The Two Comings Of Christ And Our Relationship To Sin (1 John 2:28-3:10)
Everyone who has ever been born or who has ever lived has a relationship with God. There is no one on Earth that does not have a relationship with God. Some have a relationship that is adversarial, and others have a relationship that is as His adopted children. There is no in between. There is no middle ground.
And here is the interesting thing to consider in our moment. There is also no in between relationship with sin and Satan. A person is either friendly and greatly influenced by sin and Satan, or they are in an adversarial relationship with sin and Satan.
I have had a few conversations in my life with people that involved them saying that they were followers of Christ but wanted to hang on to their cherished sin for a while longer. Well, this is a major problem.
Cerinthus and the other heretics had apparently landed in much the same place as these folks. For some reason they were teaching that one could be a Christian and live a life of sinfulness. As ludicrous as it sounds, apparently from my conversations, many people believe the same thing today.
When we look at Jesus’s two comings, we see the problem with this way of thinking quite plainly. Jesus came to destroy sin and Satan and His people won’t live in them. John is going to help us to see that Jesus came once to eradicate sin and will come again to finish the job, so if you are His then you will act righteously.
Jesus came to destroy sin and Satan and His people won’t live in them.
Jesus Is Coming Again To Complete What He Started (1 John 2:28-3:2)
John now turns his attention to the work of Christ and the affect that has upon us. He is still talking about abiding in the historical Christ that was proclaimed to us by the Apostles. He commands us to “abide in Him” (1 John 2:28 ESV).
Remember, Cerinthus and his followers were teaching that the Jesus proclaimed by the Apostles was not the real Jesus. They proclaimed that Jesus did not really come in the flesh and that He did not really die on the cross, it only appeared to be that way. And the command here is that we abide in the historical Christ and not to fall for the Satanic tricks of the heretics. It is a command to do what we discussed in last week’s message. If we abide in Him, we will have confidence at the return of Christ.
1 John 2:28 is a transition into a new topic. John has been calling us to abide in the historical Jesus that was proclaimed by the Apostles. And now he is going to discuss the relationship to sin that Christians have because Jesus is coming again. If you abide in the historical Jesus who was proclaimed by the Apostles then you will have confidence at the return of Christ. So, we live in that old, old story that was delivered to us from the Apostles. And believing this makes a massive difference in our lives.
If you believe in the Old, Old story then you believe that Jesus is coming again and that He is righteous. And if you truly believe this then you will be righteous as Jesus is righteous. Listen, this is a topic that is found throughout the Scriptures. This was part of being God’s people from the beginning. As Peter said,
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:14-16 ESV)
And Peter was not saying something that had never been heard. He was simply repeating what had been said many times in Scripture. God’s people are to be holy because God is Himself holy (Leviticus 11:44-45, Leviticus 19:2, Leviticus 20:26, Leviticus 20:7, Leviticus 21:8, Deuteronomy 23:14). And the point of all this is abundantly clear. Christians will be holy because their Lord is holy.
And then John states that God has bestowed special love upon us as His children. Christians are not like everyone else. They are God’s children. And John here so beautifully calls upon us to look at that and ponder that thought closely.
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (1 John 3:1a)
And how incredibly beautiful is that message. We were once enemies of God and now we are His children. And not everyone has this privilege. Sure, everyone in the world has some sort of care from God, but it is not like what we have as believers. We are God’s children. He loves us with a special love and cares for us with a special devotion. And this should serve as a motivation for us to live holy lives. But this also has another affect upon us.
This love that God has for us also means that the world does not know us. The simple truth is that we are righteous as Jesus is righteous because of our relationship with Jesus. And also, because of our relationship to Jesus the world does not know us just as it did not know Him. It is because God loves us, and we have been born of Him that causes us to be unknown to the world.
And then John begins to dig into the mysterious to help us to see that when our hope is in Christ, who is coming again, we will sever with sin. John here says that there are things we do know and don’t know about the day that is coming. What we do know is that “we shall be like him, because we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2) John knows and does not know what we will be like. There is some mystery in our faith and some things that we do not yet know. But this we can be assured of. When Christ returns, we will be like Him and be able to see Him as He is. And this changes things.
Then John drives home the message. If this is your hope then you will be purifying yourself, that is you will be purging the sin from your life. If our great hope and longing is for the Age to Come, then we will live like people who long for the Age to Come. If we long for the day when purity and holiness reign, then we will live like people who long for the day when purity and holiness reign. If we long for the day when there will be no more sin, then we will live like people who long for the day when sin will be no more. And this means we will purify ourselves.
Have you ever heard of the Hedonist Paradox? The idea is that the more we think on and live on something the more like that something we become. And here, the more we think on and long for Christ and all that He has given us the more like Christ we will become. If it be the things of the world then the more like the world you will become.
Jesus, the real historical Jesus delivered to us from the testimony of the Apostles, is righteous. He is not at work to maintain or show support for the sin of this world. He is at work conquering the power of sin and death. Even now Christ is at work through the power of the Holy Spirit working in His people Christ is working to eradicate sin. And one day Jesus will return to finish the job. He will come again to judge the living and the dead and make an end to Satan, sin, and death. The actual historical Jesus stands firmly against sin.
Christian, if your great hope is the Age to Come then you will behave as if your great hope is the Age to Come and not this one. And to be a person who has confidence at the return of Christ this is what you will need to be doing. You will need to be about the business of purging sin in your life. We need to understand that we come just as we are, but Jesus does not leave us just as we are. Christ is at work in us through the power of the Holy Spirit to transform us to be more and more like Him. If our hope is in what Jesus is bringing, then we will be transformed to be more and more like Him.
1 John 3:4 is a very important transition that we need to catch.
“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.”—1 John 3:4 ESV
For years I read that just to mean that sin is breaking God’s Law. This is very true and is at least part of what is going on here, but I don’t think this understanding takes things far enough. The reason I think this is because the word “lawlessness” usually denotes “end times” type of evil. It usually carries with it the understanding of a massive turning toward evil. If I am correct, and I think I am, then John is saying that practicing sin is participating in the spirit of antichrist that we discussed last week.
And here is what this means for us. A person who is practicing sin, that is living a lifestyle of sin, is not just committing a small “no, no”, but is participating in the Satanic spirit of antichrist. It is not just a little pornography addiction. It is not just a little alcohol addiction. It’s not just a little adultery. It’s not just a little life of crime. It’s not just an alternative lifestyle. It is rebellion against God that is a participation in the spirit of antichrist.
Jesus Came The First Time To Destroy Sin And Satan (1 John 3:5-10)
This was the reason that Christ first appeared. He came to take away sin. God the Son came to Earth and took upon Himself human flesh to take away sins. He lived a perfect life and died on the cross, taking our punishment upon Himself to take away sins. And He rose from the grave to take away sins. This is why Christ came. He came to take away sins.
For this reason John states repeatedly that the person who lives in sin, who practices sin, who lives a life devoted to sin and the works of Satan cannot possibly be a believer.
“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.” (1 John 3:6-8 ESV)
And then John again states that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. For John this is of massive importance and a major reason why the Christian cannot live according to the sinful patterns of this world practicing sin. Jesus came to destroy sin and Satan, will you live in sin and according to the ways of Satan? Jesus spilled His precious blood on the cross to destroy sin, will you live according to the ways of this world?
Jesus Christ is without sin and came to take away sins. He is your Lord. Will you live a life characterized by sin?
Then, John discusses the new birth as another reason that the Christian’s life will not be characterized by sin. John says,
“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.” (1 John 3:9 ESV)
Notice what John says. No one who is “born of God” will make “ a practice of sinning”. Remember, throughout this text the discussion has been about what we are living in or practicing.
A few weeks ago, I used the illustration of the camera vs. the video camera to discuss the difference between a person sinning and living in sin. A camera takes a snapshot of one moment whereas a video camera picks up a long period of time. The idea really is quite simple. Christians will sin. And we will do so often. But a Christian is not characterized by sin.
If I were working on the roof of my house and hit my finger with a hammer and said a bunch of words that Christians don’t usually say then a person could snap a phot of that moment and say, “See, he’s not a believer.” But the problem is that it is only one moment and not my life. But if I were being videotaped, that one moment would hopefully be seen as completely different than the rest of my life. John here says clearly that the person who has been “born of God” will not live a life characterized by sin because “God’s seed abides in him”.
So, what’s going on here?
God the Holy Spirit causes the Christian to be “born again” or “regenerated”. He takes away the old nature and replaces it with a new nature. The hard and unfeeling heart of stone is removed and the alive heart of flesh is put in its place. God said He was going to do this in Ezekiel 36:22-27. God works in us through the new birth to take sins out of our life by changing our desires.
“22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. 24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”(Ezekiel 36:22-27 ESV)
Paul describes this change in 2 Corinthians this way,
“17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV)
The Christian’s nature is so radically change that Paul would describe them as a “new creation.
And again, Paul describes what happens to the believer in the Book of Ephesians,
“1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience– 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved– 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:1-7 ESV)
God the Holy Spirit works a miracle in the life of the believer and changes their nature. And because the Christian’s nature has been changed they desire to follow Christ. And this means that getting rid of sin in our personal life has begun.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon describes the new birth, or regeneration this way in one of the devotions from his book, “Morning and Evening”.
“Regeneration is a subject which lies at the very basis of salvation, and we should be very diligent to take heed that we really are “born again,” for there are many who fancy they are, who are not. Be assured that the name of a Christian is not the nature of a Christian; and that being born in a Christian land, and being recognized as professing the Christian religion is of no avail whatever, unless there be something more added to it–the being “born again,” is a matter so mysterious, that human words cannot describe it. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” Nevertheless, it is a change which is known and felt: known by works of holiness, and felt by a gracious experience. This great work is supernatural. It is not an operation which a man performs for himself: a new principle is infused, which works in the heart, renews the soul, and affects the entire man. It is not a change of my name, but a renewal of my nature, so that I am not the man I used to be, but a new man in Christ Jesus. To wash and dress a corpse is a far different thing from making it alive: man can do the one, God alone can do the other. If you have then, been “born again,” your acknowledgment will be, “O Lord Jesus, the everlasting Father, thou art my spiritual Parent; unless thy Spirit had breathed into me the breath of a new, holy, and spiritual life, I had been to this day dead in trespasses and sins.’ My heavenly life is wholly derived from thee, to thee I ascribe it. My life is hid with Christ in God.’ It is no longer I who live, but Christ who liveth in me.” May the Lord enable us to be well assured on this vital point, for to be unregenerate is to be unsaved, unpardoned, without God, and without hope.”—Charles Spurgeon, “Morning and Evening” from the March 6 morning devotion.
And this work of the Holy Spirit does not end with the beginning of our Christian life. The Holy Spirit works in us to cause us to grow in the faith throughout our lives. We call this, sanctification. So, this all brings us to the common sense result that John comes to. “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning”, for how could this be (1 John 3:9 ESV)?
Again, John is talking about the person who makes a practice of sinning. He is discussing the person whose life is characterized by rebellion against God. And he says that the righteous live righteously and the wicked live wickedly. And then in verse 10 he says that it is “evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil” (1 John 3:10 ESV)
Satan has always been sinning. Christ has always been righteous. And there is no middle ground for us. If we live a life characterized by sin then we are of Satan. If we live a life that is characterized by righteousness then we are of Christ.
I would like to end by looking at the London Baptist Confession of Faith Chapter 9 paragraphs 4-5. I believe that these folks did a much better job thinking through all of these ideas than we have today. And I think they summarize the message we have just read very well.
“When God converts a sinner, and translates him into a state of grace, He frees him from his natural bondage to sin, and by grace alone He enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good. But because of his remaining corruptions he does not only (or perfectly) will that which is good, but also wills that which is evil.
The will of man will only be made perfectly and immutably free to will good alone in the state of glory.”
London Baptist Confession of Faith 9:4-5
So, with all of this being said I think we should consider what this means for us.
It means that sin matters greatly to God. It matters so much that Christ came to die and take away sin and defeat Satan. The one who lives in sin that Jesus came to defeat is not of Christ, but of Satan. You see, Jesus came to destroy sin and Satan, not to embrace them. The culture embraces sin but Christ came to eradicate it. He works through the Holy Spirit to continue to eradicate sin in His people.
Christian, sin is no small matter. It is treason against God to live in sin and it is such a big deal that Christ came to destroy it by living a perfect life, dying, and rising from the grave. Jesus bled and died to take away sins and you will live in it willingly?
Conclusion
Everyone has a relationship with God. And everyone also has a relationship with Satan. Over and over in 1 John we have seen that our lives should match our confession. Here we see that there is no middle ground. If you abide in Christ then your life will be characterized by the Age to Come and marked by righteousness. If you abide in Satan, then your life will be characterized by worldliness and sinfulness. Jesus came to destroy sin and Satan and His people will not live in them.
R. Dwain Minor