Studies Through 1 John - Lesson 12

                       Studies Through 1 John - Lesson 12

   Before we read this passage in 1John I want you to note as you read it all the verses that have to do with salvation and then we will talk about salvation. I will highlight all the ones that I see in red.

                                        1 John 4:2,7 - 5:5
This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh
is from God. Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
¹³ This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. ¹⁶ And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. ¹⁷ This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. ²¹ And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. ² This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. ³ In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, ⁴ for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God  

     In verse 14 we see that Jesus is the savior of the world. What is He saving us from - vs. 17 and 18 say The Day of Judgment and Punishment. And what do we deserve punishment for - sins vs. 10. Verse 10 says that Christ is the atoning sacrifice for our sins or propitiation as other versions say. Propitiation means to turn away wrath and atonement means to cover over. This is illustrated well by the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament.

                                                                          GOD

 

 

So what we see is God looking down from Heaven and He sees the tables of stone or the 10 commandments which we have all broken and the wrath of God is upon us. The priest would place blood on the Mercy Seat or Atonement Cover and this would cover over our sins and it would turn away God's wrath. Jesus took this to the next level by not only shedding His blood but also removing the sins from us so when God looks at us He sees only the righteousness of Christ.

This is the Gospel then; we are separated from a Holy, Just God by our sins destined for a day of wrath punishment and judgment. Christ came down from Heaven to be our Savior or rescuer and He shed his blood for our sins and took them upon Himself and made us not guilty anymore.

 

Who gets this forgiveness? Those who know(16) about it, believe(5) it, and by faith(4) rely(16) on His salvation(14) as their only hope.

 

What happens when it is received. Certainly the forgiveness of sins and the turning away of God's wrath and judgment as we previously mentioned. That is great but there is so much more! We receive the Holy Spirit(13) who comes inside of us giving us spiritual life(13), eternal life, and begins the lifelong process of transforming us(12). Not only that but we are adopted into the family of God and become children of God(2) and He becomes our Father(1) and we enter into a love relationship with Him(1).

 

   That is the gospel, that is the essence, those are the facts. The question is, how does it effect me today? Do you know Jesus' #1 command? It's not love one another or stop sinning or have faith. Those are certainly all good commands but His most frequent command is "fear not". In fact Jesus says it so often that we think it is a greeting to people like "hello". With this in mind we look at verse 18 which says "perfect love casts out fear". Let me illustrate it in this way.

 

 

We are this man in the water who can't swim - we are in the process of drowning. The Bible says that we are headed for hell because of our sins but God sent Jesus to be our savior. Jesus is the tube that is thrown to this man. What does the man have to do? Admit his condition, humble himself to say that he can't save himself and cling to the saver as his only hope. That is the picture of "salvation". There are several problems with this illustration however. First of all, it leaves him in the water so he will, even though he is rescued, still have the fear that if he lets go he will drown and John says we don't need to fear punishment or judgment. If we are saved, God sets our feet on solid ground and enables us to live without fear of judgment and hell. The second problem is that the lifesaver is the wrong material.

 

 

This is an official lifesaver. Picture the man above clinging to the inner tube and the people on deck throwing these

 

 

Can you imagine the man's fear? What if he was holding the lifesaver. No fear. Well, maybe a little pain and suffering but no fear. This is what the world gives us. Everyday we have darts being hurled at what is holding us up. This is how we can identify idols in our life. Whenever we have fear and anxiety someone is throwing a dart at our inner tube. If we are trusting wealth, when the business is failing, when our debts are increasing, when the market is crashing fear increases. Perfect love casts out fear. If you are relying on Christ, He tells us in Matt. 6:25-34 that He will take care of us and seek first His Kingdom. If we are putting our salvation in relationships, popularity, children what happens when those falter, fade, or fail - fear and anxiety. Peter says, "cast all your cares on Him for He careth for you". If we are staying afloat by what others think about us that inhibits our stand for Christ, our witnessing, serving, loving - basically our radically living for the Lord is inhibited by fear. John says that relying on Christ alone for salvation gives fear - free living. Paul says that if he cared about what others think he could not be an effective disciple of Christ. There are many other idols we could look at but suffice it to say, if you are experiencing fear and anxiety in your life or the thought of stepping out for Christ makes your heart palpate, use those fears to be a tracker to identify the inner tube that is holding you up and start living a life of perfect love with your Father who loves you so much that He sent His Son to die for you to be your Savior!

 

5 minute Devotionals to Give - The periodic Table

                                The Periodic Table / Atoms

                                    
^8 "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”  John 3:8

¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.  1 John 4:12

       Do you know what this chart is that I am holding? This is called the periodic table. It is a listing of all the different elements that we know about, their atomic weight, atomic charge, and groupings of common elements according to their properties. I was studying this as a college student majoring in Chemistry when the thought hit me - Has anyone even seen an atom? How do we know this is true? Even worse, why am I basing my future on something no one has ever seen. This is craziness! Then it hit me - as a Christian, I am basing my life on something no one has ever seen. The above passage in 1 John says no one has ever seen God.

      Well, just like we infer the existence of atoms by signs pointing to them, John says that no one can see the wind but we see the effects of the wind. Thus it is with Spiritual things; we can't see God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Heaven, yet we believe in them because of the things pointing to them. What points to them? How about creation? The beauty around us testifies to God. When I see a red cardinal I am always moved by the beauty and non evolutionary benefit of something being bright red. When I look at a baby, a miniature adult which breathes under water for nine months through its belly button and at birth changes its whole respiratory and circulatory and digestive and excretory systems. It has 2 eraser sized kidneys that filter waste products that a machine the size of a refrigerator would have to do otherwise. How about the nagging thought in our minds that we suppress saying there has to be more than this- there must be an after life. How about the fact that we make statements such as "you ought to" or "you shouldn't" or "that would be wrong". If there is no God there are no oughts, shouldn'ts and mustn'ts. And how about the change in people's lives that believe in God and live for Him. John says that no one has ever seen God, but if we love people they can see the effects of God in our lives.

    John also records an account with Thomas in John 20

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
   Did you know that you are included in the Bible? Look at that last verse - "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” That is talking about you and me. Do you believe or do you say seeing is believing? Well then you better not believe in love, momentum, wind, atoms, gravity, evolution, etc. Be consistent! Stop hardening your heart to the evidence of God and receive Him. Then you will realize that believing is seeing.
    "Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful" John 3:33

 

Studies through 1 John - Lesson 11

                               Studies through 1 John - Lesson 11

                          1 John 2:18-23 and 4:1-7
   Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
²⁰ But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. ²¹ I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. ²² Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. ²³ No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
⁴ You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. ⁵ They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

     Even though we have previously discussed the passage in 1 John 2, John repeats the concept in more depth in chapter 4 which we are discussing today. I put in italics the word spirit which appears in this passage eight times. Even though one of the main reasons for writing this letter was to warn of false teachers John recognizes that these false prophets are not spewing teaching of their own but are empowered by spirits or demons. As the devil tries to pull people away from the truth of the Gospel, he makes up clever and not so clever distortions of the truth and gives them to susceptible individuals to teach. Because man, Paul says in Romans 1, decided to turn their minds from what they knew to be right and true, God gave them over to a deluded mind that believes these crazy things that we will discuss later.
       Paul says in 1 Tim. 4:1 and in Gal. 1:7-9
   
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! ⁹ As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!

      Paul recognizes and warns like John that these teachings are on a spirit level. We see this with the formation of three major religions.
      Islaam - In the 7th century Muhammed claimed that the angel Gabriel visited him. During these angelic visits which continued for 23 years until his death the angel revealed to him the words of Allah which comprise the Koran. The angel that Muhammed was supposed to have met in the cave brought him the Koran for recitation. When he did not recite, the angel caught him forcefully and pressed him so hard that he could not bear it anymore and this was repeated three times. Gabriel left Muhammed terribly shaken and felt that something may have happened to him. He even contemplated suicide by throwing himself off a mountain
     Buddhism - Suddhartha Guatama in 600BC , born to royalty received apparitions of an aged man, a sick man, a corpse, and an ascetic monk. He meditated and a goddess appeared before him who gave him several messages and taught him the path to enlightenment
     Mormonism - The angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith and taught him the other gospel of Jesus and pointed him to the buried plates and the urim and thummin to translate them through which the Book of Mormon has been written.

 

Even something like scientology was written when L.Ron Hubbard just opened his mind and wrote down whatever came to mind which when done opens the mind to spiritual/demonic influences.

 

When you examine the Old Testament, you see that the worship of idols was actually worshipping demons.

 

the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. ²¹ You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons 1 Cor. 10:21,22

They abandoned the God who made them
    and rejected the Rock their Savior.
¹⁶ They made him jealous with their foreign gods
    and angered him with their detestable idols.
¹⁷ They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God Deut. 32:15-17

They worshiped their idols,
    which became a snare to them.
³⁷ They sacrificed their sons
    and their daughters to false gods. Ps 106:36,37

 

Because of the spiritual blindness caused by mankind's hearts' hardening, spiritual truths are not rationally discerned, but spiritually. That's why people believe such "crazy" things. Isaiah talks about it in 44:12-20

The blacksmith takes a tool
    and works with it in the coals;
he shapes an idol with hammers,
    he forges it with the might of his arm.
He gets hungry and loses his strength;
    he drinks no water and grows faint.
¹³ The carpenter measures with a line
    and makes an outline with a marker;
he roughs it out with chisels
    and marks it with compasses.
He shapes it in human form,
    human form in all its glory,
    that it may dwell in a shrine.
¹⁴ He cut down cedars,
    or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of the forest,
    or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.
¹⁵ It is used as fuel for burning;
    some of it he takes and warms himself,
    he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships it;
    he makes an idol and bows down to it.
¹⁶ Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
    over it he prepares his meal,
    he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says,
    “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”
¹⁷ From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
    he bows down to it and worships.
He prays to it and says,
    “Save me! You are my god!”
¹⁸ They know nothing, they understand nothing;
    their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see,
    and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
¹⁹ No one stops to think,
    no one has the knowledge or understanding to say,
“Half of it I used for fuel;
    I even baked bread over its coals,
    I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left?
    Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”
²⁰ Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him;
    he cannot save himself, or say,
    “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

 

Here are some of the things Mormons believe, who are by no means dummies;

1.If you have dark skin and convert to Mormonism your skin will lighten

2. The Native Americans are Jews which travelled across the seas in ships

3. 3 of these original travelers are still alive and will be until the second coming of Christ

4. The Garden of Eden was in Missouri and all saints are to return to Missouri before Christ returns

5. Temple garments are to be worn under your underwear to protect you from demons

6. God had natural sex with Mary to conceive Jesus

7. You can't get to Heaven without Joseph Smith's permission

8. Dinosaur fossils are to test our faith and likely come from matter left over from past destroyed planets that were recycled to create the Earth.

9. God is a resurrected extra terrestrial exalted human male who lives on a planet near a star called Kolob

10. The Holy Ghost goes to bed at midnight so all youth activities should end by then

11. The Earth was once in orbit around Kolob but when Adam sinned was expelled

12. There are people living on the moon

13. If you hold your arm to a square you can divert floods and lava flows.

            

       Scientology believes the following crazy things and is adhered to by many intelligent people.

          

       Of course most people today would probably say they don't adhere to a religion, they just try to be a good person and do what's right. Unfortunately that is just as blinded as the blatantly crazy beliefs. First of all, everyone is religious. Religion is defined as "a set of beliefs that explain what life is all about, who we are, and the most important things that humans should spend their life doing." Any time you say, "You ought to do this" or "You shouldn't do this", those are religious statements. To say you have no religion is a statement of non belief in a number of things such as there is no personal God, no judgment, no absolute rights and wrongs, etc. Along with claiming to have no religion, many people claim there is no absolute truth - truth is relative, everyone defines their own truths. This once again is a deluded statement because if there is no such thing as absolute truth, then your statement cannot be true and therefore is unbelievable and contradicts your very premise. C.S. Lewis says that to see through everything is to see nothing at all.
    Many intelligent people will tell you they believe that all religions are true and just different ways to get to the same God. The problem with that is that Christianity says there is only one way to get to God and Hinduism for example says there are many ways. How can they both be true? Some people say all religions are partially true and give the illustration of the blind men and the elephant. They all come upon an elephant and touch different parts - the leg, the tail, the ear, the trunk - and describe it differently because they are all just aware of a portion of the truth implication being that religions are all true just no one sees the whole picture. The problem with this is that the person who uses that illustration is claiming to see the whole elephant thus it's a claim to see the whole picture which violates the illustration.
     Many people say it is OK to have your own beliefs but you should keep them to yourself and never bring them into the public place nor force them on others. To state this in public and want people to adhere to this is violating the principle or religious belief that they just stated. Some say to say that one religion is superior to others is the utmost pride and arrogance and should discredit that religion. So I guess the Waco cult, Jim Jones cult, or the Heaven's Gate Cult where 39 people committed suicide to join a spacecraft in the comet's tail are all equally valid and good? You see, all the arguments that seemingly intelligent people make to discredit Christianity are all flawed and nonsensical but are adhered to because mankind is spiritually deluded and can't reason in these areas.

     So then, how do we witness to people who Satan has blinded and they can't rationally see the truth? I think the answer is two fold. First, Prayer. How much time do we spend praying for people by name. Here is how I think we should pray - "Lord, open the eyes and ears of so and so's heart. Help them to see the condition of their heart and be receptive to the truth of the gospel. Give me or someone an opportunity to speak the Gospel to them during that time of receptiveness." We should pray this continually and ask others to intercede too. The illustration I use is that the unsaved person is living inside a completely dark and dirty cabin but don't know it is dark or dirty because the curtains are closed. What the Holy Spirit does is open the curtain and shine the light in. At this point the inhabitant can choose to close the curtain or be repulsed by the dirt and do something about it, enjoying and embracing the light. I believe our prayers are the power that cause the Holy Spirit to open the curtain.
         Second is to love people as we see in 4:7. When mankind sinned it caused 4 types of alienation. Picture a stone being thrown in the water and 4 concentric circles emenating from the center; or if you want a target with 4 circles around the center. The stone or center of the target is sin. The first circle is spiritual alienation. Adam and Eve hid from God and mankind is in a state of spiritual death ever since. This leads to a feeling of no purpose in life or just making oneself  God of their own life. The second circle is psychological alienation - they were afraid and they were naked.  Not only did they not know who God was but they didn't know who they were and now we have depression, anxiety, suicide, etc. due to the fallout from sin. The third ripple is social alienation - they hid from each other. They were afraid to let others see them as they really are. This is why we have divorce, crime, racism, war today. Lastly there was physical alienation - pain, disease, death. Nature is no longer our friend. The inner two circles are usually imperceived or hard to point out to people because these are the areas they are blinded in. The outer two are perceived by people , i.e. they know if they are having marriage problems or physical illnesses, hunger, etc. As we minister to the outer ones in love, they see it and rationally grasp it. I believe that softens them, with the Spirit's help to get into the inner core - the spiritual. This is what Jesus did throughout His ministry with His miracles - He not only taught them about their need for repentance but healed their psychological problems such as the demoniac Legion. He healed their social alienation as with lepers brought back into society. And He healed their physical illnesses and even raised the dead to heal physical alienation. In the Church, God gives inner need ministry such as gifts of teaching, preaching, evangelism but gives external gifts of helps, service, mercy. He gives internal fruit of love, joy, peace but also gives external of gentleness, kindness, longsuffering. He gives offices of elders for preaching and teaching and offices of deacons for meeting external needs.
        God gives us a two pronged approach to breaking through hard hearts and it is word and deed but overarching both of these is spiritual warfare being fought through our intercessory prayer for the souls of unbelievers.

Studies Through 1John - Lesson 9

                    Studies Through 1John - Lesson 9

                      1 John 2:26 - 3:10
 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. ²⁷ As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³ All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
⁴ Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. ⁵ But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. ⁶ No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
⁷ Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. ⁸ The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. ⁹ No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. ¹⁰ This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

          In this passage John tells us that there are 2 types of people in the world Children of God and Children of the devil. Now that isn't to say that there are Christians and then there are people sacrificing goats in their back yard, having séances, and playing with Ouija boards. The children of the devil aren't that obvious. Satan doesn't care if you worship him or not, he just doesn't want you worshipping Jesus because that is how you stay in his kingdom.If you are living for yourself, you are in Satan's kingdom. You see, Satan's sin was wanting to be his own boss and king rather than submitting to the authority of God. Jesus says "Thy will be done" and Satan says "My will be done". The problem isn't that a lot of people who know they aren't Christians, actually are - no, the problem is that a lot of people who think they are children of God actually are children of the devil. Once again, John is going to help us know which family we belong to.
       The first sign that we are  in God's kingdom is wonder and amazement. John is writing to the people and he suddenly breaks out in praise. He exclaims, behold, how great, God has lavished His love on us, we're children of God - we really are!! Do the simple truths of the gospel ever jump out at you and come alive and bring you to praise, worship, wonder, amazement? That is a sign you are a child of God, that doesn't happen to children of the devil. Do you ever run into people that are Christians and suddenly it feels like you are best friends. I have had instances where I heard people were Christians and I went up to them and I said, "Hey, I heard you are a Christian - so am I" and they look around and mutter under their breath and change the subject. Hey, true believers should be so filled with gratitude to God for their salvation that they should instantly have a bond like I do when I meet an English speaker on a mission trip. They shouldn't say "of course I'm a Christian" but rather , "Yes, can you believe it? Me!"
      The next sign is a longing for Heaven. A longing for that beatific vision. A hope for finally getting rid of this body of sin. That selfishness and pride that causes every fight you have with your spouse. John says, since we know that He is coming back, we should get ready like a bride primping herself for her groom. Like the groom wanting to look good for the bride we should be purifying ourselves so when he comes back we won't be ashamed. This is kind of the point in the parable of Matt.22 where the man comes to the wedding feast without changing his clothes. He promptly gets thrown out because obviously he had no respect for the wedding family. The tares in the church not only have an underwhelmed form of Christianity but also one that has it's eyes set on this world rather than the next.
      This adds to our list we are compiling through 1John of internal evidences that you are a child of God. As a review they are
    1. An inner confidence
    2. Conviction of sin
    3. Conviction of righteousness
    4. Bible starting to make sense
    5. Putting Jesus ahead of yourself
    6. Craving God
    7. Desiring fellowship
    8. Desiring worship
    9. Discerning real and counterfeit
   10. Doctrinally believing the truth about Jesus
 * 11. Wonder and amazement
 * 12. Longing for Heaven

      This passage also has an external distinguishing mark between the two families - children of God don't continue to sin. It isn't that they have reached a state of sinless perfection like the Nazarenes believe but we don't continue in a pattern or lifestyle, or a sinful habit or practice. When confronted with the sin we repent with Godly sorrow and do all we can to remove it from our life and never do it again. Like Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, "Go and sin no more". This should be our goal - our marching orders. It was interesting when I was on a mission trip to Jamaica, I would ask my patients, "Are you a Christian?" and many would answer , "No". I'd ask "Do you believe you're a sinner?" They would say ,"Yes". "Do you believe Jesus is God's son and died for your sins?" They would say,"Yes". " Have you asked Jesus to forgive your sins and come into your heart?" Once again they would reply, "Yes". "Then why don't you consider yourself a Christian!?" With downcast faces they would say, "Because I'm living with my boyfriend" They got what we don't get here in the Bible belt. I could ask the same questions to 10 patients a day in my practice and get all the same answers except one - they would say "Yes" to being a Christian. John says that is incompatible with being a Christian and gives the trinity argument.
         First, continuing in Sin is incompatible with saying you have bowed your knee to God the Father's authority in your life. Verse 4 says sin is "lawlessness". We see lawlessness in our country currently in the areas of rioting against unjust death of African-Americans. In the cities where this occurs people are practicing lawlessness to send a message - "We are rejecting and rebelling against the authorities over us because they are unjust". People that practice lawlessness are rejecting the Father's authority over their life and saying I know better which is exactly what Satan did. When our church teens go to college, so many of them leave the faith. Why? Because the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life resonates so strong in them that they rebel against the law of God (usually under the guise that you can't trust the Bible because science has disproved it) because like Adam and Eve they believe the devil's lie that God is withholding something from them and they would be happier following their own way than God's way. If you are truly saved you won't rebel against the Father's laws because you have entrusted your life and future to Him.
        Second, continuing in sin is incompatible with saying that you are a follower of Christ. Verses 5-8 say that Jesus died to take away our sins and destroy the work of the devil. To continue to sin and say we follow Jesus doesn't make sense. Paul goes into great detail about this in Romans 6 where people were actually saying, "if God's grace is demonstrated when we sin, maybe we should keep sinning to show His greatness." Sounds like the kind of excuses humans would make up in order to sin. Why would you identify with Jesus who hates sin if you want to treasure sin in your life? It makes no sense.
       Lastly John says in verses 9 and 10 that we are born of God and His seed is in us. This is talking about the Holy Spirit in us. If the life of God is inside of us, we will start becoming like Him. An apple tree produces apples not bananas. A Jesus tree will produce the fruit of the Spirit not sin. To continue to sin is contrary to the Holy Spirit living inside you.
       So in summary, yes, Christians unfortunately still sin even though we don't have to. However, when we become aware of sin in our lives, a pattern of sin, or a lifestyle of sin, we are grieved and make every effort to remove that sin from our lives. This could be as simple as removing the source of temptation or telling a friend about the sin to hold you accountable. It could be as complicated as entering rehab, leaving a career, or moving to another location. Whatever is necessary needs to be done ASAP rather than continuing to hurt the one who died for that sin!