The Power of God and Our Sin

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

Last week we looked at a passage of Scripture and the holiness which comes from the children of God.

I encouraged us to examine our lives for holiness, so that we may be assured that we really are children of God.

This week though we are looking at the same passage as last week but will be unpacking it from another angle.

Since God has broken the power of sin over our lives,

we must seek to rid ourselves of the presence of sin by walking in obedience through the Spirit.

To understand how the power of sin over our lives has been broken, we need to understand the rule of Satan over this world, the once for all breaking of sin, and what is entailed within the old man.

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

“Bondage to Sin”

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.

The Bible has many ways of referring to the power of sin over a person’s life.

One of those ways has been described as the Dominion of Darkness.

The Dominion of Darkness

Now to understand this dominion and it’s origins, you must go back to the beginning.

Genesis 1:27 ESV

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

God placed Adam and Eve in the garden, it was a place of perfection, beauty and righteousness.

When Adam and Eve began to rebel against God, they did so by looking elsewhere for significance, value, and purpose.

In that moment, they not only ate some fruit, they stepped outside of Gods good design.

They looked away from the life giver and the One who created them.

They placed themselves under the rule and authority of the serpent.

We should think about it more as a rebellion against a great king than anything else.

This rebellion led them to a spiritual death.

But it was worse than just a spiritual death, they actually placed themselves under the authority of Satan.

They surrendered their God-given authority over this world to the great deceiver.

2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

1 John 5:18–19 ESV

We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

This is the status and position of every single person in this world apart from Christ.

Adam and Eve were guilty, and we have joined them in their rebellion since then.

Do you see how different this is than just believing Jesus came to clean us up?

Anyone who believes that becoming a Christian is simply just cleaning your life up, is completely incorrect.

It makes sense then for John to write,

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.

What the Bible portrays is a war.

A war, a battle, which must take place in order for a person to be moved from kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of the light.

Example from Jonathan Edwards

The faculty of the will is power of mind that is capable of choosing:

An act of the will is the same as an act of choosing or choice.

Picture with me an alcoholic.

An alcoholic can choose any beverage he would like.

He can choose beer, wine, liquor, or champagne.

But what the alcoholic CANNOT do is choose to NOT drink alcohol.

There is something within him which must begin at the desire level which must change within him.

The Kingdom of Light

This is exactly what John is describing then when he says, in verse 8

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

This is part of what it means to be delivered from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.

It is part of what is meant for John to say that Jesus has destroyed the works of the devil.

He has destroyed the condemnation of Satan over the lives of believers.

This is exactly what Paul has in mind in Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

None! There is no condemnation any longer.

Paul describes it also this way...

Colossians 1:13–14 ESV

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

It is this transferring from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light which shows the unbelievers from believers.

Which is why John can say over and again in the letter that everyone who practices sin is not from God.

So how are we to think about this biblically?

Definitive Sanctification

Definitive sanctification is a once-for-all event, simultaneous with effectual calling and regeneration, that transfers us from the sphere of sin to the sphere of God’s holiness, from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God

What Frame is describing here is the once-for-all break with the power of sin over our lives.

This once-for-all event does not happen a second time.

This is a one time event.

Why does it matter?

False View #1

We can call this view the “Sinless Perfection” view.

We have already seen this view debunked in John’s writings when he says that 1 John 1:8 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

But one could easily begin to think from these passages in 1 John 3, that John is advocating a sinless perfection.

But like we saw last week, he is meaning a direction of ones life.

The direction of ones life in a pattern of sin versus a pattern of righteousness.

Since God has broken the power of sin over our lives, we must seek to rid ourselves of the presence of sin by walking in obedience through the Spirit.

False View #2

The second view is called the “Let go and let God”

from a shallow life to a deeper life;

from a fruitless life to a more abundant life;

from being “carnal” to being “spiritual”;

from merely having Jesus as your Savior to making Jesus your Master.

The first is getting “saved,” and the second is getting serious.

The change is dramatic: from a defeated life to a victorious life;

They believed that the first category was Free from sin’s penalty but NOT Free from sin’s power.

Spiritual bondage but NOT for Spiritual liberty

Duty-life but NOT for Love-life

Their “testimony” sounds like this: “I was saved when I was eight years old, and I surrendered to Christ when I was seventeen.”

This view posits that there are three categories of people.

1. Natural (unregenerate), 2. Carnal (regenerate but characterized by an unregenerate lifestyle), and 3. spiritual (regenerate and Spirit-filled).

Their testimony sounds like this because they believe the following.

“I use the Holy Spirit (whom God puts at my disposal) to sanctify myself.”

In this view, the Holy Spirit is used like someone would use a hammer.

We are able to use the Holy Spirit whenever we desire to purify ourselves.

If you notice, within this view, the purifying of oneself is all a matter of choice.

We choose when we will get serious.

This view is erroneous for several reasons…

The Old Man

“Life in the Flesh”

Now Paul talked about this dynamic in the language of Old vs. New man.

1 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Now that word for natural man has also been translated in other places..

1 Corinthians 2:14 CSB

But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.

Notice that Paul is not trying to set up a second class of Christian.

He is saying that those who do not have the Spirit cannot receive the things of the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:15–3:3 CSB

The spiritual person, however, can evaluate everything, and yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone. For who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. For my part, brothers and sisters, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, since you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready, because you are still worldly. For since there is envy and strife among you, are you not worldly and behaving like mere humans?

He is not trying to set up a third category, rather he is saying that believers may temporarily live in a fleshly way.

But believers by definition live in a righteous way.

There is no such thing as a “carnal Christian” who never bears fruit for his entire life.

Implication

And again, the fruit of a Christian is NOT he never sins.

The mark of a Christian is what he does in response to his sin.

The mark of a Christian is his response to sin in his life.

So if you’re discouraged of fighting sin in your life, be encouraged that you hate your sin.

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.

The Presence of Sin

“The Freedom of the Will”

John is saying here that the person who has had the power of sin broken over his life is free from sin.

But sin is still present in the life of the believer.

The devil no longer has the power he once had over my life, so what is his impact on my life?

Deliver Us From the Evil One

“Defeated but Active”

Jesus even taught us to pray in the Lord’s prayer...

Matthew 6:12–13 ESV

and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

This word at the very end, is not just asking for deliverance from evil in a vague sense.

It would be best understood as saying, “Deliver us from the evil one.”

He is saying “spare us from the evil one”

“Preserve us against the evil one”

Jesus is modeling for us that we in and of ourselves have no ability to do war against the devil.

John 10:10 ESV

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

We are ones who are completely and utterly dependent upon the Lord’s strength and ability to guard us.

We even see Jesus pray for Peter,

Luke 22:31–32 ESV

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

This prayer that Jesus prays for Simon Peter is striking because it shows us something about the nature of the devils activity in the world.

Notice even in this prayer, God is the One who delivers us from the evil one.

We aren’t the One who delivers ourselves.

The second thing I want you to notice that Satan desires our destruction, so he will always seek to cause us to stumble.

James 1:13–15 ESV

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Satan tempts us by enticing our own sinful desires.

The difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is the Christian has the ability to resist the devil.

Not by self-will or self-effort, but through the Holy Spirit in our lives.

James 4:6–8 (ESV)

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

By the unmerited favor of God in our lives, we are able to first submit to God and then we are called to resist the devil.

Since God has broken the power of sin over our lives, we must seek to rid ourselves of the presence of sin by walking in obedience through the Spirit.

Since sin’s power has been broken over us, what does it mean to walk as a Christian?

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.

Progressive Sanctification

“Gradual Unveiling”

Example of an Alcoholic

For the alcoholic to stop drinking alcohol, he must have a break from it at a desire level.

This does not mean that he will never drink alcohol again, but it means that he has had a clear break from it.

This man may still struggle with alcohol.

But he is no longer a slave to alcohol.

This man cannot keep on sinning in this way.

Progressive sanctification means that he progressively is changed.

False View #3

This false view of sanctification “Getting Used to Justification”

This view believes that truly good fruit are NEVER motivated by any command.

This view holds that any threat or warning in the Scriptures never produces good fruit

Rather they hold that the good fruit is produced spontaneously by the Spirit within us.

They also hold that any pursuit of holiness is not in line with our justification by faith alone.

I would want to push back against this view and remember that we are pleasing before God because of Jesus’ sacrifice.

But at the same time, the way in which we walk, also can be pleasing in the sight of God.

Which leads us to our fourth view.

True View

Our view of salvation is monergistic, meaning that it is solely a work of God coming down to us.

One direction of God coming toward us.

May I submit to you that sanctification is synergistic, meaning that it is God working underneath our working.

One man defined it as...

“The Holy Spirit uses my faith and obedience (which he himself first works in me) to sanctify me,”

This means that the Holy Spirit of the Living God is the one who first acts upon us

It is inevitable in the life of the believer but it is NOT automatic.

Which means it will come about in the life of the believer but NOT autonomously.

IT requires ‘responsible participation’

Although humans participate, God, who began the process, is the one who energizes believers and guarantees the completion of that process.

This view could be best understood as a gradual killing of sin with a gradual transformation into the image of God.

The New Man

“Obedience from the Heart”

Romans 8:6–9 ESV

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

So the life of the believer can be pleasing to God.

The new disposition of the believer is toward holiness.

It is a Godward direction.

The Spirit of God and the believer progressively cultivated and nourishes this new life.

Romans 8:13 ESV

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Certainly it is a good spiritual exercise to remind ourselves of our justification, or of the cross; certainly it is good to “preach the gospel to ourselves” and to repent of our idolatries (to mention some other approaches).

But none of these exercises replaces the act of obedience itself. In the end, God expects us to obey his commands.

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

It is God who chooses to will and work for His good pleasure.

But Paul can also say....

Colossians 1:29 ESV

For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Since God has broken the power of sin over our lives, we must seek to rid ourselves of the presence of sin by walking in obedience through the Spirit.