Children of God And Children of the Devil: Habitually Holistic Holiness

1 John 2:28-3:10 Children of God And Children of the Devil (Habitually Holistic Holiness) Introduction: When we left off, John was exhorting us to abide in the original message of the Gospel and to see that the Spirit abides in us. These are the two safeguards against spiritual deception. John continues with this idea of abiding, but now it is used in direct connection to Jesus Christ and his second coming. In this next section John is going to tear to shreds this idea that we can somehow be righteous (in fellowship with God) without living a life of righteousness. I don’t know if anybody actually comes right out and says that you don’t have to live a certain lifestyle as a christian but we certainly imply this by the statements that we make. Statements like: “My family is christian... They’re just not walking with the Lord”. Or he’s saved... But he’s sleeping with his girlfriend... Or whatever, They’re Christians.... But... Fill in the blank. John tells us plainly that “everyone who practices righteousness has been born of God”. They’re are no exceptions. John’s argument in these verses is that unrighteous conduct is unthinkable in the Christian who has grasped the purposes of Christ two appearings. The fact of his first appearing, and the hope of his second are great incentives to holiness. If you remember nothing else, remember that. 1. The Historical Setting a. There is a lot we could go into about this early Christian heresy, but I only want to focus on one thing. These false teachers disconnected Christ and the flesh. See that in verse 2: “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.” They did not like the idea of the pre-existent Christ being united with human flesh. b. Now here is the reason that’s relevant for us today. This view of the person of Christ not being united to physical, bodily, flesh evidently had a practical, moral effect on the way these false teachers viewed the Christian life. Just as they disconnected the person of Christ from ordinary physical life, so they disconnected being a Christian from ordinary physical life. c. One of the clearest places to see his is here in our text: 1 John 3:7. John says, “Little children, let no one deceive you [so he has the false teachers in view]. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.” What’s he saying? He is saying beware of the false teachers because what they say is that you can be righteous and not practice righteousness. “Let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous.” d. In other words, John opposes not only their view of Christ, that they disconnect his person from his ordinary bodily life of doing things, but he also opposes their view of the Christian life when they disconnected our person from our ordinary bodily life of doing things: “The flesh didn’t really matter for Jesus; what mattered was that somehow, in a spiritual way, he was the Christ and there was no real union of the pre-existent Christ and the physical man Jesus. And our flesh doesn’t really matter either; but somehow, in a spiritual way, we are born again, but there is no real union between that new creation and our physical life that does righteousness or does sin.” This is what led directly to the error that John points out in 1 John 3:7, that you can be righteous in some spiritual way, and yet not do righteousness in your ordinary physical life. i. Beware of any message that says that what you do with your physical body doesn’t matter to God, or that as long as you pay your dues, God doesn’t care what else you do with your life. 1. The whole being belongs to God both body and soul for he purchased it at the cross; and God desires that the whole of our lives be lived for his glory not just our “religious life”. 2. The Children of God a. John uses many terms for this in his writings he might simply say, born of him, born of the Spirit, born again, children of God, born of God, or something as strange as God’s seed abides in him. All of these refer to the same thing which is regeneration. b. Regeneration is literally to be birthed by God. Every living person has been birthed physically but Christians have also been birthed spiritually. They are no longer governed by their sinful human nature but have been given a new nature, the nature of God. i. 2 Peter 1:3-4 “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature” 3. Four Reasons the Child of God Cannot Continue in Sin. a. Simply because the Christian is a child of God. He practices righteousness because he has been born of God. i. Christians are those who have become children of God by the new birth. We have been brought into God’s family, by the death and resurrection of Christ, through adoption by the Spirit, we are a part of the family, and we bear the marks of the family, the nature of the Father - righteousness. ii. The child exhibits the parent’s character because he shares the parent’s nature. 1. Luke 6:36 “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” 2. Ephesians 5:1 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” b. The Christian will not sin because he knows that Christ is sinless and that he is being fashioned after the mage of Christ- he purifies himself just as he is pure. i. The Christian purifies (practices righteousness) in anticipation of the future glory that will come with Christ’ appearance. ii. Those who have been born of God have a destination and we are to live in light of that destination which is purity! Absolute holiness! 1. Therefore to live a life of unrighteousness (to practice sin) is to live in opposition of our future destination of glorification - Christlikeness. 2. Since he is pure, and when we see him we will be like him in his purity we must ensure that the process of purification has begun now and purify ourselves. a. We find this teaching all throughout the NT. i. 1 Corinthians 7:1 “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” ii. James 4:8 “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” iii. 1 Peter 1:22-23 “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” c. Because Christ came to put away sin and destroy the works of the Devil. i. To continue in sin is to disregard Christ and not only that but to work in opposition to him. 1. John says, “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. ii. To make a practice of sinning is proof that we are not children of God. - vs.8 “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.” 1. If we are living a lifestyle of sin we are practicing something that Jesus died a gruesome death for and co-laboring with the devil who’s works Christ came to destroy. d. God's seed (literally: sperm)(most likely a reference to the Holy Spirit or the word of the Gospel) remains in him and he cannot sin (cannot continue in a lifestyle of sin). i. Notice John’s language he says, “cannot sin”. It is an impossibility for the Christian to live a habitual/continual lifestyle of sin because God’s seed or Spirit/word remains in him. ii. John would say to us, “Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.” 4. The Test: practicing righteousness vs. practicing sin a. “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.” i. As John says, It is evident. This isn’t a complicated thing. 1. I do think we need to be clear about something though, John tells us that the one who is righteous is one who practices righteousness and the one who practices sin is of the devil. a. Why do we practice something? We practice to perfect. We as Christians are making a practice of righteousness so that the new nature might become as it were second nature to us, we begin to form a habit of righteousness, so that day after day we look more and more like Jesus Christ. b. So also the one who practices sin is perfecting that practice, and day after day they resemble more and more their father the devil. Conclusion: 1. How do we know if we are a child of the Devil? a. Do you find that sin constantly has power over you? b. Are you living in a habitual/continual lifestyle of sin? c. Are you practicing a sin or lifestyle that the Bible condemns? 2. How do we know if we are born of God? a. Is your life marked by a habit of righteousness? i. Remember righteousness in the Christian is not the root, it is the fruit. It is the result of salvation, not the means. b. I think often we relegate this to a personal righteousness (and it definitely involves that) but notice John says it’s not just personal holiness/righteousness, but also love for our brother (which he’ll talk more about in the next section). i. What’s my point? Well we’re talking about being fashioned after God, after the person of Christ Jesus. This is how Peter speaks of Jesus reputation in Acts. Acts 10:37-38 says, “you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” ii. The righteousness of God in our lives is to be a holistic righteousness, it doesn’t just express itself in personal holiness but in it’s dealings with others as well! “Jesus went about doing good”! It expresses righteousness in every aspect of our lives! 1. I’m convicted by this; I want to be someone who habitually practices holistic righteousness, just as God is habitually holistically righteous! I want to be like Jesus!