No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 1 John 3:9
What a stunning statement our God inspired John to write in his first letter. If these words weren’t recorded in God’s Word, no one would even believe they were from Him. But here they are in black and white—stark, bold, unyielding. And then there’s my life. I know I am a child of God. I know I belong to God. Yet, I so often fall short of the love and righteousness described in this passage (i.e., 1 John 3:7-10). “He cannot go on sinning?” How do I square this teaching with my own experience? Yet, I cannot help but think that this is the very reason John wrote these words—because he knew we would struggle to embrace this truth. John isn’t presenting some kind of Christian perfectionism…he is urging us as Christians to see ourselves not as helpless, hapless sinners but as born-again saints who now have the power to say no to sin. Like Paul, in his writings, John’s message to us is, “Be who you are! You are born of God and the righteous God lives within you—now, act in accordance with who you are.” We are really bad at remembering who we are. It doesn’t help that we live in a world that is constantly bombarding us with false messages about our identity. How are these false messages delivered? In advertisements that teach us to derive our self-worth from the clothes we wear, the car we drive, the house we live in, the food we eat and the electronics which dominate our time. In social media that inspires one-upmanship as we compete with each other to show-off how unbelievably wonderful or utterly horrible our lives are. In occupational pursuits which tell us that we are what we produce, what we accomplish, what we get recognition for. In social agendas which communicate that our greatest value and meaning is found in how we identify ourselves sexually or ethnically. In air brushed, glossy pictures by which we judge that reflection in the mirror. The problem with all of these messages is that they tell us to find our identity in temporary things rather than in the fact that we are children of God! But it isn’t only the messages sent to us by the world. Sometimes the messages we hear among God’s people are skewed. Obviously, the only One whose theology is perfect is God. Yet, acknowledging our limitations, God has given us His Word so that we might know the truth! Deepening our knowledge of the truth, at times, means bringing correction to less Biblical messages we have adopted, whether as a result of skewed interpretations of Scripture or beliefs that reflect personal experience more than God’s Word. In fact, we know that this very passage is written in response to false messages, because of how John begins, “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous” (1 John 3:7). It’s pretty clear that there were people influencing John’s readers with a false message that a person could lead a lifestyle characterized by doing wrong things and still be considered righteous. John offers a very clear, strong corrective to this false notion. But John’s motivation isn’t merely to combat false teaching. He writes this, as well, because he knows that a Christian’s struggle with sin can lead to hopelessness. He knows that when we experience failure, it is too easy to buy into a fatalistic view of ourselves by which we see sin as the norm. John understood that his readers would struggle with identity, struggle to see themselves as children of God for whom sinful living is the exception, not the rule. John anticipated their struggles, and ours, when he wrote, “No one who is born of God will continue to sin.” Truth is, if we as believers did not have a struggle with this, he never would have had a reason to write it. But John knew we’d struggle to grasp the implications of the new birth. I daresay, he knew it from his own personal experience. And so, John’s teaching offers a corrective for the false messages of our world, for false teachings within the church, and even for false beliefs we have derived from personal experience. And what is his corrective? When we acknowledge our own sin and need for a Savior, placing our trust in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we are not only forgiven sin’s penalty, we are freed from sin’s power. It doesn’t mean that sin will not be a battle, but it does mean that sin is not to be a losing battle for the Christian. Why? Because we are born of God... His life is in us! Therefore, the key to experiencing victory in this battle is not “believe in yourself” or “try harder,” but trust in God, turn to Him for help, and know that “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). What does this look like practically? Certainly, it involves choosing wisely how we use our time, what we allow our eyes to see, even what we dwell upon. But it also means remembering who we are and responding to temptation by prayerful dependence upon God. For “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Cor. 10:13). In Christ, Pastor Dan
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Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
June 2022
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