No Substitute (for the purifying water of the Word of God)
1 John 3:1-10 (NIV)
1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
- The word
- It means to
• Or, in a moral sense – it means to make a
- The word purify (hagnos) carries with it another thought: It means to purify “oneself” – in other words, it means to strategically place or take oneself through a series of steps, actions, or processes to make clean (acceptable). You could say to make kosher – undefiled.)
The people in Jeremiah’s time had defiled themselves. They had begun to live in a way that polluted their lives.
They had
The living water performs many functions in our lives. One of those functions is - it purifies our life.
Below are words you could use to describe the word purify.
- Wash – The word of God acts as a cleanser. The scripture says, “How can a young man
Disinfect - The word of God dis - infect those things which
Sanctify – to
We’ve been talking about the living water of the word. We recognize that
Just as water or you could say, the Word of God is a significant source of our internal makeup as it relates to maintaining the health of our internal selves. It is also needed to keep the exterior our bodies (our external selves) clean. So, it is in the spirit. In other words, the word of God does a work inside and out.
Let’s look at 1John 3 again:
It says, 2 Dear friends,
3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
You can say this scripture like this: Now that we affirm that we are the children of God, like Maury, the television host would say, we can say, “God is the father.”
You noticed on those kinds of shows the babies at first have some resemblance, but it’s hard to tell because the little ones are still developing. The same is true of those growing in the spirit. (but it can be hard to tell… they are there trying to determine whose baby it is… – they say, “look at its nose, it’s starting to take shape like his Father’s, or its eyes.
The scripture says what we will be has not yet been made known. In other words, it’s not yet appeared what the child will look like when he is full grown. But, this is for sure – “we shall be like him…”
In other words, “The grown son is going to look like his father.” We will recognize the resemblance because we are going to know full well who is daddy is. And, we will see our daddy for who he is.
We are going to see our daddy as holy, and we will stand in the mirror and say, “Yup, I’m holy – like my daddy.”
We are going to know our daddy is full of love and compassion, as we grow in grace, we will hold up a mirror and say, “I’m starting to look more and more like my dad.
We are going to see our daddy as faithful. You will stand tall and say, That’s right, I walk by faith and not sight.
A Key: Faith isn’t the absence of
Listen - The opposite of
In other words, The man without faith has to see it to believe it.
God said, blessed is the man that has not
That man is made up of the stuff of his Father. They will say, I’m like my daddy, I speak those things that are not as though they are.
Just like in the natural someone might say, he’s tall, short, light, dark, got pretty eyes, big smile like their dad.
Here’s the deal, we’ve got to expect that as we grow, we will look more and more like our heavenly Father. If we don’t, we’ve got to question, who’s the real daddy.
Addressing Sin – Becoming More Like the Father
*4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.
6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. *
Here we are in verse 5 – And in him there is no sin. If I’m going to be like my Father, I have to take on the same attitude. In our heavenly Father, there is no
My wife was teaching, and she was reading the scripture about how Jesus came to save men from their sin. We know this word
People often think about this word sin, and we consider how we fail or fall short.
But, there is another perspective. Jesus didn’t come to illuminate our shortcomings. The Bible talks about how Joseph, the Son of God’s earthly Father, should name him Jesus. “For he would deliver man from their sin. In other words, he would
In other words, Jesus came so you can hit the target! What’s the target! According to John 10:10, living a big, robust, full life is the target. The scripture says it this way: The thief came to steal and kill, but I (Jesus) have come that you may have real, eternal, more and better life than you can ever dream – John 10:10 the Message Bible.
Look at it this way. Let us say you are at a shooting range, and nothing you do allows you to hit the center mark or the bullseye. Your hand may be too shaky; your eye may keep twitching; you may just be a bad shot. But, Jesus comes on the scene and steadies that shakiness, he opens those blinded eyes, he takes your bad breaks, and rough days and turns them around. He’s a perfect shot, so, with his assistance, you can’t miss!
That’s what Jesus has come to do. He came to make us hit the
Back to verse 5 - We see our Father – and we know, “in him, there is no
In God the Father, there is no missing the mark, living beneath who he is; there is no falling short of abundant life!
That’s what God wants for you as you grow! That’s what we can expect as we grow more and more into the image of our Father.
DON’T BE LEAD ASTRAY.
7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he (our heavenly Father) is righteous.
8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
So often, people allow others to pull them away from what they have been taught or the example set by their natural fathers.
The scriptures says, “don’t forget your father’s teaching, and your mother’s advice” (Proverbs 1:8).
The same is true of God, our Father. The counterfeit dad, Satan he tries to seduce people into joining his family, submitting to his house rules and looking to him as their model and provider. Remember, as a believer, you’ve been “
Satan no longer has any authority over your life. The only influence he has is what you give him.
Don’t let the Father of this world trick you. The devil is a thief. The authority he gets over you he’s gets by thievery. He tries to lead you away by distraction, disease, distrust (of God), discouragement disturbance, dissatisfaction, and the like. Notice these “dis” words.
- The prefix – dis means
dis- 1. a Latin prefix meaning “apart,” “asunder,” “away,” “utterly,” or having a privative (that means to remove, or cause to lose, an attribute or quality that is normally present), a negative, or reversing force.
In other words: Satan has no true authority over the sons of God. His only hope is to get you to live
o i.e. If God says you are blessed by giving, Satan tries to get you to live in a way that will result in a curse – (i.e. for instance - not tithing).
Romans 8:13-17 (GW)
14 Certainly, all who are guided by God’s Spirit are God’s children.
15 You haven’t received the spirit of slaves that leads you into fear again (That’s what Satan wants to do). Instead, you have received the spirit of God’s adopted children by which we call out, “Abba! Father!”
16 The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
HOW YOU LIVE MATTERS
The truth is, how you live your life in Christ really does matter!
As Believers, you are to keep in step with the
We must ask, what is your real motivation for your relationship with the Lord? Is it motivated by love?
Why does it matter, you ask? The word of God speaks about us coming to know Jesus, that we may know Him!
When we know him, we can distinguish between what is consistent with him and his behaviors and what is not.
In 1 John 3, the writer essentially divided everyone into one of two camps – you’re either for God or not. If you’re not for God, then you’re against Him. John did not say there was middle ground. You have to come down on one side of the fence or the other. So every one of us hearing this word is either for God or not. We either have Jesus, or we do not.
While believers may come in all colors, shapes, and sizes, John says certain things are true of each follower of Jesus.
The First thing John says is true about each follower of Jesus is your attitude towards sin.
The ATTITUDE of a Christian
If you sin, you miss the mark; the children of God will become convicted of the wrong (it) and experience a godly sorrow that leads to
It’s more than just a feeling of “sorry” for something; it’s desiring to, and being willing to turn away from the wrong/darkness and live in the light.
The Second thing John says is true about each follower of Jesus is your response to the word of God.
A believer will humble himself to walk in
There is a desire to learn what God’s
The Third thing John says is true about each follower of Jesus is your ability to GROW in love.
Thirdly, a Follower of Jesus looks for opportunities to grow in love. A love for God and love for one another. A little later in 1 John 4, John writes these words. “We love because he first loved us.
If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1 John 4:19–21)
Jesus said that love was the defining characteristic of His disciples, so the life of a Christian is to be characterized by love.
And that love begins with God. In verse 1, John writes these words:
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is
God’s whole plan of salvation begins with love for His people that He has created.
Listen to what scripture says: John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Also, in Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8,) And Ephesians 2:4-5 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4–5)
That love has been lavished on us for a reason – Why? That we might be called, “
Who are the children of God? Those who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. Whose sins are
The Bible tells us that “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
These are the ones forgiven, the redeemed, the born again, who are the children of God. They have experienced the reality of God’s love first hand, and they have been touched by His grace, which has brought them to salvation, and named them, “Children of God.”
And John says, “that’s what we are!” And if you have Jesus, that’s great news! But it’s not great news for everyone, because everyone is not a child of God!
Look at verse 10… “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is
John is telling us that everyone in the world can be divided up into one of two categories…
- Those who are the children of
- And those who are the children of the
What divides the two groups then? … The answer is, “Jesus.” The one group knows Him; the other does not. The one group has Him; the other does not.
The one group loves Him, and the other does not. And because the one group has Him, and knows Him, and loves Him, they seek to live their lives in a way which is honoring, pleasing and glorifying to Him.
In verse 4 …
“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” (1 John 3:4–6)
It’s not enough to say you believe God’s Word, to say you know Jesus, to tell Him that you love Him – the reality of those things are proven by the choices we make day in and day out.
We can’t merely hear the word of God and believe that that’s enough. Faith that is real will move into
Jesus has said, “If you love me, you will obey my commands.” And John says… “Jesus has come to take our sins away.
There is no sin in Jesus, and those who are His will seek to turn away from sin as well. In fact, no one who lives in Him keeps on sinning, and no one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him.”
It’s not a matter of ignorance. It’s not that you don’t know better. It’s a matter of thinking that your way is better than God’s way.
· John says that sin is “lawlessness.” The world might call it “fun,” or “no big deal.” But scripture teaches us that it’s something entirely different. The Bible teaches us that sin is
When you choose to go your own way, to satisfy your needs, wants, or desires in a way that is outside of God’s will for your life… when you do that, what you’re doing is defying God at that moment. You’re rebelling against God.
Some of you are not turning from the old man but in some cases are celebrating the old man as if it is okay. If that’s you, listen again to what John has written – “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.
No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” We must examine ourselves by the word of God because the scriptures teach us a critical truth that isn’t very popular today.
Let’s go to verse 7 … “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.” (1 John 3:7–8)
There’s a warning in those verses, a warning not to allow your -self to be deceived, a warning not to permit yourself to be led astray.
Remember the passage from Jer. 2
• Jeremiah 2:13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water. (see also Jeremiah 17:13)
What is John’s warning? He’s warning us about popular and deadly beliefs that are in Christian circles today. That if you claim to believe in God, you can live in whatever manner we like. That your choices can look like many different things, just make it sound good, and you can try to justify it in all sorts of ways. Everybody’s doing it,” “nobody’s perfect.” “I’m not as bad as the other guy down the street.” But when it comes down to it, we’re talking about rebellion against God.
Let’s distinguish between willful sin and going on to sanctification.
· Sanctification is the process of being made holy.
· Your life is set apart for God’s glory/purpose.
· It is a lifelong process of being purified and developing the character of Christ within you.
· You are seeking to draw ever closer to the Lord while allowing His word to penetrate to your hearts to shape your values, priorities, and beliefs (mindsets).
God will reveal areas that He can and will heal. His Word will bring you to repentance as you acknowledge wrong mindsets, confess it, receive forgiveness, and turn away from it. Turn from it and return back to God.
John’s warning was about knowing what is right but deliberately choosing the wrong.
In other words, “It doesn’t matter that you call yourself a Christian, the proof is in the fruit of your life, and if you’re not seeking to walk in righteousness and holiness before God, then you don’t know the heart of the Father. You don’t have the Son.
Look at the end of verse 8 here … “The reason the Son of God appeared was to
We can’t substitute the word of God or compromise with sin because sin isn’t the result of doing life with God.
We are called to be holy – to be set
Holiness is what God has called us to, as it says in verse 3, everyone who has this hope, that Jesus is coming again to call His own to Him, “purifies himself, just as” Jesus is pure.
That means that the one who has the Son, who knows Jesus, will seek to put to death the things of the sinful nature and walk in the light as Jesus is in the light.
Your motivation for obedience is not the Law. Your motivation is your
· Not, “If you don’t want to get into trouble, you’ll obey me.”
· Not, “If you don’t want to pay the price, you’ll do what I say.”
But, “if you love me, you’ll walk in
· If your motivation is love for Jesus, it changes everything.
If our motivation is love, then we will look for ways to fulfill what God has asked of us.
Take these Scriptures to meditate on them, think on, and make time to reflect on the difficult questions:
What does my life say about which side of the fence I come down on?
What do my choices say about the reality of my beliefs?
This is your moment to say, Lord, I will not substitute Your Living word and will not compromise with lower-level rebellion.