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!