Evening Spiritual Diary for 1/10/2025 9:37 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3 “Sin Is Incompatible With the Work of
Christ”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1 John 3:5-8
Message of the verses: “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.”
I mentioned that I thought that this section of 1 John is
very important for us to understand do to the highlighted portion found in
verse six “No
one who abides in Him sins.” This is why I am going to quote from John
MacArthur’s commentary to make sure that we can best understand this section
from 1 John.
“Thus John taught that no one who
sins (the present tense of the verb again denotes the habitual action of
defiance and rebellion by a fallen heart) can also abide in Christ. It is not that people who become Christians
will never sin again (1:8), but they will not live as they did, because no one
who sins constantly or habitually in the pattern of the unregenerate has seen
Him or knows Him.” Let me quote 1 John
1:8 before I go on quoting from MacArthur’s commentary “8 If we say that we
have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” I just want to make sure that we all
understand this section of Scripture.
“John further cautioned his readers
that they should make sure no one deceive [d] them concerning a correct
understanding of sanctification. Despite
any deceptive teaching to the contrary, only the one who practices
righteousness can have any assurance that he is righteous, just as He is
righteous.
“The Lord Jesus came to earth to take away the sins
of all who trust in Him, thus placing them on the path of sanctification. In contrast, the one who practices sin is of
the devil. Diabolos (devil) means ‘accuser’ or ‘slanderer.’
“The expression the devil has sinned
from the beginning likely refers to the moment of Satan’s rebellion against God
(cf. Luke 10:18), because God originally created him as a perfect angelic being
(Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:12-17). Satan
is the prototypical rebel, the leading antagonist against God, and the ruler of
this sinful world system (Eph. 2:2).
Because he opposed God and His plan (Gen. 3:1-14; cf. Zech 3:1; Matt.
4:1-11; 13:19; 1 Thess. 2:18) and instigated the original rebellion against God’s
law, all unsaved sinners are in a sense the Devil’s children (cf. John 8:44; 2
Cor. 4:3-4; Eph. 2:1-3).
“John makes the obvious conclusion
that because the Son of God appeared…to destroy the works of the devil (Gen.
3:15; cf. John 12:31; Heb. 2:14), it is impossible and unthinkable that true
believers would continue in devil-like behavior. Today Satan is still opposing the plans and
people of God (1 Peter 5:8), but believers are no longer his children or under
his rule, nor are they bound to do his works.
“The phrase the works of the devil encompasses
various satanic activities such as instigating sin and rebellion, tempting
believers, inspiring unbiblical ideologies and false religions, persecuting and
accusing believers, instigating the work of false teachers, and wielding the
power of death (e.g., Luke 8:12; John 8:44; Acts 5:3; 1 Cor. 7:5; 2 Cor. 4:4;
10:3-5; Eph. 6:11-12; 1 Thess. 2:18; Heb. 2:14; Rev.12:10). None of those works can ultimately defeat the
saints, who have been delivered from his Kingdom (Col. 1:13).”
I have to believe that this SD is
one of the most important ones I have written in a while.
1/10/2025 9:59
PM
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