John says about the practice of sin...
4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
Remember last week we talked about the fact that a child of God’s life should be marked by Godly living, righteousness if you will.
We should be doing our best to be conformed into the image of Jesus each day.
That is our goal, to be like Jesus. And the one thing that can and does hinder godly living is sin.
So John says here "Everyone…” and that is important word to consider… Hear that..Everyone. There is no one who is exempt from sin and no person or group that is above God’s moral standards.
And so when John tells them, “…everyone who practices sin...” he is talking about the present, not their past. They are actively engaged in sin.
We are not told what the sin is.... but honestly it doesn’t matter, sin is sin. it is breaking the law of God. In chapter 5 verse 17 John says that all wrongdoing is sin
But then John makes another characterization. Those who make the habit of practicing sin, they are the one who also practice lawlessness.
Consider this, when John talks about sin, he is condemning sin, without a doubt, but the point he is making is the habitual practice of sin.
This is why he speaks of those who practice sin… Practicing sin is the continued, repeated and habitual sin. It is a lifestyle that has no regard for sin, they disregarded the teachings God has provided to mankind.
My friends sin is not ok, sin is the willful disobedience of what God has said is good and right in His word.
Now remember, there are some around John and the area he ministers… These false teachers were teaching, since the flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God, you can live and do what you want, it will not hurt anything.
That is wrong my friends. This is nothing more than a willful revolt against God’s will.
Those who practice sin, are also the ones who practice lawlessness..
My friends when we choose to give into the flesh and life contrary to the word of God all we do is separate our self from God.
Dr. Daniel Akin said that “ ...Sin in its very nature is synonymous with being of the devil.” As such it is the opposite of being just before man and God.
To live a life of sin is to align oneself with the world and the devil, and my friends this makes us enemies of God whether we like it our not.....
Sin is the problem behind all we do and say. And to disregard sin, and continue in it, habitually, speaks to a heart that has not been changed and does not love God.
So what can we do?
A. Examine our lives… Our thoughts, our speech and our actions…
B. Ask God, Father what do I need to change and when He speaks, or convicts you about something, change it. Don’t delay, don’t put it off, act on it and what ever it is, commit that change to Him and he will give you strength to overcome it.
Now, secondly today...
2. Jesus came to destroy Sin
I think we can all agree on that statement, Jesus came to destroy sin and to liberate humanity from the penalty of sin.
Jesus came and laid down His life, a sacrifice for sin to redeem us...
Lets look at verses 5 and 6 in our passage today… 1 John 3:5-6
5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
John begins by reminding us that Jesus appeared to take away sins....This work is made possible because Jesus had no sin.
The incarnation of Jesus is the most historical point in time as we know it. God loved us and sent His Son into the world.
Let me show you something here that maybe you never considered before.. John tells us that Jesus appeared, he doesn’t use the context of being born into flesh which we know He was....
Why does John do this, to remind us that Christ has always been. Remember God has always been, no beginning and no ending. He has simply always been...
But at point in time, Jesus, the Son of God came down from glory and took on a veil of flesh, born like humanity yet without sin.
Remember, Mary, is the means by which Jesus, the second part of the Godhead, the Trinity comes into the world. God has his Father he was without sin… and then during his temptation, He did not sin either.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
So Jesus came, born of a virgin just as God had foretold to His prophets in the Old Testament.
And He came to this world to be our propitiation for sin, our atoning sacrifice. Jesus said in Matthew 20:28
28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
And also in Luke 19:10
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Jesus came to redeem us from the penalty of sin, that we might be declared just and right in front of God.
And since Jesus came to liberate humanity from sin, we have the opportunity to live in such a way, as we honor Him with our lives.
How is the best way to honor God with our lives? To obtain from sin, to abide with the Father. Go back and look at verse 6 again
6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
Now this is really important...
if you are in Christ, if you have been redeemed, then as a child of God we should seek to live for God.
So to abide in Him, means to remain in Him, to dwell with Him… As such, we would want to do our best to honor Him with our life.
So John makes a very important observation… If you are abiding with Jesus, remaining in Him then you certainly do not want to allow sin to have any place in your life. We want to live for Him… Am I right?
And so the obvious problem is simply, some there at John’s time, we still seeking to live how ever they pleased, they thought nothing of it.
And remember Gnosticism, they taught that since flesh is evil, and cannot inherit the kingdom of God, then one could allow the flesh to live as one desired, it would not effect the soul of a person.
John sees that problem, and simple says if you are in Christ you want to live for Him… You want to follow Him, if you do not, then you are not His child.
This today is still a problem in the church, people want and do live like they want with no regard to God. You cannot do this...
Jesus came and gave his life as a ransom for sin, paying the penalty for sin, thus we have been bought we a price we are not our own.
If someone let us borrow their car, we are not going fore-wheeling in it right, yes. Why, it is not our car.. Then if we have confess that this is not our life but His then why would we seek to live other than a way that pleases Him.
Jesus came to destroy sin, to offer humanity a chance to return the Father through His death, burial and resurrection.
So how are you living the life you have in Christ? Are you living it for yourself or for God...
Now just one last thought this day...
3. Jesus came to stop the devil’s work...
Listen, my friends. Here is a truth we must recognize and know, the devil is at work in this world.
And at times, some of his work is disguised as a good godly work, but it’s not… it might be busy work, but it is not God’s work.
So we must be careful in all that we do…
We must look to Jesus each day if we are going to live righteously and honor God with our life.
Remember Jesus came to stop the devil’s work. Lets look at the last portion of our text. 1 John 3:7-10
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
Did you see what John said there about Jesus? verse 8
“....The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”
John tells us plainly, Jesus appeared to us… The way He says this (the Son of God appeared) reminds us He has always been, Jesus was with the Father, pre-existent. But at a certain point in time, God sent his Son into this world; Why? To destroy the works of the devil, literally to destroy Him.
How did Jesus destroy the works of the devil? it is the victory of the cross… The cross of Christ defeats the devil’s work. Let me share two verses....
31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
And then from the book of Hebrews Hebrews 2:14
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
The devil is a defeated foe.... Jesus came to do this...
And while the devil is a defeated foe, John warms those around him.. and we must pay attention to our the life we live in front of God.
My friends, we will either seek to live for Jesus, putting Him, making Him first…Or we will live for self and thus the devil by proxy...
Some might say that isn’t true… but who is honored by your way of living? Be honest, what and who does our actions honor.
Lets fall back to verse 7
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
So John is saying what you do, determines who you are....right?
Do not be deceived, if you practice righteousness, that person is righteous.
We must be on guard, that no one leads us astray. There are false teachers in so many places that will attempt two harm us by doctrinal deception and moral deception.
People think it will be ok.. God will forgive… Brothers and Sisters, God does forgive sin, but if you practice sin thinking its ok, He will forgive me later… ohh my that is not right.
The answer is to practice righteousness… There in God is honored and glorified..
But.. John says the one who makes it a practice of sinning, is of the devil…
Let me say this.. God does indeed love us. More than we can comprehend. But if we make it our goal to sin, to live for self, we honor not God but the devil....
Hear this my friends: What we do determines who we are....
Look again at verse 9 1 John 3:9
9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.
What is John saying? A born again child of God, abides with God, remains in Him and will not practice unrighteousness. He will not keep on sinning. He honors God.
And John does on and says, the way we live and act declares who we are… it is evident in your life.
Let’s go back one more time to verse 10 1 John 3:10
10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
You are not of God is you continue to sin, and he does on and says one more truth
The one who does not love his brother.... is literally of the devil. Why would John say this?
He knows what Jesus has taught concering loving God and others…
Consider what Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
My friends, a life in Christ must be marked by love for those around us a well. I have good friend who often says, God loves you, and I am trying…
The question is Are you trying? If you struggle to love, ask God to help, it might be a tough journey, but it is His ways we want to embody in our lives.
We are to love God, to strive for righteousness, to love one another. If we can do that, the devil has no place in our life and God is glorified.
Is God glorified in your life.
Sin is always the little bug that comes into our lives and populates like a coch roach, growing until sin is all over.
Jesus came to destroy sin, He gave his life for us to set us free. And as such we should seek to live and practice righteousness, loving God and others...
We are to show compassion and love others for the glory of God.
Romans 15:13 (ESV)
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.