As I begin this morning I want to share with you a personal struggle I faced as a young person growing up.

Like some of you, I grew up in a fine church where the Word of God was clearly taught. I had learned many scriptures includ­ing those read this morning. In the KJV I had learned: v.6 "Whoever abideth in Him, sin­neth not, whosoever sinneth have not seen Him neither known Him." v.9 "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

My friends, this presented me with a very big question because I knew that I had con­fessed my sin and had received Jesus Christ as my personal Savior AND I knew I sinned. How could this be?

In the first chapter of John's first epistle he had written: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteous­ness."

Do you understand my dilemma? I believed in Jesus Christ and thought I had been born of God, and I also was well aware of the fact that I sinned sometimes. I was troubled and went to my pastor about this matter. He pointed out what I have had reinforced in my study of the Greek New Testament.

The verb construction of sin in these verses in this passage indicate continuous, habitual action. John is writing about making sin the normal practice of life. Let me make this very clear. John is not teaching sinless perfection. I believe he is teaching that true Christians do not make their everyday prac­tice, that we do not engage in ongoing habitu­al sinning. For the Christian commit­ting occasional sins should be contrary to our new way of life in Christ. We are to be living in Christ rather than living in sin. The outline I want to use in looking at this passage is summed up in two points. I. Incom­patibility of being a Christian and living in sin and the II. Impossibility of being a Christian and living in sin. Let's look at these one at a time.

I. Incompatibility of being a Christian and living in sin.

The necessity of holy living expressed in verse 4 is not from the expectation of the second coming of Jesus as in the previous verse, but in the purpose of Jesus first com­ing. Literally the Greek word for sinning is a term from archery, meaning to miss the mark. It is also described here as lawlessness or active rebellion against God. Jesus came to destroy humankind's practicing of sin.

There is incompatibility between our perfect, sinless Christ and sinful people. The two do NOT fit together, so Christ came to wipe out sin and to forgive us. Rather than making sin the typical prac­tice of our lives we who profess Him as our Savior and Lord are to be at home with Him. We are to be abiding, remaining in Christ. We do not engage in the regular practice of sin because we have come to person­ally know and experience Jesus Christ. He is real to us and we have no desire to sin against Him.

A teen age girl did not want to go to a certain place because she said her parents did not approve of her going there. She politely asked her date to take her home and he did.

Another girl asked her, "Are you afraid that your father will hurt you?"

"No," she replied. "I'm not afraid my father will hurt me, but I am afraid I might hurt him." She had no desire to sin against love.

Read verse 7. I assume that this warning was original­ly given because of the Nicolai­tans, false teachers who lived when John wrote this letter. They were deceivers in teaching and in practice. In teaching they denied that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God who came in human flesh to bring salvation to sinners. In practice they denied their sinfulness.

In v. 9 John moves beyond pointing out the incompati­bility of being a Christian and continuing to live in sin and assets the:

II. Impossibility of being a Christian and living in sin.

Read verse 9. "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

First John tells us that the Christian does not practice sin. Second He tells us that the Christian cannot sin. Again we are NOT teaching that a Chris­tian is NOT capable of committing sin. Recall what John had written in the previous chapter. "If anyone sin..." Certainly this is a pos­sibility to be considered and God has gra­ciously made provi­sion for our forgiveness if we confess our sin. Remember when John says "he cannot sin..." he is not talking about committing a single sin of omission or commis­sion, but habitual sin, practicing sin, per­sistent sinning, a way of life, a prevailing habit indicated by the present infinite in the Greek.

We may ask. Who is this person who cannot live in sin? Why is it impossible for this person to practice sin?

The seed of God is in him. He is born of God. John is speaking of a true Christian, not merely a person who may have some associa­tion with a church. Seed refers to nature, the offspring of God, those who have been born again, spiritually born of God. That is, New birth involves a new nature through the im­planting within us of the very seed or life­giving power of God. This is a deep, radical transforma­tion. The new nature we receive when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord remains to exert an internal influence to live holy, pure lives for God.

Cf. II Corinthians 5:17, II Peter 1:4

We need to be careful here because God is the judge, not you and I. However, if a person continues to live in sin it may indi­cate that he or she has not really been born of God.

In v. 10 John wrote of the Children of the Devil, all sinners who have not experi­enced new life and therefore, naturally follow the sinful example of Satan. There should be an obvious difference between the Children of God and the Children of the Devil. Sin seems so common­place, so acceptable, tolerable, to so many in society today, even to many Chris­tians. From time to time I read polls con­cerning sin. Some time back I looked over a poll in the Des Moines Sunday Register rating major sins, minor sins, and things that were not considered sin.

Conclusion

Brothers and Sisters - taking a poll, even of Church people does not make sin right. God's Word teaches the Incompatibility of Christians living in sin and the Impossibility of Christians living in sin.

True children of God are to be obvious - to be distin­guished from those who may not yet be Christians.

ARE WE OBVIOUSLY CHRISTIANS?

I John 3:4-10

All who indulge in a sinful life are dangerously lawless, for sin is a major dis­ruption of God's order. Surely you know that Christ showed up in order to get rid of sin. There is no sin in Him, and sin is not part of His program. No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They've got Him all backwards.

So my dear children, don't let anyone divert you from the truth. It's the person who acts right who is right, just as we see it lived out in our righteous Messiah. Those who make a practice of sin are straight from the Devil, the pioneer in the practice of sin. The Son of God entered the scene to abolish the Devil's ways.

People conceived and brought into life by God don't make a practice of sin. How could they? God's seed is deep within them, making them who they are. It's not in the nature of the God-begotten to practice and parade sin. Here's how you tell the difference between God's children and the Devil's children. The one who won't practice righteous ways isn't from God, not is the one who won't love broth­er or sister. A simple test.

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