1 John chapter 3, 1 John chapter 3. We'll begin reading in verse 4. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil. For the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. In this, the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother." Father, I pray, as we once again open up your Word, that you would help the truth of this text to be embedded in our heart. And really the overriding thought that John is trying to project in this text is that habitual continual sin and a claim to be a child of God is incompatible. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to truly understand what John is trying to communicate, really what the Holy Spirit is trying to communicate in this text. And I pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. You know, there are things that simply don't go together. You know, we would say, what, water and oil, right? They're not compatible, they don't mix. How about cottage cheese and ice cream? To me, cottage cheese isn't compatible with anything. It shouldn't even be labeled as a food item. Most of us don't get our bowl of ice cream and say, hey, let's sprinkle a little cottage cheese on top. How about a porcupine blanket? Let me just snuggle up with my porcupine blanket. That's just incompatible. It's incongruous. Scuba gear in a snowstorm. A tuxedo and flip flops. You know, now somehow in our culture, I don't know, that might be acceptable. You might be able to get away with that, you know. But typically thinking, you know, a tuxedo and flip-flops just don't go together. Integrity and honesty and the New England Patriots. They're incongruous. They just don't go together, you know? Oh, yes. There's just some things that are incompatible. And really what John is saying here in this text is this. One cannot legitimately claim to be a Christian and his life be habitually, continuously characterized by sin. Why? Because they're incompatible. They're incongruous. They don't go together. And really that's the whole idea of what John is trying to get across here in this particular text. Let's look first of all at the definition of sin. I've simply entitled this The Truth About Sin. The Truth About Sin. How about the definition of sin? Let's look at verse four. Whosoever commiteth sin. Whosoever commiteth is the idea of continual, habitual actions of sin. And we'll see that repeated again and again and again in this particular text. Whosoever is actively engaged and habitually engaged in doing sin transgresses also the law. In other words, that individual could be labeled as a lawless individual or a rebellious individual because of their actions and their attitudes. It's the breaking of God's law. I remember about a month ago or so when Pastor Andy preached on 1 John chapter 2 and verses 15, 16, and 17. And he talked about replace the word world with the word rebellion. And he said, love not the rebellion. You know, that has helped me have a fresh understanding of that text. That really, when we say the world, we're saying rebellion against God. And that's exactly what John is saying here. He's saying, one who breaks God's law is a lawless individual. They are in rebellion against God. For sin is the transgression of the law. That word transgression is the Greek word anomia. Nomos or anomia is law, a, anti, or against. And so it's against the law or anti-law. It's where we get the idea of antinomianism, anti-law. And really, it's not necessarily the state of being without law, but it's the state of inserting my will above God's law. And that's exactly what John is saying here, for sin is really saying, I know better, and I'm inserting my will above what God's will is or God's law, and that's what I am doing, and that's transgression, that's the breaking of God's law. So the definition of sin, it's pretty simple, isn't it? It's breaking God's law. It's standing in rebellion. It's willful rebellion against God. It is lawlessness, is what John is saying. You know, obviously we have human laws, and there's a whole bunch of them in our country. And many of them are good laws and right laws. You know, if I just, on a whim, in an arbitrary way, just decided that I was going to drive 100 miles an hour down Brookville Road, you know, that would not be real smart for one thing. It wouldn't be real safe for one thing. But if I got pulled over, What would I be doing? I would be getting the justice that I deserve for what? Breaking the law. You know, if I just waltz into a Best Buy and I get a cart full of electronic devices and I just decide to, you know, waltz out the door without paying for that, what is that? That's stealing, right? and it's breaking the law. And so, as we can readily understand the breaking of law in our country in just a couple of simple illustrations, that's what John is saying, sin is, it's breaking God's law. I want us to notice some things about the practice of sin. the practice of sin. And we're going to jump around a little bit in this text, because I think the way it's organized in the text, it'll help us just to kind of jump here and there, but I'll try to guide us along the way. Let's go to verse 8. The practice of sin. I want us to notice that a consistent practice of sin reveals that one is a child of the devil. Or another way of stating that would be that he or she is an unbeliever. A consistent practice of sin. Verse 8. He that commit a sin is of the devil. Again, that word commit is an ongoing habitual practice, is of the devil. His actions are rooted in the devil. His actions are rooted in rebellion against God, is what John's saying. Devil simply means accuser or slanderer, and that we would be rooted or mimicking the actions of Satan himself. A consistent pattern of sin in the life of one who claims to be a believer is incompatible, it's incongruous, it's illogical, it's unbiblical. That's what John is saying. Now he's going to say some really very direct things in this text. And he's got one overarching idea, one overarching thought, that habitual, continual sin is incompatible with the claim to be a believer. And he clearly says that if Habitual, continual sin is a practice in your life. If that's what your life is characterized by, then you are a child of the devil. Your actions are rooted in the devil himself. Letter B, a lack of sinful practice reveals that one is a child of God. And so it's just the transverse, it's just the opposite. Let's go to verse six. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. Whosoever, everyone or every believer who abides in Christ. What does it mean to abide in Christ? It technically means to remain or to stay. But it's just another way of saying one who is a genuine believer in Jesus Christ, one who is abiding in Christ. Of course, John writes about this in his gospel, John chapter 15, verse 4. Abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine. No more can ye except ye abide in me. as a branch that's been grafted in to the family of God, my life comes from the vine. And as long as I'm abiding in the vine, as long as I have a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ, that is an eternal truth. That is a life-giving truth, that my spiritual life comes from Jesus Christ. And it comes down to abiding in Him, it's being a genuine believer in Christ. And John says that whosoever abides in Him doesn't sin. doesn't commit continual, willful, habitual sin. As we go on, I hope this makes really good sense to you. I'm going to give a little further explanation to what John is getting at here in just a moment. But Romans chapter 6 says this, in verses 20 and 22, for when you were servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. Talking about an unbeliever who was a servant of sin, and that's true of all unbelievers, bound by sin, chained by sin, and there was not the imputed righteousness that we talked about this morning in that person's life, nor was there even practical righteousness that came forth, was manifested from that imputed righteousness. He said, what fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and that's the truth of every believer in Jesus Christ, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. In this text, Is John trying to teach that as believers we reach a state of sinless perfection? And I would say a resounding no. It's not what he's trying to teach. It's not what he's trying to put forth because if we went back to chapter one in verse eight, and you may want to just flip over there. Chapter one in verse eight says, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. I think John is addressing one of two groups of people with that particular verse. People who may deny the existence of sin within the human heart or people that claim to have reached a state of sinless perfection. You know, there are folks in our world today, there's a certain segment of Christianity that would claim that, hey, that's what you can do. You can reach a state of sinless perfection. It's often referred to as the second act of grace. I don't believe that's what the Bible teaches. I don't think that's what John is teaching here. But he's simply saying, look, If your life, and hear me tonight, I don't want anybody to misunderstand where I'm going with this or what John is trying to say in this text, if your life is characterized by sin, If it's just something that's a continual, habitual pattern in your life. And I can add this, I believe that if there's really no remorse for your sin, there's no repentance of your sin, that is completely incongruous and incompatible with the claim that I'm a believer in Jesus Christ. They just simply don't go together, is what John is trying to say. So continuing on in verse 6, he says, whosoever senteth hath not seen him, neither known him. Whosoever sinneth, whosoever is having that continual habitual pattern of sin in their life, they have not seen Jesus. Now, is he talking about actually physically seeing Jesus? I don't think so. I think it's in a spiritual sense that they have not seen him. In Ephesians 1 and verse 18, Paul talks about having the eyes of your understanding being enlightened. In Hebrews 11 and verse 27, speaking of Moses, it says that seeing Him who is invisible, it's talking about a spiritual perception, a spiritual understanding, a spiritual seeing, if you will, of Jesus and spiritual truth. And John is saying, somebody who habitually continually sins, they have not had that spiritual seeing, that spiritual vision of Jesus Christ. They don't understand. There's not the perception there. Neither have they known him. There's no relationship with Jesus Christ. And then, I think really out of a pastor's heart, In verse seven, John says, hey, little children, let no man deceive you. He's really concerned, again, about false teaching, doctrinal error. He said, hey, do not fall prey to false teaching. Have your antenna up. Know the truth. Don't be deceived. He that doeth righteousness is righteous. even as He is righteous. He that doeth righteousness, the habitual practice of righteousness. It's what we talked about this morning. It's that practical righteousness. It's sanctification. It's doing what is right in the sight of God. We have to be real careful to understand that John is not teaching, if I do all the right things, that I'm righteous. That's not what John is teaching. He's not saying, hey, you just act righteous and then you will become righteous in the sight of God. But really what he's saying is this, exactly what we looked at this morning and these two passages blend really well. When we believe and trust in Jesus Christ, what are we recipients of? It's imputed righteousness, right? We went through that this morning. And then because of that imputed righteousness, There is that practical righteousness, that manifestation of what's inward becomes manifested outwardly. And that's exactly what John is getting at here. He that doeth righteousness is showing that inwardly he has the imputed righteousness of Christ in his life. And he's saying even as he is righteous, speaking of Christ, the righteous one. And as we said this morning, a genuine believer will reflect Jesus Christ in his life. 1 Corinthians 6.11, Paul, in a couple of prior verses to this, gives kind of a lengthy list of sinful behavior. And he says, And such were some of you, but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified, declared to be righteous in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. There's been a change. There's been a difference. Now manifest that difference in your life, is what Paul is saying. Ephesians 5.8, For you were sometimes darkness, for you are at one time walking in darkness, but now are you light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Let it show forth in your life the change that has been wrought inwardly in your heart. And that's what John's point is as well as Paul's point in the passages that we just read. Let's look at verse nine. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin. Talking about the new birth. This is God's doing. We do not work in conjunction with God to bring this about. This is God's doing. It is His gracious work. We read about this in John chapter 3 and verses 3 and 7. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God, marvel not that I said unto you, ye must be born again." It's the wonderful truth of the new birth. It's wrought by the work of the Holy Spirit in our life, and we are born again in a spiritual sense. And John says something really very bold here, that someone who is born again, someone who is a recipient of the new birth, does not commit sin. And again, it's that habitual, continual practice of sin in one's life, and he doesn't do it because he's been born again, because he's a recipient of the new birth. 2 Corinthians 5.17, therefore if any man be in Christ, he's what? A new creature or creation. Old things passed away. All things become new. There's a radical, radical, radical transformation that comes about. It's to the very core of our being and it's brought about through the power of Jesus Christ. We're radically transformed. And John says he doesn't commit sin and his seed remains in him. Levi's talking about, again, the new life of the new birth, the Holy Spirit of God that indwells in us. And he says at the end there, verse 9, and he cannot sin. Now that's a bold, comprehensive statement. And again, I don't think that John is teaching a state of sinless perfection. But he's saying, and he's reiterating, and he's saying it in a bold, comprehensive way, that a claim to be a believer in Jesus Christ and a life characterized by sin, they're incompatible. They do not go together. And he continues on, because he is born of God. He's a recipient of the new birth. Then in verse 10, in this the children of God are manifested. You want to know who the children of God are, how is that made clear, how is that made visible, how is that plainly seen, and also the children of the devil. There's a dichotomy here. Children of God, children of the devil. And this thinking of either being a child of God or a child of the devil is found in other places in the New Testament. I'll just give you a couple of examples. Ephesians 5 and verse 1. Be therefore followers of God as dear children. The concept of God being our Father is a common, repeated concept in the Word of God. And then in John 8.44, John writes, and really Jesus is saying, ye are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do. So when he said, by your actions, the fact that you're an unbeliever, your father is the devil. And so John says this, in this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil. What's the in this? I think it's all that he said in verses 4 through 9, and really what he'll say at the end of verse 10 here. He's saying, whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God. The inward reality of the new birth will be demonstrated in outward actions, attitudes, and behavior. And if that is not true of you, if that is not a reality in your life, then you are not of God. And then it's almost as though that something is tagged on here at the end. But we know well that the Holy Spirit just doesn't tag anything on because, and John is making a final point here, neither he that loveth not his brother. That's a big deal in this book, isn't it? You know, if we go back to chapter 2, verses 9 and 10, he that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. And John is saying, look, you can make the claim to be a believer, but if you hate other Christians, If you hate other individuals, you cannot make that claim because again, those are incongruous and incompatible. You know, Paul writes in Galatians 5 and verse 14, for all the law is fulfilled in one word. Even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And so an indication that we are a genuine child of God is the fact that we love our brothers and sisters in Christ. What is the solution for sin? We've seen the definition of sin. We've seen the practice of sin. that continual, habitual practice of sin in one's life indicates that he is not a believer and he's a child of the devil. And a lack of that is an indication that one is a child of God. But what is the solution for sin? And John makes this very clear in this text, verse 5. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin. Who's the He? It's obviously Jesus Christ. And he says, and you know, by personal experience, by spiritual understanding, by spiritual perception, you know, you know this to be true, that Jesus was made manifested. He was incarnated. He was born into this world. He was physically made clear and visible, and he came for one primary reason, and that is to die on a cross to pay for our sins. And John makes that very clear. He was manifested to take away our sins, to literally lift them away. John 1.29, the next day, John, John the Baptist, seeth Jesus coming unto him, and he saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. I don't want to get off trail tonight, but just a quick thought. What does God do with our sin? When we come to Him in faith, trusting in Christ alone, what does God do with our sin? Well, let's go to the Bible and find out. Just real quickly here. Psalm 103 and verse 12. As far as the East is from the West, so far He removed our transgressions from us. Does East and West ever meet? They don't. And that is a picture, an illustration of how far God removes our sin from Himself. Isaiah 38 and verse 17. But thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption, for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. It's as if God just says, hey, they're in the past. They're behind me, and I choose to do that. In Micah 7 and 19, it says, he will turn again. He will have compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities and that will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. And so a clear picture, a clear illustration that you think of the deepest part of the ocean and that's where our sins are buried and how they are removed. Jeremiah 31 and verse 34, I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sins no more. Does God ever forget? No. But He chooses not to remember. He purposely chooses not to hold it over our head, bring it out once again, hold it in front of us as some type of leverage. He says, look, I choose to remember no more. Ephesians 1 and verse 7, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. What does God do with our sins? He forgives them. He looses them. He lets them go. And then Colossians 2, 13 and 14, and you being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened or made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. We've looked at this text a time or two before. That handwriting of ordinances was a certificate of indebtedness. The against us speaks of the law that we repeatedly violated. And what has God done? He's forgiven us, but he's blotted it out. It's just as though he erased it off the board. So God chooses not to remember. He puts our sins as far as the east from the west. He puts it behind His back. He forgives. He erases. He blots it out. And I think we could all, with a resounding comment, say what? Amen! What a truth that is! That's what God does with our sins. And I believe that's exactly the idea of he takes it away. He lifts it off. And of course, John makes a comment about Christ himself, and in him is no sin. That's what made him a candidate to pay for our sin, because he himself was sinless. A verse that we looked at this morning in a different sense, 2 Corinthians 5.21, for he hath made him to be sin for us, who what? who knew no sin. He was sinless. In 1 Peter 2.22, who did know sin? Neither was guile found in his mouth. So Christ takes sin away. And secondly, Christ destroys sin. Verse 8, in the last part of it. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. For this purpose, I think it's really the fact of sin. The Son of God, the Divine Son of God, this is the first of seven times that this particular name or title is given to Christ in this particular book, was manifested He visibly appeared that He might destroy the works of the devil. This was the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ. Destroy does not necessarily mean annihilate, but it means to render powerless or inoperative. That the ultimate power of sin has been broken, it's been shattered. Hebrews 2 and verse 14, For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh, and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death, the death on the cross, he might destroy him that had the power of death. That is the devil. When Jesus Christ died on the cross and he paid for our sin and he bore our sin and he rose from the dead, that was a death blow to the devil. That was a death blow to sin because its power has been destroyed. When he says he destroys the works of the devil, I think it's just a massive amount of actions that are rebellion against God. their attitudes, actions, philosophies that stand in direct opposition to God, those are rendered inoperative. So we've looked at the definition of sin. It means to break God's law. The practice of sin and what the presence of it and the lack of it really indicate in one's life. And then the solution for sin is obviously Jesus Christ. But what's the overarching idea in this text? John is saying this. He's really saying this in the whole book. Hey, here are some tests. that you can know that you're a genuine believer in Jesus Christ. And here's another test, that if sin is a habitual, continual characteristic of your life, that's what your life is characterized by, then your claim to be a believer, in essence, is trumped. It is incompatible. It's incongruous. For one who is a genuine believer in Jesus Christ will experience victory over sin. As we talked about this morning, we'll have a heart that says, I want to do right. I want to please God. I want to honor God. I want to obey God. That's what's compatible with a claim to be a believer in Jesus Christ. And so may this truth, may we understand it, may we grab a hold of it and realize that what John is saying is that these two things, sin and claim to be a believer, they're incompatible, they do not go together. Father, in many ways this is a straightforward text. John says some very bold, comprehensive things in this text that at first reading we can grapple with a little bit. Lord, I pray tonight that no one here would be in any way confused that somehow John is teaching sinless perfection, that if we occasionally sin that somehow we're not saved. Father, I pray that you would help us to have a clear understanding of the text. that habitual, continual sin that would really characterize one's heart and one's life and one's thinking is incompatible with a claim to be a believer. Lord, I pray that you would help us as believers in Jesus Christ, as John alludes to in this text, that we would live out righteous lives like we talked about this morning. Lord, help us as a result of the righteousness of Christ that has been imputed in our hearts and our lives, that we would manifest that outwardly, that we would live in a way that is pleasing and honoring to you, that we would hunger after that, that we would thirst after that. It would be a driving passion in our lives. Lord, I pray that would be true. And we ask these things in the precious and the wonderful name of Jesus. Amen.