1 John 3:4-10
Introduction:
1. Having ended the previous section with the purification of those who hope in Him, John turns to the impact of sin on the children of God.
2. He separates humanity into two groups: children of God and children of the devil based on our conduct (3:7-10).
Discussion:
I. The Meaning and Origin of Sin (vv. 4, 8, 10)
A. The basic meaning of sin is to miss the mark by doing what is wrong or failing to do what is good (3:10-18; James 4:17).
B. John defines sin as lawlessness/transgression (vs. 4).
C. Such practices originated in the devil (vv. 8, 10; John 8:44).
II. The Removal and Destruction of Sin (vv. 5, 8)
A. Jesus came to take away our sins (vs. 5; cf. Jn. 1:29) and to destroy the works of the devil (vs. 8; cf. Romans 8:1-4; Hebrews 2:14-15; 8:8-12).
B. Take away: Gr. airo= to carry, pick up, bear away (cf. 1 Peter 2:24).
C. Only a sinless one qualified (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 Peter 1:19).
III. The Contradiction of God’s Children Practicing Sin (vv. 6-10)
A. John forcefully contrasted abiding in Him with practicing sin.
B. The tense of the verbs indicates continual action; ESV “makes a practice of sinning” (vv. 4, 8, 9) and “keeps on sinning” (vv. 6, 9).
C. This is significant for a few key reasons:
1. The false teachers John battled denied the necessity of practicing righteousness to be right with God.
2. Skeptics argue John contradicted himself (cf. 1:8-2:2; 3:4-10).
3. Calvinists claim a true Christian cannot fall from grace.
D. John’s argument is that those who belong to God practice righteousness, not lawlessness.
E. Put another way, we act like our F/father (vs. 10; John 8:44; Ephesians 5:1).
Conclusion:
1. John stated the Bible truth that we will be judged by our deeds in different terms (Ezekiel 18:4, 20; John 12:48; Romans 2:5-11; 2 Corinthians 5:10).
2. We too must let no one deceive us saying a state of righteousness can be obtained apart from practicing His righteousness (vs. 7).
3. We must honestly assess ourselves to see whose children we are.