Introduction:
One of my desires as we walk through 1 John together is that we would see Christ in every sermon. Not because Christ is seen throughout all of Scripture and thus, we should be able to see Him here. But because John makes it so clear that he is talking about Christ in this epistle. His entire message is focused on Christ in one way or another. As often as we gather together, I want us to be focused on Christ. The songs we sing, the prayers and petitions we offer, and the preached Word are all a means of bringing our focus to the worship of Christ.
Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 John 3. This morning we are going to read verses 4-6. In doing so, I want us to see the obviousness of how John writes about Christ in these verses. The title of this sermon is “He who knows no Sin” which comes from verse 5. Verse 5 is the bridge that we must cross to go from darkness to light, He is the bridge we must cross to go from sinner to redeemed creature. Christ is the One who is our means for living righteous lives. May we be encouraged by these truths this morning. The roadmap for this sermon starts with “The Stain of Sin” (v.4), then we cross the bridge that is “He who knows No Sin (v.5)” which then prompts our “Volition or Drive to be like Him” (v.6).
- The Stain of Sin (v.4)
We begin our time together with the bad news “The Stain of Sin” which we find in verse 4. There are several thoughts for us this morning that I hope get us thinking about where we are in our Christian lives. The first is that we must be cognizant of who we once were. That is ever important as we taste the sweetness over time of our Lord’s precious work on the cross for us. Notice that John begins verse 4 with the word ‘everyone.’ Last week we saw this same word, but here it takes on a different meaning. One that is familiar to us. Unlike last week where the ‘everyone’ was intended for believers in Christ, this usage in verse 4 encompasses the totality of humanity. John therefore attaches the human condition to sin. And rightfully so. That is apparent with our first parents Adam and Eve. And every tribe, tongue, and nation afterwards has followed the same pattern. The Bible gives us a wider scope of this, but if we were to look at recent history books, say a few hundred years back, we would see that human beings are sinful. For most of us, this is not an issue. We would readily admit that we sin.
He does not write this about a particular group of people who sin, with the notion that there are a group of people who do not actively sin. Therefore, the ‘everyone’ refers to every human being that is ensnared in sin. Ecclesiastes 7:20 tells us, “Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.”
The word sin bears two meanings. The first is the action of doing it and the second is the definition of it in a human’s life. Let us look at the action of sin. What does it mean to sin? This may be a strange question because for us who are Christians, the answer is obvious. But what about those who reside outside of these walls? What about those who think they are good people? I think for the unbelieving person they attribute sin to an action only and a particular action at that. Most people think they are good because they have not committed a major sin like murder. Spurgeon said, “that there are some people who understand by the word “sin” some offense against their fellow men, or the outward neglect of religion.” However, the word ‘does’ or ‘to do’ has many definitions such as agree, execute, commit, continue, without any delay, exercise, perform, and transgress the law. The definitions listed here could all be attributed to a person who does, in this case, a sinful deed. We know that sins are not just “out of the blue.” Sins are premeditated in thought. There is something that catches the eye of a human whether it be a material belonging or a philosophical concept that might be wrong. Whichever way we look at it, sin is not just an action.
The second meaning of sin is its defining of human existence. John does not settle on sin being an action only. Sin is also a defining quality of a human being. “Sin personified as a destructive and depraved principle reigning over unbelievers and persisting in believers; especially as a slavemaster doling out payment with the currency of death and decay” (Logos). Sin is in the very fabric of our being. To be human is to be a sinner. To be human is to be a law breaker. There are many other qualities, many that are pleasant in human beings, but we must come to grip with the reality that there is a horrid side of humans and that is his sin. In this text, sin is a generic term. It is the committing of the action, not a continuance of it (vv. 8-9 speak on the continuance of sin). The generic nature of the term is attributed to all of humanity who have sinned. “He that does sin realizes in action the sin that which includes and represents the complete ideal of sin” (WSNT).
John does not limit sin to sinfulness itself. He goes further saying that sin is lawlessness. What does he mean by this? These two words sound the same, they must mean the same, don’t they? Well, it is not quite that succinct. There are three common words used throughout the Bible that center on the reality of sin and they are, sin, lawlessness (or transgression), and iniquity. We are not going to go into the depths of these words, but I would encourage you to do a Bible word study on these in your own time. I am sure that you will see much greater our God’s hatred toward sin and lawlessness and how much greater His grace is. For our consideration this morning, I do want us to look into lawlessness, look at the end of verse 4. John says that sin is lawlessness. So, not only is the one who does sin, does lawlessness, but sin in its nature is lawlessness. Sin and lawlessness are, clearly, tied together. Without sin, there is no lawlessness. Yet, without lawlessness, sin does not make sense. Sin is offensive in its nature. It is directly offensive to God, who hates sin. I have a question for you, if there were no offense, or sin, then would there be a line to cross? In other words, in order to have a line to cross into the displeasure of God, there must be something to cause it. That is where sin comes in. Sin causes the displeasure of God; therefore, lawlessness causes the displeasure of God. God hates when we sin. He hates it when we cross the line and do what He hates. Thus, sin is lawlessness. They go hand in hand.
Now, the one who does sin is also guilty of lawlessness. Lawlessness is the act of “crossing the line” (Ferguson) that God has marked. God has set the line (or the law) for us. Every time we cross that line, we transgress against God. Because He is the Creator, who is the only One who is perfect, He has the right to put forth boundary markers for His creatures. In the same way, the architect and the builder can set limits as to how many people can fit into a certain room or how much weight a bridge can hold. It is because the architect and the builder have built the building or the bridge, therefore they have the right to set the limit. This is not because they are greater than anyone else, but because they have the knowledge as to what they can handle. The difference between the two scenarios is that God has the right because He is the sovereign Creator over all the earth which includes human beings. God, in every way is greater than us. We can never surpass God is in godliness. Isaiah 55:8-9 reinforces this saying, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares Yahweh. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
How serious is lawlessness? Numbers 15:31 answers this question. “Because he has despised the word of Yahweh and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt will be on him.” Do you see the severity? The one who is guilty of lifting himself or exalting himself into places where he doesn’t belong (as in equality with God), this person is to be cut off from the people of Israel forever, never to return. This one is not just cut off from Israel as a nation/people group, but he is cut off from the family of Yahweh forever. This truly is bad news.
- He who knows No Sin (v.5)
Thanks be to God that the story does not end with us in our sin. We turn our attention to verse 5 and look at “He who knows No Sin.” We go from one side of the spectrum, man in his sin, to Christ who knew no sin nor was any sin found in Him. This starts with the manifestation of Christ. Thus far in our study, we have seen several reasons for the manifestation of Christ i.e., proof of existence through the apostle’s testimony (1:1), fellowship with God (1:3), the completeness of joy (1:4), and the gift of eternal life in Christ (2:25). Here, John gives another reason and that is to take away sins. What is important for us to consider here, is that without Christ, our sins COULD NOT be taken away. There is no hope for us apart from this truth. As in all of John’s writings, we see the reason for believing in Christ, but we also see the takeaways in application, which we will see in verse 6. This is foundational for our faith in Christ. Why did Christ have to come as the Godman? For many reasons, with John focusing on the removal of our sins.
This implies that Christ was sent for a specific mission. One that is almost always neglected is His mission to take away sins. Christ is known as a prophet who brought forth good ideas. Even the Ten Commandments are good to follow, and they give good moral advice as to how to live. But the reason why Christ came was to fulfill the will of the Father and redeem humanity from their fallen sinful state. Why do people not include this in their definition as to who Christ is? Simply put, if Christ is who He says He is, then He is worthy to be followed. And if this were the case, then we must put down the idols of our heart, crush them, and never look back. We know in this world, that for unregenerate sinners, this is the last thing that they want to do.
What does it mean for Christ to take away sins? Does He just remove them? What is the magnitude of this? This is the purpose for why He was manifested according to verse 5. According to the Hebrew (nasa) which is parallel to the Greek (airo) the root word is to ‘lift.’ Christ lifts the sin that casts us down, the sin that is burdensome to us, the sin that is unable to be removed by any human being. The idea here is that anything that is lifted off is not desired to be put back on. It is a forsaking of sin, a crucifixion of our former self. This is what Colossians 2:9-13 is talking about. Therefore, it is the duty of the believer to not be intentionally weighed down by sin again. This is not a bodybuilder who lifts something, puts it down and picks it back up again. The burden of sin is so great that we never want to have that feeling of sin again. We experience the freedom that is found in Christ once the burden of sin is removed. Therefore, why would we desire to put on the old person that was once so unbearable, since Christ has lifted our sin from among us?
As those who have experienced the freedom in Christ, we are called to “consider the members of our earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry…But now you also lay them all aside: wrath, anger, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you put off the old man with its evil practices” (Colossians 3:4, 8-9).
The title for this sermon comes from the truth claim that is factual that Christ has no sin residing in Him. Look with me at the end of verse 5. Unlike human beings who have sin as a part of who they are, this is not so of our Lord Jesus Christ. The gap is so great between Him and us in this regard. We are like Christ in that we are made in His image, but that is as far as we go. We have seen the righteousness of Christ in that He is perfect in every way. The Bible speaks just as much about the sinlessness of Christ. How do you and I know that Christ is sinless? How do we answer the skeptic? With Scripture, of course! Luke 23:41 tells that at the crucifixion, the robber who repents tells the other one that Jesus had done nothing wrong to deserve the punishment/death He was ensuing, but they, as robbers, were guilty for what they had done. Verse 47 of the same chapter recalls that the Centurion acknowledged after the crucifixion was finished that Jesus was righteous. In so many words, Jesus had no sin in Him. John 14:30 is Jesus saying that He and the ruler of this world are not of one another. The belief that Jesus and Satan are brothers stops here as some religions believe. There is iniquity found in Satan, but not in Christ. “Jesus could not sin, neither could He be tempted with evil, for there was nothing of our sinful nature in Him to which Satan could appeal” (NTSK).
Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 5:21. What does all of this perfection of Christ and His sinlessness have to do with me? I want us to see the clarity that Scripture offers. I think we will see clearly how this beautiful truth is bestowed upon us. The next time that someone comes to you and says Christ was not perfect, He was just a man; point them to 2 Corinthians 5:21. Not only does this verse give the skeptic proof of Christ’s existence and to us even more so that Christ was sinless, but we see the precious promise of becoming the righteousness of God because of Christ’s sinlessness. Why? Because Christ was sinless, He is the ONLY ONE who can bear our sin. And thus, this is the truth that the skeptic needs to hear. The skeptic needs to hear that he or she is a sinner and that Christ the sinless One is the only hope they have for salvation. This comes full circle, for us as Christians. For, it is the sinless Lord Jesus Christ who is the pure and spotless bridegroom in whom we anxiously await His return!
- Our Volition/Drive to be like Him (v.6)
This leads us to the “So what” part of this message. As I mentioned earlier, this is the application of the passage. Look with me at verse 6 and let us be encouraged this morning to focus “Our Volition (or our Drive) to be like Him.” Notice that John begins verse 6 by telling us that there is no one in Christ who sins. We have seen earlier in our study that all Christians sin after being regenerated. Christians go to war against sin and the flesh and against the temptations that come our way.
Then what is John talking about? The word ‘abide’ is critical for our understanding of this passage. Do you remember what abide means? It means to continue. Thus, those who continue or abide in Christ do not continue habitual sinful patterns. In other words, the Christians does not continue to sin repeatedly with no godly sorrow. It means that we as believers do not sin the way that we used to. We do not do the things like we used to.
The word ‘sins’ is aligned with the word ‘abide’ and is used in the present tense which “indicates, not the committal of an act, but the continuous practice of “sin.”” We do not just abide in Christ once, and then never abide again. No! We abide in Christ continually; on the other hand, our sin must not be continual. This is helpful for our understanding of this verse. What John is telling us is that we will sin, we will trip up, we will battle it until we are back in the ground, however it does not reign over us, we do not continuously delve into sin repeatedly as we did in our former state. The critical difference is that when sin desires to hold power over us, we run to our loving Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ for protection and deliverance. We abstain from sin and resist the devil instead of running headfirst into our sin. It means that we crucify the flesh and not live out our days satisfying the flesh. To continue in Christ is to live for Him and at the same time it means to not live for the flesh and the world in whom we were formerly slaves to.
This text is like 1 John 1:6-7 which speaks of light and darkness. If you turn back a page, notice what it says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not do the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Thus, the one who abides in Christ walks in the Light and does not live in the continuation of sins both former and present.
So, where does our volition to be like Christ come from? May I present it in a negative way. John says in the negative ‘no one who sins’ as he is talking about those who live contradictory to the Divine mandate to not be enslaved to sin any longer. He says, those who are still unregenerated and unrepentant sinners have not seen or know God.
John 1:18, 5:37, 6:46 all state that no one has truly seen God. Now, this may seem contradictory because there are eyewitness accounts in the Bible of men seeing Jesus Christ who is God the Son. What the Spirit refers to in all four texts is that no one has seen God in His truest and pure form. Exodus 33:20 confirms this in Yahweh’s response to Moses wanting to see Him in His glory saying, “But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”” And Yahweh carrying this truth out speaks to Israel in Deuteronomy 4:12 saying, “Then Yahweh spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form—only a voice.” Although it is true that no one has seen God in His purest and truest form, is this what John is talking about?
We know that he is not speaking about the literal ‘seeing’ of God. He is talking about the seeing in a perceptive way. The perceptive way of seeing in this verse is by experience. The experiential seeing of God is life changing. It changes humans to submit to God and not to sin, to live differently than before as a child of the King and not a child of the devil. Those who have experienced this “sight of God” are new creatures. Therefore, the person who continues in his or her sin has never experienced God. There is no heart change, there is no regeneration that takes place, there is no hatred of sin like God hates it. God is unable to be experienced because all the sinner knows is his or her sin. That is the driving force for their existence. They live to satisfy their sinful lusts.
Similarly, those who do not know Him cannot see Him. It is not that man does not know God, for He has made Himself known (Romans 1:20). John is talking experientially here as well, but he does so in a relational context. As we have seen several times, John is all about the relational aspect that God has with man. Specifically, that Christ has with His redeemed creatures. Here, John is telling us that there is no man who continues to live in sin yet possesses the special closeness that true regenerate believers have. It is not enough for us to stop at knowledge of who God is, but we must go deeper into the special relationship that He has with His people. We see this throughout the entire Old Testament with Yahweh’s relationship with Israel, with the leaders that He raised up, with His prophets, and with others who were allegiant to Him. No where, in the Old Testament or New does God want us to only know who He is. He demands our worship. Thus, it can be said, that those who live volitionally in sin, do not possess this relationship that pours forth worship to God.
May I ask again where the volition to be like Christ comes from for you and for me? It comes from the truth that those who are not living like Christ are living like the world. You can only have it one way or the other. Christ or sin? Let this be a means of self-examination.
Conclusion:
So, that being said. Where are you this morning? Have you recognized the stain that sin leaves? If you have, praise be to God! It is the recognition of sin that is the entry way for confession of sin and believing in Christ. Or are you still swollen in your pride, that you don’t sin, or maybe that you are not that bad of a person, in fact maybe even a good person. Friend, let me tell you here and now, the Bible is clear that every single person is a sinner and that there is not a one who does good. There is no escaping it.
But it does not have to end there. God, in His great love has sent His sinless Son to take the sin away that you harbor. He can lift the sin off your back. All that He requires is that you confess your sin, repent, and believe in Him.
Christian brother, what is your volition this morning? What drives you? What is it that gets you fired up? What keeps you motivated to continue on day after day? Dear brother, if the answer to these questions is worldly focused, I urge you to confess your sin before God. What must our volition be? It must be that we live lives that are unstained by continual sin. Lives that look heavenward and not on earthy things. Lives that seek to love our neighbor, for God has greatly loved us. Lives that look to crucify the flesh and no longer live in it. It is true that you and I will still sin, but it does not reign over us any longer. I pray that your volition and mine will align with the King of Kings who has set us on the course for righteousness. Therefore, that course must not include continual habitual sin. Brothers, take courage, our God is with you, and He loves you. Continue to trust in Him.
