“Perhaps the severest forms of judgment we see in the gospel are out of the lips of Jesus. He was absolutely frank. When we look at the cross, we might belittle our sins. We might think it doesn’t matter. I say to people, ‘You look at the cross, you look at the fact that sin was so serious it took everything that God himself had got, to remove our sin and deliver us.’ I think of that great cry, ‘My God, my God why have you forsaken me?’ There you see the depths and the horror of sin. Sin is very real, but thank God that we’re delivered from it. Our church needs to be cleansed, I pray every day that we will be cleansed. We thank God that there is complete cleansing, complete deliverance.” –David Torrance
Below are my sermon notes which I shared in my home local church last July 8, 2018.
Do you know where in the Bible where it says, “God is love”? Yes, that’s in 1 John 4:8. The apostle John explains what godly love is all about. It is not left to us to define what love is.
But do you know also where it says, “sin is the transgression of the law”? It’s also in 1 John, chapter 3, verse 4. What did John mean by sin being the transgression of the law? What is sin anyway? What is the context here? What was the apostle John really saying in this passage?
In today’s world, there’s much talk and emphasis on love – “what the world needs now is love sweet love.” Churches too realize the importance of giving emphasis on love but in the process, some have downplayed, and they no longer talk about sin and evil as if these are not spiritual realities.
I’d like to show you today that God is not soft on sin (and evil)
What is God’s love?
God through John defines to us what godly love (agape) is. John 3:16 says, “”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.”
1 John 4:7-11 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Can you see how God through John defines and shows his love? The Father gave his Son to die. And the Son willingly died for us. That is agape love.
And why did Jesus die? Because of sin! Here we see right away that God is not soft on sin. Sin is something serious that must be dealt with.
And what did John tell the early Christians of his day? Read verses 7 and 11. We ought to love one another. This is talking about church members loving one another. And this is not a suggestion. This is a command, an obligation – we ought to love one another.
If we are not loving our brothers and sisters, then we are missing the mark. And as we know, “missing the mark” is in Greek, hamartia which is translated as sin.
But let’s now proceed to the next question…
B. What is meant by “sin is the transgression of the law in 1 John 3:4?
That statement comes from the 1611 King James Version of the Bible. That is not actually what John meant when he wrote his letter. Modern translations like the NIV translates it as “lawlessness.” In Greek, the word translated as “transgression of the law” (four words) in the KJV is only one word in Greek which is, anomia. And it really means, lawlessness or wickedness. In other words, Sin is lawlessness or sin is wickedness.
1. John Talking About a Lifestyle of Sinning Not Just a One-time Sin
John here is not talking about one sin being committed – a transgression of one point of law. Rather, John in context is talking about a way of life – a life of lawlessness or wickedness. This is talking about a lifestyle of sinning – a life of habitual sinning. God is against that.
1 John 2:28 – 3:11 28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. NIV 1 John 3:1 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. 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. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he 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. 11 This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
2. Christians Are to Live a Life of Love Continuing to Purify Themselves
Christians are to live a life of love. They are to love one another. They are not to live a life of habitual sinning. That is the message of God through John to all of us.
God is not soft on sin. He is reminding us today through John’s letter. Let’s us life a life of love instead of living a life of habitual sinning which is lawlessness or wickedness. We are reminded to continue in this lifetime while we are waiting for Christ’s return to purify ourselves.
3. Sin distorts the image of God in man
God’s purpose is to make man in his image. A man a woman both in the image of God who also loves just as God is love. But sin distorted that image of God in man. Sin corrupted man’s thoughts towards evil. Sin corrupted our hearts and minds.
That is why we must continue to purify ourselves until the return of Christ because we are not totally rid yet of sin. We continue to commit sin by not loving our neighbors. But God knows our hearts, if we sin we have an Advocate who covers our sins. No worries. If our hearts are right, and if we stumble and fall along the way, that is okay just like a baby learning how to walk. God will understand. That is not a sin that leads to death as John says in the same letter. Just continue to purify ourselves by loving God and loving our neighbor as we ought to and are commanded to do so.
4. Sin Destroys Relationships
As I keep on saying, “it’s all about relationships.” How does God deal with us? Does he deal with us contractually or is God dealing with us relationally?
We will continue to have a problem understanding what obedience, commands, or rules are in the Bible if we look at it from a contractual point of view. But if we look at “rules, commands or obligations from the perspective of a loving family – thinking relationally in Godly love, then God’s commands will not become a harsh imposition on us but a loving reminder for us to do what is right because God is righteous.
We must begin to think always that God deals with us relationally and not contractually.
Sin is serious matter to God. He is not soft on sin. Christ died because of our sins. Let’s live a life of love instead of a lifestyle of habitual sinning.
Yes, we are children of God right now, but if we continue habitually to sin – living a lifestyle of sinning, then it is as if we are not children of God. Di ba?
C. Evangelism: How do we share the gospel?
In view of all these instructions, how are we to share the gospel to others? Here’s is my suggestion:
Tell people that they 1) belong. God loves them. Tell them to 2) believe the gospel. Tell them to 3) become who they are in Jesus Christ.
D. Reward for Being in Christ
Daniel 12:2-3 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.
NIV Matthew 13:43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
NIV 1 John 3:1 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.
Conclusion:
Brothers and sisters in Christ, through the apostle John, God has reminded us today to live a life of love. 1) Let us continue to love God with all our hearts, minds, soul, and with all our might and 2) let us also continue to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ and 3) let this love overflow to others in the community.
As we have seen, God is not soft on sin so neither should we be soft on sin! When John wrote this, Jesus already died for our sins, rose from the dead and went back to heaven some 40 or 50 years later. Christ has finished the work and yet, John tells us to continue to purify ourselves and get rid of sin our lives! Yes, God has assured us of his love. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Let’s us therefore live a life of love and not a life of habitual sinning and breaking God’s heart and God’s image in us.
We have a glorious life now and we have a glorious future also! And because we have this hope of future glory in Christ, we cannot but purify ourselves until the day that Christ returns or until our dying day.
May this message today be a blessing to all of you today, in Jesus’ name, Amen!