The reason the Son of God appeared
Notes
Transcript
The reason the Son of God appeared
The reason the Son of God appeared
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. 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.
A teenage girl was out with friends after a grad party that she was invited to. The group she was with made a decision to go somewhere and do somethings that she did not feel comfortable with. She had only a few short minutes to make up her mind what she would do. She quickly asked her friends for a ride home. Some of the boys she was with started mocking her, one in particular said to her, “Why don’t you want to come along? Are you afraid what your dad will hurt you if he finds out?”
“No” she said, “I am afraid if I go there it will hurt my Father.”
This should be the attitude and actions of Christians today. Not that we are afraid of our Father hurting us or letting bad things happen to us if we sin, but because of our love for him we do not want to hurt him!
There is an attitude that we can display that makes all the difference between the exception and the rule.
Think of Pro football. Any pro football player knows his position, knows the rules and knows how to play the game. Sure he will miss some tackles, mix up the signals from time to time and fail to make a block, or run right when he should’ve ran left. But that is the exception to the rule. He usually executes his tasks perfectly, even though he sometimes makes mistakes.
For the believer, sin is the exception to the rule. If sin is the rule rather than the exception, then you are not born of God.
Most people when they read think that John is saying that true Christians can not sin. They begin to preach a type of Legalism that promotes a “holy” lifestyle by condemning sinful things. This produces lists of things to stay away from, things to not do, as a means of keeping or sustaining ones salvation. Well the Gospel is explicit in this that we cannot produce or sustain salvation in and of ourselves. So this becomes false teaching.
But we also have those who see verse 7 and say, “if I am doing anything righteous that means I am righteous, so I don’t have any need for the Law, god will just forgive anything I do, so I can pretty much do anything and be alright.” This is called Antinomianism, which actually means, “Anti-Lawism”. It is a false teaching that downplays the significance of God’s law in the life of a believer.
Yet the Bible is clear that even though we are not UNDER the Law because Christ has fulfilled the law for us, we still establish or uphold the Law because we now belong to God as his children.
31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
Yet it can be tricky to preach the Gospel and still be misunderstood by those who have these certain bents in their own thinking. Martin Luther was accused of being an Antinomian at one point because of expressing the doctrine of Justification by Faith alone. Yet Luther affirmed what James said, “Faith without works is dead”. So he famously is quoted by saying, “It is not God who needs your good works, but it is your neighbor who does.” In so doing he was making a statement about Christian living according to God’s law and commands by producing good works prescribed in scripture.
Because of all this Lutheran’s came up with 3 uses of the Law outlined in the “Formula of Concord” in 1577… 1.) the Law helps to reveal sin, 2.) the Law helps to establish general decency in society at large, 3.) the Law provides a rule of life for those regenerated through faith in Christ.
Antinomians big error is understanding the difference between Justification and Sanctification. R.C. Sproul put it this way, “We are justified by Faith alone, apart from works. However, all believers grow in Faith by keeping God’s commands - not to gain God’s favor, but out of loving gratitude for the the grace already bestowed on them through the work of Christ.”
So we are not saved by the Law, but we demonstrate our love for Christ by obeying his commandments.
john
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
So while Christianity is not a religion about a bunch of rules or do’s and don’ts, it is certainly not less than rules. We are not justified by holy living, yet holy living according to God’s law is part of how we know we belong to him. Where we once did not have a choice to sin, we now have a choice to Not Sin because our nature has been changed. That is what Grace is… Yet Grace is not something that gives anyone the “right” to do what is wrong according to God’s word.
As we approach this text and talk about Sin and righteousness, we must remember the context and pay attention to the language.
John has already told them that true believers will still sin, but that they will not be ok with that, and they will bring it into the light and confess it.
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
So we know that Christians do still sin… Yet there is a difference between those who struggle with sin and those who practice sin. Ones who have a lifestyle of not sinning, yet still have an exception, and those who have a lifestyle of practicing sin but are able to do good from time to time.
Think of Pro football. Any pro football player knows his position, knows the rules and knows how to play the game. Sure he will miss some tackles, mix up the signals from time to time and fail to make a block, or run right when he should’ve ran left. But that is the exception to the rule. He usually executes his tasks perfectly, even though he sometimes makes mistakes.
For the believer, sin is the exception to the rule. If sin is the rule rather than the exception, then you are not born of God.
The early church was full of people who were teaching false truths and these believers needed help figuring out who they could trust and who they should not listen to. John is going to make it plain, let’s look at it.
4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
So the big thing we need to understand here is what John means b y practicing. That words here means to “Keep on”, it is a present tense use of the verb. It implies a persistent on-going lifestyle. So we are not talking about the christian that recognizes they are dealing with sin, we are talking about someone who is indifferent to sin and refuses to see their lifestyle as being sinful.
David Allen said, “ the Christian can be no more indifferent to sin as you could be to rattlesnake in your house.”
So an indifference to sin is what is meant by a practice if sin. A practice of sin makes for a lifestyle of sin, and so then sin describes the person, their life is recognized by and characterized by the classification of a certain sin. And it would be easy here to get into all the different forms of this we see in our society today, and certainly not wrong to do so, but John will get more specific with us about what he is talking about. He defines sin for us in regards to the context that he is talking to these believers about.
So, what is SIN?
Sin is Lawlessness
Sin is Lawlessness
Well what is lawlessness? Well in layman’s terms, lawlessness is anti-law. Lawlessness is where the law is downplayed and revolted against, it is where people are trying to go in the opposite direction from the law.
So then we must ask the question, what is the Law? In general we mean God’s commands and statutes… But there are many different laws we find in the OT, how do we know which ones we are talking about? Well just because John didn’t make a direct quote from the OT its authority is presupposed as scripture that they pointed people to, in which Christ was fulfilling. But even in the early church many of the Apostles taught what was meant by the early church when referring to the Law.
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
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So the Moral Law, or ten commandments is summed up in the law of Love. Paul is saying this is the norm for God’s people and John is also affirming that true believers love each other in this letter.
So lawlessness is disobedience to that law, the love of each other.
So John is saying that those who practice Sin are actually practicing not loving each other. They are indifferent towards their lifestyle and indifferent towards each other. This is Sin. But look at what John says about sin.
5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.
Here is the Gospel… Jesus did not come to give you more money, a better nights sleep, a new promotion on your job, or anything else that the health and wealth gospel preachers will try to tell you...
Jesus came to take away Sins from people. If anyone preaches a gospel to you that does not include at its core this truth about Jesus, then they are not teaching you truth.
This is what makes the Gospel Good News… Your sins and my sins are taken away from us by Christ! But the most amazing thing about this is what we learn about Jesus… He is without sin, in him there is no sin. We need to understand this and believe this about Jesus because it is a necessary condition for him to be qualified to atone for our sins. And this is exactly what the Bible teaches us about Jesus.
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.
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Now this is hard for some people to believe about Jesus. Some people think that he couldn’t have had REAL temptations because he was the Son of God. Like because of his deity the temptation were not as real. Think of unbreakable dish ware. You go to the store and ask the salesperson how he knows this dish ware is unbreakable. The salesperson pulls out a plate and throws it on the ground, it doesn’t break. He pulls out a hammer and smashes it, but it doesn’t break. He stands on it and it still does not break. Were the tests the plate underwent any less real just because it was unbreakable? Not at all. The trials and temptation that Jesus faced in his earthly ministry were just as real as the same kinds of tests and trials we face today. Yet Jesus did not sin!
And because he was tempted as we are in every way and was without sin, that means he is the only sinless one who could die in the place of a sinner. This is good news because we know that we have sinned against God.
So the first reason the Son of God appeared was to take away sins!
The reason the Son of God appeared was to take away our sins
The reason the Son of God appeared was to take away our sins
If you have come to a place where God by his Spirit has shown you the mess you life is in because of of sin, then this is the best thing you can hear from him about your condition.
The brokenness and pain of this life because of sinful things you have done can be taken away by trusting in Jesus Christ. By believing that he lived a perfect life and died an innocent death as a sinless savior, you can have him take your sins away from you. Because he stood under God’s judgement of sin in our place, when we believe in him we get his reward. That is how the Gospel works. Yet it doesn’t make sense if Jesus ever sinned.
So the Bible tells us what we need to know about Christ and the reasons he appeared, and it life giving to those who believe it. But John continues on here to draw a picture of what a false believer looks like.
6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
So John is saying that no one who “abides in Christ”, meaning no one who is genuinely a Christian, Keeps on Sinning”. The key to understanding what John is saying is the present tense verb, “keeps on”. This greek word in the present tense is expressing an ongoing lifestyle that is persistent sin, which is characteristic or usual behavior by which to describe such a person.
By defining such a person this way he is actually drawing a distinction between a true believer who struggles with sin and confesses it and one who is in a constant state of it. John does not excuse sinful behavior but in the first chapter he gives us the instruction on how to deal with it. So he has already affirmed that a christian can sin. But that is not the point of this… He is not referring to an occasional specific act of sin, but rather a lifestyle of sin. Someone who “Keeps on sinning”, cannot be in Christ.
If we know people like this, then we can be sure that they have not seen Christ, or they haven’t known him. To know him means to be familiar with him through personal experience. That is the earmark of a believer because when you know him you obey him.
3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
John has gone to great lengths by using contrasts to show us the difference between true believers and false ones. The basic contrast between light and darkness, between children of God and of the world, and here in this passage he has shown the contrast between those who constantly sin and those who do not, Those who are pure and those who are not.
Yet there is an important distinction between a state of purity and a maintained condition of purity. In David Allen’s commentary on this passage he gives what I think is a helpful illustration.
Suppose you walk through a dark room with a lighted candle, and upon exiting that room, the room remained lighted because the candle had passed through it. Such a condition is impossible! If this were possible the room would no longer be dependent on the candle for its light. It would only be indebted to the candle for the introduction of light into the room. Sin is darkness, and Christ is the Light. What a candle is to the dark room, Christ is to our hearts. By the light of his indwelling presence he keeps sin away. The cleansing we experience is not a state, but a maintained condition; a condition that only exists because of Christ’s presence in our life. Light dispels darkness, but darkness has a tendency to stick around. A room can only remain illuminated by the continued counteraction of Light piercing the darkness. When we are saved, we do not posses a state of purity. We are constantly dependent on Christ’s presence in our lives to counteract the constant tendency to sin.
That is why we must ABIDE in him as he is in us. That is why we must still purify ourselves as he is pure, we still run the bases even though he hit the home run… We are to abide in him and he keeps us from falling away by driving out sinful darkness in us. If someone does not display this, if they are continually in sin, if they even identify with their sin over Christ, then they are not a true believer and have not yet come into contact with Christ’s gracious love and offer of eternal life.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
1john3.
Please remember that John is dealing with false teachers coming into the church trying to tell people that you can be born again and still practice a sinful lifestyle. Yet john is careful to point out that we do not inspect the root but the fruit...
It doesn’t matter if someone says they are a Christian, can you see that they are a Christian? Do they practice righteousness? And if it still needs said, allow me to correct any wrong thinking about what it means to be a Christian who practices righteousness.
Fredric Farrar said it this way -
“We do not attach ourselves to Christ by our own righteous acts; But because we are attached to Christ we are able to perform righteous acts. We do not make ourselves God’s children because we are good; But being the children of a good God, we can live as his children.”
It is not legalism for a Christian to live righteously doing good works and encouraging others around him to do so as well. Yet we must understand that practicing righteousness is only possible because God first saved us and gave us a new nature. But this will be evident in the lives of those who belong to him… we practice righteousness because 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.
1john3
Shots fired!!!
John proclaims that those who practice sinning, those who are not just struggling with sin and confessing, but actually practicing sinfulness IS OF THE DEVIL!!!
He is now calling them out as being demonically inspired because they belong to the devil. That word Devil means “slanderer or accuser”… the one who has been a slanderer from the beginning… Satan.
And if you think that John is going a little too far here, please remember he is only being a good disciple of Jesus and teaching them what he first learned from Jesus himself. Jesus ran into a bunch of self righteous people who wanted to stone a woman for being caught in the act of adultery. He frees her from their death sentence and then teaches them about who he is, yet they do not want to believe him. He tells them that if they were truly Abraham’s seed or children then they would’ve believed in him, but instead they do not believe, and Jesus then tells them why...
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
When John is setting the church straight with these false teachers he sounds just like Jesus when he told those self righteous jews who they really belonged to.
But we see what the devil is all about… LIES. Jesus Called him the father of Lies. He is a murderer who does not stand in truth but rather lies. If you are not in Christ, then you are aligned with a liar who is a murderer who cannot tell the truth.
But if you are IN Christ then you need to understand what John is saying here.
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil
Jesus came to destroy the Liar and his Lies! But not just the lies, ALL the works!!!!
Atheism, ignorance, unbelief, indifference - DESTROYED in Jesus’ appearing
Doubting, Idolatry, Blasphemy, Pride - DESTROYED by Jesus’ appearing
Deceit, hypocrisy, Hate, Racism - DESTROYED by Jesus’ appearing
He came in the flesh to fight and win a battle for us that we couldn’t fight and win on our own. He took out our enemy who has no power over us any longer except to lie to us and try to get us to believe his lies.
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,
Jesus not only appeared to destroy the works of the devil but ultimately he beat death and the one who threatens us with death… He destroys Satan and his works. and if we are in him , then God by his Spirit and the work of Christ will continue to use us in that victory...
20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Paul prays for the church in Rome and say that God will crush Satan under their feet… Why? because they are strong and mighty people? NO, because they are in Christ and he is the snake crusher that was promised in the garden when God judged that serpent!
If you are in Christ and Christ is in you, then we are able to partake in destroying the works of the devil by starting with the sinfulness in us. That is John’s encouragement to us, and that is how you can tell if someone is not in Christ… they not only have no desire to crush Satan and destroy his works by the victory of Christ, but they practice sin as a lifestyle. And so john says, they are not born of God...
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.
1jihn3.9
When you were saved, did you notice that certain desires changed? Almost instantly certain things were offensive to me that i never had a problem with before. Why is that?
I would draw your attention to that phrase, “God’s seed abides in him”… There is much speculation as to what John is referring to here. Is God’s seed his word? Is God’s seed his Spirit? Is it both his Word and his Spirit?
While those are both certainly true, most Bible Scholars think John is referring to the fact of the divine nature in us by virtue of the new birth. The new birth prohibits a lifestyle of sin in one who is truly born again. Christians may sin, as John pointed in chapter 1:5-10, but a true Christian does not want to sin.
If this experience seems foreign to you, then you may need to pause and question what exactly you are believing in? A King without a cross? A Savior without a Sacrifice of his life? A church without leadership and accountability? Christianity without holy living that practices righteousness? Behavior modification without any real heart change? Have you been Born of God?
How are we to know???
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.
Listen you are either a member of God’s family or the devil’s…I know that seems very harsh to say, but it is exactly what the Bible teaches. There is no middle ground.
And the only way we can distinguish what family you are actually a part of is a matter of PRACTICE!
Do you practice Righteousness or sin?
Someone who does not practice righteousness is not of GOD!
But just in case it becomes too hard to see who practices righteousness and who does not, John points them back to something he said earlier as a test of a true believer...
Do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ? Do you understand that Christianity is a family affair? God as your father has adopted you, and now you have a big family with lots of brothers and sisters… Do you love them? Because in this family it is how we know we belong to him. This is all part of why Jesus came.
The Son of God appeared to give us a True Family!
The Son of God appeared to give us a True Family!
We now have a family full of people who have struggled against sin just like you have… You now have the same Father who graciously gave you his Love, his Word and his Spirit. You are standing in the place your True Brother earned for you when you were too weak and dead in sin to fight for the righteous standard God gave us.
The Son of God appeared to take away our sins
The Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil
and the Son of God appeared to give you a true family… one in which you learn to love your brothers and sisters… and if you do not, then you are not really a part of this family.
Maybe today you need to respond by confessing sin again... By reminding your heart that the darkness that tries to come back over and over cannot have a hold on you because you have the light of Life on the inside and the power of the Spirit alive in you.
Maybe today you hear these words and you are aware that there is a brother or sister in Christ that you are harsh to, and you don’t show love to… Repent and go to them in love, walking in light, and share the grace of God this very day!
Maybe you just need the reminder that your sins are taken away by the work of Christ… If you haven’t called upon his name for the saving of your soul, then do it now… he will surely meet you right where you are at. There is a family that is waiting for you to come home today!
Question 1 - How has your practice changed in the life you now lead?
Question 1 - How has your practice changed in the life you now lead?
Is it obvious to those who knew you before, your lifestyle is different? Can you see how the inclinations of your heart are completely different now that you have made a profession of Faith in Christ? In what ways have you become loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and exhibited self control? How regular do you intentionally practice righteousness? How aware are you of God’s holy Law and commandments? Are you ever grieved when you realize there is sin still living inside of you? In what ways has your life practice changed?
How about what else our time in 1 John has helped you with? The concept of light and darkness and contrast of being a child of God verses a child of the devil...
Question 2 - What does it mean For you to walk in the light?
Question 2 - What does it mean For you to walk in the light?
Are you afraid of bringing your sinful ways out into the light to be forgiven, because you fear what others may think of you if they knew? Do you practice a lifestyle of repentance? What intentional things do you do to keep a vibrant relationship with Christ? How do you combat darkness and sinful tendencies in your heart?
Question 3 - What does it mean to be a Child of God?
Question 3 - What does it mean to be a Child of God?
Do you understand how you got into this family? The Father called you in, the Son worked for it, and the Spirit sealed it. How do you abide in this family now. what is your relationship with your brothers and sisters like? If you are children of a good God, then what does it look like to live as his child?