The teaching continues the series in 1 John, focusing on chapter 3:4–10 (with reading through verse 11). The passage states that the one doing sin is also doing lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. He was manifested to take away sins, and in Him is no sin. Everyone abiding in Him is not sinning. Whoever is sinning has not seen Him, neither known Him. Little children, let no man deceive you. The one doing righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. The one doing sin is of the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever is born of God is not doing sin because His seed abides in him, and he is not able to sin because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil. Whoever is not doing righteousness is not of God, neither is he who does not love his brother. This is the message heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
Sin is defined as lawlessness. The terms are interchangeable in quality and character; acting as if there is no law or standard. Christians are not under law, yet expectations remain, such as loving one another. Some translations render the phrase as transgressing the law, but the text uses lawlessness without the words for transgression or law.
In 1 Corinthians 6:18, every sin a man does is outside the body, but the one committing fornication sins against his own body. Sin is an action exterior to the body, not occurring in the mind.
James 1:12–15 distinguishes stages. Happy is the one who endures temptation, for when approved he receives the crown of life. Temptation is testing for disapproval; approval comes after successful endurance. No one is tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil and tempts no one. Every person is tempted when drawn away by his own strong desire and enticed. When strong desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when finished brings forth death. Temptation is distinct from sin. The decision to act upon temptation is the trespass that offends God. Temptation itself is not unrighteousness.
Hebrews 4:14–16 presents Christ as the great High Priest who passed through the heavens, able to co-suffer with weaknesses, tempted in all points as we are yet apart from sin. Believers are to come boldly to the throne of grace for mercy and help. Temptation does not make one unrighteous.
Christians can still sin. 1 John 1:5–2:2 establishes that God is light and in Him is no darkness. Walking in the light brings fellowship and cleansing by the blood of Jesus from all sin. Claiming to have no sin is self-deception. Confession brings forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness. Claiming not to have sinned makes God a liar. The writing is so that believers sin not, yet if any man sins there is an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, the propitiation for sins and for the whole world. Colossians 1:12–14 records redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, deliverance from the authority of darkness, and translation into the kingdom of His Son.
1 John 3:6 states that everyone abiding in Him is not sinning, and whoever is sinning has not seen Him neither known Him. The grammar is present continuous, not a claim that saved persons never sin or have never seen Him. It distinguishes the spiritual from the carnal, not the Christian from the unbeliever. The perfect tense indicates a continuing effect; after sinning one returns to the spiritual condition. Doing righteousness is possible, as the one doing righteousness is righteous even as He is righteous. Christians can sin and can also be righteous; both the spiritual and the carnal are possible.
1 Peter 2:21–24 shows Christ suffered, leaving an example, so that believers die to sins and live unto righteousness, healed by His stripes. 2 Corinthians 5:20–21 records that He was made sin who knew no sin, so that believers might be made the righteousness of God in Him. 1 John 2:5–6 states that keeping His word perfects the love of God, and the one claiming to abide ought to walk as He walked. Abiding is distinct from merely being in Him.
Romans 6 presents believers as crucified with Christ so the body of sin might be destroyed, raised with Him, and instructed to reckon themselves dead indeed to the sin nature but alive to God through Jesus Christ. Do not let sin reign in the mortal body to obey its desires. Yield members as instruments of righteousness, not of unrighteousness. Sin shall not have dominion, for believers are not under law but under grace. The question whether to sin because not under law is answered that it should never be. One is a servant of that which one obeys, whether the sin nature unto death or obedience unto righteousness. Having been free from the sin nature, believers became servants of righteousness. Both the spiritual and the carnal remain possible.
1 John 3:9 states that the one born of God is not doing sin because His seed abides in him, and he is not able to sin because he is born of God. The present tense indicates inability to continue in habitual, ongoing sinning, not a fixed numerical limit. God’s seed abiding produces a change that prevents perpetual continuation; in extreme cases Scripture allows for being taken home early, though this is not normal. No specific line is given by which to measure others. The children of God and the children of the devil are manifested by the practice or absence of righteousness and love for the brother.
The one committing sin is of the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning. The Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. John 8:44 records that the devil was a murderer from the beginning, did not abide in the truth, and when he speaks the lie he speaks his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. Acts 26:16–18 shows the purpose of turning people from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God. Hebrews 2:14 and Revelation 1:18 indicate Christ’s victory over the devil’s power regarding death.
The teaching emphasizes that Christians, knowing who they are in Christ, can be spiritual and righteous and do not have to remain in sin.
