Lesson for July 24, 2024
The Book of I John
I John 3:4-9
Verse 4
“Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.”
Lawlessness is the Greek word “parabasis,” and means breaking. In the case of the laws of God, lawlessness is the violation of His commands. All sin is a violation of God’s laws. Therefore, any form of lawlessness is sin (Romans 7:1-12)
Verse 5
“You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.”
The Greek word for appeared is “phaneroo,” and means to make visible, to make clear, or to make known. Christ was made visible in the form of a man for the purpose of going to the Cross, as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.
John pointed out that in Christ there is no sin (Adam’s original sin, a sin nature, or personal sin). It was His impeccability that fully qualified Him to pay for our sin. It was His impeccable life that became the pattern of the execution of the Christian Way of Life for every Church Age believer. (I Peter 2:24; II Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 7:26)
When believers choose to commit personal sin, they break the law of God. This is one reason that John encouraged believers to remain in fellowship, in God’s power system.
Verse 6
“No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him.”
The Greek for remains is “meno,” and means to be in fellowship with God. While a believer is in fellowship with God, they have the power not to sin (the filling of the Holy Spirit). Once a believer chooses to sin, they are no longer in fellowship with God and have no supernatural power to resist temptation.
The Greek word for seen is “horao,” meaning to perceive. The Greek word for knows is “ginosko,” meaning to thoroughly know. Only by learning about God, all that He has done for us, and His instructions for living the Christian life can a believer learn how to recognize sin and control their sin nature. It is the responsibility of every Christian to learn how to control their sin nature (which is the source of the temptation to sin) and how to use their volition to say no to temptation.
The point John was making was that believers who are never able to stop committing certain sins after salvation have not grown spiritually to the point of 1) recognizing what sin is, 2) understanding how to control and lessen sin in their lives, or 3) recognizing when they are in a state of reversionism and are being controlled by their sin nature. These conditions in a believer’s life mean they have not yet grown enough spiritually to understand the character of Christ and follow His example of living.
Verse 7
“Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.”
Deceive is the Greek word “planao,” and means to go astray, to wander, to lead into error, or to seduce. Practicing righteousness is the production of divine good under the filling of the Holy Spirit. The one who is doing this kind of righteousness can only be a person who possesses the righteousness of Christ. This righteousness is the same righteousness that Christ possesses, which is given to every believer at salvation. However, believers do not always produce divine righteousness.
Verse 8
“The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”
Satan was the first created being to commit sin. He is therefore said to be “the father of sin.” Therefore, a person who commits personal sin is “of the devil.”
It is because of Christ’s victory over Satan that believers can win the victory over Satan. The filling of the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine supplies the power to accomplish this. The Christian Way of Life is a supernatural way of life, and it requires a supernatural power to live it and to overcome the tactics of Satan, his demons, and his world system. (John 16:33; I Corinthians 15:51-57; I John 5:1-21)
Verse 9
“No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God.”
The Greek word for seed is “sperma,” and means to sow. From the context, we see that John was referring to the “new birth.” Regeneration, the theological term for being “born again,” is the term for when God creates a human spirit in believers at salvation. The Greek word for regeneration is “palingenesia,” and means a new birth. Regeneration is a new birth, a spiritual birth from God. When a person is “born again,” they become God’s seed. The Greek word for seed is “sperma,” meaning offspring or descendant. For example:
Galatians 3:26-29, “For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants (seed), heirs according to promise.” We are the spiritual descendants of Abraham because we possess the same seed as he possessed, which is the human spirit (God’s seed). When Abraham believed in Christ for salvation, he received a human spirit (God’s seed) just like we did.
Heirs according to promise is a reference to the Abrahamic Covenant which promised that all nations would be blessed through Abraham. This was a spiritual promise based on having the same faith as Abraham had in the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. Therefore, believers are the offspring of Abraham spiritually, having the same faith in Christ as he did and cannot lose their relationship with God. (John 3:1-8; I Thessalonians 5:23; Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:1,5; II Corinthians 5:14-21)
The human spirit does not contain free will and, therefore, has no potential for committing sin. Remains is the Greek word “meno,” meaning to abide, to stay, to be at home with, to dwell, or to reside. As long as a believer is in fellowship with God, they cannot be practicing sin. Once they succumb to the temptation to sin, they step outside God’s power system, lose their fellowship with God, and lose the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Here’s a better translation of verse nine that helps us understand what John was saying: “At the moment a person is born of God, they are not sinning, because God’s seed (the human spirit) is residing in them. Furthermore, they have the ability not to sin by continuing to reside inside God’s power system because they have the seed of God (a human spirit) abiding in them.”