God is love (chap.3)
This is the second half of the letter, which deals about the Sonship. The theme in chapter-3 is “God is love.” A child of God is obedient to Him because of the 5-motivations.
God is love:
‘God is love’ means that God is understood to be more than one Person. You cannot be in ‘love’ by yourself. So it is because we know that God is Three Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – we can say that ‘God is love.’ Before the world came into existence, there were the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, who all loved each other.
Bible never says that God is timeless. It says that God is everlasting, which is quite a different thing. Time is real to God. God is the God who was and who is and who is to come. God is not in time, rather time is in God.
God’s Love is amazing: (3:1)
Love is the greatest motive in the world, and if we understand God’s love, we will obey His Word. “If you love me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). God loved us while we were sinners. Of course, the world has no understanding of this love, and the world hates us. But the world does not know Christ, so it cannot know Christ’s children also.
Christ Promised His Return: (3:2-3)
What we are now is wonderful, but what we shall be is even more wonderful! “We shall be like Him.” This means inheriting a glorified body like His body (Phil. 3:20-21) and sharing in His eternal glory (Jn. 17:24). The believers life is a process of becoming more and more like Christ. The process will not complete until we see Christ face to face. But all the believers expecting God’s imminent return must obey His Word and keep their life clean. We shall see Him “as He is,” but we must also “walk as He walked” and “be righteous even as He is” (3:7). Saints are expected to purify themselves, that is, keep their hearts clean (2 Cor. 7:1).
Christ gave His righteousness: (3:4-10)
John defines sin as transgressing the law. The Christian who abides in Christ will not deliberately break God’s law. Every Christian sins, perhaps without knowing it (Ps.19:12); but no true Christian will deliberately and repeatedly defy God’s Word and disobey Him. “Whosoever abides in Him does not habitually sin.” But the Christian has a new nature within him and is no longer Satan’s slave. God’s seed is in him.
Some born again Christians say ‘sin does not matter’ since I’ve got my ticket to heaven. Some even say ‘Sin does not exist in Christians, suggesting a kind of perfectionism.
One biggest mistake people make when they come to Christ is to think that their future sins are forgiven. But only past sins are forgiven when someone comes to Christ. They need to go on receiving forgiveness for later sins. John says: if we go on confessing our sins, He is faithful and just to go on forging our sins, and the blood of Jesus will go on cleansing us from all unrighteousness. If I come to Christ, I do not have a blank cheque to sin (the Greek verb in this is present continuous tense). My past sins are now forgiven, but I must keep a short accounts with God. As I confess them, He goes on forgiving, but only as I go on confessing. A believer who commits a sin repents, confesses and finds forgiveness. Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn.1:29). We have some areas where there is strong temptation. Satan works in these weaknesses. Some people make a practice of sinning and look for ways to justify. During such times a believer must have
- Study Bible and seek the help of the Holy Spirit. “I have hidden your word in my heart so that I would not sin” (Ps.119:11).
- Try to avoid the situations where temptation occurs.
- Take the help of spiritual elders or the church.
Sin is normal for devil or those who are not born again and abnormal for the children of God. Eventually John is not advocating that ‘once saved is always saved.’ He is dealing with those who call themselves disciples, but continue to sin and accept it almost as if it doesn’t matter. Sin has no place in the believer’s life. No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. The verb again here is present continuous. It refers that something done at that time, but something we continue doing. Similarly we can put (Jn. 3:16) as ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever goes on believing in Him will never perish but will go on having eternal life. It is not those who once believe have eternal life. It implies the same meaning in (Jn.15) says: ‘I am the true vine, remain in me,’ which means ‘stay in me,’’go on living in me,’ Whosoever goes on living in Christ doesn’t go on sinning and can’t go on sinning. (thought taken from ‘David Pawson’)
God does not destroy or eradicate the old nature; rather, He implants a new nature that gives the believer a desire for spiritual things. “Whosoever is born of God does not habitually, deliberately sin; for he has the seed of the new nature within” (3:9). This new nature cannot sin. Of course, believers who yield to the old nature will stumble and fall.