Today we look at the fourth and final test that proves that one really believes in God. That test involves living free of sin. Are you living free of sin or not? If we continue to live in sin it is a pretty good sign that you don’t believe in God the way you should. But if you work at living as righteously as you can every day, that is a pretty good sign that you believe in God and want to please Him.
This goes along with the first of three misconceptions that we discussed way back in chapter one of this book. That misconception was that a person can fellowship with God and still live in sin. And we found that it can’t be done. No person should ever think that he can live a life of sin and be acceptable to God.
It’s no secret to us that sin can slip in the picture of our lives and overcome us if we are not careful.
It was reported in an Associated Press article a few years ago that Russia had developed a hybrid plant as cheap cattle feed. However this designer has an unusual effect on the milk it produces—bitter taste!
Now they’ve also discovered the plant, once established, is virtually unstoppable and causes burns and stinging for those who come in contact with it. Sounds to me like the Russians have just discovered Bull Nettle.
The effects of sin are much like this! What seems a good idea to man, turns into a disaster in the end. Once sin has a foothold, it can spread like wild fire. The book of Proverbs teaches us that “There is a way which seems right to a man, yet its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25)
In the last few verses of the book of 1 John, we are going to talk about how to live free of sin. Verses 16-21 give us five ways of living free of sin. READ v. 16.
First of all let’s quickly clarify what that sin is that leads to death because as verse 16 says we are not talking about that at this time. The sin that leads to death is the sin of denying Christ. That sin is committed by those that John calls the antichrists—those who don’t belong to the true body of Christian believers, the unsaved.
Have you ever wondered about those who come to church, walk the aisle, say they accept Christ as their Savior, follow Him in baptism, and then the very next day you see them going back into that bar, or cussing and using God’s name in vain just like they always did, or still chasing other women or men even though they themselves are married? Have you ever wondered how we should view that? Will God reject them after they say they have accepted Christ?
The answer to that is YES God will reject them. But I thought Baptists believe that once you’re saved you’re always saved. That’s right. But the key words in that is ONCE YOUR ARE SAVED. I strongly believe that a person that does what I have just described are as doomed as they ever were. Why?
Because that person made a profession but is was a false profession. They still don’t know the first thing about what it means to be saved and to accept Christ. That person was never born again, never felt the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, was never filled with God’s divine nature, was never indwelt by Christ and was never made a new person, never created a new creature.
That’s why that person was so easily persuaded back into the world and into sin. He still stands opposed to Christ because he never accepted Him in the first place.
John says we are not talking about that sin.
1. We first live free of sin by praying for our sinning brothers. If we are praying for believers who are living in sin, then we are concerned about sin and about living righteous lives. And if we are concerned about those things, then we must believe in God. Continuing to prayer for our brothers and sisters who have backslidden into sin is one of the best ways to stay in touch with God.
2. Another way to live free of sin has to do with keeping ourselves free from sin. READ 17. There are two things that are essential in order to live free of sin.
First, we must know that all wrongdoing is sin. Some people think too lightly of some sins. They tend to rank sins. They fell that some sins are not so bad and are more acceptable to God. They feel that:
• Some sins are small; others are big. For instance, shoplifting is bad but it’s Ok to snitch a grape or two as you walk through the produce area.
• Some sins are white; others are black. WE say, “Well it was just a little white lie.”
• Some sins are more permissible; others are less permissible. It’s wrong to walk up to a good-looking man or woman on the street and plant a big kiss on their lips just because we felt like it. But it’s OK to watch someone walk by and think about it?
• Some people feel that some sins are more acceptable that other sins.
But Scripture tells us in verse 17 that all unrighteousness is sin. Remember what we have already said; in God’s eyes a sin is a sin is a sin. There is not a single act of wrongdoing that is not a sin. In fact, there is only one sin that is ranked and John refers to it as a sin that leads to death.
But God doesn’t list this sin to say that all other sins aren’t as bad and that we can get away with them. He tells us about the sin that leads to death in order to warn us that we can sin too much. We can turn away from Christ too often—so often that we become calloused to sin.
But we do become calloused to sin as it trickles into our lives. The standard sitcoms that are watched today on TV would never have gotten off the cutting room floor 20 years ago. But the shows with the occasional bad word slipped in, or the sneaky little sexual innuendo are commonplace today. Does that make them OK? No!
The point is the way we live free of sin is to know that all wrongdoing is sin. If we are going to live free of sin then we must repent and forsake all sin, knowing that all sin is wrong. That’s the first essential in living free of sin.
The second is that we must be born of God and put ourselves under the power of Jesus Christ. READ verse 18. This is a difficult to interpret. Let me read that verse from the AMPLIFIED version of the Bible. “We know [absolutely] that anyone born of God does not [deliberately and knowingly] practice committing sin, but the One Who was begotten of God carefully watches over and protects him [Christ’s divine presence within him preserves him against the evil], and the wicked one does not lay hold (get a grip) on him or touch [him].”
Every person has sinned and is guilty of sin. We all have ignored God, disobeyed God, or maybe rebelled against God at one time or another. Because of that we are unacceptable to God. We can’t live in His presence because He is perfect and we are imperfect. That’s why Christ came to stand in our place. That’s why we approach God through Jesus Christ.
And when this happens, when we truly believe in Christ and we become free of sin through Him, God does this wonderful thing.
• He recreates our spirit. He causes us to be born again.
• He makes us a new creation. We are made a new self.
Verse 18 says we are then born of God. That’s the way we keep ourselves from sin; being born of God. By being born of God, all our past sins are removed from us. We are not guilty of any of those sins because of Jesus Christ. He took them away. Then we stand acceptable to God.
But what about the sins we commit now and the sins we have committed since we first believed in Christ? How can we live free of them? Again, by keeping the power the God’s Son.
• If we genuinely confess our sins
• If we are sincere
• If we struggle and struggle against sin
• If ewe keep coming to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins,
then the blood of Jesus Christ continues to cleanse us from sin. Jesus’ perfect sacrifice stands for and covers sin forever and ever. That’s what we are saying when we say the Christ is the atonement for our sins. Atonement means to cover over. He has covered over our sins. So the wonderful point of this is that in order to live free of sin, all we have to do is cast ourselves upon Him continually.
The last part of verse 18 says, “the evil one does not touch the believer.” This doesn’t mean that the believer never sins. The idea is that Satan cannot touch the believer to harm him. The believer is under the keeping power of Jesus Christ.
3. How else do we live free of sin? READ verse 19. We can live free of sin by knowing that we are born of God and that the whole world is under the power of the evil on. I had to ask, “what does it mean that the world is under the power of Satan?”
It means that Satan has brought corruption and deterioration to the world. It means that Satan has affected the governments and societies of the world. It means that Satan has injected and infected the world with sin and with lust, evil, pride, and rebellion against God.
The world is not as God created it. Everything thing that God created in its perfect state has been corrupted. It’s aging, deteriorating, and passing away. Even man has become disobedient and unbelieving. So how does the believer live free of sin based on all this corruption and temptation in the world? How does he conquer it? Be knowing that the world is in opposition to God, that it lies under the power of the wicked on. When the believer knows this, he knows not to touch the world. He knows not to conform to this world. Paul warned us of this in Romans 12:2.
“2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
4. Yet another way that we can live free of sin is by receiving the spiritual understanding that is given by Christ. READ verse 20. The understanding that is spoken of here is the spiritual understanding that is given by Christ and by Him alone. Deliverance from sin is not found in understanding emotion, or behavior, or psychology, medicine, sociology, education, philosophy, or even religion.
All of these are important and have their place in society but there is only one understanding that can deliver us from sin and that is the spiritual understanding that Jesus Christ gives. Jesus gives us the understanding so that we can know:
1. God, and that He is true, that He does exist, and that He is the creator of all things.
2. That we have been born of God and are in Him in everything we do and say. In Him we live, and move and have our being.
3. Jesus gives us the knowledge that we have eternal life, that we will live with God forever and ever, starting from the moment we accept Christ as our Savior.
5. One last way we can live free of sin is found in verse 21. READ. Keep yourselves from idols. John ends this entire 21 sermon series of his epistle by simply saying, “guard yourselves from idols.” He addresses this to believers. That’s us. AN idol is anything that takes first place in a person’s life, anything that a person puts before God or what God is leading to do. When hanging on to our money becomes more important to us than starting new ministries or strengthening the ministries we have, that money becomes an idol.
A person can make an idol out of anything in this world. House, job. Position, wife, children, cars, boats, golf clubs, TV, sex, food, power. You say, we don’t worship all those pagan gods and statues. You’re right, we don’t. But the number one idol that we worship today is money and our love for that money. And unfortunately preachers are not exempt.
Read the story of the man and his dead dog. “Guard yourselves from idols.”
We have learned much through this study of 1 John. We began this series on January 19th. We have come a long way. But through this study God has opened our eyes and hearts to a better understanding of where we need to be in our relationship to Him. I hope yours has become stronger. I close this study and this sermon by quoting the words of Jude 1:21. “Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”
