What is your practice when it comes to following Jesus and continuing to sin? Today John helps us understand the hypocrisy of claiming to be a child of God and making it a practice to continue in sin. What are you practicing? If it isn’t righteousness, it’s time for a change.
4 Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. 5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. 6 Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.
7 Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. 8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. 10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.
1John 3:4-10 NLT
Who do you belong to? No one wants to answer, “I belong to the devil…” I get that. John’s words sting and are offensive to people who believe they are generally good. And I think the bottom line of what he is saying is that whether we know it or not, there are two forces at play. The battle between good and evil is a battle between God and Satan, and if we “make it a practice of sinning,” then we are playing into the devil’s hand.
Who do you want to belong to? I want to belong to God. I want to be in his family. I want to do things consistent with the teachings of Jesus, who is my saviour and teacher.
It is interesting that John doesn’t make the point that everyone sins. Paul makes that point clearly in Romans 3:23. All have sinned. All fall short of the glory of God. John comes at it from a different angle. Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, and if we are living in him, we will not sin.
Of course, we will sin. We cannot help it in our human bodies. Yes, we can pursue righteousness in the power of the Spirit and reduce our sinning down to a minimal level. But we will still stumble. It’s not a sign of living in God. It is a sign of still having our flesh.
It’s the “keeps on sinning” and making “a practice of sinning” that are the problem. As the Spirit takes residence within us, we cannot keep on sinning. He will convict us of our deeds.
Paul challenges us in 2Corinthians 13 to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. The indwelling of God in his children is the proof unless, Paul writes, we fail the test. If we can keep on sinning without the conviction of the Spirit, we should question who we belong to. We should examine ourselves closer.
Make it a practice to not keep on sinning. Listen to the Spirit’s voice. Belong to God in Jesus Christ…
Amen.
Marc Kinna
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