The Sinful Made Sinless
(No. 2509)
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MARCH 21, 1897.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, JULY
12, 1886.
"Whoever commits sin transgresses also the Law: for sin is the
transgression of the Law. And you know that He was manifested to take
away our sins; and in Him is no sin." 1 John 3:4,5.
NOTE, beloved, the special character of Believers–their Divine
relationship, their heavenly privilege–they are called, "the children
of God." There is a foolish dream about the Divine Fatherhood toward
all men, but it is a figment, a fiction, a delusion, a deception. The
Fatherhood of God is toward as many as He has begotten again unto a
lively hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead–these are His children. As for the rest of mankind, they are
heirs of wrath, even as others. It is the special manner of God's love
that we are bidden in this chapter to "behold" as a wonder, because He
has bestowed this "manner of love" upon us, "that we should be called
the sons of God." And that He has not bestowed this love upon all men
is evident, for it is added, "therefore the world knows us not because
it knew Him not."
So, you see, out of the special privilege of God's children there grows
a special position which they are called to occupy. They are not of the
world, even as Christ is not of the world. They become a holy people,
separated unto God. I say not that all who profess the Christian name
are so–that is what they ought to be, but it is to be feared that many
of them have not yet reached this standard. But true Believers, the
twice-born, have been regenerated by the Spirit of God. These are not
of the world and the world does not understand them. They are aliens
and foreigners–their manners and customs, their modes of thought and
their motives are all contrary to those of the ordinary sons of
men–and they have to force their way through the would as pilgrims
through a Vanity Fair where there is nothing for them to purchase and
nothing worthy of their attention. May God keep you, dear Brothers and
Sisters, a separated people! May you obey that voice, "Come out from
among them and be you separate, says the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you,
and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
Observe also, dear Friends, as you read this chapter, what is the
blessed hope of the children of God–they are looking for the appearing
of the Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven! As they look back by faith, they
see their Lord upon the Cross and then they see Him in the tomb–and
then they behold Him risen from the grave. The last glimpse they catch
of Him is as a cloud receives Him out of their sight. He has gone into
Glory, but Believers have not forgotten those angelic words to the
disciples, "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into Heaven,
shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into Heaven." So
we expect Him to come. And when He comes, then is to be the time of our
highest joy! Even though we are now called the sons of God, "it does
not yet appear what we shall be." Our glory, our full bliss, is as yet
concealed, "but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like He,
for we shall see Him as He is." So, Brothers and Sisters, our hope is
that when Christ shall come, we shall be perfected–that then we shall
be rid of every sin and shall become holy even as He is holy, pure even
as He is pure!
What is our occupation while we are waiting for our Lord's return?
Standing on the doorstep of the better dispensation, what are we doing?
The third verse of this chapter tells us that "every man that has this
hope in him purifies himself even as He is pure." Casting off every
sin, mourning that it should be within us, resolving that it shall not
master us, determining to go from strength to strength in holiness and
true righteousness, endeavoring to perfect holiness in the fear of
God–this is the present occupation of the sons of God who expect that,
by-and-by, they shall be made like unto their risen and ascended Lord!
Now, in order that we may carry on this blessed work of purifying
ourselves, I want you to think with me upon three matters suggested by
our text. The first is, the Christian's view of sin–"Sin is the
transgression of the Law." The second is, the Christian's hope of
rescue from sin. Where does that lie? "You know that He was manifested
to take away our sins." And the third is, the Christian's model, to
which he hopes before long to be conformed–"In Him is no sin" and, as
we shall be like He when we shall see Him as He is, so in us there
shall be no sin–
"O glorious hope! O blest abode! I shall be near and like my God And
flesh and sin no more control, The sacred pleasures of my soul."
I. First, then, I want you to consider for a few minutes, for I cannot
go fully into such a great subject, what is THE CHRISTIAN'S VIEW OF
SIN.
I know that there are some persons who understand, by the word, "sin,"
some offense against their fellow men, or the outward neglect of
religion. They regard sin as if it were the same thing as crime–an
offense against the prosperity of the nation or the welfare of their
fellow men. I am inclined to think that even some of my Brothers and
Sisters in Christ do not really understand what sin is when they say
that they live without it. I fancy that theymean by sin, something very
different from what the Scripture means by that word, otherwise they
would hardly talk as they do!
Sin is any lack of conformity to the perfect mind of God, or, according
to our text, "sin is the transgression of the Law," and every
transgression of the Law is sin. Therefore, we say that, first, every
sin breaks God's Law. It does not matter what sin is committed, it
breaks the Law at some point. There are ten great Commandments of God
and it may be that you think you have never broken Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
or 6, but if you have broken Nos. 7, 8, 9, or 10, you have snapped the
chain asunder as really as if you had broken all its links! It little
matters to miners in a pit, if the chain is broken, at what particular
link it came asunder. So, any offense against the Law of God breaks the
whole Law and spoils any hope of the sinner being saved by keeping it.
Every sin is an offense against the Law, as you will see if you look at
the Law in another aspect. You remember that great Commandment, "You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your
soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your
neighbor as yourself? Now, if in anything we come short of that
Commandment, or if we do anything contrary to it, we have violated the
Law. This is what every kind of sin does–either by falling short of
the command of God, or going beyond it, the Law is broken. This being
the case, is there one among us who has not broken the Law of God?
Then take the other side of this Truth of God. Every breach of the Law
is a sin. If you do not do what God commands you, fully, heartily,
always, without fail–you have sinned. And if you do at any moment that
which God commands you not to do, you have therein sinned against Him.
And let it never be forgotten that what I am now saying about actions
applies also to words–our Lord told His disciples that for every idle
word anyone utters he must give an account in the Day of Judgment. And
remember, too, that this rule applies to thoughts and imaginations and
desires, and to those secret motives which hide away within the soul
and never actually come into deeds. God shall bring these hidden things
to judgment–and every thought, or word, or deed that is not in perfect
conformity with the Law of God and will of God, is a sin. Who among us
can stand before the Lord in his own righteousness if this is true? If
God shall "lay judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet,"
who among us shall not be overwhelmed when "the hail shall sweep away
the refuge of lies and the waters shall overflow the hiding place?"
Let me further say that sin is mainly sin became it is a transgression
of the Law. Many a person will say, "I did no harm to anyone." That is
not the point–if you break the Law of God, you thereby sin! We must
never judge sin merely by its consequences, or we may make great
mistakes. A points man on the railway does not turn the switch aright
and one train crashes into another and a hundred lives are lost. He may
say to himself, "What a crime I committed by my carelessness," and
everybody denounces him for it. But suppose he forgot to turn the
switch and, by a sort of miracle the two trains escaped coming into
collision? If by some extraordinary coincidence the two mighty masses
of matter rushing onward were stopped in their progress and no hurt
came of it, the points man would be just as guilty in that case as in
the other! It is not the amount of damage that results from it that
makes the sin–it is the thing itself If you are doing wrong, even
though you should feed a nation by your wrongdoing, I say that you
would still be committing sin! If you get rich by an unholy trick, it
is none the less trickery and deception–and there is a curse upon your
wealth!
Some sins men can see at once are sins because they bring upon the one
who commits them disease of body, or they leave him in rags, or cover
him with shame. Then men say, "This course of conduct is wrong, for
look what comes of it." But that is a very imperfect way of looking at
the matter–the wrong of a thing consists in this, that it is a breach
of God's Law–yet how few ever think of this! To break the Queen's Law
is bad, but to break God's Law is far worse! I would like to look every
unconverted man in the face and say to him, "I do not accuse you of
this or that particular sin, but I lay the axe nearer the root than
that and tell you that your great sin is that you do not serve God, you
do not give to your Maker the homage which is His due. Your heart never
bows itself in obedience to Him, you are a born rebel, you are at
enmity against the Most High and you will not yield to Him, your Lord
and Sovereign." This is the very essence and virus of the worst
possible sin. I know that some will not think much of this view of the
matter, but that is because they do not think much of God–and herein
is a clear proof of man's enmity against God–in that he does not think
it any great evil that he should trifle with the Law of God and live
according to his own will and way.
Now let me show you that it is a great sin to break the Law of God,for
the man who habitually breaks the Law of God is a traitor to his
Sovereign–he impugns God's right to reign. He practically says, "Who
is Jehovah, that I should obey Him?" As far as he can, he dashes the
scepter out of God's hand, takes the crown from His head and makes
himself to be his own king and his own lord. Is this, think you, a
little evil?
Again, the man who prefers sin to holiness practically contradicts
God's Word. He says, "It is better not to do God's will. God commands
me to do this or that, but I prefer to do the other, judging it to be
to my advantage to do so." I say to you, Sinner, that you make out that
God is a fool and that you are a wise man! You say, "My course of
worldliness, my course of sinful pleasure is the better way, and God
does not know what is best for me." Do you think that your Maker will
permit you thus, as it were, to give a slap in the face to His Infinite
Wisdom?
The breaking of God's Law is also a questioning of His goodness. The
man seems to think that God has denied him something which it would be
for his gain to have. If he did not think so, he would not desire the
forbidden thing. It is the case with all of us as with mother Eve–we
come to think that there is some mysterious gain to be gotten by
plucking the forbidden fruit–and the dragon whispers, "God knows that
in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and you
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." And so, preferring our own
folly to the wisdom and goodness of the great and glorious God, we
conclude that He does not wish our highest good and that our highest
good is to be found in going contrary to His will! What is this but a
direct insult in the face of Infinite Love and saying to God, "You do
not love me, after all"?
And, once more, he who dares to break God's Law, seeing that he cannot
do it except in the immediate Presence of God, for God is
everywhere–he that acts contrary to God's Law before God's own face
does, as it were, fling down the gauntlet to his God and defy His
power! By such action as that, he either means to declare that God is
not almighty, or that Jehovah will not exercise His Omnipotence to
defend His honor, or that he, himself, does not care what God does, so
he will leave Him to do His worst. Every sin has this venom within its
bowels–it is a defiance of the mighty Majesty of God and, O my
unpardoned Hearer, this is how you have acted thousands of times, yet
the Lord has forborne to strike, and in mercy has borne with you, even
to this day!
So, in the first place, that is what the Christian thinks sin to be–it
is a breach of the Law of God, and that breach of the Law is full of
unnumbered evil, mischief and sins against God.
II. Now, secondly, let us consider what is THE CHRISTIAN'S HOPE OF
RESCUE FROM SIN. It is revealed in this portion of our text–"We know
that He was manifested to take away our sins."
When I have been pondering upon the sin of men–and who among us has
not that painful matter continually thrust before us for our
consideration?–I have found no comfort except in this glorious fact,
that Christ Jesus was manifested to take away our sins! This is the
source of the Christian's hope, God's appearance in human form! If it
is so that the great God Himself deigned to come to earth, and to take
upon Him the form of man–if it is so that the ever-blessed Second
Person of the Divine Trinity was actually born of a Virgin that He
might become Man like ourselves–if it is so that He came here to fight
the evil and that He has put His foot down against the advance of the
enemy, then I have hope for mankind! I have hope for myself, I have
hope that sin may be overcome and, as we know and are sure that God has
come down among us and has taken upon Himself our nature, since this is
the very fundamental Truth of our holy faith, therefore we see how sin
can be put away! If You, great God, do undertake to put it away, it can
be done! But it can be done by none else. If all the angels in Heaven
had promised to cleanse this Augean stable, it would have remained as
foul as ever! And if all the sons of men had resolved to purify with
fire this foul and loathsome world, it would have still remained a very
Gehenna. But if You undertake it, O You blessed Son of God–without
whom was not anything made that was made, and by whom all things
consist, upholding all things as You do, by the word of Your power–if
You undertake the tremendous work, then it will be done!
So, next, our hope lies in Christ's death. Our sin needed to be removed
in two ways. First, as to the guilt of sin. We have already sinned and,
by reason of our sin, we have incurred the righteous anger of God and
His just displeasure. God must punish sin. If a man stands in the track
of an avalanche, he must be buried beneath it. And if a man stands in
the way of the Laws of God, those laws must crush him! There was but
one way of deliverance from the guilt of sin and that was for God,
Himself, in human form, to take the consequences of human sin upon
Himself. Would He ever think of doing such a thing? Could He ever
condescend to do it? He has done it! In infinite compassion, He that
possessed the royalties of Heaven has doffed His kingly mantle, laid
aside His crown and He has come down here to dwell among us in human
clay! And being here, He has suffered, He has bled, He has died, "the
Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." Brothers and
Sisters, if He that died on Calvary's Cross was, indeed, the Son of
God. If He died there to make an expiation for sin, then I can see how
human guilt can be put away. Think of some of the crimes of which it is
scarcely lawful for us to speak–how could such crimson stains ever be
washed out except with the blood of the Son of God? Think of your own
sins, dear Friend. Even if they have not been so glaring as those of
others, yet their turpitude is great. How could they ever be washed
away except by the blood of the Son of God? But if You, O Christ, have
bowed Your head and given up the ghost–if Your dear body has been laid
in the silent tomb, bearing in it the marks of Your anguish–if You
have said, "It is finished," who shall contradict You? "It is
finished." The great Sacrifice is accomplished and You have, by Your
one offering, forever put away the sin of Your people. "We know that He
was manifested to take away our sins." Do you know it, dear Hearer? If
you do not, I am very sorry for you and I pray the Lord to teach you to
believe it even now, that you may see your sin put away by Christ's
death.
But then, we need Christ's life in us by the gift of the Spirit. Even
if sin is pardoned, that is not enough for us. We need to have sin put
right away from us, from the heart of us and from the life of us. Do
you not, my Brothers and Sisters, all agree that this is what you need?
I think that if we could be forgiven, and yet not wholly sanctified, we
could never be happy while sin was still creeping and crawling over us.
O you venomous reptile, if you coil yourself around my arm, or about my
body anywhere, even if your deadly poison shall be taken from you, yet
you do sicken me almost to death by your loathsome touch! How is this
foul thing, sin, to be taken away from us? Well, our Lord Jesus Christ
was manifested in order that, after His death, when He had ascended up
to Heaven, the Holy Spirit might descend and come and dwell in us, to
conquer every evil passion and to work in us all manner of holy
desires, and so abide in us as to speak out of our mouths, to act
through our lives and to make us to live after God's manner of living,
and not according to the way of the flesh as once we did! Christ was
manifested in order that by His rising again from the dead and going
back into Heaven, the Holy Spirit might come and dwell among the
believing sons and daughters of men, that He might fashion us into
newness of life!
And now, this day, the Christ who trod the soil of this poor earth, the
Christ who on it died, the Christ who in it was buried, the Christ who
from it ascended into Glory–I say that He, by a mighty, secret and
invisible power, is this day working among the guilty children of men,
creating them anew, making them new creatures in Christ Jesus! A
hoary-headed sinner once said, "I wish I was like that little child, so
that I could begin life again." It is this that Jesus does for you, my
aged Friend! He makes you to become a babe in Grace. Do you ask, "Can a
man be born when he is old?" It is even so, for Christ can make you to
be born again and to begin to live quite a new life! For this purpose
was He manifested, that He might thus take away our sins and, every
day, in those who believe in Him, Christ is crucifying the flesh with
its affections and lusts! Every day He is making the old man to die.
Every day Christ is being formed in us, the hope of Glory. Every day
His resurrection-life is giving us the power to rise above the old dead
world and its lusts. Every day our ascended Lord is causing us also to
ascend, that we may sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Every day He is working in us by His blessed Spirit, that He may make
us to be perfectly free from every sin and so to be like Himself! This,
then, is our hope–is it not a blessed one? "We know that He was
manifested to take away our sins."
Oh, I wish, my dear Friends, you who have never seriously thought about
this matter, that you really would turn your whole attention to it! It
is your only hope. But, perhaps, you have got entangled in some vice
or, if not that, a cold lethargy of carelessness is upon you, or else
you have grown very worldly. There is no getting out of this condition
except through one Power–and that Power is in the hands of the Lord
Jesus Christ! There is but one way to something better, and safer, and
more Divine–and that way is Christ. Why do you not seek Him? Surely,
you cannot think that it would make you wretched if you became pure and
holy! If you imagine such a thing, I bear my willing testimony that,
albeit I have tried to serve my Master with all my might, I have never
found His service to be a servitude. There is no bondage connected with
endeavoring to be like Christ! In fact, there is no joy that always
sparkles in the eyes like the joy of a reconciled soul. If sin is
pardoned–if evil is conquered–then what is there for me to fear?
Death has no sting for the Believer in Jesus! And life with its burdens
cannot overweight us–we are fit to live and we are fit to die if our
sin is taken away. Grace has prepared us to suffer, or prepared us for
enjoyment. Grace has made us ready for riches, or ready for poverty.
Grace makes us ready for the silent chamber of sickness, or for the
grave of bereavement, or for the social joy of the little children that
clamber about our knee. He is fit for anything who is made like his
Lord. If sin is but put away through the manifestation of Christ, it
brings nothing that can unfit us for this life or the next, but
everything that shall make us fit here and fit hereafter! If I were a
secularist, I would wish to be a Christian. If there were no hereafter,
yet were it better to have sin forgiven, even as a mortal man, so as to
live at peace with the Eternal and to feel a glow of gratitude to Him
impelling to self-sacrifice and moving to intense love toward my guilty
fellow men. I am sure that it is so! Christianity is the noblest of all
ethics, even for the present day, and much more for the eternal world
where we are hastening!
III. Now I conclude with just a few brief remarks upon the third
point–THE CHRISTIAN'S MODEL TO WHICH HE IS TO BE CONFORMED. You see
what his hope is–that the manifestation of Christ will take away his
sin. What is his model?
First, it is, Christ ever perfect. My lips are unable to fully tell
about my perfect Master, Christ Jesus, my Lord, but I may say this, His
enemies have looked at Him from every side and they have never yet been
able to find a joint in His harness through which to shoot their
poisoned darts. Men who have flung aside the great Truth of the
Inspiration of the Scriptures and have been prepared, even, to make
light of Heaven and Hell, have, nevertheless, gazed with astonishment
upon the Character of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is unrivalled among the
sons of men–it is absolutely perfect! As one snow-white peak rises
above its brother Alps, a crowned monarch, more than peer of all the
highest of them, so does the life of Christ rise above that of all
philanthropists and all teachers and the loftiest purity that is merely
of earth. There is none like He is–there is no defect in Christ and
there is no excess! He is the joy of God's own heart! He is the delight
of all the saints above! He is your joy and mine, Beloved–to us He is
the Altogether-Lovely.
Mark, next, that every saint as far as he is in Christ is perfect, too.
That part of me that is still my own, oh, how imperfect it is! That
part of me that does not yet abide in Him–that old nature that
struggles and sometimes breaks loose–oh, how much I grieve over it!
But in so far as Christ comes into contact with us and we yield
ourselves to Him, we are affected by His Divine purity so that we
become pure even as He is pure! They say, sometimes, of a Christian man
who does something that is not right, "He did such-and-such! That is
your religion!" No, it is not! That is the point where, as yet, his
religion has not thoroughly saturated him. That is his defect and his
failing. Pray God that he may be forgiven for the wrong-doing and ask
that the Grace of God may sanctify him wholly–spirit, soul, and body.
With this point I close. This is the resolve, the intent, the prayer,
the hope, the assurance of every Believer–that one day he shall be
perfectly in Christ–and then he will be perfect as Christ. O blessed,
blessed hope! There is not a sin within us but must die. Out with you,
Sin, out with you! You must die. There is not a Canaanite in the land,
though he is a prince, but must be hanged up before the face of the
sun! You know how these iniquities try to hide themselves away within
our souls, as the five kings hid in the cave at Makkedah and we have,
like Joshua, to roll great stones before the mouth of the cave–some
self-denials that cost us a great effort–so as to keep them from
coming out! But that is not enough, we cannot be satisfied with having
sins hidden away as in a cave–we need to slay them as Joshua slew the
five kings.
So, before the sun goes down, we cry, "Come out with you! Come out with
you! You must die, every one of you." There is not to be any wrong
thought, or wrong desire, or wrong action spared! We must put all to
death if we would become as perfect and pure as Christ is. "That is a
hard lesson," you say. "It is a blessed hope," I say. "It is very
difficult," you say. I confess that it is impossible to us, but it is
not impossible to Him who undertakes it for us! He was manifested to
take away our sins and since the manifestation included the
Incarnation, the bloody sweat and the death upon the Cross, what is
there that it cannot accomplish? Believe, dear Friend, that every sin
in you will yet be slain and that you shall stand before God, "without
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." "This would be my Heaven," you
say. Indeed, you cannot have a better Heaven than that! Washed
completely from all defilement, delivered from every trace of past sin
and from every tendency to future sin, perfectly in Christ Jesus and
perfect in Christ Jesus–oh, this is Heaven, indeed! Believing this,
let us struggle and fight to attain it, and let us never rest satisfied
till we get it!
"Then," says one, "we shall never rest satisfied this side of Heaven."
Of course you will not! As long as you are here, you will have to
fight. As long as you are here, you will have to strive and struggle.
If you have already gained the victory to a large degree, go on and get
more and more of it. Sometime ago I heard a man ask, "Can we be perfect
in this life?" I smelt that he had been drinking, and I thought to
myself, "Well now, you are something like a man who is covered with
rags, and has not a penny in his pocket, who asks, "Do you think it is
possible that every working man can be a millionaire?" Had he not
better ask, first, whether he could save five shillings So, when a man
says, "Can I be perfect?" I say, "My dear Fellow, you need not bother
your head about that matter at present. You are such a long way from it
yet that you had better find out how you can even become moral, first.
There are some overt sins that you can get rid of, and ought to get rid
of, but there is a long, long way between a soul that has just begun to
perceive the guilt of sin and to break off outward evil habits and
vices–and that same soul being absolutely perfect like unto God
Himself. There is so great a distance that you must have God to carry
you across it, or you will never traverse it! And you must cast
yourself as a sinner at the feet of Jesus, or you may never hope for
it.
Come, let all of us begin at the Cross this very moment! Let us begin
by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, and then He will purify us even
as He is pure and, at the last, when He shall appear, we shall be like
He is, for we shall see Him as He is. God bless you all, for Jesus'
sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 1 JOHN 3.
Verse 1. Behold–For there is no greater wonder out of Heaven than
this–"Behold."
1. What manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it
knew Him not As we are called the sons of God, we are to be made like
His only-begotten Son. And here is the beginning of the likeness, that,
as the world did not know Him and, therefore, crucified Him, so it does
not know the other sons of God and, therefore, spends its malice upon
them whenever it can! Yet what a marvelous thing is this–what a wonder
of Divine condescension–that we who were the slaves of Satan, the
children of disobedience, the heirs of wrath, should be called the sons
of God! We can well accept the consequence of such a position without
any very great sorrow–"Therefore the world knows us not, because it
knew Him not."
2. Beloved, now are we the sons of God.–Not merely in Heaven, or when
we come to die, but now, in this place, in our pain, in our sorrow,
yes, notwithstanding our imperfections and infirmities, "Beloved, now
are we the sons of God."
2. And it does not yet appear what we shall be. We are made like unto
Christ, but when He was here, it did not then appear what He should be.
If you had seen the lowly Nazarene who was "despised and rejected of
men," could you have guessed what He will be in His glory when it shall
please God to judge the world by Jesus Christ? So, in like manner, "it
does not yet appear what we shall be."
2. But we know that when He shall appear, we shall He like He; for we
shall see Him as He is. Every spiritual sight of Him is transforming.
Our looking at Him, here, makes us what we are. Our looking at Him at
the last shall make us like what He is. Oh, what joy to know that the
medicine for our souls is taken in at the eyes of faith and by the
sight of Christ we are healed!
3. And every man that has this hope in Him purifies himself, even as He
is pure. The great object of the Christian's hope is perfect
purification. If we expect to be like Christ, we look for it in the
putting away of sin and in the girding on of all manner of excellence,
holiness and loveliness, for therein will lie our likeness to Christ.
Oh, that God would give us more and more of this Christ-likeness!
4. 5. Whoever commits sin transgresses also the Law: for sin is the
transgression of the Law. And you know that He was manifested to take
away our sins. Not to let us live in them at ease, not to make sin
become a pardonable matter, so that we might indulge in it and yet hope
to escape from its consequences. Oh, no! "He was manifested to take
away our sins."
5. And in Him is no sin. Whatever He does, it does not contribute to
sin, but is the deadly antagonist of sin.
6. Whoever abides in Him sins not: whoever sins has not seen Him,
neither known Him. The man who dwells in Christ is the holy man, but
the man who lives in sin is no child of God, for he proves by his evil
conduct that he has no vital union with Christ. The fruit of
Christianity is holiness and if your life is a sinful one–if that is
the main run and tenor of your life–you are none of His.
7. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that does righteousness
is righteous, even as He is righteous. He is practically righteous, he
is truly righteous. But let no man talk about being righteous before
God while he is willfully indulging in sin. This cannot be! You must be
divorced from sin, or you cannot be married to Christ. The Gospel
demands and also creates holiness of character. And wherever it works
effectively upon the heart and conscience, it produces purity in the
life.
8. He that commits 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 He did not come to make us easy
while under the devil's sway, but to fetch us out from the tyrant's
dominion and lead us to live a godly, sober, righteous, pure life unto
His praise and glory.
9. Whoever is born of God does not commit sin. That is to say, he does
not livein it, it is not the tenor of his life. He is not outwardly so
that others could convict him of it, or inwardly so that his own
conscience could chide him with it, a man who loves sin.
9. For His seed remains in him: and he cannot sin because he is born of
God. Immortal principles forbid the child of God to sin. The new-born
life within us keeps us holy. We have our imperfections and infirmities
over which we mourn, but no child of God can live in sin and love it.
He hates it! He is like a sheep that may fall into the mire, but he
will not wallow in it, as the swine do. As soon as possible, he is up
again out of the mud and the filth. He goes sorrowing, with broken
bones, when he perceives that he has grieved his God. His life as a
whole is a holy life.
10. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the
devil: whoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he that
loves not his brother An unlovely spirit is also self-condemnatory as
being an unholy spirit. In fact, lack of love is lack of righteousness.
There are some who profess to be so righteous that they condemn
everybody else and they have no heart of compassion for those who are
suffering in consequence of their faults. But oh, Beloved, it is one
thing to hate sin and it is another thing to hate the sinner! Let your
indignation burn against everything that is evil, but still, towards
him who has done the wrong always have the gentle thought of pity and
for him present the prayer that he may leave his sin and turn unto his
gracious God. It may be difficult to reach this point, but there should
always be just that happy mixture in the mind and heart of the child of
God–love to the sinner and hatred of his sin.
11. 12. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that
we should love one another Not as Cain, who was of that Wicked One and
slew his brother. And why did he slay him? Because his own works were
evil and his brother' s righteous. And there is no hate like that–the
hate of a bad man towards a good one–not for doing him any wrong, but
simply for rebuking him by the silent eloquence of his holy life. Men
who love sin cannot endure the sight of virtue and if they cannot kill
the good man, they will try to kill his reputation. They sneer and say,
"Ah, he is as bad as others, no doubt, if you could only find him out!"
That is exactly the spirit of Cain, "who was of that Wicked One and
slew his brother."
13-17. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we
have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that
loves not his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a
murderer: and you know that no murderer has eternallife abiding in him.
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for
us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever
has this world'sgoods andsees his brother has need, and shuts up his
heart of compassion from him, how dwells the love of God in him?Perhaps
he will do it on what he calls, "principle." He thinks it is wrong to
help his needy brother, so he says. But however he may put it, the Holy
Spirit asks this searching question, "Whoever has this world's goods
and sees his brother has need, and shuts up his heart of compassion
from him, how dwells the love of God in him?"
18, 19. My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue;
but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth,
and shall assure our hearts before Him. Full assurance comes very much
this way, by a practical carrying out of the Law of love.
20. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and
knows all things. Which we do not and, therefore, our condemnation can
never be so heavy as the condemnation which God will bring upon us. Let
the man whose own conscience accuses him, question himself as to how he
will stand in the Presence of the all-seeing God.
21. Beloved, if our heart condemns us not, then have we confidence
toward God. If we can feel in our own bosoms that, by Divine Grace, we
have been led to be honest, upright and true before the Lord, "then
have we confidence toward
God."
22. And whatever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His
Commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight Notice
those conditions of answered prayer. We cannot expect God to grant us
our wishes if we do not conform to His will. Holiness has a great deal
to do with power in prayer. It is not every man who prays who shall
have whatever he asks for, but it is put so here, and it is notable
that it is so put, "Whatever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep
His Commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight."
This is not mere legality–this is not a matter of work-mongering. When
we become God's children, He treats us as a father treats his child.
You know what you do with a boy who is disobedient. He asks you for
something that he wants and you say, "No, I cannot grant you that. Your
conduct is such that I cannot let you have the pleasures that otherwise
I would be pleased to give you." But you have another boy who is very
careful in all things to do his father's will–and you have marked the
anxiety of his heart to be obedient to you, and you say, "Yes, my dear
Child, you may have whatever you want. I know that you would not have
asked for it if you had not thought that it would be agreeable to my
mind. And as you have asked that which is suitable for me to give, you
may have it, and I am glad to give it to you." So is it in the fatherly
discipline of the house of God–if we do those things which are
pleasing in His sight, we shall have power to prevail with Him in
prayer.
23. 24. And this is His Commandment, That we should believe on the name
of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us
commandment And he that keeps his Commandments dwells in Him, and He in
him. That is a great mystery, for us to dwell in God, and for God to
dwell in us! It is even so, but only he who knows it can understand it.
Experience, alone, can explain our dwelling in God and God dwelling in
us.
24. And hereby we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit which He has
given us. Holy Spirit, dwell in me and teach me the meaning of this
precious Word, for Christ's sake! Amen.