1 John 2:1-6
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
If We Sin
When Jesus died on that cross for our sins, he who knew no
sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. He shed
his blood for us to buy us back for God that we might now honor God with our
lives and with our bodies (1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15, 21).
He died that we might die with him to sin and live to him
and to his righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves
but for him who gave his life up for us. And, he died that we might be
delivered from our slavery to sin, so we now become slaves of his righteousness
(1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15; Rom 6:1-23).
The faith in Jesus that we must have to receive salvation
from sin and eternal life with God is God-given (Eph 2:8-9) and it is divinely
persuaded, thus it submits to Jesus as Lord, it dies with Christ to sin, and it
lives to Christ and to his righteousness (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9).
Faith in Jesus Christ, in other words, is not an emotion, or
an experience, or a religion, or a confession, or an acknowledgment of who
Jesus is and of what he did for us in dying for us and in rising from the dead.
It is dying to sin and it is living to righteousness, empowered by God’s Spirit
(Eph 4:17-24).
The goal of our salvation from sin is that we not sin. But,
we do still live in flesh bodies, so we still have a propensity to sin. We will
still be tempted to sin, too. But Jesus made the way of escape for us out from
under temptation to sin when he put sin to death for us on that cross.
Through faith in Jesus Christ, we should no longer be under
the control of sin. Sin should no longer rule our lives. It should not have
dominion over us so that we continue to yield to its control. So, our salvation
from sin is not free license to continue living in sin. And, what we read here
in 1 John 2 is also not permission to keep living in sin (Rom 6:1-23; Eph
4:17-24).
So, this is meant to be a mere acknowledgment that, as human
beings, we are still living in flesh bodies, we still have the propensity to
sin, and we may sin from time to time, but if we do, we have not lost our
salvation. But, this in no way is free license to keep living in sin now that
we are “saved.”
If We Keep Them
When we study the Scriptures, we must study them in the
context in which they are written. So, we can’t pull out verses 1-2 and build a
doctrine of salvation around them. Verses 1-2 must be read in the context of
the whole of 1 John and in the context of verses 3-6.
So, although we may sin occasionally, no longer as a matter
of habit or practice, yet if we are not obeying the Lord’s commandments (under
the New Covenant), then we don’t know the Lord. For, if we claim to know Jesus,
but we are not in the practice of obeying his teachings, we are liars.
But if we, by the Spirit, are in the practice of obeying the
commandments of God (under the New Covenant), then God’s love is perfected in
us, for that means we are growing to maturity in our walks of faith, and that
we are learning what it means to love God and to love others, too.
And, what are his commandments? They can be summed up in the
same way in which Jesus summed up the ten commandments. We are to love God with
our whole being – hearts, minds, spirit, bodies, and strength. And, we are to
love other people as we love and care for ourselves.
So, if we love God in this way, we are not going to
habitually sin against him willfully, knowingly, and premeditatedly. We are not
going to take his grace for granted, thinking his salvation gives us permission
to live in sin. For, sin also hurts other people, and that is not loving others
as ourselves, either.
Emulating Jesus
And, this is how we know that we are in Christ: If we are
living (walking) in Christ, if we are continuing in him, and if we are
remaining steadfast in him, in his truth, and in his righteousness, then our
walks should be in the same manner as how Jesus walked.
Obviously, we can’t claim that we are sinless like Jesus was,
but in what ways can we, as his followers, emulate him? We ought to love people
like he did, considering their legitimate needs above ourselves. And, we ought
to humble ourselves by serving others as Jesus did.
We need to be healers in the way that we talk with and treat
others, too, but this is not in the sense that the world would consider being
healers. For, we don’t lie to people just to make them feel good about themselves
while they are living in sin. We speak the truth in love to them, as Jesus did.
So, what truth did Jesus teach? He taught that if we want to
come after him we must deny self and daily we must die with him to sin, and we
must walk in obedience to his commands. He said if we hold on to our old lives
of sin we will lose them for eternity, but if we lose our lives (die with him
to sin) for his sake, we will have eternal life with God (Lu 9:23-26).
Over and over again he taught the cost of being one of his
disciples. It means to leave everything to follow him wherever he leads us.
And, this leaving everything is not necessarily physically leaving, but
mentally, emotionally leaving (giving up) all to follow (obey) Jesus.
So, what this looks like is we surrender it all to Jesus,
and we let him decide where we live and what we possess, but it is his, and we
have to truly see it all as belonging to him, so that when he says “give to
this person” we give, for we don’t see it as ours to begin with.
And, if he says to pack up our bags and move, we move, and
we go with him wherever he leads us. We speak to whom he leads us to speak, and
we willingly say whatever it is he gives us to say, even though we know it is
going to get us hated and rejected in return.
Basically, we don’t consider our lives our own, for we are
now God’s possession, and thus we are to glorify God with our lives in doing
what he has called us to do, which is to be like him.
A
Believer’s Prayer
An
Original Work / July 31, 2012
With my whole heart, Lord, I pray
To be Yours, and Yours always.
Lead me in Your truth today.
May I love You and obey.
Lead me in Your righteousness.
When I sin, may I confess;
Bow before You when I pray;
Live for You and You always.
Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.
Life with You will never end.
You are with me through each day,
Giving love and peace always.
You will ne’er abandon me.
From my sin You set me free.
You died on that cruel tree,
So I’d live eternally.
Soon You’re coming back for me;
From this world to set me free;
Live with You eternally.
Oh, what joy that brings to me.
I will walk with You in white;
A pure bride, I’ve been made right
By the blood of Jesus Christ;
Pardoned by His sacrifice.
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