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An explanation of
1 John ch. 3 v. 9 Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. "If ever we come across a verse we don't understand, more often than not, it is because we do not believe it. "By faith, we understand" (Heb 11:3) |
Spurgeon's daily reading 13th April. the day of wriitng this article. 20118
When we know the Lord, we receive the forgieness of sins.We know Him as the God of Grace, passing by our transgressions. But how divinely is this promise worded:
"For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
Can God forget? He says he will and He means what he says. He will regard us as though we had never sinned.
The great Atonement so effectively removed all sin, that it is, to the mind of God , no more in existence.
The believer is now in Christ Jesus, as accepted as Adam in his innocence; yea more so, for he wears a divine righteousness, and that of Adam was but Human
The Great Lord will not remember our sins so as to punish them, or so as to love us one atom less because of them. As a debt when paid ceases to be a debt, even so does the Lord make a complete obliteration of iniquity of His people.
When we know the Lord, we receive the forgieness of sins.We know Him as the God of Grace, passing by our transgressions. But how divinely is this promise worded:
"For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
Can God forget? He says he will and He means what he says. He will regard us as though we had never sinned.
The great Atonement so effectively removed all sin, that it is, to the mind of God , no more in existence.
The believer is now in Christ Jesus, as accepted as Adam in his innocence; yea more so, for he wears a divine righteousness, and that of Adam was but Human
The Great Lord will not remember our sins so as to punish them, or so as to love us one atom less because of them. As a debt when paid ceases to be a debt, even so does the Lord make a complete obliteration of iniquity of His people.
Sons of God
I Jn 3:1-2 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
I Jn 3:9-10 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
John’s epistle contains some very strong, somewhat dogmatic statements which seem quite hard to swallow, especially to many who read it for the first time. There is arguably none harder than verse 9 of chapter 3.
Bible believing Christians are quite rightly well embedded in what they believe, and their ears prick up at the merest sound of heresy.
Basically it stands upon a few direct questions. Are we the children of God? Can God’s children with his spirit and nature sin? Why does John seem to contradict ch. 3:9, when he writes in Ch. 1, that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and we make God a liar. So if it seems like a contradiction then one of the verses is being misinterpreted. Which verse would you say you believed?
This short booklet seeks to explain why 1 John 3:9 is the truth, and comment on the different factors in the scriptures that are involved in this truth; including an explanation of 1 John ch 1.
“Now are we the sons of God”
The first two verses of the chapter are cause for rejoicing. For those who believe and understand the gospel become aware of the amazing love of God, that by his equally amazing grace, he has bestowed upon us the right to be his sons. Truly we have been taken from the guttermost to the uttermost.
Elsewhere in the scriptures it says we have been adopted.
Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Rom 8:15: For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16-17: The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Ponder, for a moment on this illustration;
I Jn 3:1-2 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
I Jn 3:9-10 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
John’s epistle contains some very strong, somewhat dogmatic statements which seem quite hard to swallow, especially to many who read it for the first time. There is arguably none harder than verse 9 of chapter 3.
Bible believing Christians are quite rightly well embedded in what they believe, and their ears prick up at the merest sound of heresy.
Basically it stands upon a few direct questions. Are we the children of God? Can God’s children with his spirit and nature sin? Why does John seem to contradict ch. 3:9, when he writes in Ch. 1, that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and we make God a liar. So if it seems like a contradiction then one of the verses is being misinterpreted. Which verse would you say you believed?
This short booklet seeks to explain why 1 John 3:9 is the truth, and comment on the different factors in the scriptures that are involved in this truth; including an explanation of 1 John ch 1.
“Now are we the sons of God”
The first two verses of the chapter are cause for rejoicing. For those who believe and understand the gospel become aware of the amazing love of God, that by his equally amazing grace, he has bestowed upon us the right to be his sons. Truly we have been taken from the guttermost to the uttermost.
Elsewhere in the scriptures it says we have been adopted.
Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Rom 8:15: For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16-17: The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Ponder, for a moment on this illustration;
H.R.H Prince Charles
Heir to the throne of England.
Rom 8:17
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (KJV)
Gal 3:29
29 And if you be Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (KJV)
Titus 3:7
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (KJV)
Heb 6:17-19
17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;(KJV)
James 2:5
5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Has not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to them that love him? (KJV)
Please don't read on until you have pondered for a while on being JOINT- heirs with Jesus Christ
Heir to the throne of England.
Rom 8:17
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (KJV)
Gal 3:29
29 And if you be Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (KJV)
Titus 3:7
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (KJV)
Heb 6:17-19
17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;(KJV)
James 2:5
5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Has not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to them that love him? (KJV)
Please don't read on until you have pondered for a while on being JOINT- heirs with Jesus Christ
In Hebrews ch 2., which quotes an Old Testament prophecy, it says that Jesus is not ashamed to call those who believe on Him. his brothers.
Heb 2:11: For both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.
Also in the same chapter such believers are called children. of Jesus. We all have the same spirit, and are dressed in the same robes of Righteousness and Sanctifcation There are obviously no “black sheep” in God’s family.
So as a genuinely authorised son of God, we must have his same nature. We are not only justified but also sanctified, made Holy as God is Holy.. - All by simple faith in God’s promises and not by the efforts of our own flesh.
The New Testament makes constant and continued reference to the battle between that part of the believer which is of the flesh and that part of the believer which is of the Spirit
In the first chapter of John’s gospel he refers to two sets of Jews. Those who believed on Jesus and received him, and those who did not believe on him and rejected Him
John 1:12-13: But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
When we are born again we receive the very spirit and nature of God. We receive his Life, which is eternal and everlasting. Jesus clearly marked the difference between those born naturally of man, i.e. “of the flesh” and those born of God “of the Spirit”
“That which is of the flesh is flesh and that which is of the Spirit is spirit” (John ch 3)
Although the division is clearly marked, some people have one kind of life and one earthly father, and others have in them two kinds of life and two fathers/ Which means that they have two natures. One is of the flesh and is destined to perish, and one which is of God and will live eternally.
The Flesh & The Spirit
In times past we only lived in the flesh, when we believed on Jesus and we became “Sons of God” we entered into the realm of the Spirit, which is the realm in which God dwells. God is Spirit, Mankind is flesh.
This difference is one of the primary themes of scripture, and understanding that difference is basic to true christian faith.
John refers to Cain and Abel. They both made an offering to God. One was acceptable to God and one was rejected by God. Cain put his faith in his own human farming efforts, and offered vegetables, and the other did nothing of himself to please God, but put his faith in the shed blood of an animal. Our traditional Sunday lunch is a reminder of this in that usually it comprises meat and vegetables.
Abraham had two sons- one born naturally of the flesh whose name was Ishmael and one was born miraculously by faith in God’s promise, whose name was Isaac.
This is the very reason Jesus did not treat his Jewish leaders with much respect, calling them children of the devil, rather than children of Abraham. They were only children of Abraham through the flesh, but in God’s eyes the true children of Abraham are those who have believed in, and accepted God’s promises. (John 1:12-13).
Paul in his epistle also makes it clear in Romans and Galatians. Note these verses from Romans;
Rom 9:6-8:. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are NOT the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
The Jews, as a nation have never changed. They remain a “disobedient, stiffnecked and gainsaying people” (they answer back and question what God says-Rom 10:21,Acts: 7:51)
They crucified Christ, not for what he did but for what he said. He told them very clearly that they were not the children of God. John makes it clear in his Gospel John1:12-13, John 3:1-16. Nicodemus was probably one of the best Jews in terms of discernment, sincerity and integrity, but he didn’t understand what Jesus meant when he said, “You must be born again” – “that which is of the flesh is flesh and that which is of the spirit is spirit”
As Stated, Abraham had two sons, one was born of the flesh, naturally, by Hagar, and Isaac, who was born by faith in the promise God gave to Abraham. Isaac was “born of the spirit”. Unless a Jew is born again they remain like children of Ishmael rather than of Isaac. Scripture says “In Isaac shall your seed be called”
We have a similar story illustrating the flesh v the spirit in Esau and Jacob.
In each case, of Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac and Esau and Jacob, it is the second born who receives God’s spiritual blessing.
Even in the New Testament story of the prodigal son, we have the younger son coming into a far better relationship with his father than the elder son. One was a worker and thought his works should be rewarded, and the other was a waster who the Father poured out his grace upon and celebrated.
Even the great divide between the two Testaments shouts this difference out, loud and clear. The Old Testament failed to give life because human beings born of Adam, tried but could not keep their part of the agreement, i.e. obey the Law, and the New Testament is an agreement which Jesus as a man negotiated on our behalf by presenting to God, that which he had demanded of men in His Law. He not only kept the law, and did not need to die, but he tasted death for every man, and sprinkled his blood on the true mercy seat in the true tabernacle in Heaven. He negotiated a better agreement than did Moses. The Bible refers to Jesus as the last Adam. A New People of God has arisen.. There is nothing that we need add to the agreement that Jesus negotiated,
The “Confessing” Culture.
Without contradiction there is a culture within the church today, in which it is counted necessary to keep short accounts with God, and get rid of our debts at least once a day. So regular confession of sins is generally accepted as the norm. Also most Christians would never think of saying that they don’t commit any sins and such confession is taken as a mark of humility, rather than appear with a ”Holier than thou” label.
But 1 John 3:9 seems to say the very opposite to that, for it tells us that those born of God do not have any sins to confess. Does this contradict what John wrote in his first chapter about confessing our sin? If it is a contradiction them one has to decide which text we are to believe. Are we to believe that we must continue confessing our sins, as in 1 John 1:9, or is it true that the "New Man " in us hasn't got any to confess, as it says 1 John 3:9.?
That is the problem we will try to resolve. What would be your answer be at this point?
Personally, I used to follow the same formula, believing ch 1 v 9. I preached it often to both saints and sinners. Looking back it seems as though I treated God as a type of bin man, who I rung up every night to ask him to take my rubbish away. I would mention a few things in the rubbish, but I certainly would never remember every thought, every word and every deed which were not as Christ would think say and do, nor would I confess the many things I didn’t do which I should have done. (I was a member of Paul’s ,”Oh wretched man that I am” club. Romans ch.7) (Note he didn't "Oh what a man I was, but I am"))
So if my forgiveness or my debts relied upon those I managed to confess, I would certainly have thousands still in the red column of God’s accounts. And I always feared lest Jesus came in the twinkling of an eye before I had got round to my daily confession.
So we must conclude that our forgiveness does NOT depend upon our confession.
Nay, rather it rests only upon our faith in the shed blood on the mercy seat, and the everlasting intercession of our great Redeemer. The price has been paid in full for all the sins of the world
John says so in I Jn. 2:2; And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Propitiation
He confirms this in I Jn. 4:10;
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
For those who don’t know, the word “Propitiation” means that God is satisfied. The war is over, his wrath has been turned away. Jesus drank the full cup of God's wrath. His righteousness has been fulfilled. The scales of his perfect justice have been perfectly balanced.
We often testify that Christ died for us, because that is true, but the primary truth is that Jesus died for God his father. Sin is essentially God’s problem for it separates the creatures that He made and loves, from Him. Now anyone in the world can find peace with God by the very simplest child-like faith in His promise in 1 John 1:9, or John1:12-13 or Romans 10:9 etc. the list goes on. There are scores of God’s precious promises upon which we can base our faith. Faith does not exist in a vacuum, it must rest upon something or some one.
The person who skates in thin ice can have as much faith as the person who skates on thick ice. Right faith depends upon right knowledge. Dare I suggest that all our constant confessing is based upon the wrong knowledge. To ask God to do what He has already said he has done, could surely be classed as unbelief in the complete and finished work of Jesus. There is NOTHING for us to “do” but believe. Romans 4:16 says that God has made salvation by faith so that He can pour out his love and grace. If it was poured out according to our works it would not be unmerited, it would be earned and surely worthy of reward. But the only thing we have earned is death. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life”. From this verse at the end of Romans ch.6, Paul goes on in ch.7 to explain why and how our sin does not bring about death – it no longer separates us from God, for he has given us, for free, Everlasting life- His OWN life. If we have the life of God NOW, then “there is therefore NOW no condemnation to those who are IN Christ Jesus, who live by faith*. So if we are not condemned why do we confess that we are? There is surely no merit in telling God how the devil has won again, and again, and again…… God forbid that we are in fact merely revealing our unbelief, due to our misunderstanding of the complete work of Jesus Christ. Although faith is essential on our part, Faith is not our saviour. "BY GRACE are we saved through faith" - it a gift.
Living in the Spirit (and not in the flesh)
“Living in the spirit” may sound rather weird and ghostly to our natural minds. It simply means to live in constant fellowship with the Father and the Son.This we do by simple faith, which is God’s set way in which we can contact Him and remain in contact.(fellowship)
(Caution: Ch 4 John says that every spirit is not of God. All false religions deal in spiritual realms and all speak “spiritual“ language e.g. Eastern mystics, South American animists, The “Spiritualist churches” with their medium and the New Age with its “Spirit, Mind and Body” philosophy. Note their omission of the Soul! Note also that all false religions preach a salvation based upon human effort.)
As sons of God we exist in the spiritual realm and we are able to live daily in that realm by faith. There are simple formulae;
Faith = the life of God- Did not God make everything by faith. He spoke and the visible came from the invisible (Hebrews ch 11)
Living God’s life= believing his word.
Living in the Spirit= living by faith in God’s word
God’s word is incorruptible seed. The word of God abides forever
1 Pet 1:23:Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever.
John tells us that if we continue to believe the promise that we believed when we were first saved, God’s life remains in us. That promise is God’s word. God’s word was made flesh- so we should understand why the epistles constantly speak of Jesus who is in us. When we accept his promise we accept Him. It is not paper and ink in us, it is a Living person. Namely the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of TRUTH.
Our spiritual life is everlasting life and also abides forever if our faith continues to rest on God’s word. ("if His word remains in us")
Note the many promises which all contain the word “Now”. So when is “now”?
God’s clock always reads “NOW”
Rom. 6:22-23
22 But NOW being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Our sins no longer bring about separation from God, because we are IN Christ Jesus and He is in us.
Romans 8:1: There is therefore NOW, no condemnation
1 John 3:2 NOW are we the sons of God.
Rom 5:9: Much more then, being NOW justified by his blood,
Rom 5:11: by whom we have NOW received the atonement.
Rom 7:6: But NOW we are delivered from the law,
1 Cor 12:27: NOW you are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
1 Cor 15:20: But NOW is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits….
2 Cor 6:2: NOW is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Eph. 2:13: But NOW in Christ Jesus you … are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph. 5:8: NOW are you light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
So if we have everlasting life, which is Jesus in us, then surely there is no way that He will sin.
As we still have an earthy body and are of the flesh in Adam, we will do things which transgress God’s laws, but when we believed that Jesus died in our place on the cross, GOD COUNTS us to be DEAD - also, in the flesh.
Later we have a quote from Colossians ch 2 which speaks of a spiritual circumcision where our flesh has been cut off. God has no interest in it.
Paul when writing to the Romans says in ch.2:28-29
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
The Gospel of God in the Epistle of John
The confusion concerning our everyday sins and our walk with God, stems from the first chapter in which John writes;
I Jn 1:7-10
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is n ot in us.
Note that verse 7 "walking in the light", comes before verse 9, "confessing our sins."
The need for confession of sin is addressed to those who say they have no sin. They cannot see any sin because they are in darkness. Deciding to move from that darkness and come into the light of God requires a change of mind. That is exactly what the word “repentance “ means. - to "think again".
So we can see a clear gospel invitation to those who are still walking in darkness. in this verse;
I John 1:3: That which we have seen and heard declare we declare unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
What he is declaring is that LIGHT has come, and those who live in darkness can live in that light. Surely the concept of coming out of darkness into light, should not need any spiritual illumination. But the marvel of this truth is that although God cannot walk in our darkness, we can walk in His LIGHT. We have fellowship with Him who IS LIGHT.
A deeper study of John’s gospel and Epistles, will show a similar theme throughout all his writings. He speaks of God/Jesus being LIGHT LIFE and LOVE
Light produces Life and Life (God's life) produces Love. Maybe later we will expound this theme in more detail.
Accepting the invitation and coming into the light of God has immediate effect, in that we immediately realise and accept that we are sinners. The marvel is that, even though we are sinners by birth, nature and habit, we can indeed have constant and continued fellowship with God the Father and His son Jesus Christ. (plus, all the saints throughout the history of the church who have accepted this same invitation)
This fellowship is possible because as we walk in the light of the word we have received,(that we are sons of God), the blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness. So a further consequence of our coming into light is that we will be increasingly conscious of our old fleshly nature. Always appreciating that if it were not by the grace of God through Jesus, we would have a whole life of living in the sins of our flesh, and deserving of God’s just wrath.
So the advantage of walking in the light works out to be, that we are always aware of our sinful nature, and that we appreciate our new holy nature, and what it cost the father and the Son to dress us in such righteousness and holiness. So the worst of sinners, should remind themselves God's grace and and Christ;s continued intercession. for our forgiveness. So all day he should have cause to praise and be thankful
Therefore we stay alive unto God by continuing to believe that the blood of Jesus has been sprinkled on the mercy seat in heaven, and that we now have a permanent advocate (Ch. 2) interceding for us. In the book of Hebrews we have this assurance that Jesus, as our Great High priest, lives for ever, and continues permanently to intercede for us, by his very presence at God’s right hand.
When in Romans we read “sin shall not have dominion over you”, and “being made free from sin, it is not suggesting that it is up to us to make sure we don’t give in to temptation but rather a fact which is true of those who live by faith, walking in the light. In this state, then sin has no power to separate us from God. John is just going further by saying that sin doesn’t even exist in a child of God.
When Moses lifted up the brass serpent in the wilderness, and the people who were dying in their hundreds from the serpent's poison bites, looked up to it, it does not say the serpents stopped biting, but it does say the people stopped dying as they looked to the brass serpent. That’s all they did! They looked and lived.
When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within,
upward I look, and see Him there, who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Saviour died, my sinful soul is counted free,
for God the just is satisfied, to look on Him and pardon me.
We are clearly told in Romans and Galatians that when Christ died we died. When he was buried, we were buried. So that fact alone tells us that we cannot transgress the Law, because there is no law to transgress. We have died to the Law. We have satisfied the demands of the law simply by “dying” in Christ. Having died by believing that the death of Jesus was a substitute for our death, God honours such faith, in his word, by raising us from death and bringing us to rise in Christ and to take our place at God’s right hand, IN CHRIST.
Over and over again in the Epistles, we are told that Christ is in us and we are in Christ. We are not told to understand it, but merely believe it. When we do obey, then we see and know who we are and where we are in Christ
It is significant to read that the church in Corinth, was clearly very much still in the flesh, in the church and out of the church. But nevertheless Paul addresses the epistle to the “saints” (Holy Ones)
Also significant is the fact that the only reference to confessing our sins to God is the one in this epistle. No other writer among Paul, Peter, James, Jude, or the writer to Hebrews mentions the need to confess one’s sins. Yet today if we were counselling a Christian who was feeling condemned because of sin, it would be almost inevitable that we would quote this verse from 1 John 1. But in its true context, it is only addressed to any who are still in darkness and say they have no sin. If we brought them into the true light we would tell them they have been believing the lies of the Devil. The father of the prodigal was not concerned about him saying sorry, he just loved him back. Once we confess and begin to walk in the light, we have a continuous cleansing agent in the blood of Jesus.
Our relationship with God is only by our being in Christ. Even well known, and oft repeated texts tell us this. For example;
Christ in you the hope of glory. (Col.1:27)
2 Cor 13:5:Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith; prove your own selves. Do you not know of yourselves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, otherwise you would be reprobates?
1 Cor 3:16: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells (present tense) in you?
I Jn 4:13: Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ..v 15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God.
2 Cor. 5:21: For he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Eph. 1:4-7: According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
(See also 1 Peter 1:2 and Rom.8:29)
Phil 3:8-9: Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Check out this wonderful passage in Colossians 2:6-14.
Here we have an all covering statement of truth regarding false humility. Certainly in the flesh we are unworthy, as Paul says in Romans 7, but IN CHRIST we are more than worthy. Once we start attempting to be acceptable to God by our own good works, we soon start quibbling over what we should not do, and what we should do in an effort to control our flesh. All sounds very nice but is superfluous to our being IN Christ. These verses are worthy of much thought and meditation.
Col. 2:6-14
6 As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
9 For in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And you are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
11 In whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, has he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increases with the increase of God.
20 Wherefore if you are dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
That surely "wraps up" any argument. But here are a few "pieces of string" to tie the wrapping.
II Th 1:12 —I Jn 1:5—I Jn 2:5—I Jn 2:6—Jn 2:8—Jn 2:27-29—I Jn 3:5—I Jn
3:6—I Jn 3:17—I Jn 3:24—I Jn 4:16.
Then John caps it with that extra "golden bow" at the very end of His parcelled epistle.
If we only had one other verse to show the truth of ch.3:9, this could be it.
I Jn.5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
When reading Romans ch 6 to a group of believers we ask "Shall we continue in sin that Grace may abound?" Immediately all would respond in unison "God Forbid!" But very few would ever have asked themselves, what on earth did Paul write in chapters 3-6, to even give him the thought that there was a choice, either to continue in sin or not. But please note the freedom that the love of God gives his children. Unsurprisingly, our flesh delights in such thoughts of that kind of freedom. For if he loved us when we were enemies can he stop loving us after we believe on His Son? Later Paul writes to the Galatians, not to use this liberty for an occasion to the flesh. But if we don't see the choice we have, we have skipped over the most crucial part of the Gospel. God is love, he loves to pour out grace. Yes, we know that the last verse in Galatians ch 2 says, "I do not frustrate the grace of God". Paul realises there is a purpose in God's continual grace as long as we continue to have faith. ( read Rom 4:16) God is Love. that is all He uses to change the human heart. The Law never could and never will.
Growing in Grace.
The "new man" in us does not grow by efforts of the flesh. It might look like life, but it is not the life of God. Oxford street in London is said to “Come alive” when it is jammed packed by the hustle and bustle of shoppers seeking satisfaction. But the majority are dead in trespasses and sins.
It may be wise to question if all that goes on in “lively churches,” whether it is all the life of God and the movement of the Holy Spirit, even when songs are sung of Him. Especially if we do not enjoy the tune.
Without our awareness of our sin and flesh, we would not experience any grace to grow in.
John’s epistle speaks of fathers, young men and children. in Christ. We begin as children, and all we know is that our sins are forgiven and that God is our father to whom we can pray.
The young men have grown in Christ and by spiritual strength are able to conquer the works of Satan in their lives.
The Fathers had been in Christ for much longer. In John’s day many would even remember the day of Pentecost.
The fact that the Galatian believers had gone back to the keeping of the law as a means of pleasing God, caused Paul to despair, that the seed planted had not grown very much in them.
Gal 4:19: My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,
Total freedom from sin
My personal freedom came as I accepted what God said through John in ch 3:9, as a free gift. It was a fuller awareness of God’s abounding grace towards his children. It prompts the question, What kind of love is this?
I began to think how all my confessing for many years could have been a total waste of time, because 1 John 3:9 says I never had any.
Here are some verses which would confirm this truth;
-being MADE free from sin.
-”Jesus came to put away sin” and all of Romans ch 5-8
- as far as the east is from the west so has he removed our transgressions from US.
-that God has buried our sins in the sea of his forgetfulness
-that Jesus appeared before God and sprinkled his blood on the true mercy seat in the true tabernacle of God.
-that “propitiation” means that God has been paid in full, and the affront to his Holiness, caused by our sin has been removed forever.
-that by one offering God’s demands have been satisfied
- that I have been redeemed freely (without a cause) by the precious blood of Christ;
- that I have received the gift of God’s eternal life, - the very life of God himself.
My favourite verse in Hebrews shines brightly in Ch 10. ..that by one offering Christ has perfected forever those he has sanctified...............
I was familiar with verses such as John 5:24, John 1:12-13, and I understood the connection between the last verse in Romans 6, and the first verse in Romans 8. It rejoiced my heart every time I preached it.
BUT (and that feels like the biggest “But” I have ever written in my life) if I knew there was no condemnation, then why the heck all this confessing of sin, which this verse and the rest of the epistles confirm I didn’t have.
Satan – The Adversary: The Devil --The Accuser
The Devil had been having a field day getting me to feel guilty, and sorry that I had offended my God. In this very same chapter John tells us that Jesus came “to destroy the works of the devil”. In the past my lack of understanding of this truth gave me reservations in believing it. Especially because I could still see the works of the devil, not only in me, but all around the world I lived in.
Then my mind came to reflect on some verses in Revelation 12:9-11
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Note two things from these verses-
Whimsically, there is an echo of evolution in the Bible, for in Genesis the devil is a snake and in Revelation he has become a Dragon. So his power seems to have increased enormously.
Secondly and more seriously, the name Devil means “Accuser”. That is his primary work. That is the limit of his power. But he can’t do that any more in heaven. He cannot tell God that his children owe him trillions and trillions because they have come short in the glory they owe to Him, for the devil now knows that all God’s demands have been fulfilled by one MAN, the man Christ Jesus. The life he lived and the death he endured, opened up a fountain for sin and uncleanness. (Zech 13:1)
From Hebrews chs. 8-10 we understand how Jesus entered into the true tabernacle in heaven and sprinkled his own blood on the mercy seat before his father, which speaks better things than the blood of Abel for it says “The debt is paid in full”
So Satan is wasting his time trying to accuse us before God, for the evidence is set before Him forever, so he goes around the earth trying to accuse us. Everything he says is a lie. He is a liar from the beginning when he caused Adam and Eve to disbelieve God’s warning by lying to them. In Genesis he slanders God to man and in Job he slanders Man to God. He will say anything to separate our union with God by faith. Faith is our life. Before we are saved he tells us we are good enough, and after we are saved he tells us we aren't good enough.
Today our flesh is the devil’s greatest ally. He comes as an angel of light, so that we can believe that his lies are the truth.
But 1 John 3:9 tells us the truth that the devil does not want us to know. And we poor sinners so easily believe that everything he says is true. He comes as an angel of light. He can make us think it is the Holy Spirit.
Without doubt as we walk in the light the Holy Spirit in us will reveal our unlikeness to Christ almost every day, for that is what light does. But the blood of Jesus Christ and our great High Priest and advocate’s continued intercession, keeps us miraculously free from sin, and to be justified (made free) and sanctified (made Holy) Sons of God.
So if you still do not believe 1 John 3:9, then perhaps you should come out of darkness into the light and make your final confession.
The air we breathe in this New Kingdom comprises Peace and Righteousness God has written a New agreement, and signed it in the blood of his son, We are accepted in HIM, In Hebrews ch 2 we read that He calls us his brothers. We are as much sons of God as He is.
Rom 8:17: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; What kind of love is this?
This is the NEW Testament, it is not an addition to the Old, the Old has passed away. He requires no other evidence of our faith other than complete rest. (Hebrews chs 3-4)
If we don’t get this settled in our faith, we will never live by faith. If we don’t live by faith we will never appreciate the grace of God, never stand in grace, and never grow in grace, nor in the knowledge of the LORD Jesus.. Nor can we ever please God.
Romans 8:34 the question is asked, Who is he that condemns?, it is not God- he justifies, and certainly not Jesus, he died for us. There is only one accuser and he is a liar. God our Saviour has made a devil-proof salvation for those who believe.
Jude 1:24-25
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless (Greek. Amamos- without blame) before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Miracles of Grace.
Bringing dead things to life is surely the greatest miracle known to human beings. Jesus had such power as did the disciples later on. Throughout church history there have been stories of the dead being raised to life. Even today we hear a whisper of such miracles, but the stories are usually so far away and the details , such as names and addresses do not get published with the story. People tell of “Near death” experiences but they can be reasoned away as natural phenomena.
But Jesus told his disciples that they would do greater miracles than he did Jesus, as usual was speaking spiritually, and in preaching the gospel, we see spiritual eyes opened, the spiritually deaf hear, the spiritually maimed walk, and the spiritually dead are made alive again.
Such miracles in the natural occur wherever people believe that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and forever. But eventually when such healed people die naturally, all those abilities die also. But the spiritual miracles last forever. So it should be abundantly clear as to which is the greater, the physical or the spiritual.
Natural miracles in the body eventually are swallowed up in death. Even Lazarus eventually died. (Did Mary & Martha get a rebate from the funeral directors of the first burial?, I wonder)
Dealing with the flesh;
In Corinthians 15 Paul gives many illustrations of Life coming after death.
Our divine life comes from our dying by death to our own righteousness the life in us is Christ and he grows in us through death. We grow as we mortify our flesh life (Rom 8. Col.3) In fact God provides us with endless opportunities to die and grow. Job complained that his accusers were just after his flesh like hound dogs, but it is clear in the book that the more his flesh wasted away the more he grew in his spiritually divine revelations of truth, which he burst out. Eventually declaring “I know that my redeemer lives and He will stand in the last day”
Paul writes “We are always being delivered unto death- that the life also of Jesus may be shown through our mortal body”
So this doesn’t happen over night. It is the growth of a lifetime of Christ within us. As he grows so we spiritually are stronger and that which we know within by faith become a reality in our body. It has taken me 70 years so far to appreciate the change. The works of the flesh fall off as dead flesh. That which we believe from the beginning becomes a reality.
The amazing thing is that God’s great slave is Satan himself. He uses Satan’s weapon of death against himself. God has given him enough rope to hang himself and all the fallen angels with him.
The book of Esther illustrates this amazing way of God.
In the book we read of Haman who made gallows upon which he was going to hang all God’s people at the time. But eventually Haman was hung on his own gallows, including his sons.
Someone once said (I think it was me) that the Christian Life can be summed up in the title, “Every day’s a Chooseday”.
Adverse circumstances daily provide opportunities to die to our will/flesh. The fact that God’s ways are not our ways is a bitter pill to swallow at times. But when we read of what Paul went through we can hardly even complain. James goes as far as to say “count it all joy when you fall into various tests. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith produces patience”.
So every trial gives us the opportunity to flex our muscles and increase our spiritual strength. “Tests and Trials” is the name outside God’s gym.
If we are offended as often as 490 times in one day, the Lord says we should forgive. For we are forgiven as many times in one day. For every breath we breathe, everything we do, everything we see, smell, taste, and touch, we should give God glory., but usually our first destination of glory goes to ourselves and then to people, or things. To doctors, teachers, drivers, bosses, family or friends, the list is endless of the things we count worthy of glory or thanks. Sin is coming short of the glory we should give to God. We cannot make up for it by singing a few songs on Sunday.
This reveals just how much we are forgiven each day and how much grace is showered upon us. So much so that God has made us to be his sons, justified, sanctified and totally free from ALL sin
P.S. The word for trespass in Greek is Paraptoma- means an “unintentional slide slip” . Matthew translates it as “debts” . The word for sin is a different word.
In 1 John ch 3 Sin is defined as transgression which is Breaking the law.
Heb 2:11: For both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.
Also in the same chapter such believers are called children. of Jesus. We all have the same spirit, and are dressed in the same robes of Righteousness and Sanctifcation There are obviously no “black sheep” in God’s family.
So as a genuinely authorised son of God, we must have his same nature. We are not only justified but also sanctified, made Holy as God is Holy.. - All by simple faith in God’s promises and not by the efforts of our own flesh.
The New Testament makes constant and continued reference to the battle between that part of the believer which is of the flesh and that part of the believer which is of the Spirit
In the first chapter of John’s gospel he refers to two sets of Jews. Those who believed on Jesus and received him, and those who did not believe on him and rejected Him
John 1:12-13: But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
When we are born again we receive the very spirit and nature of God. We receive his Life, which is eternal and everlasting. Jesus clearly marked the difference between those born naturally of man, i.e. “of the flesh” and those born of God “of the Spirit”
“That which is of the flesh is flesh and that which is of the Spirit is spirit” (John ch 3)
Although the division is clearly marked, some people have one kind of life and one earthly father, and others have in them two kinds of life and two fathers/ Which means that they have two natures. One is of the flesh and is destined to perish, and one which is of God and will live eternally.
The Flesh & The Spirit
In times past we only lived in the flesh, when we believed on Jesus and we became “Sons of God” we entered into the realm of the Spirit, which is the realm in which God dwells. God is Spirit, Mankind is flesh.
This difference is one of the primary themes of scripture, and understanding that difference is basic to true christian faith.
John refers to Cain and Abel. They both made an offering to God. One was acceptable to God and one was rejected by God. Cain put his faith in his own human farming efforts, and offered vegetables, and the other did nothing of himself to please God, but put his faith in the shed blood of an animal. Our traditional Sunday lunch is a reminder of this in that usually it comprises meat and vegetables.
Abraham had two sons- one born naturally of the flesh whose name was Ishmael and one was born miraculously by faith in God’s promise, whose name was Isaac.
This is the very reason Jesus did not treat his Jewish leaders with much respect, calling them children of the devil, rather than children of Abraham. They were only children of Abraham through the flesh, but in God’s eyes the true children of Abraham are those who have believed in, and accepted God’s promises. (John 1:12-13).
Paul in his epistle also makes it clear in Romans and Galatians. Note these verses from Romans;
Rom 9:6-8:. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are NOT the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
The Jews, as a nation have never changed. They remain a “disobedient, stiffnecked and gainsaying people” (they answer back and question what God says-Rom 10:21,Acts: 7:51)
They crucified Christ, not for what he did but for what he said. He told them very clearly that they were not the children of God. John makes it clear in his Gospel John1:12-13, John 3:1-16. Nicodemus was probably one of the best Jews in terms of discernment, sincerity and integrity, but he didn’t understand what Jesus meant when he said, “You must be born again” – “that which is of the flesh is flesh and that which is of the spirit is spirit”
As Stated, Abraham had two sons, one was born of the flesh, naturally, by Hagar, and Isaac, who was born by faith in the promise God gave to Abraham. Isaac was “born of the spirit”. Unless a Jew is born again they remain like children of Ishmael rather than of Isaac. Scripture says “In Isaac shall your seed be called”
We have a similar story illustrating the flesh v the spirit in Esau and Jacob.
In each case, of Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac and Esau and Jacob, it is the second born who receives God’s spiritual blessing.
Even in the New Testament story of the prodigal son, we have the younger son coming into a far better relationship with his father than the elder son. One was a worker and thought his works should be rewarded, and the other was a waster who the Father poured out his grace upon and celebrated.
Even the great divide between the two Testaments shouts this difference out, loud and clear. The Old Testament failed to give life because human beings born of Adam, tried but could not keep their part of the agreement, i.e. obey the Law, and the New Testament is an agreement which Jesus as a man negotiated on our behalf by presenting to God, that which he had demanded of men in His Law. He not only kept the law, and did not need to die, but he tasted death for every man, and sprinkled his blood on the true mercy seat in the true tabernacle in Heaven. He negotiated a better agreement than did Moses. The Bible refers to Jesus as the last Adam. A New People of God has arisen.. There is nothing that we need add to the agreement that Jesus negotiated,
The “Confessing” Culture.
Without contradiction there is a culture within the church today, in which it is counted necessary to keep short accounts with God, and get rid of our debts at least once a day. So regular confession of sins is generally accepted as the norm. Also most Christians would never think of saying that they don’t commit any sins and such confession is taken as a mark of humility, rather than appear with a ”Holier than thou” label.
But 1 John 3:9 seems to say the very opposite to that, for it tells us that those born of God do not have any sins to confess. Does this contradict what John wrote in his first chapter about confessing our sin? If it is a contradiction them one has to decide which text we are to believe. Are we to believe that we must continue confessing our sins, as in 1 John 1:9, or is it true that the "New Man " in us hasn't got any to confess, as it says 1 John 3:9.?
That is the problem we will try to resolve. What would be your answer be at this point?
Personally, I used to follow the same formula, believing ch 1 v 9. I preached it often to both saints and sinners. Looking back it seems as though I treated God as a type of bin man, who I rung up every night to ask him to take my rubbish away. I would mention a few things in the rubbish, but I certainly would never remember every thought, every word and every deed which were not as Christ would think say and do, nor would I confess the many things I didn’t do which I should have done. (I was a member of Paul’s ,”Oh wretched man that I am” club. Romans ch.7) (Note he didn't "Oh what a man I was, but I am"))
So if my forgiveness or my debts relied upon those I managed to confess, I would certainly have thousands still in the red column of God’s accounts. And I always feared lest Jesus came in the twinkling of an eye before I had got round to my daily confession.
So we must conclude that our forgiveness does NOT depend upon our confession.
Nay, rather it rests only upon our faith in the shed blood on the mercy seat, and the everlasting intercession of our great Redeemer. The price has been paid in full for all the sins of the world
John says so in I Jn. 2:2; And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Propitiation
He confirms this in I Jn. 4:10;
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
For those who don’t know, the word “Propitiation” means that God is satisfied. The war is over, his wrath has been turned away. Jesus drank the full cup of God's wrath. His righteousness has been fulfilled. The scales of his perfect justice have been perfectly balanced.
We often testify that Christ died for us, because that is true, but the primary truth is that Jesus died for God his father. Sin is essentially God’s problem for it separates the creatures that He made and loves, from Him. Now anyone in the world can find peace with God by the very simplest child-like faith in His promise in 1 John 1:9, or John1:12-13 or Romans 10:9 etc. the list goes on. There are scores of God’s precious promises upon which we can base our faith. Faith does not exist in a vacuum, it must rest upon something or some one.
The person who skates in thin ice can have as much faith as the person who skates on thick ice. Right faith depends upon right knowledge. Dare I suggest that all our constant confessing is based upon the wrong knowledge. To ask God to do what He has already said he has done, could surely be classed as unbelief in the complete and finished work of Jesus. There is NOTHING for us to “do” but believe. Romans 4:16 says that God has made salvation by faith so that He can pour out his love and grace. If it was poured out according to our works it would not be unmerited, it would be earned and surely worthy of reward. But the only thing we have earned is death. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life”. From this verse at the end of Romans ch.6, Paul goes on in ch.7 to explain why and how our sin does not bring about death – it no longer separates us from God, for he has given us, for free, Everlasting life- His OWN life. If we have the life of God NOW, then “there is therefore NOW no condemnation to those who are IN Christ Jesus, who live by faith*. So if we are not condemned why do we confess that we are? There is surely no merit in telling God how the devil has won again, and again, and again…… God forbid that we are in fact merely revealing our unbelief, due to our misunderstanding of the complete work of Jesus Christ. Although faith is essential on our part, Faith is not our saviour. "BY GRACE are we saved through faith" - it a gift.
Living in the Spirit (and not in the flesh)
“Living in the spirit” may sound rather weird and ghostly to our natural minds. It simply means to live in constant fellowship with the Father and the Son.This we do by simple faith, which is God’s set way in which we can contact Him and remain in contact.(fellowship)
(Caution: Ch 4 John says that every spirit is not of God. All false religions deal in spiritual realms and all speak “spiritual“ language e.g. Eastern mystics, South American animists, The “Spiritualist churches” with their medium and the New Age with its “Spirit, Mind and Body” philosophy. Note their omission of the Soul! Note also that all false religions preach a salvation based upon human effort.)
As sons of God we exist in the spiritual realm and we are able to live daily in that realm by faith. There are simple formulae;
Faith = the life of God- Did not God make everything by faith. He spoke and the visible came from the invisible (Hebrews ch 11)
Living God’s life= believing his word.
Living in the Spirit= living by faith in God’s word
God’s word is incorruptible seed. The word of God abides forever
1 Pet 1:23:Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever.
John tells us that if we continue to believe the promise that we believed when we were first saved, God’s life remains in us. That promise is God’s word. God’s word was made flesh- so we should understand why the epistles constantly speak of Jesus who is in us. When we accept his promise we accept Him. It is not paper and ink in us, it is a Living person. Namely the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of TRUTH.
Our spiritual life is everlasting life and also abides forever if our faith continues to rest on God’s word. ("if His word remains in us")
Note the many promises which all contain the word “Now”. So when is “now”?
God’s clock always reads “NOW”
Rom. 6:22-23
22 But NOW being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Our sins no longer bring about separation from God, because we are IN Christ Jesus and He is in us.
Romans 8:1: There is therefore NOW, no condemnation
1 John 3:2 NOW are we the sons of God.
Rom 5:9: Much more then, being NOW justified by his blood,
Rom 5:11: by whom we have NOW received the atonement.
Rom 7:6: But NOW we are delivered from the law,
1 Cor 12:27: NOW you are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
1 Cor 15:20: But NOW is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits….
2 Cor 6:2: NOW is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Eph. 2:13: But NOW in Christ Jesus you … are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph. 5:8: NOW are you light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
So if we have everlasting life, which is Jesus in us, then surely there is no way that He will sin.
As we still have an earthy body and are of the flesh in Adam, we will do things which transgress God’s laws, but when we believed that Jesus died in our place on the cross, GOD COUNTS us to be DEAD - also, in the flesh.
Later we have a quote from Colossians ch 2 which speaks of a spiritual circumcision where our flesh has been cut off. God has no interest in it.
Paul when writing to the Romans says in ch.2:28-29
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
The Gospel of God in the Epistle of John
The confusion concerning our everyday sins and our walk with God, stems from the first chapter in which John writes;
I Jn 1:7-10
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is n ot in us.
Note that verse 7 "walking in the light", comes before verse 9, "confessing our sins."
The need for confession of sin is addressed to those who say they have no sin. They cannot see any sin because they are in darkness. Deciding to move from that darkness and come into the light of God requires a change of mind. That is exactly what the word “repentance “ means. - to "think again".
So we can see a clear gospel invitation to those who are still walking in darkness. in this verse;
I John 1:3: That which we have seen and heard declare we declare unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
What he is declaring is that LIGHT has come, and those who live in darkness can live in that light. Surely the concept of coming out of darkness into light, should not need any spiritual illumination. But the marvel of this truth is that although God cannot walk in our darkness, we can walk in His LIGHT. We have fellowship with Him who IS LIGHT.
A deeper study of John’s gospel and Epistles, will show a similar theme throughout all his writings. He speaks of God/Jesus being LIGHT LIFE and LOVE
Light produces Life and Life (God's life) produces Love. Maybe later we will expound this theme in more detail.
Accepting the invitation and coming into the light of God has immediate effect, in that we immediately realise and accept that we are sinners. The marvel is that, even though we are sinners by birth, nature and habit, we can indeed have constant and continued fellowship with God the Father and His son Jesus Christ. (plus, all the saints throughout the history of the church who have accepted this same invitation)
This fellowship is possible because as we walk in the light of the word we have received,(that we are sons of God), the blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness. So a further consequence of our coming into light is that we will be increasingly conscious of our old fleshly nature. Always appreciating that if it were not by the grace of God through Jesus, we would have a whole life of living in the sins of our flesh, and deserving of God’s just wrath.
So the advantage of walking in the light works out to be, that we are always aware of our sinful nature, and that we appreciate our new holy nature, and what it cost the father and the Son to dress us in such righteousness and holiness. So the worst of sinners, should remind themselves God's grace and and Christ;s continued intercession. for our forgiveness. So all day he should have cause to praise and be thankful
Therefore we stay alive unto God by continuing to believe that the blood of Jesus has been sprinkled on the mercy seat in heaven, and that we now have a permanent advocate (Ch. 2) interceding for us. In the book of Hebrews we have this assurance that Jesus, as our Great High priest, lives for ever, and continues permanently to intercede for us, by his very presence at God’s right hand.
When in Romans we read “sin shall not have dominion over you”, and “being made free from sin, it is not suggesting that it is up to us to make sure we don’t give in to temptation but rather a fact which is true of those who live by faith, walking in the light. In this state, then sin has no power to separate us from God. John is just going further by saying that sin doesn’t even exist in a child of God.
When Moses lifted up the brass serpent in the wilderness, and the people who were dying in their hundreds from the serpent's poison bites, looked up to it, it does not say the serpents stopped biting, but it does say the people stopped dying as they looked to the brass serpent. That’s all they did! They looked and lived.
When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within,
upward I look, and see Him there, who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Saviour died, my sinful soul is counted free,
for God the just is satisfied, to look on Him and pardon me.
We are clearly told in Romans and Galatians that when Christ died we died. When he was buried, we were buried. So that fact alone tells us that we cannot transgress the Law, because there is no law to transgress. We have died to the Law. We have satisfied the demands of the law simply by “dying” in Christ. Having died by believing that the death of Jesus was a substitute for our death, God honours such faith, in his word, by raising us from death and bringing us to rise in Christ and to take our place at God’s right hand, IN CHRIST.
Over and over again in the Epistles, we are told that Christ is in us and we are in Christ. We are not told to understand it, but merely believe it. When we do obey, then we see and know who we are and where we are in Christ
It is significant to read that the church in Corinth, was clearly very much still in the flesh, in the church and out of the church. But nevertheless Paul addresses the epistle to the “saints” (Holy Ones)
Also significant is the fact that the only reference to confessing our sins to God is the one in this epistle. No other writer among Paul, Peter, James, Jude, or the writer to Hebrews mentions the need to confess one’s sins. Yet today if we were counselling a Christian who was feeling condemned because of sin, it would be almost inevitable that we would quote this verse from 1 John 1. But in its true context, it is only addressed to any who are still in darkness and say they have no sin. If we brought them into the true light we would tell them they have been believing the lies of the Devil. The father of the prodigal was not concerned about him saying sorry, he just loved him back. Once we confess and begin to walk in the light, we have a continuous cleansing agent in the blood of Jesus.
Our relationship with God is only by our being in Christ. Even well known, and oft repeated texts tell us this. For example;
Christ in you the hope of glory. (Col.1:27)
2 Cor 13:5:Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith; prove your own selves. Do you not know of yourselves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, otherwise you would be reprobates?
1 Cor 3:16: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells (present tense) in you?
I Jn 4:13: Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ..v 15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God.
2 Cor. 5:21: For he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Eph. 1:4-7: According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
(See also 1 Peter 1:2 and Rom.8:29)
Phil 3:8-9: Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Check out this wonderful passage in Colossians 2:6-14.
Here we have an all covering statement of truth regarding false humility. Certainly in the flesh we are unworthy, as Paul says in Romans 7, but IN CHRIST we are more than worthy. Once we start attempting to be acceptable to God by our own good works, we soon start quibbling over what we should not do, and what we should do in an effort to control our flesh. All sounds very nice but is superfluous to our being IN Christ. These verses are worthy of much thought and meditation.
Col. 2:6-14
6 As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
9 For in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And you are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
11 In whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, has he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increases with the increase of God.
20 Wherefore if you are dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
That surely "wraps up" any argument. But here are a few "pieces of string" to tie the wrapping.
II Th 1:12 —I Jn 1:5—I Jn 2:5—I Jn 2:6—Jn 2:8—Jn 2:27-29—I Jn 3:5—I Jn
3:6—I Jn 3:17—I Jn 3:24—I Jn 4:16.
Then John caps it with that extra "golden bow" at the very end of His parcelled epistle.
If we only had one other verse to show the truth of ch.3:9, this could be it.
I Jn.5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
When reading Romans ch 6 to a group of believers we ask "Shall we continue in sin that Grace may abound?" Immediately all would respond in unison "God Forbid!" But very few would ever have asked themselves, what on earth did Paul write in chapters 3-6, to even give him the thought that there was a choice, either to continue in sin or not. But please note the freedom that the love of God gives his children. Unsurprisingly, our flesh delights in such thoughts of that kind of freedom. For if he loved us when we were enemies can he stop loving us after we believe on His Son? Later Paul writes to the Galatians, not to use this liberty for an occasion to the flesh. But if we don't see the choice we have, we have skipped over the most crucial part of the Gospel. God is love, he loves to pour out grace. Yes, we know that the last verse in Galatians ch 2 says, "I do not frustrate the grace of God". Paul realises there is a purpose in God's continual grace as long as we continue to have faith. ( read Rom 4:16) God is Love. that is all He uses to change the human heart. The Law never could and never will.
Growing in Grace.
The "new man" in us does not grow by efforts of the flesh. It might look like life, but it is not the life of God. Oxford street in London is said to “Come alive” when it is jammed packed by the hustle and bustle of shoppers seeking satisfaction. But the majority are dead in trespasses and sins.
It may be wise to question if all that goes on in “lively churches,” whether it is all the life of God and the movement of the Holy Spirit, even when songs are sung of Him. Especially if we do not enjoy the tune.
Without our awareness of our sin and flesh, we would not experience any grace to grow in.
John’s epistle speaks of fathers, young men and children. in Christ. We begin as children, and all we know is that our sins are forgiven and that God is our father to whom we can pray.
The young men have grown in Christ and by spiritual strength are able to conquer the works of Satan in their lives.
The Fathers had been in Christ for much longer. In John’s day many would even remember the day of Pentecost.
The fact that the Galatian believers had gone back to the keeping of the law as a means of pleasing God, caused Paul to despair, that the seed planted had not grown very much in them.
Gal 4:19: My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,
Total freedom from sin
My personal freedom came as I accepted what God said through John in ch 3:9, as a free gift. It was a fuller awareness of God’s abounding grace towards his children. It prompts the question, What kind of love is this?
I began to think how all my confessing for many years could have been a total waste of time, because 1 John 3:9 says I never had any.
Here are some verses which would confirm this truth;
-being MADE free from sin.
-”Jesus came to put away sin” and all of Romans ch 5-8
- as far as the east is from the west so has he removed our transgressions from US.
-that God has buried our sins in the sea of his forgetfulness
-that Jesus appeared before God and sprinkled his blood on the true mercy seat in the true tabernacle of God.
-that “propitiation” means that God has been paid in full, and the affront to his Holiness, caused by our sin has been removed forever.
-that by one offering God’s demands have been satisfied
- that I have been redeemed freely (without a cause) by the precious blood of Christ;
- that I have received the gift of God’s eternal life, - the very life of God himself.
My favourite verse in Hebrews shines brightly in Ch 10. ..that by one offering Christ has perfected forever those he has sanctified...............
I was familiar with verses such as John 5:24, John 1:12-13, and I understood the connection between the last verse in Romans 6, and the first verse in Romans 8. It rejoiced my heart every time I preached it.
BUT (and that feels like the biggest “But” I have ever written in my life) if I knew there was no condemnation, then why the heck all this confessing of sin, which this verse and the rest of the epistles confirm I didn’t have.
Satan – The Adversary: The Devil --The Accuser
The Devil had been having a field day getting me to feel guilty, and sorry that I had offended my God. In this very same chapter John tells us that Jesus came “to destroy the works of the devil”. In the past my lack of understanding of this truth gave me reservations in believing it. Especially because I could still see the works of the devil, not only in me, but all around the world I lived in.
Then my mind came to reflect on some verses in Revelation 12:9-11
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Note two things from these verses-
Whimsically, there is an echo of evolution in the Bible, for in Genesis the devil is a snake and in Revelation he has become a Dragon. So his power seems to have increased enormously.
Secondly and more seriously, the name Devil means “Accuser”. That is his primary work. That is the limit of his power. But he can’t do that any more in heaven. He cannot tell God that his children owe him trillions and trillions because they have come short in the glory they owe to Him, for the devil now knows that all God’s demands have been fulfilled by one MAN, the man Christ Jesus. The life he lived and the death he endured, opened up a fountain for sin and uncleanness. (Zech 13:1)
From Hebrews chs. 8-10 we understand how Jesus entered into the true tabernacle in heaven and sprinkled his own blood on the mercy seat before his father, which speaks better things than the blood of Abel for it says “The debt is paid in full”
So Satan is wasting his time trying to accuse us before God, for the evidence is set before Him forever, so he goes around the earth trying to accuse us. Everything he says is a lie. He is a liar from the beginning when he caused Adam and Eve to disbelieve God’s warning by lying to them. In Genesis he slanders God to man and in Job he slanders Man to God. He will say anything to separate our union with God by faith. Faith is our life. Before we are saved he tells us we are good enough, and after we are saved he tells us we aren't good enough.
Today our flesh is the devil’s greatest ally. He comes as an angel of light, so that we can believe that his lies are the truth.
But 1 John 3:9 tells us the truth that the devil does not want us to know. And we poor sinners so easily believe that everything he says is true. He comes as an angel of light. He can make us think it is the Holy Spirit.
Without doubt as we walk in the light the Holy Spirit in us will reveal our unlikeness to Christ almost every day, for that is what light does. But the blood of Jesus Christ and our great High Priest and advocate’s continued intercession, keeps us miraculously free from sin, and to be justified (made free) and sanctified (made Holy) Sons of God.
So if you still do not believe 1 John 3:9, then perhaps you should come out of darkness into the light and make your final confession.
The air we breathe in this New Kingdom comprises Peace and Righteousness God has written a New agreement, and signed it in the blood of his son, We are accepted in HIM, In Hebrews ch 2 we read that He calls us his brothers. We are as much sons of God as He is.
Rom 8:17: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; What kind of love is this?
This is the NEW Testament, it is not an addition to the Old, the Old has passed away. He requires no other evidence of our faith other than complete rest. (Hebrews chs 3-4)
If we don’t get this settled in our faith, we will never live by faith. If we don’t live by faith we will never appreciate the grace of God, never stand in grace, and never grow in grace, nor in the knowledge of the LORD Jesus.. Nor can we ever please God.
Romans 8:34 the question is asked, Who is he that condemns?, it is not God- he justifies, and certainly not Jesus, he died for us. There is only one accuser and he is a liar. God our Saviour has made a devil-proof salvation for those who believe.
Jude 1:24-25
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless (Greek. Amamos- without blame) before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Miracles of Grace.
Bringing dead things to life is surely the greatest miracle known to human beings. Jesus had such power as did the disciples later on. Throughout church history there have been stories of the dead being raised to life. Even today we hear a whisper of such miracles, but the stories are usually so far away and the details , such as names and addresses do not get published with the story. People tell of “Near death” experiences but they can be reasoned away as natural phenomena.
But Jesus told his disciples that they would do greater miracles than he did Jesus, as usual was speaking spiritually, and in preaching the gospel, we see spiritual eyes opened, the spiritually deaf hear, the spiritually maimed walk, and the spiritually dead are made alive again.
Such miracles in the natural occur wherever people believe that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and forever. But eventually when such healed people die naturally, all those abilities die also. But the spiritual miracles last forever. So it should be abundantly clear as to which is the greater, the physical or the spiritual.
Natural miracles in the body eventually are swallowed up in death. Even Lazarus eventually died. (Did Mary & Martha get a rebate from the funeral directors of the first burial?, I wonder)
Dealing with the flesh;
In Corinthians 15 Paul gives many illustrations of Life coming after death.
Our divine life comes from our dying by death to our own righteousness the life in us is Christ and he grows in us through death. We grow as we mortify our flesh life (Rom 8. Col.3) In fact God provides us with endless opportunities to die and grow. Job complained that his accusers were just after his flesh like hound dogs, but it is clear in the book that the more his flesh wasted away the more he grew in his spiritually divine revelations of truth, which he burst out. Eventually declaring “I know that my redeemer lives and He will stand in the last day”
Paul writes “We are always being delivered unto death- that the life also of Jesus may be shown through our mortal body”
So this doesn’t happen over night. It is the growth of a lifetime of Christ within us. As he grows so we spiritually are stronger and that which we know within by faith become a reality in our body. It has taken me 70 years so far to appreciate the change. The works of the flesh fall off as dead flesh. That which we believe from the beginning becomes a reality.
The amazing thing is that God’s great slave is Satan himself. He uses Satan’s weapon of death against himself. God has given him enough rope to hang himself and all the fallen angels with him.
The book of Esther illustrates this amazing way of God.
In the book we read of Haman who made gallows upon which he was going to hang all God’s people at the time. But eventually Haman was hung on his own gallows, including his sons.
Someone once said (I think it was me) that the Christian Life can be summed up in the title, “Every day’s a Chooseday”.
Adverse circumstances daily provide opportunities to die to our will/flesh. The fact that God’s ways are not our ways is a bitter pill to swallow at times. But when we read of what Paul went through we can hardly even complain. James goes as far as to say “count it all joy when you fall into various tests. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith produces patience”.
So every trial gives us the opportunity to flex our muscles and increase our spiritual strength. “Tests and Trials” is the name outside God’s gym.
If we are offended as often as 490 times in one day, the Lord says we should forgive. For we are forgiven as many times in one day. For every breath we breathe, everything we do, everything we see, smell, taste, and touch, we should give God glory., but usually our first destination of glory goes to ourselves and then to people, or things. To doctors, teachers, drivers, bosses, family or friends, the list is endless of the things we count worthy of glory or thanks. Sin is coming short of the glory we should give to God. We cannot make up for it by singing a few songs on Sunday.
This reveals just how much we are forgiven each day and how much grace is showered upon us. So much so that God has made us to be his sons, justified, sanctified and totally free from ALL sin
P.S. The word for trespass in Greek is Paraptoma- means an “unintentional slide slip” . Matthew translates it as “debts” . The word for sin is a different word.
In 1 John ch 3 Sin is defined as transgression which is Breaking the law.
C.H.Spurgeon.
Jer 31:34
"Saith the LORD:
for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
When we are mourning over our transgressions
and short-comings, and this is our duty as long as we live,
let us at the same time rejoice that
they will never be mentioned against us.
This makes us hate sin.
God's free pardon makes us anxious never
again to grieve him by disobedience
FINAL SUMMARY:
Jesus was known as a friend of Publicans and sinners. But was he ever tainted by such company.
Or did he remain pure and without sin, in thought, word and deed in such an environment?
It is doubtful if even those who cannot understand this text would even accept the mere suggestion that he was in any way
tainted by His friendship with sinners.
So who is it that dwells in those who believe? Is it not the same Jesus Christ?
If He overcame sin for three years in amidst such a display of sinfull flesh all around him, then surely he can live in our blood-washed" vessel without sin.
For this text is saying nothing less than that Jesus Christ in us, is the One who does not sin and cannot sin.
He lives in us and we live in Him.
Only a few verses which confirm this truth are quoted in these short notes.
One should suffice for our faith, but there are scores.
The New Testament epistles tell us nothing else.
Dare we walk with God or come to God in any other state than being in Christ and Christ being in us? God forbid!
Jesus was known as a friend of Publicans and sinners. But was he ever tainted by such company.
Or did he remain pure and without sin, in thought, word and deed in such an environment?
It is doubtful if even those who cannot understand this text would even accept the mere suggestion that he was in any way
tainted by His friendship with sinners.
So who is it that dwells in those who believe? Is it not the same Jesus Christ?
If He overcame sin for three years in amidst such a display of sinfull flesh all around him, then surely he can live in our blood-washed" vessel without sin.
For this text is saying nothing less than that Jesus Christ in us, is the One who does not sin and cannot sin.
He lives in us and we live in Him.
Only a few verses which confirm this truth are quoted in these short notes.
One should suffice for our faith, but there are scores.
The New Testament epistles tell us nothing else.
Dare we walk with God or come to God in any other state than being in Christ and Christ being in us? God forbid!
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