This week we are going to be looking at 1 John 3: 1-10.  This passage has some really powerful and important words for us to hear.  Today we’ll continue to look at the World in Front of the Text of this passage.

1 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God. 10 The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.

Today we see that dynamic play out that I talked about earlier, how those who are in Jesus will not sin. But as we mentioned the emphasis here is not on just a sinful “action” but it is that deliberate turning away from God.  This is the sin of broken covenant and broken promises.  No one who abides in Jesus sins.  Once again, let’s unpack that. This is not saying that no one who is in Jesus will not make mistakes or miss the mark. Because of course, they will. What this is saying is that no one who abide in Jesus will be able to truly be ok with sin having rule of their heart.

If we abide in Jesus, if we remain, deeply rooted in Jesus, His Spirit will search out the places in our lives where we have allowed sin to rule.  His Spirit simply will not allow that to happen, if we are truly in Him. And if we have place, many places where the Spirit has pointed out sin in our lives, and we don’t care, that is not good or healthy.

This is not to say that we will not struggle with sin. Read Paul in Romans 7. We see his struggle. The Christian walk is many times a struggle against our own sin and temptation. That is the hard work of faith, allowing the Spirit to convict us and point us to righteousness.  This is the challenge, it is almost hand to hand spiritual combat.  We will fall. That is not the issue.  The issue is do we fight. If not, we really need to examine our faith.

John tells us that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. That is what I’m talking about. That spiritual combat is destroying the works of the devil. He wants to destroy them in our lives and in our hearts, but also in the world.  The devil has strongholds in the world. Jesus wants to destroy them. And He wants to use us to help do that.

The key to all this to make sure that we are abiding in Jesus. What does that look like? That’s what will talk about tomorrow.

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