Sin in the family of God

Would you turn with me please in your Bibles to 1st John chapter 1, epistle of our dear Apostle John in chapter 1. We'll read from verse 5. This then is a message which we have heard from him and declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we lie, if we if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin or every sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all or every unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

Chapter 2, my little children these things write I unto you that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is a propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

Now we'll read from chapter 3. Verse 7, chapter 3 and verse 7, little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous. Even as he is righteous, he that commiteth, and I prefer to read the word practices, it's more clear to understanding.

He that practices sin is of the devil. For the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy or he might annul the works of the devil.

Whosoever has been born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him. And he cannot sin or he cannot continue to sin because he is born of God. Now chapter 5, just one or two more verses.

In chapter 5, verse 18, we know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not, but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. And that's all I have in my mind to read of this lovely epistle. I think most of us would appreciate that John is writing to the family of God.

He's writing to children that are in the family, those that have a relationship with the Heavenly Father. I want to know the joy of that fellowship that has been established through the work of the Lord Jesus. A lovely thing to be in a family, to enjoy all the conditions of family life, and to know that harmony that should exist, that does exist.

There are a number of things that are connected with the family in a sense. One is correspondence to the character of the Father, and I think that's emphasized in the epistle of John. A relationship, a likeness or correspondence to the character of the one who is a father.

Another thing that we find in a family is that there's fellowship, and you find that as a theme that John is developing and repeatedly coming back to. Fellowship with the Father, fellowship with the Son, fellowship with believers, fellowship with the Apostles, fellowship in doctrine, fellowship in practice. And so fellowship is a part of the family relationship.

Not only is that true in the family here, but we also have another principle that is also a part of it, and that is the atmosphere of love that reigns and prevails among God's people. It reminds us that there's going to be a love for the Father, there's going to be a love for divine things, there will be a love for righteousness, there's a love for God's people, there's a love environment that exists in the family. And he's speaking about the family perhaps that is even a direct contrast with many families in this world today, because it's intended to be a perfect family, a family that is divine, a family that is established on spiritual principles.

But I've noticed with you something that also does not exist in a family, or maybe something that should exist in a negative sense, and that is sin in the family. You know, in any family, sin and offenses can ruin fellowship, ruin the relationship. It can come in to stand between parent and child.

It can ruin the harmony that should exist. And we learn from this epistle that sin tolerated and practiced in the life of a believer is absolutely contrary to the character that God desires for that family. It's contrary to the Father, it's contrary to the Son, it's contrary to the welfare of the entire condition of that family.

And when I speak about the family, I'm not speaking about a local assembly. We're speaking about the entire body of believers, all that know Christ. Sin is a reality.

We live in a very sinful environment, don't we? And I hope we're all sensitive to that. I hope we're not becoming insensitive to the existence of our vile, evil world that we live in. It's an evil world.

We read in Galatians chapter 1 that the Lord Jesus gave himself for us, that he might deliver us from this present evil age. That he might separate unto himself a people that is entirely occupied with him and identify with him. And we live in an environment of which sin has a corrupting influence upon God's people.

It has an effect upon our thinking. There's an effect upon our practices. It can have a ruling effect upon our faith.

It can have an awful negative influence upon our life and testimony and our fellowship with God. And John is saying that in the family there are conditions that should not exist. And what is sin tolerated and practiced.

Now when you read about sin in the epistle of John, he's not talking except for two instances. He's only talking about individual acts of sin. Those two instances are in chapter 2. And we'll come to that when we look at that passage together.

Well just keep in mind that what he is using is a language of a continual practice. He says a person that practices sin, in which that's a normal pattern of life, and they're going on without any concern about it. There's no sensitivity to it.

There's no recognition of what is causing in them. He says there's something wrong with that person. They're not showing family characteristics.

And sometimes we think about sin in terms of the gross sins. We can think about immorality, or sins that might affect our testimony publicly. But just mind you that sin comes in a lot of forms.

The word that John uses is the common word for sin. It's the word hamartia. It's a word that's simply used for missing the mark, or failing to achieve the mark, or not even aiming at the mark.

It's a word that is used for deviating from the pattern, in practice or in principle. It's just the common word that embraces all kinds of sin. He says what's something that we have to be very careful about.

You remember the Apostle Paul points out the fact that there's enemy, that sin can be expressed as envy, strife, conflict, criticism, emulations, covetousness. There's so many different ways. Pride, of course, is one of the worst ones, perhaps because we could be proud of our, I was going to say, we could be proud not to be proud.

But the fact is that we still are proud. There's a tendency all the time toward that. And so we need to identify sin and recognize it in the light of the Word of God, because I can tell you, as you well know, this world will never tell you what sin really is, because the standard of this world is far, far, well maybe there isn't a standard anymore.

It's not what the Word of God teaches. And I believe that God is very concerned about you and me living lives of purity and holiness. Lives that are concentrated to God.

Lives that are occupied with one singular purpose. I want to please the man who died for me. I want to do his will and have a life that corresponds to him.

I confess I feel miserable. I'm sure most of us would be, if we're honest, willing to say the same thing. The sad thing is that the Pharisees, you remember, they were outwardly so obedient to the law until careful about keeping all of its precepts.

And yet the Lord identified them as being the most wicked of all. Inwardly they were like ravening wolves, he said. They were the ones that outwardly did things who were right, but inwardly their heart was far from God altogether.

So the matter of sin begins in the heart, and that's where we have to guard our hearts. Keep your heart with all diligence, or out of it flow the issues of life. Now I don't need to take too much time on that, but I read in chapter one I want you to think with me for a moment about an environment that makes a believer sensitive to sin.

An environment that makes you and me very much aware of sin. You notice what he is saying in here that God, in his chapter, that God is light. That in him is no darkness whatsoever.

What does it mean that God is light? What does it mean that God is light? Absolutely not a particle of darkness whatsoever. No possibility of any penetration of darkness so far as God is concerned. Absolute holiness.

You know when I think about God's attributes, maybe you don't take much time thinking about God's attributes. It's material for worship. Much material.

Every attribute, everything contained in, everything that relates to God is infinite, unmeasurable, and I don't think our finite minds are able to penetrate the infinite. God's holiness and God's purity, God's righteousness so far exceeds our understanding of what it really ought to be, perhaps in our own understanding. Someone has said it's not just the highest degree of holiness that we know of, or has ever been exhibited by man.

There's something beyond that. It's infinitely beyond that. God is absolute, perfect, spotless, pure light.

We read that God dwells in a light that is unapproachable. Now that light always speaks of absolute purity, intrinsic holiness, unswerving standards that are contrary to sin in every possible way. I'm only saying that because he says God is light, and he's indicating that that's where we are positionally.

We've been brought out of the kingdom of darkness. We're in the kingdom of light. We're in the kingdom of the Son of God's love.

We're brought in a relationship with the one who is absolutely holy and pure, righteous, undeviating in standard that produces an environment in the children that makes a very sensitive to sin. I believe that the more that you and I as believers are able to recognize the absolute purity and holiness of our God, the more it will make us very concerned and very careful about how we live. Something about living in the light, and I take it as a position that we can never be removed from.

You know, I don't believe that even a believer getting away from God, as one has said, if a believer got away from God, is he out of the light? He's still in the light positionally. It might be the light shining on his back, but it's still there. He's in the light because that's our position.

But you and I are expected to live in the practical enjoyment and recognition of it, so it has an impact upon our life. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. Notice what he says right away.

If we say we have not sinned, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not. If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, I'm sorry, we do not the truth. If our continual practice is to walk in darkness, he says, even though we profess to be, to know Him, he says we're just lying.

We're not doing the truth. I just quickly go through this first chapter without going into detail, but I want you to notice with me please, if you will, that what he is telling us is that environment of light, that all the searching character is penetrated into our thoughts. It examines our minds, our motives, our desires, our interests.

They're all exposed to the light, and the result is it makes me very sensitive to the fact that there's sin within. The Pharisees could say that they had not sinned, they only deceived themselves, but he says there is a solution for those. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I do not believe that you and I need to confess sin in a general way like the churches do. We've not done the things we ought to have done and we have done the things that we shouldn't have done. That general confession is not confession of sin, that's saying words.

We know it's true. We haven't done the things that we should have done, and we have done things that we shouldn't have done, but I believe that confession of sin in its reality is the result of the Spirit of God in the light that is convicting me of things that are wrong, pointing to something I've said. Likely you've had the same experience that I've had, said something to someone perhaps in an unthinking, careless way without intending anything.

You couldn't get over it, you had to give them a call later on the day and clear it up because it just kept coming back to your mind, there's something I've done that's not right. The Spirit of God convicts his people, the people of God rather sin, and when I'm aware of sin in my life, the Word of God says if I confess my sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I don't believe you and I have to ask for forgiveness.

If you're asking for forgiveness, you're going back to the Lord's so-called Lord's Prayer. That's Old Testament ground. That's not the ground of believers today.

I'm sorry, if you'd like to say the Lord's Prayer, go ahead and say it, I don't care. But it doesn't really apply to us in the full sense of the word. My mind always goes back to when I had my father-in-law's funeral there in Garneville on a cold winter day.

And I thought I kept the service at the graveside very short because it was cold. But my sister-in-law, when I was all done, prayed, she had to come forward and have the people say the Lord's Prayer together to add to what was been said. Anyway, the Word of God doesn't tell us to ask for forgiveness.

He is faithful and just to forgive us. It's as if the Father stands ready to forgive us at any moment. He just wants us to agree with him, to confess our sins.

You know confession is simply saying the same thing. It's saying that I agree personally, perfectly with what God says about that deed that I have done or what I've said. If I confess my sin, He is faithful.

He is just. He's righteous to forgive those sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. So the cleansing is always available.

But the environment in which you and I live makes us sensitive to sin. I want to ask you friend this afternoon, dear brother or sister, are you sensitive to sin in your life? Are the things that you're tolerating in your life, have you been sort of sweeping them under the carpet? They're not so serious after all. Those wrong thoughts or those attitudes that might be entertained in your mind, have they simply been ignored? Listen, that will interrupt your fellowship with God.

It will ruin your life. It will take away your joy. It will hinder your privileges that you have with the relationship to the Father.

The Father says certain things by the Spirit of God bring a conviction to us. He's just looking for us to be willing to yield our own hearts and minds to Him and agree with Him. Yes, I have sinned.

I have sinned. I thank God for the simplicity of forgiveness. It's like a son who has done something against his father.

You think of Luke chapter 15, that son that went away. He said, I'll go back to my father and tell him simply, I have sinned. And he was going to tell him the whole story.

The father was right instantly ready to forgive him. Thank God there's forgiveness for our sins. It's not the work of Christ done over again.

It's the unchanging continual impact of the value of what Christ has accomplished on the cross. It's all finished so far sin is concerned, but in our practical experience, we need the recognition of once and again that it's that work that also provides the grounds upon which my sins can be forgiven in a practical personal experience. But I go quickly to chapter 2. Not only environment that makes us sensitive to sin, but there's a provision in case we do sin.

He says, these things I write unto you that you do not sin, and that means not even sin once. God's desire for you and me is that we do not even sin at all. But he knows what we do.

But if any man sin, again it's the tense that indicates even one act. Not the practice, but if I even sin once, God doesn't ignore it. He doesn't say it's your problem now.

No, he says we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he's the propitiation for our sins. You know the only places you've had the word propitiation are here in first John in the New Testament. Yeah, the propitiatory in chapter 3 of Romans, but here's the propitiation.

He is the one who has accomplished that work. You say what is propitiation? It's a work that satisfies the righteous anger of God against sin, and deals with a matter that must be dealt with perfectly. It's in a sense appeasing God's wrath, but wrath is not against us so much as against man's sin.

He says we have an advocate. If you only sin once, he says we have an advocate. He's always ready, he's always available.

Now, the word advocate can be used for a lawyer or one who stands up a defender in a court, and that's true. It's the same word as a comforter, of course, in John's Gospel. I don't think this is a courtroom scene, this is a family scene.

It's not a courtroom, it's not a lawyer we need. Oh, he says he's the one that stands face to face with the Father, and what he's going to tell the Father? Yes, that person has sinned. They have sinned.

He doesn't mitigate it. You've sinned, but he says the work has been done, satisfactory, complete so far as God is concerned, and he stands at our place and he reminds, as it were, if I can use that language, he reminds the Father that the work has been finished to righteously satisfy God's demands, and on the grounds of it, we have the assurance that he is all that we need. It's a wonderful thing what we have in Christ.

The more I think about what Christ is and what he is doing, not only what he has done, but what he is now, it just fills my heart with joy and wonder. The amazement of Christ and all of his greatness. He says he's the advocate, he's the one that stands at our place, he's the one that represents us before God, and he is the one who is capable of dealing with our sins so far as God's righteous standard is concerned.

He's an advocate toward the Father, and it's on him that we depend for a continual enjoyment of fellowship with the one who is our Father in heaven. So there are provision for our sins. God can righteously forgive our sins because of what Christ is and what he has done, and we rejoice in the assurance that we can stand at God's presence and enjoy that fellowship without interruption.

But I quickly go on, chapter 4, chapter 3, because in chapter 3 it's not the environment that makes us sensitive to sin. It's not the provision for what we do sin. It's the nature that makes us abhor sin.

He reminds us in this context, he says, that there are those that are born of the devil. They have the devil's nature, and the devil does nothing but sin. If you can think of any good deeds that the devil does, they're still sin.

No matter what he does, it's sin. He sinned from the beginning, he sins now, he always will sin, because the devil can't do anything but sin. Everyone that's born of the devil, everyone that is identified with the devil, they're going to sin too.

But he says you're not born of the devil, you're born of God. You have the new birth, you have a nature. You and I have received a nature, he says, all that are born of God does not practice, do not practice sin.

So there's all these things for us, aren't there? So many wonderful things to preserve us and help us to go on in faithfulness to God in the midst of an ungodly, evil world. We have an environment that makes us sensitive to sin, we have an advocate to the Father, we have a nature that abhors sin. I sit at my back porch, as I've told you before, I just love sitting out there watching the day break and the sun start to come up and thinking about different things.

Wonderful, best time of the day, makes a big difference in the whole day. And there are animals that go by there, they all have their own nature. I see a lot of deer, a deer trail just below my porch window, and they go through there and the deer have a certain nature.

I don't know if deer, do they have any noise, do they make any noise? I never hear them make a sound. There's other animals might go through, blundered around, and maybe I'm all wrong about deer, I don't know much about deer, there's some deer hunters here, but nevertheless, every animal has its nature, has its own characteristics. You and I have a nature we receive that's been given by the work of the Spirit of God.

And that which is implanted to you, in you and me, is that which makes us absolutely abhor sin. Do you hate sin? We ought to. We ought to hate sin.

God hates it. It's God's enemy. It's ruined God's creation.

It ruins people's lives, it ruins families. We ought to have a nature that corresponds to God's and sin is God's enemy. And you notice what he says here.

Very simply he says, the whosoever is born of God does not practice sin. It's just not the practice. Those who have a nature like that cannot stand to go on sinning, no matter what it is.

If it's evil speaking, there's something that convicts the conscience, it stirs the individual to realize there's something wrong here. If that's not the case, of course, there's a problem. And so we have a nature, thank God, for nature that corresponds to God, desires holiness.

It's been made of God and true holiness and righteousness. We have a desire to please him because we have been born from above. We have that which causes us to have the same desires and the same interest that the Lord Jesus himself has.

As he is, so are we in this world. But I'm going to quickly come to a close, as in chapter 5 we have a person that protects us from sin. Now I know that in chapter 5 this verse that I read can be read two different ways, depends on what translation you use.

Our Bible says, he that is born of God keepeth himself, and the wicked one toucheth him not. That puts a responsibility on you and me to guard ourselves, to keep ourselves, so we are not taken by sin. We're not, we're not taken, overcome by it.

We find in the last verse he says, little children, keep or guard yourselves from idols. I take it that idols would be wrong concepts of God. Minimizing the character of God, take it away from all that he has revealed concerning himself.

He says, guard your minds, guard yourselves from idols. And idols don't have to be made of material things, idols could be all kinds of things. But I take it that the Revised Version might be more correct in this verse.

Because what it says is, he who was begotten of God keepeth him, and the wicked one toucheth him not. In John chapter 17, the Lord Jesus could pray to the Father, he says, I have kept them. As long as I've been in the world, I've kept them.

He guarded them, he watched over them, he defended them, he was the one that was with them. Now the work of the Lord Jesus on behalf of each one of us didn't end at the cross. He still works today.

You know, the Lord Jesus is our Savior. He died for us, he endured the cross, he had paid the tremendous price of our sins to set us free from condemnation and guilt and power. He's made us his through one finished work of Calvary.

He's our high priest, and the purpose is that he might keep us from sinning, that he might preserve us and make us those that are set apart entirely to God, and he might preserve us from sinning in our life, keep us from sin. As our advocate, he is the one who works on our behalf to when we do sin. But in this verse, I'd like to think with you for the moment that he is also constantly, actively protecting us for the power of the wicked one, that we might be able to continue on in lives of true holiness and righteousness.

And I say these things this morning, this afternoon, because we're living in a world in which the contaminating influences of sin in this world that is tolerated and is promoted and is enjoyed by the multitude of people. You and I are in an environment that has a tendency to induce tolerance of sin. I see it myself.

And it requires a deep sense of commitment to the Lord and adherence to the realization that in this family of God, there are holy standards that must be maintained. And the more you and I seek to rise to those standards, and the more we seek to respond to him, I'm not talking about outward adherence to rules, I'm not talking about simply adherence to legal requirements or doing things just so other brethren would see you or other believers see you in a good sense. We need to constantly be living in the light of the man in the glory, the one who is constantly looking upon his people.

He loves us. He wants to keep us. He wants to preserve us.

He wants to land us safe to glory in a condition that is suitable to him. There might not be a shame before him in any way that is coming. Sin is a sin.

It's something that we will never avoid in our life until we're called home to heaven. I don't believe it's sinless perfection, this side of the eternity. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm thankful though that in the midst of a sinful, contaminating, evil environment, I hope you and I are not getting used to. This vile, evil world around us is getting worse and worse and as it gets darker and darker, I trust you and I will seek to shine brighter and brighter for the maintenance of the honor and the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Believe it.

I believe with all my heart that he's coming soon. I want to be found faithful to him whenever he appears. Time is short, brethren.

Are there things in your life that are not right? You ought to get them corrected. Are there things that need to be adjusted? It's time to do it because time is running on and the Lord could come at any moment. May God help us to maintain lives of purity, lives of holiness, lives that are corresponding to our Heavenly Father.