In the Past Jesus Died for Me (1 John 3:4-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY For:  08-27-04

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  In the past Jesus died for me

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference: 1John 3:4-6

 

            Message of the verse:  “4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.  5 You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.  6 No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. (NAS95)  4 Those who sin are opposed to the law of God, for all sin opposes the law of God.  5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, for there is no sin in him.  6 So if we continue to live in him, we won’t sin either. But those who keep on sinning have never known him or understood who he is.”(NLT)  “6 The man who lives "in Christ" does not habitually sin. The regular sinner has never seen or known him.”  (Philips)

            I would first like to make the comment that verse six has been somewhat of a mystery to me for some time and the things that I have learned from Dr. Wiersbe’s book has certainly been most hopeful in understanding this verse.

            In verse four John gives one of the definitions of sin that are in the Bible; he writes that sin is lawlessness.  Sin is disobedience to God and to His Law, and it is an attitude problem.  The person who is an unbeliever sins because that is all he can do for it is in his nature to sin.  Another point that is needed to be made here is that there is a difference between sin and sins.  “Sins are the fruit, but sin is the root.”

            In verse five John states that the reason for Christ’s visit to planet earth was to take away sin for those who are believers, and he also states that Jesus was completely without sin. 

            “When a person is born into the family of God he cannot practice lawlessness.  For one thing, Jesus Christ was without sin, and to abide in Him means to be identified with the One who is sinless.  And even more than that, Jesus Christ died to take away our sins!  If we know the person of Christ, and if we have shared in the blessing of His death, we cannot deliberately disobey God.  The whole work of the cross is denied when a professed Christian practices deliberate sin.”

            Verse six in the NAS95 uses the work abide in it and says that “no one who abides in Him sins.”  To abide in Christ means to have fellowship with Him, and there are times in the life of the believer when he is not abiding with Christ.  Jesus gives us the picture of how to abide in Him in John 15 when He talks about the vine and the branches.  John is writing about two people here in verse six those who are believers and do not sin habitually, and those who are unbelievers who can do nothing but sin, for that is their nature.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am glade that I understand this section better than I have in the past, and understand why it is that I sin, and now I need to practice being in fellowship with Christ by knowing how to abide in Him.

 

The word of God was convicting to me as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to lead and direct me in the way that I should go.