Behold, What Manner Of Love! - Part 3

Last time we were unpacking 1 John 3:3 where the Apostle John wrote, “And every one that hath this hope set on him (Jesus) purifies himself, even as he is pure.”

We looked at the believer’s hope in the return of Christ and the effect this hope should have on the Christian’s life. We ended the message with illustrations from the lives of Lot and Joseph and discovered that Lot polluted himself but Joseph purified himself.

We learned that Lot ran toward the sin of Sodom and Joseph ran away from it. When it comes to keeping yourself pure, this is the first thing the believer needs to do—run! The second thing is just as important and we learned that we need to pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Hang out with those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. (2 Timothy 2:22)

Let’s continue our brief journey in 1 John chapter 3.

1 John 3:4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

Have you noticed that John uses the word “sin” several times in this chapter? Why? Because there were some false teachers who had slipped into the church and were teaching (Gnostic) heresy concerning sin.

The term gnosticism comes from the Greek word gnosis, meaning "knowledge." Gnosticism is a philosophy which centers on a search for higher knowledge. The Gnostics taught that this knowledge was not intellectual knowledge but a knowledge which the ordinary Christian was incapable of attaining.

There were two doctrines basic to the Gnostic beliefs:

1. Supremacy of knowledge (gnosis)- They believed that only a few, the Gnostics, are the ones who are privy to the deep, deep knowledge of God.

2. Separation of spirit and matter.

* All matter was considered evil and detestable and the source of evil.

* The spirit of a person was considered good and desirable and impervious to evil.

Since “matter was bad” and “the spirit was good” Gnostics believed that any sins you committed with the body…physical matter… didn’t matter.

As a result, there were some people in the church that actually believed that they did not sin. They believed that when sin took place it was their body that sinned, not their spirit and so they refused to accept responsibility for their sins.

This is why John writes in 1 John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

The Gnostics also believed that a “knowledge of God” was the only thing that was important in the Christian life.

Today you have many in the church that have a similar doctrine…they know what it means to be saved and they can look back to the knowledge of an experience they had walking down an aisle or saying a prayer.

At church services across the nation people are being asked to raise their hand, walk an aisle, sign a card, pray a prayer and then they are being told that they're Christians…no matter what happens…no matter how they live. The evangelist tells them, “Remember this day; write it down…this is the day you were saved.”

And so they, in their mind, confirm their salvation by a past act. But we do not find any example of that in Scriptures. In fact, in his letters the Apostle John relates salvation, not to an experience, but to a person’s obedience. In 1 John 2:4 he writes, “He who says, I have known Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

So there were some false teachers who had slipped into the church and were teaching Gnostic heresy. And back to our text in 1 John 3:4 the Bible says, “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.”

We are being given a definition of “sin.” Sin is living in rebellion against the Law of God. It's not just a series of violations against that Law, it's a heart attitude that hates that Law. It's a rebellious attitude. It's the power of sin that produces a bent toward breaking the Law of God. The Bible says we are “born in sin”. This means that the purest and truest expression of the sinner’s heart is that they will violate the Law of God. Sin is lawlessness.

Those who practice lawlessness are not Christians. That is not my opinion; it comes from Jesus Himself. In Matthew 7 Jesus said, "I do not know you, I've never known you, you who practice lawlessness."

If you in constant rebellion against the Law of God…if you do that which is lawless and if you say like those on the Day of Judgment said to Jesus, "Lord, Lord, I did this and that in Your name," He will say, "I don't know you, I've never known you, you who practice lawlessness." It's not what you say, it's what you practice that flows out of a rebellious heart.