EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/3/2025 8:025 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “The Christian’s Incompatibility
with Sin”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
1 John 3:4-10
Message of the verses: “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. 7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you;
the one who practices
righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is of the
devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for
this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because
His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 By
this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who
does not practice
righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.”
I ended my last SD with this quote “Yet, in spite of
the unmistakable clarity with which this is presented in both this epistle (No
one who is born of God practices sin [3:9a] and the rest of the New Testament, a significant cross section of
contemporary Christendom remains unpersuaded and confused concerning the truth.”
Now
I begin with an example, as some commentators say the apostle was exhorting
lawless, misbehaving Christians to rededicate their loves to the Lord and move
from immature, carnal behavior to spirituality.
MacArthur then writes “In this way, they attempt to tone down the letter
and make it less definitive or harsh.
But their arguments cannot account for John’s clear purpose for writing
the letter (5:13), which was to enable his readers to examine themselves so
that they might know whether or not their faith was saving. The dichotomy [a division or contrast between two
things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different] John presents is not deeper faith versus
shallower faith, but rather a saving faith versus a non-saving faith.”
Now still others have missed the
meaning and the application of the passage due to an incorrect understanding of
the nature of saving faith. For example
some believe that repentance is nothing more than a synonym for faith, thus
does not refer to turning from their sin, therefore not necessary for salvation. Saving faith, according to this view, is
nothing more than mere intellectual assent to the facts of the gospel. MacArthur adds (“to ask sinners to repent
would be asking them to contribute a work toward their salvation.) Hence, salvation may make no change in a
person’s doctrine or behavior. Even a
lifelong state of carnality (living the same as those who are unsaved) should
not be sufficient reason to doubt someone’s salvation.” John MacArthur has written two books that can
make it plain what salvation is all about.
The Gospel According to Jesus Zondervan
1988, 1994. The Gospel According to the Apostles [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1993, 2000.)
When I listened to the sermon that
goes along with these verses both of these books were mentioned, and so if
anyone is having issues as to whether or not they are believers then these two
books would be great to read.
Let me give what are two good proofs
that go along with Salvation that are found in different verses in the New
Testament. Repentance, something we must
do and this must be done at the point of salvation and also once you are a
believer and you sin you also need to repent in order to live in fellowship
with the Lord. Once you become a
believer then you will desire to produce fruit in your life, and producing
fruit has to do with doing the things in the power of the Holy Spirit to do the
things that He has called you to do.
Here is a list of verses from MacArthur’s
commentary that goes along with repentance and fruit bearing. “1 John 1:6 cf. Matt. 4:17; 11:20-21; Mark
6:12; Luke 5:32; 13:3, 5; 15:7, 10; 18:13-14; 24:27; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 11:18;
17:30; 20:21; 2 Cor. 7:9-10; 2 Tim. 2:25).”
1/3/2025 8:58 PM
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