1 John 3:4-10 (Sinning)

"Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 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. 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. 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" (1 John 3:4-10).

Sin. Such a small word with enormous implications. From cover to cover beginning with Genesis 3, the Bible speaks on the issue of sin and its ramifications for fallen man till Christ returns to establish the new Jerusalem in Revelation 21.

Sin is the reason why God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die a criminal's death for our salvation and it remains the greatest obstacle that man faces because sin is at war against the holiness of God and aims to hold us captive, separated from our Creator.

The apostle Paul sums up this point beautifully when he states, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-7).

We simply cannot understand what sin is though apart from a comprehension of the law that defines sin according to God's standard. That is the power of God's Word and the reason why a true follower of Christ embraces the Scriptures with every facet of his or her being.

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).

Without the Bible, we are simply lost and captive to spiritual anarchy and post modernism thinking whereby our standard of right and wrong is defined by our thoughts, feelings and logic rather than the concrete absolute truth found in God's Holy Word.

Make no mistake, "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse" (Romans 1:18-20).

Whether someone does or does not have access to God's Word, he/she is still accountable to the wrath of God.

"For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified" (Romans 2:12-13).

So to clarify, one must not only observe God's law but more importantly apply its truth in his/her life in order to gain "the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day" (2 Timothy 4:8).

Yet "whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it" (James 2:10). The ramifications of this truth pave the way for 1 John 3:4-10 because if we have access to God's written law or His eternal power and divine nature, we cannot ignore our obligation to observe God's standard accordingly.

This does presuppose the point that whoever seeks to apply 1 John 3:4-10 has been "saved by grace through faith...and not a result of works" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Assuming this is so, we can begin to unpack the truth John is sharing.

Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary defines sin as "The voluntary departure of a moral agent from a known rule of rectitude or duty, prescribed by God; any voluntary transgression of the divine law, or violation of a divine command; a wicked act; iniquity. Sin is either a positive act in which a known divine law is violated, or it is the voluntary neglect to obey a positive divine command, or a rule of duty clearly implied in such command. Sin comprehends not action only, but neglect of known duty, all evil thoughts, purposes, words and desires, whatever is contrary to God's commands or law."

It amazes me to read this definition by Webster in correlation to 1 John 3:4-10. He conveys that sin is voluntary neglect/departure from divine law manifested in thoughts, actions, purposes, words and desires. In other words, sin is a purposeful and conscious decision to violate God's law.

No wonder Paul emphatically warns, "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:26-31).

Indeed, it should shake us to our core that to deliberately sin after receiving the truth of God's Word imposes judgment and wrath from an angry God that abhors sin. Even Peter, the disciple who denied knowing Jesus, declared, "For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them" (2 Peter 2:21).

Peter is conveying a most piercing truth that he learned firsthand through his failures and turning his back on the author of absolute truth, teaching us that even a man who Jesus personally addressed as a rock to build His church upon (Matthew 16:18) is as prone to sin as we are.

I believe it is imperative to point out that John is addressing in verse 9 those who make a practice of sinning, for the process of sanctification is a purifying journey where we are being transformed into the likeness of Christ.

Bluntly said, sanctification is everything to the Christian walk as the apostle Paul declares to the church in Thessalonica, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3) and to the church in Rome, "For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification" (Romans 6:19).

But more specifically, John places great emphasis on the word "practice," using it six times between verses 4 and 10 which conveys pretty clearly what Webster defines as "to do or perform frequently, customarily or habitually." We cannot ignore the fact that our habitual nature and tendencies that take effect within our lives draw us closer to the foot of the cross or boldly away from it.

The million dollar question though is what do we do about this spiritual dilemma? In basic terms we choose to sin or to live righteously, but actions do speak louder than words and in this case we must know how to choose our path. Fortunately, Jesus instructed his disciples on exactly how they would choose when he said, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" (John 14:26).

Moreover, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come" (John 16:13). God provides His children with a part of Himself that guides and directs our paths if only we allow the Spirit to lead rather than suppress the truth that He speaks to us in our moments of decision. Knowing that God's Spirit dwells within us (1 Corinthians 3:16) and accessing that divine power is absolutely crucial to choosing righteousness over sin.

Over the years I have found it difficult to abide in Christ as John declares in verse 6. For to abide, as Webster defines, is "to dwell, rest, continue, stand firm, or be stationary for anytime indefinitely." Dare I proclaim that to abide in Christ requires contentment and patience! I humbly admit that my restless soul with a natural bent toward the sins/lusts of the flesh contradicts the Spirit's desire to sanctify me from the inside out.

Perhaps though, that is the true beauty of submitting to a Savior that took upon human form in order to empathize with our trials and struggles, pains and iniquities, yet remained in God the Father "perfectly one, so that the world may know that you (Father) sent me (Jesus) and loved them even as you loved me" (John 17:23).

My human nature pridefully yields to self rather than Christ more often than not, manifested in a sinful (and unsuccessful) attempt to handle my own business and independently fix my problems instead of seeking help and guidance from my Lord and Savior who is supremely sovereign.

I would be greatly served to heed Jesus' loving call when he proclaimed, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-29).

The truth I must personally come to grips with is whether I believe that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. The call to righteousness appears at times to be a daunting task and unconquerable mountain to climb, yet I know in obedience I am called to make the effort regardless of how I feel. I believe that is the key to whether we truly practice lawlessness or righteousness and proves as John writes whether we belong to Christ or the Devil.

The battle no doubt is ongoing and the stakes eternal in measure for those who aim to follow Jesus Christ. Like John, the apostle Paul understood this spiritual battle when he addressed the Roman church concerning his struggle with sin and righteousness.

"So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin" (Romans 7:21-25).

Paul immediately goes on to remind us all though that the ultimate victory we seek is found in Christ, and that is an absolute truth that I need to remind myself of each day in order to live my life in a posture of humility and understanding before a sovereign God.

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit" (Romans 8:1-5).