1 John 3:1-10
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
The world does not know those who believe in God and who believe in
Jesus. They don't understand why we believe, they don't understand why we want to live our lives for Jesus, the don't understand any of it. Matter of fact they can't understand any of it until God opens their hearts and opens their minds to understand it.
John 15:20 ~ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
You want to know if you are getting it right for Jesus? If you are being persecuted by the world. When the world wants to push you down because of your faith, when they get tired of hearing about your love for Jesus, when they see you struggling to live right as scripture says, they will persecute you one way or another. They don't want to hear it.
But it is impossible to be persecuted if we are not putting ourselves out there for Jesus. If we are not speaking truth, if we are not speaking scripture, if we are not living right, if we are not sharing the gospel, we will not feel the persecution Jesus said we will feel.
2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
If this isn't obvious it is talking about Christ's return. When Jesus came the first time the disciples really didn't have a good grasp of who Jesus was. They were always trying to figure Jesus out and often misunderstood Him.
But when Jesus comes again this will not be the case because we have some huge advantages that the original disciples didn't. We now have scripture compiled about Jesus to know Him better and we have the Holy Spirit revealing the true Christ to us now in which the original disciples didn't.
When we stand in the presence of Jesus, when He returns once again, we will be overwhelmed with a compelling desire to refine ourselves and purify ourselves to a level much higher than we have been able to before. And I hope we all see His return because that means it will happen soon.
4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
We talked about this before, when people make a practice of sin it means they are intentionally living a life of sin which means they do not have Him in them, they are of the world.
5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
So this is looking back to when Jesus came the first time in order to remove the sins of those who would believe in Him. No one who is a follower of Christ, will keep on sinning meaning what was stated in the last verse, those who practice a life of sin do not know Him.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
So here we have the opposite of verse 4. We need to keep in mind though that our righteousness is attributed to us by believing in Jesus and His righteousness. Our practice of righteousness says that we are a believer and because we are believers our righteousness is in Christ and His perfection.
8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
Remember last week when John said that those who left the church were Antichrists, I called them little Antichrists? John says here that those who live in sin are of the devil and Antichrists are of the devil.
John goes on to say “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” in other words Jesus' life and work on the Cross was to defeat Satan. This comment is in present tense so we know John isn't talking about Revelation times.
Galatians 5:1 ~ For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
We have been set free if we are in Christ, this is how Christ destroyed the works of the devil.
1 Corinthians 7:22-23 ~ For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men.
Though we have been freed from the slavery of sin and Satan, we are now bondservants to Christ.
A bondservant is a slave. The word bondservant is the translation of the Greek word doulos, which means “one who is subservient to, and entirely at the disposal of, his master.
9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
This in many was is a recap of what we just went over. John is bringing it back together all in one clump.
