Sin and the Child of God

1 John 3:4–10 NKJV

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

Prayer

The last couple of weeks we have been studying the doctrine of adoption.

The fact that God in Christ Jesus has adopted us into His family.

The fact that we are His children NOW, we will ONE DAY be His children, and as we wait we must purify ourselves by hoping in Jesus.

John is launching into a new section which is focusing on different contrasts which create evidence.

They are going to look at sin and righteousness, love and hatred, and truth and error.

This first contrast is between sin and righteousness.

The Blame Game

It is no exaggeration that we live in a world which loves to blame other things.

Everywhere you turn, the motto is, “Never take responsibility, only find someone else to blame”

A father is struggling to fix a broken toy. He erupts into a tirade of profanity, slams the toy to the floor and blames the child for breaking it.

A mother comes home from work on Friday afternoon and explodes when she sees a messy entryway and hears music blaring. She grounds her teenaged children for the weekend and insists they clean the entire house.

A husband gets home from work two hours late. He forgot to call, but is still upset that no one waited to eat dinner with him. He eats alone and sulks, refusing all attempts from others to comfort him.

A friend feels hurt that one of her girlfriends went out to dinner with another friend. She ignores her calls for three days.

But even more problematic is the blame which can occur in the spiritual realm.

“I only sin in this way because of my circumstances in life. I had a family who never really loved me.”

“I’ve been really struggling this past week because the devil made me do it.”

As long as blame is being shifted onto someone else, than we will never examine our own life.

As long as the blame game is being played, truly experiencing the joy of our assurance will NEVER occur.

Since everyone who is born of God will be Holy, examine your life for holiness,

so that you may experience the assurance that you are a child of God.

1 John 3:4 NKJV

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

Sin and Lawlessness

“Verses 4, 8a”

1 John 3:4 NKJV

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

John is about to tells us what sin is, what sin does, why sin is, from where sin comes, and how sin is conquered.

John says that sin is lawlessness.

What is lawlessness?

The word that John uses here for lawlessness means those who despise the law.

Those who have a disposition toward rejecting God and His rule over their life.

He equates sin with lawlessness.

He equates sin with a disregard for God’s ways.

I think the ESV helpfully shows some more of the nuance happening here.

1 John 3:4 ESV

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

The Direction of Your Life

“Verse 4”

The kind of sin and lawlessness John has in mind here is not a simple one-time act.

He is emphasizing the ongoing nature of sin.

As one commentator said, it is “characterized by ‘willful, habitual action’”

He is referring not just to occasional acts, but a lifestyle.

Matthew 7:23 ESV

And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

It is a habit of sinning which gives no regard to God.

1 John 3:4 ESV

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

I thought you said we were from the law?

Why would John be talking about lawlessness?

We can say for sure that John does not mean the Mosaic law.

He does not have in mind here the food laws and ceremonial laws in the Old Testament.

I think it is more appropriate to view this law as the law that Paul talks about in Galatians.

Galatians 6:2 ESV

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

So Paul knows that he is no longer bound by the OT law, but he says we are still bound by the law of Christ.

Or in another place, we see Jesus distill the law down to this.

Matthew 22:37–40 ESV

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

So all of the OT can be summarized by these two commandments, love God and love people.

This is the law of God.

Therefore, being “lawless” means living the kind of life that tramples these great commands.

Sin is loving the things God created more than loving God.

Sin is loving oneself more than loving others.

How do you measure the direction of your life?

Think about where you were a week ago.

A month ago, how about a year ago, how about 10 years...

When we think about the direction of our lives, we need to measure in the same way you would measure the growth of a tree.

We can’t do this in an instance. We must do this over time.

And over time, if John were to give an analysis of the one who makes a practice of sinning.

The rings would be all shriveled. It would be rotting.

John is addressing here an indifference to sin, which is likely what the Gnostics held.

I like what one commentator said, “You can be no more indifferent to sin than you could be indifferent to a rattlesnake in your house.”

They had an indifference to sin in their lives.

I think we are honestly bad judges of this though.

Charles Spurgeon once made the observation that we sometimes mistakenly judge the gravity of sin merely by the consequences of it.

Rather, we should not judge the weight of sin by the damage it does, but from the thing itself.

We need to see that our problem is the sin itself, not the result of the sin.

And do you see, this is what blame shifting does.

It looks at the consequences rather than the thing itself.

Now the believer, the true Christian, knows this.

Notice, he doesn’t know that he is a good person.

Romans 4:7 ESV

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;

Titus 2:11–14 NKJV

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

And John is saying, “There should be no indifference to wickedness and rebellion, because of what sin is and where sin comes from!”

So, where does sin find its origin?

1 John 3:8 (NKJV)

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.

The Origins of Sin

“Verse 8a”

Again, John is likely addressing a kind of “no big deal” approach to sin in this community.

John is seeking to remind and surprise his readers by this striking statement!

1 John 3:8 (ESV)

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

The one who continues in sin, is one who is showing who he is following after.

He is one who is following the one who has been sinning from the beginning.

John 8:44 ESV

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.

Example - Handing a Telescope to a Blind Man

You may put a telescope into the hands of a man who is blind, and bid him look at some distant star, or on some lovely landscape.

He tells you he sees nothing.

Well, his witness is true.

But if the blind man goes further, and asserts that because he sees nothing there is nothing to see, his assertion is untrue, and his witness is worthless, because he speaks beyond the range of his capacity.

Such is the value of the natural man's opinion when he declares his mind on spiritual things.

The natural man’s opinion is such because he resides under the grasp of the evil one.

He stands under the power of sin over his life.

How then is sin conquered?

The Purposes of Christ

“Verse 5, 8”

These purposes of why Christ came are critical.

They’re critical because they determine what we should expect of our Savior.

If we have expectations of Jesus which are unbiblical; then we worship a Savior made up in our imagination.

We will have a happy Jesus, or a friendly Jesus, but never Jesus for who He really is.

Asking College Students...

They would wear a cross around their neck or have cross ear rings...

And I would ask, “Why did Jesus have to come?”

Do you know what their responses were?

Jesus came for me to be happy. Jesus came for me to be healthy.

1 John 3:5 NKJV

And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.

To Take Away Sin

“Verse 5”

Jesus came to have sins removed from us.

The idea here for taking away is to remove by force!

This was not kindly moving from one place to another, rather He came that our sins may be forcibly removed.

Notice too what John says, “and in him there is no sin.”

The One who removes our sin from us must be ONE who is Himself sinless.

John 1:29 (ESV)

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Here is the implication for us...

If Jesus, has removed sin from the lives of believers, then how could anyone give a place to it in their lives.

The implication is this: if Christ has taken away our sins by His perfect life, then how could we continue to walk in it?

But there is another purpose which Christ came for....

1 John 3:8 (NKJV)

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

To Destroy the Works of the Devil

“Verse 8b”

Jesus doesn’t just deal with the object of sin itself, he deals with its origins as well.

John’s point is that sin is not merely connected with the devil but it originates from him.

It is from the devil that sinning itself began from his origins.

Matthew 12:25–29 ESV

Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.

Satan truly is a defeated foe. His power over unbelievers still is great: the “whole world lies in the evil one” (1 John 5:19); he can “take them captive at his will” (2 Timothy 2:26). Yet this no longer is true of the believer. Thus the Christian by God’s grace (help) can overcome evil and is exhorted to do so (Romans 12:21).

I am fearful that the way we think about our sin.

And the way we think about the devil’s activity in this world comes from a position of defeat.

I mean that rather than realizing the victory that God has purchased for us in Christ Jesus, we wallow in defeat.

It is good to be a confessional people, we must confess our sins to one another and pray for one another.

BUT, we must never confess our sins to one another in such a way that is a wallowing in sin.

It is like saying, “I am not able to walk in obedience here!”

Demon possession or oppression affords a ready-made cop-out from personal responsibility.

“The devil made me do it.”

“The devil made me lash out in anger at my spouse.”

“The devil made me fearful of this situation.”

Wallowing in our self-absorption can lead anyone to believe these things out of suspicion, fear, or even a convenient excuse.

The Power of Sin vs. The Presence

“Verses 6, 9”

1 John 3:6 NKJV

Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

The Power of Sin

“Verse 6”

This verse is explicitly driving home the idea that a believer does not live in a practice of sin.

The Christian’s heart is set on pleasing God

In this present age, we are called to resist Satan by faith in the triumph over him that has been accomplished and assured by Jesus!

Again, I think the ESV’s rendering is accurate when it says...

1 John 3:6 ESV

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

Those who are not believers live under the title of “Sin” over their life.

Those who are still unbelievers are living under the power of sin and the power of Satan.

Romans 6:8–9 NKJV

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.

Paul’s point is the same thing as what John is saying.

If you’re a Christian, then sin no longer has dominion over you.

You are no longer dominated by sin.

Now here is the distinction between the Power and the Presence...

1 John 3:9 NKJV

Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

The Presence of Sin

“Verse 9”

This distinction is this: whoever has been born of God has had the power of sin over their lives broken.

The power is broken, but the presence remains.

1 John 3:9 ESV

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.

John is referring to the fact that the divine nature has comes to us by means of the new birth.

The new birth, which has taken place in your heart if you’re a Christian prohibits a lifestyle of sin in one who is truly born again.

Ephesians 1:13–14 NKJV

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

It is those who have trusted and believed on Christ that have received the seal of the Holy Spirit.

The downpayment that sin has been removed, that the power of Satan over your life has been broken, and that the power of sin no longer has hold over your life.

And those who have experienced this new birth share the characteristics of the one whom they have been born again through!

Just as a child shares the characteristics of their biological parents.

Lineman Position

When I was in high school, I played football.

I played offensive lineman.

My job was simple, don’t allow the other team to get our guys.

We would block, and we would push, like any good lineman does.

But on occasion, I would miss a block.

If you don’t know football language, that means I let the other guy get our guy.

It was usually embarrassing, and extremely inconvenient for our team.

But, even if I missed a block, I would go back into the huddle and try again.

Now missing the block for me was thankfully NOT the norm.

Rather it is the exception.

That is the way it is in our Christian life.

Sin is the exception, not the rule.

If sin is the rule rather than the exception, you have not been born of God.

Since everyone who is born of God will be Holy, examine your life for holiness, so that you may experience the assurance that you are a child of God.

What is the evidence that sin has been conquered in your life?

Who is Your Daddy?

Verses 7, 10

1 John 3:7 NKJV

Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.

Children of God

“Verse 7”

John’s warning here is that we not be deceived.

To be deceived would be to believe that someone were a child of God who does not act like it.

To be deceived would be to believe that someone who’s direction of their life is toward evil is actually a child of God.

1–3 John—Fellowship in God’s Family Those Who Do Exhibit a Sinful Lifestyle Are from Their Father, the Devil (vv. 7–10)

“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.”

This is the crux of the matter.

The children of God are those who practice righteousness.

John is seeking to get us to examine our lives before God.

Since everyone who is born of God will be Holy, examine your life for holiness, so that you may experience the assurance that you are a child of God.

It would be easy for me to say, “No need to examine your life, just accept that you’re a child of God.”

Because I know that some of you will hear what I am saying and become overly conscious of your own sin.

This overly consciousness of your sin will produce a lack of confidence before God.

1 John 3:10 ESV

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.

Children of the Devil

Verse 10

When someone is lacking righteousness and is lacking love for other believers, they will lack of assurance.

John is saying that the direction of a person’s life shows from where they are born.

Since everyone who is born of God will be Holy, examine your life for holiness, so that you may experience the assurance that you are a child of God.