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. 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. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 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. 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. 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.
1 John 3:1-10
In these verses, John helps us to identify real believers from fake believers. I recently read an article that talked about how banks identify fake money. There are so many different ways to counterfeit a note that it is impossible to study the fakes. Instead they teach people to know what a real bank note looks like, so that they can then spot when a note doesn’t match up.
This is the approach that John takes in these verses to help us to separate true believers from fake believers. Sadly, there are counterfeit believers in the church today. They may talk the talk and even seem to walk the walk but in their heart they are not truly followers of Christ. The sinful characteristics of a ‘child of Satan’ as John calls them are so extensive that he cannot list them but the scriptures give us a clear description of what God’s children look like and the contrast is obvious.
The key verse in this passage is 3:10. A true child of God practices righteousness and loves other believers despite their differences. These are not new themes in the book of John, but they are being emphasised again. So far in the book, John has shown us that through fellowship with God we practice righteousness but here he shows us that it is also through sonship that we practice righteousness. Because a believer is born of God and adopted into a new family, they will display righteousness and a love for their brothers and sisters.
There are a couple of verses in this passage that at first reading seem a little startling. To say that if you sin you are not a believer (namely verses 6 and 9) is certainly a shocking statement. However, an accurate translation of the Greek is not that a believer doesn’t sin but that a believer doesn’t practice sin. To practice sin is to consistently and consciously sin as a way of life. The Bible is clear that no human being walking on this earth is sinless, Christian or not. But what this is showing us is that God expects a believer to sin less, not to sin habitually and intentionally. As God works in our lives through the power of His Spirit to sanctify us, day by day, week by week and year by year we should - as Christians - be sinning less and less. Every Christian in the Bible sinned but it was an exception to their normal behaviour not a character trait and when they sinned, they acknowledged it and repented of it. A non-Christian in contrast habitually sins and doesn’t bat an eyelid at it. It is a normal and accepted part of their life.
As a true believer you will sin but you should not practice sin. As a Christian, you have the power of God to resist sin that a non-believer does not have. If you are struggling today with habitual sin, ask God to help you overcome it. Find a close Christian friend and confess it to them so that they can support, encourage you and give you accountability. As Christians, God calls us to live a life of obedience to Him.
Prayer for today
Gracious Heavenly Father,
We thank you that you sent your one and only Son to die in our place and to take the punishment for our sin. We thank you that in Jesus we find forgiveness for all our sin.
We ask today that your power may be at work in us to sanctify us and make us more like your Son. Help us to throw off the sin that so easily entangles and to live a life that brings glory and honour to your name.
We ask all this in our Saviour Jesus’ name,
Amen
Song for today
I love this song so I hope you enjoy singing it today. You can listen and sing along here.
Yes, finished the messiah dies,
Cut off for sins, but not his own;
Completed is the sacrifice,
The great redeeming work is done.
Yes, finished all the debt is paid,
Justice divine is satisfied,
the grand and full atonement made:
God for a guilty world has died.
The temple curtain is torn down,
the living way to heaven is seen;
through Christ the middle wall has gone
and all who will may enter in.
The ancient shadows are fulfilled,
the law’s harsh sentence is applied,
the sinless Lamb of God is killed,
the covenant is ratified.
The reign of sin and death is done,
and all may live, from sin set free;
Satan and his pretended throne
are swallowed up in victory.
Saved from the curse of God I am;
my Saviour hangs upon a tree
See there the meek and silent lamb;
his final breath he breathes for me.
In Christ accepted and brought near
and clothed in righteousness divine,
I see the path to life made clear,
and all your merits, Lord, are mine.
Death, hell and sin are now subdued
all grace is now to sinners given,
and so I plead the atoning blood
and by your gift, receive your heaven.
Photo by Ethan McArthur on Unsplash
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