"These Things I've Written" - 1 John 3:4-10

Introduction

It has been several weeks since we have spent time in 1 John. John is writing to Jewish Christians that have been labeled by their own society as people who are leading others away from truth. (Heretics)

There were a group of people called “Gnostics” who had taught of a new philosophy of life that blurred the lines of morality and how people could find God. It was a very popular belief that allowed people to live in sin without calling it so.

John was writing for 2 reasons:

To encourage Jewish Christians to continue sharing truth to their neighbors.

To keep people in the light

- “I have written these things to you who believe so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

John didn’t want people to live in the dark regarding their salvation. The scriptures are clear how we please God.

We live in a time where the lines are blurred for people spiritually. “I’m a good person, Jesus just wants me to be happy, I get to decide what is moral and not moral. We can’t turn a blind eye to the time we are living in. If there was ever a time to live only for ourselves, it is now.

Christians must learn how to call sin for what it is. Push back against the dark.

You are not a spiritual bigot for understanding this.

1 John 3:4–10 NASB95

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

1. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has a Moral Standard.

In John’s day and our day alike, every person who wants to have a relationship with Jesus must recognize that they are a sinner.

What is sin?

Greek word hamartia meaning “missing the mark”. (An archer shooting an arrow.

Jesus was sent to the world to rid the world of sin and provide path for salvation.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB95

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

God knew that man was sinful and unable to save themselves so He provided His perfect and spotless son to carry our sins on His shoulders so that we might become righteous and holy.

In John’s day, the Gnostics were spreading a message that stated a different message than the gospel. Their message told people that they could come to a special place in their mind that would keep their soul unblemished by sin.

In other words, they could sin as much as they wanted because their soul could not be touched by their bad decisions.

They weren’t even aiming their arrow.

They spread a message that was indifferent to sin.

Instead of claiming a standard of moral living over their lives, they created their own version of a spiritual loophole.

The gospel of Jesus Christ

When I was in 5th grade, we had a school track meet. Our class won the 4x100 meter relay and I decided to dance in celebration. I was told that my dancing did not meet the standard.

The gospel of Jesus does not free us to live in sin until we go to Heaven. The gospel of Jesus frees us from sin while we live on earth on our way to Heaven.

We are not called to live as if there is no standard.

Our moral decisions while on earth matter to God. We weren’t given a get of Hell free card. We were given a way to live a life of righteousness. We aren’t supposed to look and live like other people.

“… you can do noting wrong and still do nothing right. By definition, righteousness is doing something right. We’ve reduced it to doing nothing wrong. - Mark Batterson from All In.

2. Living in sin is to live without law. (v. 4-7)

“Everyone who sins”

John makes a generalized statement about sin to speak to the Gnostic believers that that saw themselves at an elite level of spirituality and were immune to the effects of sin.

John wrote that no one is above the law. Sinful behavior is simply sinful behavior.

Sin is not a “personality problem”, “mark of the modern times”, or anything else. According to John, sin is an active rebellion against God’s will.

This is important thing for everyone to acknowledge.

“lawlessness”

To live without God’s law is sin and sin is the violation of the law.

John wrote that Jesus appeared to a lawless world in order to take away sin.

“In Him is no sin” means that before the world was created, to the days of His life on earth, to modern times, righteousness has always been in His nature.

In one act, the perfect and righteous lamb of God took away every type of sin through His death on the cross.

“No one who abides in Him sins”.

Is John saying that Christians never sin? Absolutely not. He’s talking about the act of habitual sin. Accepting sin into your life as if it’s supposed to be there.

John is writing that in order to see and know Christ, the sinless Savior of sinners, is to outlaw sin in our lives. Sin and Christ don’t go together. We must be opposed to the thought of sin existing in our life.

Sin is not the character and habit of a Christian.

Things changed whenever Jesus saved me. There has never gone a day when sin has satisfied me and helped me. It has only hurt me and sent me towards destruction. Every sinful habit in me is not enjoyable. It’s the opposite. I want it gone forever. It’s not gone, but I want it gone. IT is not in my character to enjoy sin.

The false teachers indulged the perverse concept that someone could be “righteous” without bothering to practice righteousness.

You can’t be married to Jesus and date sin on the side. They don’t go together.

3. The Origin of Sin is the Devil. (v. 8-10)

John writes that there is a “being” behind the madness of sin. “The devil has been sinning from the beginning.”

From the day that Lucifer attempted to overthrow God in Heaven, he has been writing sin into existence through the hearts of people.

He was angel of beauty and worship. He’s got a PHD in teaching people how to fall into sinful behavior.

The works of the devil affect people:

Morally - his work entices people to sin.

Physically - The infliction of disease.

Intellectually - the seduction into error.

His goal is to take the fight off of himself and place it on Jesus so that everyone lives in constant confusion.

Stealing cousin Britney’s shoes.

Satan doesn’t want you to hate him, he wants you to hate your spouse. He wants you to hate your parents, your siblings, your church family, your coworkers. His goal is to make you think something else originated your problem when it has ALWAYS been him.

Then came Jesus, who brought truth to the world through His life, death, and resurrection!

He destroyed everything that Satan attempted to build in his earthly kingdom.

He revealed the truth that for any of us to deny our sin makes us a liar and that any type of sin committed makes us of the devil.

We don’t have to live in the dark anymore! It’s only truth and light.

We can be saved from our sin and be born again. Salvation is a deep, radical, inward transformation.

It’s a new nature. We aren’t sheep anymore. .

Conviction to do right exists because of Jesus’ work on the cross.

“Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love brother.”

Can you accept this truth even though it hurts?