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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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EVIDENCES
OF THE FAMILY OF GOD (1 John 3:1-10) Grace
Bible Church, Gillette, Wyoming Pastor
Daryl Hilbert A. Evidences
of Familial Relationship (1Jn 3:1-10) 1. Children
of God are Believers (1Jn 3:1-3) a) John
exclaims the truth that believers have had and continue to have God’s love
bestowed (perfect active indicative - didomi - to give) upon them (1). (1) This
love has been bestowed on believers because they have been called the
children (teknon - synonym of huios
(son) in status) of
God. John emphatically adds that believers are children of God indeed (kaì
esmén, also vs. 2). (a)
A person becomes a child of God the moment they accept Christ as Savior (Jn
1:12). (b) The Spirit testifies that the believer is a
child of God (Ro 8:16). (c) There are evidences which prove believers
are the children of God (Phil 2:15). (d) The book of 1 John gives evidences which
discern who are and who are not children of God. (2) The
world does not have a relationship with the children of God because it did
not have a relationship with Christ. b) It
has not been revealed (phaneróō
- make visible or make clear) what the believer will be like when he is in heaven (2). (1) However,
the believer will be glorified just like (hómoios - resembling or same nature) Christ, when He appears (phaneróō - make visible). (2) The moment the believer sees Christ in all
His glory, the believer will be gloriously transformed (Phil 3:21). c) As
the believer focuses on his future glory with Christ, his mindset purifies (hagnízō from hagnós - pure) himself (3). It does so because the
believer is focusing upon Christ who is pure (hagnós from hágios, which means holy). 2. Children
of God Practice Righteousness (1Jn 3:4-7) a) John
first gives the negative side of evidence that depicts those who are not
children of God (4). (1) John
uses a present participle (poión - do or perform) to indicate
that the one who is “habitually practicing” sin is not a child of God. (2) Sin (hamartia) is missing the mark of God’s
righteousness and is also lawlessness. Lawlessness (anomia - a = against & nomos = law) is any violation of God’s Law. b) Christ
appeared (phaneróō) the first time (First Advent - 1Ti
3:16; 2Ti 1:10; 1Pe 1:20; 1Jn 1:2) for the purpose of taking away sin (5). (1) If
Christ came to expiate sin (Jn 1:29), then how could the children of God take
sin so lightly? (2) Furthermore, there is no sin in Christ.
Those who claim to have fellowship with Him cannot fellowship with sin. c) John
is direct in saying that if someone abides in Christ they will not habitually
live in sin (6). (1) If
someone habitually lives in sin, it only proves that he has not seen Him or
known Him. (2) John had seen and known Christ (1Jn 1:1)
and as an apostle, he wanted to keep them from being deceived by false
teachers and imposters. d) John
was also writing to believers (“little children”) to help them discern who
was a true child of God (7). (1) The
believer who knows Christ will habitually practice righteousness. (2) Since Christ is righteous, those who have
fellowship with Him practice righteousness. 3. Children
of God are not Related to the Devil (1Jn 3:8-10) a) A
person who habitually practices sin gives evidence that they not a child of
God. John states that anyone who habitually practices sin is a child of the
devil (8). (1) The
one born into a particular family bears the likeness of that family. The
devil (diábolos - the devil
and his character, i.e. “diabolical”) has been habitually sinning from the beginning (Ge 3:1ff). (2) Christ appeared (phaneróō,
same word as vs. 2, 5, here referring to Christ’s First Advent) to destroy the works of the devil. This was
accomplished on the cross. It rendered the devil powerless in regard to death
(He 2:14). b) A
person who ceases from habitually sinning gives evidence that they have been
born (perfect participle of gennáō
- give birth or beget cp. Ge 5:3ff) of God (9). (1) God’s
seed abides in the believer. “Seed” would be representative of God’s nature
implanted by the Spirit at the moment of salvation (2Pe 1:4; Ep 4:23). (2) Therefore, because a believer partakes of
God’s nature in the new self, he is not able to habitually sin. c) There
are two spiritual family relationships. One is with the family of God and the
other is the family of the devil (10). (1) One
family is from the offspring of God in new birth (Jn 3:3; Tit 3:5). (2) The other one, without the new birth,
remains as the offspring of the devil. They are characterized by: (a) Hatred
and murder (Jn 8:44) (b) Speech and actions (Jn 8:39) (c) Disobedience (Ep 2:2) (3) John
adds two more characteristics to the children of the devil, namely
unrighteousness and no love for the brethren. 4.
Applications a) There
are Only Two Families (1) There
is no middle ground; a person is either in the family of God of the family of
the devil. (2) They have either trusted Christ or rejected
Christ. This is God’s perspective toward humanity. b) In
the Family and of the Family (1) If
a person is in the family of God, they will live righteously and love the
brethren. (2) Granted, a believer may struggle in
particular areas or with particular people, but they will continue to do
these things to some degree. c) Living
with the Wrong Family (1) It
would not be impossible for a believer to live in sin or live worldly for a
time. (2) But the question that John would raise is,
“Why would you want to act like you are a member of the devil’s family?” |
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