Can Christians Habitually Sin?
Notes
Transcript
Let me ask you a some questions as we get started tonight.
Can a person work their way into heaven? No [John 14:6, Eph. 2:8-9]
Can a saved person lose their salvation? No [John 10:27-29]
Can a true Christian Habitually Sin? Absolutely Not
That’s what we’re going to look at tonight as we continue our study in “Becoming A Contagious Christian” by Pastor Tommy Higle of FBC Marietta, Oklahoma.
Text; 1 John 3:1-10
1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
What Is Sin?
What Is Sin?
Sin- lawlessness [v.4], to cross over a boundary line, to violate/disobey the moral commands of God
Man calls sin a blunder; God calls it blindness.
Man calls sin a defect; God calls it a disease.
Man calls sin a chance; God calls it a choice.
Man calls sin an error; God calls it an enmity.
Man calls sin a fascination; God calls it a fatality.
Man calls sin an infirmity; God calls it an iniquity.
Man calls sin a luxury; God calls it a leprosy.
Man calls sin a liberty; God calls it lawlessness.
Man calls sin a trifle; God calls it a tragedy.
Man calls sin a mistake; God calls it a madness.
Man calls sin a weakness; God calls it willfulness.
Andrews, J. (2018). Understanding 1 John (p. 182). Wordsearch.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When a person is saved by faith from this terrible disease of sin, there are at least three major reasons in our text as to why a Christian cannot habitually sin.
1. The Love of the Father; 1-3
1. The Love of the Father; 1-3
It is amazing how much God loves us! He knows all about us and yet He loves us!!
Manner- strange, foreign, from a foreign country
Customs in a foreign country are strange to us. What they eat, drink, the way they dress, their language and culture.
That’s what John is saying here, that God’s love is a something foreign to us.
John 3:16 (NKJV)
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 15:13 (NKJV)
13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The love of God has made us called His children, those who believe!
[2] Not only are we blessed in the love of God now, but also for the future! Not only will we be with the One who loves us more than anybody throughout all eternity, but we will be like Him.
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
[3] Purifies: (hagnizo; hag-nid’-zo) means ‘to sanctify, to make clean, or to purify.’ “A purity maintained in the face of temptation, a purity sustained through terrific trail and strain.”
John is teaching that those who are the children of God waiting expectantly for the coming of God will seek to stay away from sin
Sam Gordon wrote concerning the love of God, “It is so high, we can never get over it. It is so deep, we can never get to the bottom of it. It is so wide, we can never get around it. It is so long, we can never come to the end of it.”
2. Sacrifice of the Son; 4-8
2. Sacrifice of the Son; 4-8
Jesus came to be the substitute sacrifice for SIN! Remember sin is lawlessness, rebellion against the moral commands of God, it is crossing a line.
Manifest- [pha-ne-ro] to reveal, to make known for a clear purpose
Jesus Christ was revealed for the clear and known purpose of taking away SIN!
15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—
26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
[8] Jesus also manifest Himself to destroy the works of the devil.
Destroy- render powerless, to untie and set free
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
[7-8a] John is saying here that a child of God does not manifest his true self when he sins. He manifests his true self as he practices righteousness!
Let me share it another way. A true child of God will not habitually sin but will practice righteousness in his life. Why? Because the Father loves him and the Son died for him that he can live apart from SIN!!
A true Christian commits occasional acts of sin, but no true believer keeps on sinning because no one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Anyone who habitually, continually sins is not in Christ.
3. Seed of the Spirit; 9-10
3. Seed of the Spirit; 9-10
When a person is born again in Christ he receives the nature of Christ in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That’s the seed that remains in us!
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
If a pig and a lamb fall into a mud puddle, the pig will be content to stay there and wallow in the mud, but what will the lamb do? He will get out of the mud because it is not a sheep’s nature to stay there. In the same way, a believer and an unbeliever can fall into the same sin, but a true believer will not be content to wallow in sin because it is not his or her nature to do so. A person who has God’s seed, the Holy Spirit, cannot live a life of habitual sin.
Higle, T. C. (2006). Journey into Becoming a Contagious Christian: A Study of First John (p. 30). Tommy Higle Publishers, Inc.
Noah got drunk, Abraham lied, Moses got angry, David committed adultery and murder, Peter cursed and denied the Lord. But these sins were only certain incidents in their lives and not their normal ways.
A true christian will feel dirty when they sin and will be convicted by the Spirit and confess their sin and renew their walk!
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
John is teaching that in the life of a believer sin is the exception and not the rule.
Close;
A true Christian cannot Habitually Sin because of the deep love of the Father, the gracious sacrifice of the Son and the overwhelming power of the Spirit in his life!
