Untitled Sermon (2)

Throughout the history of the church of Jesus Christ, the Word of God has been the measuring rod that clearly sets the standards of belief and behavior that is necessary for genuine saving faith. This book gives us God’s redemptive plan for a fallen mankind and the prescription for entering into a saving relationship with Him.

But in the last few decades, actually the last couple of centuries, this submission to the authority of the Bible has begun to change. Most churches today and a number of so-called theologians have downplayed the significance of biblical doctrines. This has given birth to and reared a religious system that doesn’t require repentance, or obedience to the Word of God, or any real standard of moral behavior. Because if there is no doctrinal necessities, then it only follows that there are no behavioral ones.

John along with all the other NT writers teach us that unless a person believes and practices the truth set forth by God in His Word, then they cannot be saved, no matter what someone claims. There are no if’s- and’s- or but’s. Salvation isn’t up for debate, His covenant of grace is a unilateral agreement, we either accept the terms or we stand alone at Judgement. But despite this fact, and the clear teaching of John in this letter or the teachings of the other NT writers, we see a church today that is unconvinced and apostate.

The root of this problem is sin, it’s been the root of mankind’s problem since the Fall. And in this letter, John has laid out a stark contrast of those who abide in Christ, and those who abide in sin. In our text tonight, John will give us 3 truths about sin, showing it to be completely incompatible with the redemptive work of God in those who have been born again. Exposing the tares among the wheat. Read

I. Sin- What it Is

A. Amazing - sin probably the most understood word in the church today

1. Sin has been marginalized

a) It’s taught as “missing the mark”

b) “bad choices”

c) “falling short”

d) “bad luck”

e) I have even heard one charlatan keep calling “our junk”

f) It’s often excused by a bad upbringing, a past traumatic event, bad circumstances, or rationalization by the human mind

2. No doubt many of us have heard the generic definition of this word sin in the Greek language ἁμαρτία (hamartia) as missing the mark like when an archer misses the bullseye

B. But in verse 4, John gives us, I believe the best definition that there is of sin-

1. “sin is lawlessness”

a) John not talking about violating the Law- the Law not mentioned once in this letter

b) It’s more than missing the mark or falling short

c) It’s even more than a destructive and depraved principle

d) John calls it “lawlessness”

· And by this he is saying it is not just breaking God’s moral law, it’s a direct and purposed rebellion against God’s known will

· It’s to despise-very idea-of a law one would have to submit to

· To be in contempt, rebellion to the law of God, as it relates to:

Ø Himself

Ø To the men and things around us

Ø To ourselves

C. John’s definition here is stating the ugly reality, the seriousness of sin. It’s insurrection.

a) But the foundation of coming to a right relationship with God- acknowledging that it is He defines the absolute standard of what is right and what is wrong, and the willingness to submit to His authority

b) And when we look at the American church today, we see a religious system that disregards the word and the idea of sin. In doing so, they are lawless.

II. Sin-What Sin Does-

A. Practice of Sinning Makes Us Enemies of God

1. Look at the beginning of verse 4 “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness”

a) Practice- to display an ongoing behavior or present a consistent attribute

b) To practice sinning is to practice lawlessness

c) John’s argument here is refuting the false gnostic teachers that had infected the church

· individuals who were indifferent to sin. They believed that they could engage in any and all kinds of sinful activities and still be in fellowship with God. I

· they were indifferent to sin. But sin is not something to that can be viewed with indifference.

· It’s a willful disregard for God.

· It is a committed rebellious revolt against God’s will.

2. And, No one is excluded from the obligation to obey God

a) John says “Everyone”, there is no one is exempt

b) It tells us that it doesn’t matter if we come to church every week, or are an elder or deacon, a pastor, or a Sunday school teacher

c) If we are characterized by a habitual lifestyle of sin, there is no fellowship with God, we are His enemies

3. True believers will not habitually violate the law of God

· Because they seek to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in every way

· Displaying a penitent heart, denying the flesh, and resisting the seductions of the world

B. Opposes the Work of Christ

1. Christ’s primary reason for coming to the earth in the flesh was in order to deal with sin

a) “5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.”

b) “He appeared (manifested) in order to take away sins”

· He took the form of man to offer Himself on our behalf

· - John the Baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

· To pay the penalty for our sins, everyone before us, and everyone who will come after

· So that those that would believe in Him, that would submit to His Lordship and receive His saving gift of grace, would be justified in the eyes of God

c) And John gives the qualifier for his statement: “and in him there is no sin.”

· Sinless blood was what was required to pay restitution for sin against Almighty God

· 33 years, a fully human Jesus of Nazareth lived life on earth in near poverty, known as the bastard Son of Joseph the carpenter.

· No doubt scorned, ridiculed

· And He did this without committing one single sin

· tells us He was tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sin

· It was this sinless blood that purchased our pardon from an eternity in Hell

2. But for someone to confess Christ and continue in a willful continuous practice of sinning, they negate by their own choice any ability to accept His person and work

a) It’s a covenant signed with Christ’s blood, and to willfully participate in the very behavior that He bore for us on the cross is a refusal of its terms

b) John affirms this in verse 6:

“6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.”

c) keeps on sinning- clarification

· not saying believers do not sin

· saying believers can not practice sin as a way of life, a character, a prevailing lifestyle

· But he is saying any one who does practice sin as a way of life, a character, a prevailing lifestyle “has either seen him or known him.”

· “Seen” and “known” are both in the perfect tense

· Seen in the sense of seeing Christ through the eyes of faith in our present transformation, seeing the world through new-born eyes, seeing the future promise as heirs to the Kingdom of God

· Known Him in an intimate, close personal relationship, intellectually, emotionally, spiritually

3. Practicing sin is the denial of the person and work of Jesus Christ

C. Deceives

1. The teachers that John is refuting and countless charlatans today don’t just condone sin, they portray it as liberating and virtuous

a) This deception - very powerful weapon, it appeals so strongly to the fleshly nature of mankind

b) It’s to get the cake and eat it too

c) V7 John says “7 Little children, let no one deceive you.”

d) Don’t be led astray, we have been given God’s Special Revelation, the only objective truth that exists

· Test all things by it, view all things through the lens of it

· Deception is fatal and it’s tragic that the strongest deception is the deception of self

· All the deceiver has to do is plant the seed, and if not checked it will take root and grow

· So many men and women who profess Christ are self-deceived, believing they are justified in their sin

· Because they allowed themselves to be led astray

D. Sin in action is lawlessness, and it actively destroys those that practice it by severing the prospect of redemption by God through the person and work of Jesus Christ

1. And the true litmus test for the those that have truly been born again is displayed through action not words

a) The last half of verse 7 “Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.”

b) It’s to display the marks of a transformed life free from the bondage of sin

c) What does it look like? John has outlined in this letter-

d) It’s to walk in the light, being obedient to Christ’s commandments, to keep His Word, to seek to imitate Him, manifesting His love

III. Sin- Where Sin Comes From

A. V8 John states the very origin of sin loud and clear

8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

1. It is and has been the supreme desire and intent of the devil to thwart God’s work by destroying as many human souls as he possibly can from the beginning

a) It was in the garden of Eden recorded in that we see the origin of human sin

b) Tempting Eve and then Adam, sin and death entered the world, and while it was conceived the first man and woman, it was fathered by the devil

c) And from there we see it spread to their first two born sons on into the present day

d) It is his mission and his passion to steal, kill, and destroy

e) For him there is no redemption, there is no hope, and it is his intent to take as many human souls to the Hell that was prepared for him with him

2. And John tells us that whoever makes a practice of sinning is not only practicing lawlessness, he says they are of the devil

a) There is no greater contrast-

b) We saw in verse 7 that everyone who practices righteousness is righteous by the righteousness of Christ

c) In 2:29 John made the point that the person who practices righteousness has been born of God. Born of God, His children. Their character would be like Christ

d) but those who practice sinning, the false teachers who lead people astray and those who’s lives are characterized by disobedience to God’s law, their origin is from the devil

3. the weapons he wields are death and deception

a) it was deception that he prompted mankind’s Fall

b) and it’s death that is the result of the sin he propogates

4. But this is the reason the Son of God appeared, verse 5 told us that Christ appeared to take away sin, and here in verse 8 John expands on His redemptive work:

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

a) The devil’s works- temptation, wickedness, pain, suffering, despair, sickness, violence, and death. These all came through sin- and since the Fall the devil functioned as “prince of this world” according to (), “god of this world” ()

b) He had instituted the destruction of fellowship between God and man,

c) fleshly man was under his power and helpless to achieve a right relationship with God in and of themselves

d) Jesus Christ came to undo, to defeat, to destroy this corruption of God’s creation by the devil

e) And He did this on the cross

f) It was on the cross that Jesus Christ offered Himself up as the perfect, unblemished Lamb of God, once and for all making the sacrifice to pay the price for the sins of mankind- breaking the chains of the slavery of sin,

g) It was on the cross that Jesus Christ, the God-man suffered death, so that 3 days later He would rise again, conquering death

h) And it was at the cross that the devil knew that the fat lady had sung on his party, his foothold was lost

IV. No In Between (v9-10)

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.

1. In verses 9 and 10 John lays out the absolute truth. There is no in between. A person is either a child of God or a child of the devil.

a) One who has born of God, by the convicting and sanctifying power of Holy Spirit who dwells within them, will not continue in a habitual life of sin

b) Displaying a life of obedience and servitude

2. In verse 10 he is saying “the evidence is clear!”

3. Its black or white

4. Those that don’t display the marks and fruit of the redemptive work of God through Jesus Christ in their life, it is evident that they are not a child of God, they are a child of the devil

The Point

We see a church today that teaches a gospel that accepts, even embraces sin. But the Word of God tells us what sin is, what it does, and where it comes from, and a gospel that doesn’t have the right view of sin is no gospel at all. How we relate to it is the evidence of who we follow. There is no middle ground. One has either been born of God or is a child of the devil.