Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 1Jh. 3:4
Although that is part of the meaning of DOETH, it does not
express the full impact of the passage. John is NOT saying that you are
‘practicing’ to do what is right, he says you are DOING IT!
You shall know them by their FRUITS! (Matt. 7:15) The production
of the crop is the illustration Jesus used and John is eluding to in
1John 3. Simply, he who DOES (produces) what is right is righteous, he
who sins (transgresses) is of the Devil. Loosely translated is the use
of the word, ‘practice’
in the modern versions. Sin is failing to do it. The pattern of those
born of God is a production of good fruit. In this, the children of God
and the children of the devil are known. Whoever PRODUCES righteousness
is of God! (1Jn. 3:9-10) Therefore it requires that man have a free and
independent will, able to OBEY God and DO what is right from his heart.
From that premise, we can clearly understand what the Bible teaches
about sin.
Temptation is Not Sin!
Let no one say when he
is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be
tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is
tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then,
when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is
full-grown, brings forth death. James 1:13-15
The desire must be united with the will for sin
(transgression) to take place. If the temptation is halted in its
tracks as 1Cor. 10:13 directs, the desire is not enticed into sin. The
way of escape is your own free will to choose the right way over the
wrong. ‘Full-grown’
sin is the transgression accomplished, whether in actuality or in the
heart. The violation results in spiritual death. Repentance is the ONLY
remedy.
Not All Sin is the Same!
Jesus answered,
“You could have no power at all against me unless it had been
given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered me to you has the
greater sin.” John 19:11
Clearly, Jesus taught that levels of responsibility exist
toward God. In the parable of the faithful and evil servant, Lk.
12:35-48, knowing the Master's will and failing to do it resulted in a
more severe punishment. However, the parable also shows that ignorance
is NEVER an excuse either. The greater sin is the transgression that
incurs the greater condemnation. Just as all the commandments are not
the same, neither can all sin be the same.
By pure definition, many acts of transgression bring about
immediate spiritual death. For example, a person cannot commit an act
of ‘occasional’ immorality and still claim to be ‘practicing’
righteousness. The desire conceived is worthy of spiritual death, as
one who hates his brother is guilty of murder in his heart! This is the
reason Jesus warned us so severely in Matt. 5:27-30, about cutting off
or plucking out the offending members, rather than going to hellfire
whole, thinking we are ok!
Sin is Not the Foregone Conclusion!
For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Rom. 6:14
Sinning daily in thought, word and deed (as every pastor
claims) is CERTAINLY NOT producing the fruit of right behavior as 1John
has said. The confession of sin John speaks of in 1John 1:7-9 is the
RARE occasion of sin….’IF ANYONE SINS!’ he says!
(Not when.) He is teaching the EXACT opposite of a ‘sin confess’
lifestyle of constant transgression that many professed Christians live
under. The forgiveness of the sin in this case is contingent on WALKING
in the light, abiding in Him and being faithful. This is not a formula
for automatic recovery of immoral acts that bring about spiritual death.
You are a slave to who you obey, sin to death, obedience
to righteousness. If sin has dominion over you (daily in thought, word
and deed), you are a child of the Devil! Jesus' purpose was to destroy
the works of the devil, NOT cover sin with some kind of false cloak of
religion.
Sinning against God is serious business. That’s why
real repentance is so important. There has to be a clearing of the
wrongdoing BEFORE mercy can be granted. Otherwise, the desires will
never change. The godly sorrow breaks up the stubborn heart so it can
yield to God and STOP the sin! That’s where the fear and
diligence comes in. In the end, the heart is PURIFIED by faith!
(2Cor.7:10-11) The new birth begins on SOLID ground and a departure
from iniquity.
This CANNOT possibly happen by degree or gradually over
time, (as the pastors claim!) The Bible states that for a person to
know to do right and do it not, to him it is sin! (Js 4:17) How could
you constantly be doing the wrong thing and be the person John is
talking about in 1John 3:9-10, Born of God? Scripture constantly warns
of not stumbling others with your behavior or failing to act out of
faith in matters of food, drink, and apparel. Although many of these
things are not sin in themselves, they can become a source of stumbling
to others if indulged in.
Then the sin becomes an offense that can destroy the faith
of another! Jesus was VERY severe in His warning of Matt. 18:6 about
these things. WOE unto the person from which the offense comes! Better
to adopt Paul’s direction and be SAFE. Exercise care in
everything! It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by
which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak! Rom. 14:21
What about such things as smoking, drinking, obesity
(overeating) crud talk, and forms of entertainment? AGAIN all these
fall under Paul’s admonition and should be avoided. Indeed some
of them can quickly become an awful source of indulgence and enslave
you into sin! The problem with these types of things is the unethical
behavior they promote in the churches, unabated because NO ONE will say
a word about it. In fact it's commonplace among professed Christians
today to assume everyone is the Romans 7 wretch, chief of all sinners!
Therefore they heap all sin into one lump and indulge themselves in all
of it.
Whereas if they cared and had come to God through REAL
repentance and faith their lives would reflect the standards of the
Bible instead of them trying to explain them DOWN. Real Christians,
like Paul, are deeply concerned about personal conduct and the sins of
the people. They do not shrug off all the immoral activity going on
around them as though nothing is wrong and all these people are on
their way into the Kingdom! The possibility of disqualification is a
present danger. Even IF the Pastors are numb to it. The Scriptures make
it clear.
But I discipline my body
and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I
myself should become disqualified. 1Cor. 9:27
Just because your Pastors won’t warn you of the
certain types of behavior that will disqualify you from the Kingdom
doesn’t mean that you can DO them anyway and get away with it! BE
NOT DECEIVED! “Let no one
deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of
God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers
with them!” Eph. 5:6-7
What THINGS is he talking about? READ the previous verses:
‘Fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, filthiness, foolish
talking, coarse jesting, drunkenness, idolatry.’ (Also
check Gal. 5:19-21, 1Cor. 6:9-10)
Don’t fall into the trap of these things not applying to the ‘Christian’
WHO ELSE would they be written to? The heathen were ALREADY DOING them!
Don’t be foolish enough to assume this doesn’t apply to
‘Christians’ or that they can do them occasionally and
still be safe!
Another snare you can fall into concerning the sin issue is the ‘No one is Perfect’ excuse. Again this assumes sin is the foregone conclusion from start to finish for the Christian. Since he came to God ‘IN SIN’ and was forgiven while doing it, God doesn’t expect much of an improvement. Just a ‘desire’
to change somewhere along the line is good enough. So your bad behavior
isn’t a crime against God to be cleared and repented of, but a ‘symptom’ of your sinfulness you must learn to cope with. Now obedience is canceled out with repentance!
God’s focus is on the heart and it is perfectly
capable of yielding to Him in humble obedience and rendering due
service. WHO produced a crop in the parable of the sower? The seed that
fell on the good and NOBLE heart and took root! (Lk. 8:15) That’s
the difference between life and death and making it or not into
Kingdom. Whether you will obey or excuse yourself from it. It’s
not a matter of WHO is perfect here, what counts is will you OBEY what
He has said when He looks into your heart for devotion!
The blame of sin isn’t so much keeping the rules and
obeying the laws. Although Scripture does say that it’s the DOERS
of the Law who will be justified! (Rom. 2:13) It’s a heart
condition before God. The wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, gentle,
WILLING TO YIELD, full of mercy and GOOD fruits, without partiality and
without hypocrisy. (James 3:17-18) Is that the conduct of your
life? The PRODUCT of your WALK? If not you are operating outside of
faith, and whatever is not of faith is sin, according to the Bible.
Therefore use ‘rghteous’ judgment and examine yourself here.
THAT is the servant who will be found so DOING when the
Master returns. The others will be DISQUALIFIED for missing the mark.
Every sin has the potential of disqualifying you from the
Kingdom. Some do so much more rapidly than others and some can place
you in a state of hopelessness. Willful acts of deliberate sin are said
to crucify Christ afresh and hold Him to open shame! (Heb. 6:1-6) Many
NEVER recover from these types of sins because they insult the Spirit
of Grace and trample the blood by which they were sanctified, treating
it like the blood of animals, with no power to eradicate sin from their
lives! (Heb.10:29) Like Esau, they went past the point of NO RETURN.
The root of bitterness defiled their conscience and they could no
longer find repentance unto God although they sought it with bitter
tears. (Heb. 12:15-17)
Love can cover a multitude of sins, but the sinning person
MUST be TURNED from the error of his ways to be saved! (James 5:19-20)
Nothing is more dangerous to the soul than the complacent, flippant
attitude toward sin the present-day Gospel breeds among professed
Christians. They are told that God saves them in their sins because
they were born that way, so they indulge themselves in all of it
without fear. Ultimately it numbs their conscience to conviction and
renders real repentance null and void.
The outcome of your salvation is NOT going to be decided
by calculating your successes against your failures, BUT on whether or
NOT your HEART was fully yielded to God and OBEYED Him! Your WALK will
reflect your level of devotion. That’s why FEW there be that will
find it!
_______________________________________________________
|
|
|