One of the first questions we ask when we hear of the birth of a baby is, “Who does she look like?” Features such as physical appearance, including the color of hair and eyes, facial characteristics, the shape of the mouth or nose, height and build, are given at birth. Later on, as the child grows and begins to reflect its parents’ habits of action, speech or attitude, we may speak of a child as “a chip off the old block.” Although not all children are simply smaller versions of their parents, it is unusual if there is not something in the physical, emotional or moral makeup of the child that reflects its birth or upbringing.
In 1 John 3, the Apostle John develops at greater length the responsibility that falls on the children of God. Quite clearly he expects that the children of God will bear an undeniable resemblance to one whom they claim as their spiritual parent. That resemblance comes to the fore primarily in the sphere of conduct, in the way the child lives out the responsibility described that he or she does what is right (3:7) (Thompson, M. M. (1992). 1–3 John (1 Jn 3:4). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.).
For someone to claim to be a part of the family of God, John has outlined family tests upon which salvation can be verified or rejected. In chapter one, John refutes the claim of the false teachers to have advanced beyond any struggle with sin (1:8–10). He goes on in chapter two to make it clear that no matter what anyone might claim to believe, if they do not obey Christ’s commands (2:3) and live righteously (e.g., demonstrate love [2:9–10]), such a person is not a believer. In this passage, the apostle John reinforces the tests of faith he has already established. In so doing he further refutes the false teachers who minimized or denied the significance of sin. He gives three reasons that trinitarian Christians do not habitually practice sin: 1) Sin is incompatible with the law of God (1 John 3:4), 2) it is incompatible with the work of Christ (1 John 3:5–8), and 3) it is incompatible with the ministry of the Holy Spirit (1 John 3:9–10).
1) Sin Is Incompatible with the Law of God (1 John 3:4)
1 John 3:4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness (ESV)
John uses the all-inclusive pas (“Everyone”) to accentuate that there is no elite group that is above God’s moral standards. While those who had left the church thought themselves to be above accountability, John emphasizes that no one is excluded from the following rule: literally, “Everyone doing [poiōn, a present tense participle] sin [tēn hamartian] also does [poiei, present tense indicative] lawlessness [anomian].” This truth is universal. There are no exceptions. In this verse John explicitly equates sin with an attitude of lawlessness and rebelliousness against God (Rom. 8:7; cf. John 3:20; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 4:18; Col. 1:21). In classical Greek the word for sin (hamartia) means to “miss the mark.” It was used of a warrior who missed striking his opponent or of a traveler who missed the right path. In the New Testament, however, hamartia is more active in nature. It is “missing God’s mark” (Rom 3:23); It is a willful rebellion arising from the deliberate choice of the individual, a direct violation of God’s laws.In other words, sin is an intentional breaking of God’s moral standard. John’s description allows for no exceptions or dual standards. The phrase of: “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning” is expressed with PRESENT TENSE VERBS which emphasize habitual, ongoing, lifestyle action (Utley, R. J. (1999). The Beloved Disciple’s Memoirs and Letters: The Gospel of John, I, II, and III John (Vol. Volume 4, p. 219). Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.)
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning is living in an ongoing condition of lawlessness (anomian) (James 2:10–11; cf. Rom. 4:15), which marks all who are outside the kingdom of God (cf. Rom. 1:32; Gal. 5:19–21; Rev. 21:8). It is a willful rejection and an active disobedience against God’s moral standard, which is a characteristic of the child of the devil (Akin, D. L. (2001). 1, 2, 3 John (Vol. 38, p. 139). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.).
Apparently the false teachers and John agreed that “lawlessness” was incompatible with being born of God. What they did not agree on was that sin, defined as transgression of the moral law, was “lawlessness.” Indeed, as those “born of God” they claimed themselves “morally” to be sinless, or guiltless. Either they believed that they were by nature incapable of violating the law or that sinful deeds done in the flesh were of no concern to God, and they were therefore “sinless” in his sight. John decries such a dichotomy. That his opponents hate their brothers (2:11) shows that their claim to sinlessness is a lie, which along with their failure to love stems from one source, their lawlessness. And their lawlessness shows that they do not belong to God but to the devil (3:10). They are part of the evil soon to be revealed (2:18). (Barker, G. W. (1981). 1 John. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews through Revelation (Vol. 12, p. 331). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.).
Please turn to Romans 6 (p.943)
Believers, are not any longer marked by lawlessness. They have obeyed Jesus’ command that “if anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). The truly penitent heart resolves to obey God’s law (1 Thess. 2:13), deny fleshly lusts (Rom. 13:14; 2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Peter 1:14), resist the world’s allurements (Titus 2:12), and willingly submit to the sovereign lordship of Jesus Christ in all things (cf. Luke 6:46). Those whom God has savingly transformed have traded slavery to sin for slavery to God, as Paul wrote:
Romans 6:16–18 15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness (ESV)( cf. 8:12–14)
• Giving in to sin results in people increasingly becoming obedient slaves to sin. Those who give themselves utterly to sin will die and face eternal punishment.
• For believers, sinning leads them in that direction, away from full enjoyment of life with Christ (cf. note on Gal. 5:4). True Christians, will never live as slaves to sin, for God has transformed their hearts at conversion, so that they will now grow in their love of righteousness and in living according to God’s Word (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2168). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
Illustration: Lawlessness
On the Fox River and Chain o’ Lakes waterways of northern Illinois, officials annually face an expensive problem. Of the roughly six hundred buoys on these waterways, not one is expected to last the entire season. Each year the attrition rate for the lighted plastic buoys has been 125 percent. What happens to them? Officials say the buoys are willfully smashed to pieces by vandals. In so doing, boaters are only hurting themselves and others, of course. The buoys are there “to provide safety and direction for boaters,” says writer Stephen Lee in the Chicago Tribune. They delineate shallow areas where boating could be dangerous, and show the way to mouths of channels.” Smashing buoys may bring laughs, but it is an expensive hobby. Like vandals smashing buoys, many people take great delight in running over the commands of God. The Bible calls this the spirit of lawlessness. God’s commands are given for our safekeeping, and just like smashing buoys can cause one to run aground, running over the commands of God only causes ruin (369 Stephen Lee, “Tougher Buoys of Summer,” Chicago Tribune, 12 July 1996, sec. 2, p 1.).
2) Sin Is Incompatible with the Work of Christ (1 John 3:5–8)
1 John 3:5–8 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil (ESV)
John reminds his readers that they know (a form of the verb oida), not by mere information but by the confidence of personal perception, that He appeared. John used a form of the verb phaneroō, which in the New Testament often indicates either Christ’s first or second coming (e.g., Col. 3:4; Heb. 9:26; 1 Peter 5:4), to refer to the indisputable fact that the Lord had come. He came not only to pay the penalty for sin and provide forgiveness (the doctrines of propitiation and justification [Rom. 3:25; 4:25; 5:9, 18; Heb. 2:17; 1 John 4:10]), but also to take away sins altogether. (Away is an aorist active form of the verb airō, which means to remove by lifting away [cf. John 1:29; Col. 2:14]). As a result of Christ’s substitutionary atonement on the cross, believers have been set apart from sin unto holiness (cf. Eph. 1:3–4). The lawlessness that once characterized their lives has been removed. Because Christ died to sanctify (i.e., make holy) the believer (2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 5:25–27), to live sinfully is contrary to His work of breaking the dominion of sin in the believer’s life (Rom. 6:1–15).
John concludes verse 5 with the phrase in Him there is no sin. Jesus Christ is the absolutely sinless One (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 7:26; 1 Peter 1:19), a truth that has immense practical ramifications. “If you know that He is righteous,” John wrote earlier in this epistle, “you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him” (2:29). The Christian is at one and the same time “justified and a sinner” (simul justus et peccator). Like Jesus (and through him), the Christian is able not to sin. But (unlike Jesus) there are times when the Christian falls; when he is not able not to sin. It is the potential state of sinlessness which John has in view in this section (Smalley, S. S. (1989). 1, 2, 3 John (Vol. 51, p. 164). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.)
Please turn to Romans 6 (p.942)
In 3:6 the apostle reiterates the principle that no one savingly connected to Jesus Christ can continue to live in sin: No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning, To abide in Christ is more than to be in Him, since it represents a condition maintained by communion with God and (evidenced) by the habitual doing of His will (Vincent, M. R. (1887). Word studies in the New Testament (Vol. 2, pp. 347–348). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.)
Years earlier Paul taught the same truth to the Roman believers:
Romans 6:4–7 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin (ESV). (cf. vv. 20–22)
• The power of sin has been broken in those who believe, for their old self (who they were in Adam) was crucified and put to death with Christ. Paul does not argue that Christians do not sin at all (a view called sinless perfection); instead, the tyranny, domination, and rule of sin have been defeated for them. This means that the normal pattern of life for Christians should be progressive growth in sanctification, resulting in ever greater maturity and conformity to God’s moral law in thought and action (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2167). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
John also states the fact that: no one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him or known Him. The apostle asserts with absolute clarity that those who live in habitual sin have not seen Christ and do not know Christ. This is the same as saying they do not have a saving relationship with Christ” (Derickson, G. W. (2012). First, Second, and Third John. (H. W. House, W. H. Harris III, & A. W. Pitts, Eds.) (1 Jn 3:6). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.)
“Seen” and “known” are both in the perfect tense. To see (heoraken) him entails a spiritual vision brought about through a personal, saving relationship with him… The one who sees Christ for who he is and embraces his redemptive work is the one who abides in him. (Heb. 11:1) To know (egnōken) him is to enter into that personal, dynamic relationship with him. It is not a mere intellectual assent or innate comprehension, but rather it is a knowledge based upon experience…The verb is ingressive, which means that this knowledge is obtained rather than naturally possessed. (Akin, D. L. (2001). 1, 2, 3 John (Vol. 38, p. 144). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
Thus John taught that no one who keeps on sinning can also abide in Christ. The present tense of the verb again denotes the habitual action of defiance and rebellion by a fallen heart can also abide in Christ. It is not that people who become Christians will never sin again (1:8), but they will not live as they did, because no one who sins consistently or habitually in the pattern of the unregenerate has either seen Him or known Him. It is the incongruity rather than the impossibility of sin in the Christian that John had in mind (Thomas Nelson, I. (1995). The Woman’s Study Bible (1 Jn 3:6). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.).
John further cautioned his readers, addressed once again as “Little Children” in verse 7 that they should let/make sure no one deceive[d] them. Little children are easily led astray. Their trusting nature and comparative inexperience of life make them vulnerable targets for those who want to exploit them. John can see this danger among the new generation of Christians in the churches he knows. The problem is that we tend to use the wrong standards by which to assess false teaching.
Despite any deceptive teaching to the contrary, only the one who practices righteousness can have any assurance that they are righteous, as He is righteous. People tend to look at the personality of the teacher rather than his character. He seems such a nice man, so pleasant and friendly, so caring and concerned, so ready to share his exciting new visions or ideas. ‘They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves,’ Jesus warns us (Mt. 7:15). (Jackman, D. (1988). The message of John’s letters: living in the love of God (p. 91). Leicester, England; Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
The Lord Jesus came to earth to take away the sins of all who trust in Him, thus placing them on the path of sanctification. In contrast, verse 8 notes that whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. Diabolos (devil) means “accuser” or “slanderer.” To commit sin is thus to place oneself on the side of the devil and the antichrist and to stand in opposition to Christ (Marshall, I. H. (1978). The Epistles of John (p. 176). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).
The expression the devil has been sinning from the beginning likely refers to the moment of Satan’s rebellion against God (cf. Luke 10:18), because God originally created him as a perfect angelic being (Isa. 14:12–14; Ezek. 28:12–17). He was once one of the highest angels, placed by God over the earth and over the other angels, and that he sinned against God and was cast down (Isa. 14:9–17; Ezek. 28:12–14) (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 506). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.).
Satan is the prototypical rebel, the leading antagonist against God, and the ruler of this sinful world system (Eph. 2:2). Because he opposed God and His plan (Gen. 3:1–14; cf. Zech. 3:1; Matt. 4:1–11; 13:19; 1 Thess. 2:18) and instigated the original rebellion against God’s law, all unsaved sinners are in a sense the Devil’s children (cf. John 8:44; 2 Cor. 4:3–4; Eph. 2:1–3).
John makes the obvious conclusion that because the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil (Gen. 3:15; cf. John 12:31; Heb. 2:14), it is impossible and unthinkable that true believers would continue in devil-like behavior. His power is considerable, as is plain from his widespread, malicious activity. It is not just that he is able to insinuate evil thoughts and designs into the minds of human beings (John 13:2; cf. Luke 22:3; Matt. 8:33), and even enter into them himself personally (John 13:27), but that ‘the one who is in the world’ (1 John 4:4) is ‘the prince (lit. “ruler”, archōn) of this world’ (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; cf. 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 6:12) (Stott, J. R. W. (1988). The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 19, p. 140). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.).
Today Satan is still opposing the plans and people of God (1 Peter 5:8), but believers are no longer his children or under his rule, nor are they bound to do his works. The phrase the works of the devil encompasses various satanic activities such as instigating sin and rebellion, tempting believers, inspiring unbiblical ideologies and false religions, persecuting and accusing believers, instigating the work of false teachers, and wielding the power of death (e.g., Luke 8:12; John 8:44; Acts 5:3; 1 Cor. 7:5; 2 Cor. 4:4; 10:3–5; Eph. 6:11–12; 1 Thess. 2:18; Heb. 2:14; Rev. 12:10). None of those works can ultimately defeat the saints, who have been delivered from his Kingdom (Col. 1:13).
Illustration: Carnality, Deliverance from
Handley Page was a pioneer in aviation, who once landed in an isolated area during his travels. Unknown to him, a rat got aboard the plane there. On the next leg of the flight, Page heard the sickening sound of gnawing. Suspecting it was a rodent, his heart began to pound as he visualized the serious damage that could be done to the fragile mechanisms that controlled his plane and the difficulty of repairs because of the lack of skilled labor and materials in the area. What could he do? He remembered hearing that a rat cannot survive at high altitudes, so he pulled back on the stick. The airplane climbed higher and higher. Page listened intently and finally sighed with relief. The gnawing had stopped. When he arrived at his destination, he found the rat lying dead behind the cockpit!
Oftentimes we, God’s children, are plagued by sin that gnaws at our life simply because we are living at too low a spiritual level. To see sin defeated in our lives requires that we move up—away from the world—to a higher level where the things of this world cannot survive (Michael P. Green. (2000). 1500 illustrations for biblical preaching (pp. 36–37). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.).
3) Sin Is Incompatible with the Ministry of the Holy Spirit (1 John 3:9–10)
1 John 3:9–10 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. (ESV)
The new birth (being born of God) epitomizes the work of the Holy Spirit (John 3:3–8; cf. 1:12–13). The Holy Spirit implants in those He regenerates the principle of His divine life, which John pictures as a seed. Just as a human birth results from an implanted seed that grows into new physical life, so also spiritual life begins when, at the moment of regeneration, the divine seed is implanted by the Spirit within the one who believes. (1 Peter 1:23–25; cf. Ps. 19:7; 2 Peter 1:4) God’s seed (sperma, Gk.) represents the new life which results from spiritual regeneration. This life is vitalized by the Spirit and removes an individual from the dominion of Satan (Criswell, W. A., Patterson, P., Clendenen, E. R., Akin, D. L., Chamberlin, M., Patterson, D. K., & Pogue, J. (Eds.). (1991). Believer’s Study Bible (electronic ed., 1 Jn 3:9). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.).
The new birth is from imperishable seed, securing the believer’s salvation for eternity. It enlightens the mind so one can discern spiritual realities (John 14:26; 1 Cor. 2:10, 13–14; cf. Isa. 40:13–14). It gives believers the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16) so they can understand the thoughts of God. It liberates and energizes the enslaved will, previously unable to obey God but now freely able and willing to do so (John 6:44, 65; Col. 2:13; cf. John 5:21b). The new birth signals the end of the sinner’s old life; those who were hopelessly corrupt become new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), buried with Him and raised unto a new life of righteousness (Rom. 6:4; Eph. 4:24). Therefore John states again that believers cannot keep on sinning, because they are born of God. To keep on sinning, is expressed in a continuous present tense, indicating that one born of God will not continue living a life of sin. Again, it is not intended to suggest that the one born of God will never sin or make a mistake; it means that one born of God will not live a life that is characterized by sin.( Womack, M. M. (1998). 1, 2 & 3 John (1 Jn 3:9). Joplin, MO: College Press.)
The believer cannot continue in sin because they are born of God. The divine life that has been implanted through the new birth. A new nature, a divine nature, has been imparted to the believer. The life of God is now his life, and a life of sin is simply no longer possible (Akin, D. L. (2001). 1, 2, 3 John (Vol. 38, p. 149). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
Please turn to Ephesians 2 (p.976)
The new birth is also a monergistic operation, which means God’s Spirit alone accomplishes it. (It is not synergistic, which means that human effort would also play some part in the process.) Paul’s language in Ephesians 2:1–6 is unmistakably clear in this regard:
Ephesians 2:1–6 2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (ESV)
(cf. Titus 3:5; James 1:18)
• Because unregenerate people are spiritually dead, they are unable to respond to divine truth. This doctrine of total depravity—better stated, total human inability—does not mean that the unredeemed are all as sinful as they possibly could be. Rather, it means that their fallen, sinful natures affect every area of life and render them incapable of saving themselves. Thus the spiritually dead person needs to be made alive by God alone, through His Spirit. That same power energizes every aspect of Christian living (cf. Rom. 6:11–13).
John concludes this section in verse 10 with the summary statement, By this it is evident/obvious who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever/anyone does not practice righteousness is not of God. There are only two groups of people in the world (cf. Prov. 15:9): the children of God and the children of the devil. The first exhibits God’s righteous character through obeying His law (cf. Luke 1:6); the second exhibits Satan’s sinful character by disregarding the Word and habitually sinning (cf. Pss. 36:3; 119:150; Rom. 2:8). No matter what people may profess, or what past religious ritual or experience they may point to, whoever/anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. There is no in-between ground. There are none who are half-and-half. God’s children are known by their righteous lives. The final phrase of this section, nor is the one who does not love his brother, reaffirms to readers another aspect of John’s moral test to identify true believers, namely the test of love (cf. John 13:34–35). For the apostle, it was also obvious that anyone claiming to be a Christian but not demonstrating brotherly love could not really be in Christ. Love here is not used in the sense of friendliness or mere human affection, but it is divine love. It is loving others as Christ loved us. Actually, this cannot be done in one’s own personal strength, but only as empowered by the Holy Spirit. (MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 2317). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.)
(Format note: Outline & some base commentary from MacArthur, J. (2007). 1, 2, 3 John (pp. 119–128). Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.)
