Living Out Righteousness
1st John 3:4 – 3:12
Jeff Hughes
I. Introduction
a. Turn with me in your Bibles to 1st John, Chapter 3, and verse 4.
b. Tonight we are going to look at eight verses in the Book of First John, chapter three, that shed some light as to how we as believers are to live out righteousness in our lives.
c. Follow along with me starting in verse 4.
d. 4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. 10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, 12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.
e. Clearly, God’s Word tells us to practice righteousness. Tonight, we will see how righteousness is lived out in our lives.
II. Illustration
a. While preparing this message, I ran across this little snippet that really spoke to me concerning righteousness in our Christian life. At the end of an evangelistic service conducted by D. L. Moody, a young man approached Moody and said, "Mr. Moody, I feel I would like to be a Christian. However, I am afraid that I cannot give up my undesirable companions. What shall I do?" Moody responded: "Young man, you just decide to live a Christian life, and your undesirable companions will give you up."
b. How true this is. The world does not understand those of us who have forsaken all to follow Christ. Romans, chapter 8 verse 7 tells us that the carnal mind is at enmity with God. If we are of God, by accepting Jesus into our heart, it is little wonder that the world rejects us. But, unless we are living out righteousness in our lives, we are falling right in with the world. Tonight, in our study we will look at God’s blueprint on how to walk free from sin.
III. Study
a. Sin Defined – 3:4
i. 4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
ii. Well first off we see that sin is lawlessness. The word sin in the Greek is Hamartia. It means “to wander” or “to miss the mark”. We get the word today from the Middle English of about 1100AD. It was an archery term used to describe shots on a target. If you were off the bull’s-eye by one ring, it was said you were 1 sinne out, 2 rings 2 sinnes, etc.
iii. Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. We have all missed the mark, and we are much more than 1 or 2 rings out, because God’s target is perfection.
iv. Lawlessness is the state of not being restrained or controlled by the law. 1st Timothy 1:9 tells us that the law is not for the righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate.
v. So, really, at the root of it, sin is our rebellion against God. It is a matter of our own will set against God. That rebellion is the root of sin. Why did God make the Children of Israel wander in the desert for 40 years?? REBELLION – sin.
vi. Sin is not manifested in lawless behavior, but it is the attitude and inclination of the heart towards rebellion that is the essence of sin. This is illustrated in Scripture when Jesus confronts the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew chapter 23. Starting in verse 27 - 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness
vii. So it is clear that we can appear righteous on the outside, but be full of sin on the inside. It is our hearts and attitudes that have to change, not our outward appearances. So, how do we change the inside?? Jesus – look down at verse 5.
b. Jesus paid for our sins– 3:5-7
i. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
ii. In verse 5 – we see that Jesus was manifested to take away our sins. That word manifested there means appeared in the original language. This is main reason Jesus came to the earth. This is the reason he suffered, died, and rose again – to take away our sins. John chapter three tells us He came to take our sins away because He loves us. He lived a sinless life to be a sacrifice for us, because He loves us.
iii. Scripture tells us that God is love. But, just because He is love doesn’t mean there are no rules. I love my children – therefore, I set rules and boundaries that they seem to keep on trying to test – everyday. If I didn’t love them, I would not set those boundaries. I would not try to protect them with those rules and boundaries. God is just like that with each one of us. He didn’t make the rules to be a cosmic killjoy, but to be a loving Father.
iv. Look at verse 6 with me. Abide is one of John’s favorite words to use. We have seen it before in our study of 1st John, and we will see it again. What it really means is to have fellowship with, to allow nothing to come between. If we have that kind of fellowship with Christ daily, that rebellion in our heart is replaced by obedience. Our desire to disobey Him diminishes. We will still be tempted, but as we walk in Christ, and allow the Spirit to work on our hearts, we stop wanting to do all the things we did before, and replace them with Godly ones. It is our attitude and heart that changes.
v. But look at the rest of verse 6 - Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Does this mean that I am telling you that we will reach this state of sinless perfection, and only those of who are holy enough to have reached this point can be Christians?!? NO. We are flesh. We will continue to sin from time to time. The word sins there is in a tense that means a continual state of sin. It means constantly sinning, with no attitude change in our heart.
vi. Verse 7 re-iterates this point – in his John kind of way. We have seen John make a point and then make a counterpoint that says the same thing, but uses the opposite to illustrate. Righteousness is the opposite of lawlessness. If a person is practicing righteousness (i.e. not living in constant or habitual sin), that person is righteous (has no sin), just as He (Jesus) has no sin.
vii. We also see here again one of John’s main reasons for writing the epistle. This was to combat the heresy of Gnosticism. The Gnostics believed they could live in sin, because they thought what they did in the flesh was of no consequence. That’s why John tells them not to be deceived. If someone is living in constant sin, they have no part in Christ. So, whom do they have a part of? Look down at verse 8.
c. Satan – the worker of sin – 3:8
i. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
ii. Here again the word sins in verse 8 means a lifestyle of sin. Habitual sin. Constant sin. Again, this is not to say, if we fall to temptation, we are doomed to hell forever.
iii. So, if we are caught up in a lifestyle of sin, we are of the devil, and don’t know Christ. A lifestyle of sin has become sort of en vogue these days. We change names of things to take the sting out of them. We call it being politically correct, but many times, it is a mask for sin. It’s no longer homosexuality; it’s an alternative lifestyle. Adultery is called an affair. Deceit is a white lie. Stealing is a five-finger discount. Murder of the unborn is called abortion or a choice. Murdering the elderly is called euthanasia. We try to redefine things to make them more palatable.
iv. Notice also the contrast here between Christ, in whom there is no sin and Satan, who can do nothing but sin.
v. John re-iterates his point in verse 5 here again in the second part of verse 8. He says that Christ was manifested (or appeared) to destroy the works of the devil. Scripture tells us that the devil seeks to kill, steal, and destroy. The works of the devil are sin. Christ came to take away or destroy sin.
vi. Satan’s origins are somewhat a mystery in scripture. We get the main body of scriptural knowledge about Satan from two main passages, Isaiah 14:9-17, and Ezekiel 28:12-14. Most scholars do agree though that he was one of the highest angels, put into authority. It’s the rebellion (or sin) against God that caused his fall. He is not eternal, all-powerful, or all knowing, as Christ is. But he is assisted by an army of demons that make it possible for him to work in many areas at one time (Eph. 6:10-12)
vii. One thing to note is that the word destroy here in verse 8 means “to render inoperative” or “to rob of power”, not annihilate. This is to say, that Satan is still working in the world, but his power is diminished since Jesus came to set us free. We can rest in the truth that Satan is a defeated enemy, but he can still win some battles. So, how are we equipped to go to battle? Look down at verse 9.
d. How we can walk free from sin (in righteousness) – 3:9-12
i. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, 12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.
ii. In verse 9 we see that whoever has been born of God does not sin. Why? Because when we are born again, we have a new nature, it is this new nature that cannot sin. John calls it His “seed”.
iii. A tremendous change occurs within us when we come to Christ. We a justified before God, because Jesus’ blood covers our sins.
iv. We are also set apart to live a life glorifying to God at that point. This is called sanctification.
v. We will still commit sin after our rebirth, but our new nature will not let us revel in it. Sin is not sweet anymore to us, this is the new nature within us, crying out against the sin we have committed, convicting us, and driving us to confess them before God. We saw earlier in chapter 1 verse 9 of First John, that if we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us.
vi. Now in verses 10 and 11 John is stating again a point that he made in chapter 2 verses 9-11, to love our brother, while adding it to the point he just made which was those the practice righteousness are of God.
vii. What John gives us here is a good test to see whether a person is a believer or not. A person professing to be a follower of Christ, who is caught up in a lifestyle of sin, and hatred towards his brethren, is a liar. Scripture tells us that Satan is the father of lies, in John 8:44. The devil tries to deceive us into thinking that we can have our cake and eat it too. He tries to get people to believe that they can live a lifestyle of sin and be believers. At best, you will be a Christian with a ruined witness, and at worst, a non-believer. Many people think they can walk down an aisle, recite a prayer, and that they have themselves some eternal fire insurance, They can go back to their old life, they think they can “worship God in their own way”, and be safe. Nothing could be further from the truth! This is what John is trying to warn us about here.
viii. So, why is this verse about Cain in here (verse 12)? How does it fit? Well, in a nutshell it is a continuation of John’s warning. The story of Cain is in Genesis chapter 4. We all know the story. Cain and Abel brought sacrifices to God, and God accepted Abel’s, the blood sacrifice, and not Cain’s, the fruit of the earth. Cain hates Abel because of this and murders him. Notice that Cain wasn’t presented as an atheist or a pagan in the story. He came to worship God. The point scripture is trying to tell us here is this:
ix. Children of the devil can masquerade as true believers. They can come to church, give offerings, pray, do whatever else believers do. These things alone don’t make you a child of God. The real test – having love for one another – Cain failed miserably. He then lied about it. It seems Cain’s actions lined right up with Satan, whom verse 12 tells us Cain was of. But, in contrast, scripture tells us God is love, and truth. If we are His followers we will practice that love and truth not only towards one another, but also towards all.
x. Looking at the big picture though, Cain’s attitude really equates to our world system. Scripture tells us in a few places that the world hates Christ. Why? Because Christ’s holiness shows sin for what it is, and blows away all the politically correct “fluff”, that the world uses to mask their sins.
xi. The world, like Cain can make two choices when confronted with their shortfall. They can repent and turn towards God, or they can reject Him, and try to fight against God alongside Satan. To draw this all to a close, I’d like to share a story about a man confronted with his own shortfall.
IV. Conclusion
a. Out of Texas history comes the story of the conversion of Sam Houston. At one time, the Texas hero was called “The Old Drunk.” While he was governor of Tennessee, his wife left him. In despair he resigned as governor and tried to escape his problems by going to live among Cherokee Indians. He stayed drunk much of the time. It is said that the Indians, as they walked through the forest, would have to move him out of the path where he lay in a stupor. Later, he went to Texas, where he became the great hero of the Texas revolution when he routed General Santa Ana’s Mexican army. Houston’s battle cry, “Remember the Alamo!” helped win independence for Texas. He married the daughter of a Baptist preacher and later trusted Christ, but he still had some of his old tendencies. One day as he rode along a trail, his horse stumbled. Houston spontaneously cursed, reverting to his old habit. Immediately he was convicted of his sin. He got off his horse, knelt down on the trail, and cried out to God for forgiveness. Houston had already received Christ, but God was teaching him to live in fellowship with him moment by moment. And as soon as the Holy Spirit made Sam Houston aware of his sin, he confessed it.
b. Lord, we pray that you would convict our hearts of our sin. Help us daily to be quick to repent and enjoy fellowship with you.
