Practice Righteousness
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4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 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. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
Introduction
We are the Children of God, as such our lives must proclaim the righteousness that is ours in Christ Jesus. We turn from sin actively display the glory, mercy and holiness of God in all we do and all that we are.
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1. Sin and the Law v4
1. Sin and the Law v4
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4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
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James and the Epistles of John 1. Sin and the Law (3:4)
John explains what sin means. He says that committing sin is the same as a complete disregard for the law of God. For him, sin and lawlessness are two interchangeable terms. John actually provides a brief definition of sin by revealing its very nature: Sin is lawlessness. “[Sin] is a deliberate rejection of God’s standards and a resort to one’s own desires.” Sin has its origin in the devil and expresses itself as a wilful act against God. The person who continues to do what is sinful, concludes John, “is of the devil” Kistemaker
It is imperative that we do not ever lose the truth, or doctrine, of sin. It is a direct challenge to God’s Law
The law proclaims what the holiness of God is.
The appeal for holiness, as we have seen, is always made in terms of doctrine. Holiness must never be isolated; it is always deduced from something that has gone before. It is an inevitable consequence of a true understanding of our position in Christ Jesus. Lloyd-Jones
That is the very essence of sin. It must not be thought of as just a sort of weakness or failure on our part; it must not be regarded as some sort of bestial past which we have not yet put off. No, John says, sin is not negative, it is positive. It is the transgression of the law; it is disobedience to God and His holy will with respect to us. Lloyd-Jones
‘Man’s essential trouble,’ says the Apostle, ‘is that he is guilty and condemned by the law of God. Sin was introduced into this world by the devil; the devil came at the very beginning and tempted man to disobey God. That is lawlessness: he tempted him to break God’s holy law, and man in his folly listened to him and did so.
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2. The Coming of Christ v5
2. The Coming of Christ v5
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5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.
This holy law, this expression of God’s being and character, condemns sin utterly. The condemnation is death, and without the sacrificial atonement there is no forgiveness. But, wonder of wonders, God has provided and found the way there on the cross. My sins are no longer imputed to me, they are no longer on record against me, and as my sinful story is there revealed in the Book of Life, it is all cancelled by Christ. Lloyd-Jones
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11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
John writes in the present tense to indicate that Christ always has been, is, and will be without sin. He implies that as the Son of God is sinless, so the Christian whose sins Christ has taken away should not yield to sin. The believer must oppose sin with all his might and strive for holiness.
One of the marks of being a child of God is to be free from the rule of sin. Should the Christian live a life of sin, his claim of being a son of God would be meaningless. Kistemaker
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3. Believer and Unbeliever v6
3. Believer and Unbeliever v6
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6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
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a. Believer
a. Believer
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9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
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b. Unbeliever
b. Unbeliever
What a difference we see when we compare the life of the believer with that of the unbeliever! The unbeliever continues to sin and demonstrates that he has no fellowship with Christ. In fact, John declares that the person who persists in sin has neither seen nor known Christ. “Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God” (3 John 11). Kistemaker
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11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
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The world provides its own definition of sin. For many people, sin is a naughty deed—usually related to sex—that arouses chuckles and laughter. In their view, sin should not be taken seriously. Others view sin as a weakness or imperfection caused by a psychological defect. Still others try to explain sin in terms of a mistake that any human being is able to make. In short, according to the world, sin is nothing serious. Kistemaker
John, however, demurs. For him, sin is a serious offence against God. It signifies a deliberate disregard for and violation of his divine law. Sin is a direct affront to God; it is an expression of enmity and alienation that deserves God’s wrath. Kistemaker
Conclusion
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9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,
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1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
