[:en]SCRIPTURE: 1 JOHN 3
“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4)
“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” (1John 3:10)
“This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another” (1John 3:11)
“Anyone who hates his his brother is a muderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him” (1 John 3:15)
“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18)
“And this is His command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us” (1 John 3:23)
This chapter focuses on two things in particular: – SIN and LOVE
SIN
God’s wonderful love enables us to be called children of God!. And as His children, we must be like him of being pure. In Him there is no sin, so no one who lives in Him will continue to sin.
When one becomes a Christian, God implants a new nature within him. This new nature cannot sin. However, if he yields to the old nature, he will stumble and fall. What John was talking is delibrate sin. When you repeatedly, habitually and deliberately sin, you are ignoring His sacrifice on the cross for you. You are denying God’s word and disobeying Him. You are grieving the Holy Spirit. Thus, “No one who is born of God will continue to sin because God’s seed remained in him. He cannot go on sinning because he has been born of God” (v. 9)
LOVE
John contrasted the children of God and the children of devil using Cain and Abel as example. Abel’s sacrifice was accepted because of faith in God. Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted because of his own works. Cain was a murderer and liar like the devil. Cain seemed to be religious because he worshiped at an altar. But he had no true devotion to God. “Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer and no murderer has eternal life in him” (v. 15)
The greatest love is the love of Christ who laid down His life for us. That is why we must show our love not with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. Verse 21 & 22 assured Christians with loving heart can come to God with confidence and receive anything he asked from the Lord.
LESSON:
A true child of God knows that sin resulted in Christ’s suffering and death. That is why every Christian must hate sin and flee from it. A Christian who abides in Christ will not deliverately break God’s laws because he has a new nature within.
True Christianity is manifested from the heart, not the tongue. He loves people not with words but with actions and in truth. John summed up with this command – To believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ and to love one another as He commanded us. Those who obey his command live in Him and He in them (vs. 23-24). Faith and love go together. If we trust God, we will love one another and abide in Him by yielding to the Spirit and obeying His Word. Are you truly born of God?[:]