1 John, Part 8: Jesus Has Triumphed Over Sin and Death So We Can Too

1 John 3:4-10 (BSB)

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Death could not hold Jesus in the grave! He is risen from the dead and He is alive!

His death, and more importantly, His victory over death, has opened the way for everyone who believes in Him to be born again. This is the Gospel message–the Good News that we proclaim—not only today on Easter, but every day.

But as we’ve been seeing so clearly in John’s first epistle, if we want to receive the promise of eternal life that Jesus has so graciously gifted the whole world, we must abide in Him. It’s not enough to simply acknowledge that Jesus died on the cross, or even that He rose again. If we truly believe that Jesus did those things, there will be a profound change that takes place in us as the Holy Spirit assumes residency in our hearts.

The Easter message is this: Jesus has triumphed over sin and death, and if we believe in Him, we can too!

Providentially, as we continue in our series on 1 John, our text for today perfectly fits in with this Easter message. 1 John 3:4-10 says:

4 Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness.

5 But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.

6 No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him.

7 Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.

8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.

9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 

10 By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

We saw last week that we are children of God if we have been born again through faith in Jesus. And one day soon, Jesus is going to return. Whether we live to be 106 or Jesus returns next week, we will meet Him soon in relation to eternity. If we are going to meet Jesus, then shouldn’t we get ready? 1 John 3:3 tells us that “everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.” As you could see from our text, John is further explaining why we must purify ourselves.

So, let’s read through the text again, taking it one verse at a time.

Verse 4 says, “Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness.”

In Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, he says, “It seems evident that the apostle is here combating an opinion which then existed that people might sin and yet be true Christians, and he apprehended that there was a danger that this opinion would become prevalent.”

Well, John’s concern was not for nothing. This opinion has sadly not gone away. It’s become widespread, and it’s known as “antinomianism.” The idea is that because we are saved by faith through grace, we have been freed from the law to such an extent that we are no longer under any obligation to follow any of God’s laws.

But John would not agree with that theology. He says, repeating this in a variety of ways throughout his letter, that there are two types of people. The first people are those who have hope in Jesus. Everyone who has hope in Jesus will purify themselves, just as Jesus is pure. But the other group of people are those who, instead of purifying themselves, practice sin, which is lawlessness.

But John knows that those he’s writing to are not in the group who are breaking God’s laws and committing sin. He says in verse 5, “But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.”

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible says: “The essential argument [John is making] here is that the whole work of Christ was designed to deliver us from the dominion of sin, not to furnish us the means of indulgence in it.”

After all, this is the reason Jesus humbled Himself and died on the Cross for our sins. This is the whole point of Easter. We celebrate that Jesus died on the Cross for the forgiveness of our sins, and that He rose victorious, triumphing over sin and death. And because Jesus has accomplished this, we too can triumph over the sin in our lives. As Hebrews 12:1 urges us to: we can throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles and run with endurance the race set out for us.

Scripture tells us that the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead now lives in us (Romans 8:11), and that Christ Himself is now our life (Colossians 3:4). So, because Jesus rose from the dead, His life is now in us. And because His life is in us, sin no longer has power over us.

That’s why in verse 6, John can confidently say: “No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him.”

John is repeating his constant refrain: Whoever claims to abide in Jesus must walk as Jesus walked (1 John 2:6).

Now, this doesn’t mean that if we remain in Jesus we will never sin again. We know John doesn’t think this. Earlier in his letter, he reminded everyone that if they sin, they are to confess their sins and receive forgiveness and cleansing.

What John is emphasizing is that no one who remains in Jesus is going to keep on sinning. If we sin, we quickly repent and change. We don’t keep our hearts hard, continuing in our sin. It’s as Hebrews 10:26-27 warns us, saying, “If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.”

John is saying the same thing. If want to remain in Christ, we can’t willfully disregard God’s ways and willfully disobey Him. If we are remaining or abiding in Jesus, then we are dwelling with Jesus. This is the same word that John has been repeating throughout this letter. If we willfully sin, then we’ve stepped outside of God’s way. If we do that, then John says, it’s proof that we haven’t actually seen Him or know Him. It’s proof that we’ve lost sight of Jesus’ path.

I really like the way N.T. Wright explains this in his book, The Early Christian Letters for Everyone. He says, “We should be doing our best to avoid all kinds of sin, all the time, though we shall surely fail; but the failures must take place within a settled habit of life in which sin is no longer setting the tone. We are playing a different piece of music now, and even if our fingers slip sometimes and play some wrong notes, notes that belong to the music we used to play, that doesn’t mean we are going back to play that old music for real once more.”

To keep using Wright’s metaphor, if we have been born again, we have been given a whole new song to sing. Why would we want to stop singing it? Why would we want to return to the old way of singing? When we are born again, we are made into new creations, and everything old has passed away. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!”

Then John emphasis this again. In verse 7, he repeats, “Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.” 

Using John’s words—we shouldn’t practice sin; we should practice righteousness.

John knows that there are many who would tell us that sinning is okay. It’s not, and we should not let anyone deceive us with this false idea.  

Again, it’s not a matter of never making a mistake. We all make mistakes. But that is no reason to keep on making mistakes. We need to learn from our mistakes, let Jesus cleanse us, and correct us. And then, when we encounter a tricky spot of temptation, we can sail right through it, knowing where we messed up before and move on without stumbling again.  

Just like playing an instrument, it takes time and careful practice.

Then, to really emphasize this point, John says in verse 8: “The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges explains this verse very clearly. It says, “To do sin is to do lawlessness, and this is the opposite of to do righteousness. The one marks the children of God, the other the children of the devil.”

This is why Jesus came to earth, and why it is so vital we know, not only that He did, but why He did. Because if we only know that Jesus died on a Cross and rose again, but we don’t know why, then we won’t understand that His death and resurrection destroyed the works of the devil. I think this is why Easter has largely become a celebration of bunnies and eggs. As the Church has failed to communicate the true message of the Cross and the resurrection, another louder message has drowned out the reason Jesus did all this for us.

Alexander MacLaren, in his commentary on this verse says, “But for all that, I am bound to say that this is a danger which, in this day, by reason of certain tendencies in our popular Christianity…that you will find people gushing in religious enthusiasm, and then going away to live very questionable, and sometimes very mean, and sometimes even very gross and sensual lives…You do not show yourselves to be Christians because you gush. You do not show yourselves to be Christians because you can talk fervidly and feel deeply. Raptures are all very well, but what we want is the grind of daily righteousness, and doing little things because of the fear and the love of the Lord.”

To combat this loud refrain that threatened to deceive believers in John’s day, in MacLaren’s day, and still threatens us today, verse 9 explains this same idea in yet another way. It says, “Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.”

If we have been born again, we won’t practice sin. We won’t pick up the old song and practice playing it again. In fact, if we are born again, even if we try to play that old song again, we won’t be comfortable playing it the way we did before we were born again.

We won’t be able to keep on sinning, because God’s seed abides in us. The Holy Spirit won’t allow us to go on sinning. We won’t have peace. Sin won’t feel good to us the way it did before we were born again.

In a biography about Cameron Townsend and his missionary work with indigenous peoples in Mexico, there is an example that explains what I’m talking about. Cameron had witnessed to and befriended the mayor of a small village. After several weeks of reading the Bible, the mayor complained to Cameron, saying, “Something strange is happening to me. I cannot understand it. I can’t do the things I used to do. I go to lie, and that book stops me. I can’t even get drunk or beat up my woman anymore! You must tell me what is wrong.” Then, a week later, he returned to Cameron and told him of even more changes. He said, “I feel so different inside now, I no longer want to shoot people.”

We can kind of chuckle at that story, but it’s actually a perfect illustration. God’s Word was completely transforming that man as he read it; he couldn’t “go on sinning, because he [had] been born of God.”

If we are born again, then not only should our attitude be one of refusing to practice sin, but if we do sin, God’s seed within us will revolt and make it impossible for us to keep sinning. We will either listen to the Holy Spirit and obey His voice, or we will grieve the Holy Spirit and willfully disobey Him.

If we don’t listen to the Holy Spirit and obey Him, then we aren’t acting like children of God. John would say we are acting like children of the devil. He says in verse 10, “By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”

If we find that we can keep on sinning, with no seeming consequence to our heart or conscience, then that’s an indication there is a problem. Because the way to tell the difference between children of God and children of the devil is really simple. It’s a two-fold test, says John: “Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”

Well, you probably recognize that as the exact same way that Jesus summed up the commandments. Jesus declared in Matthew 22:37-40, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

If I love the Lord with all my being, then I will practice righteousness. I will walk as Jesus walked, obeying His Word. And if I love my neighbor as myself, then I will also love my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, too. To do both of those things, we need love. We need to love God and others.

Going back to N.T. Wright’s metaphor, the music that God has given us to play is love. The song we are to sing is a song of love.

Easter doesn’t just mean that we can be forgiven; it means that we can be made new. We no longer have to sing our old songs of sin. We can be born again and transformed into new creations who no longer have to practice sin. We are set free to sing a new song. We can testify that what Psalm 40:3 says is true: “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.”

And unlike those who do not practice righteousness, our song will not be one of anger or hate. It is a song of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.

Certainly, there will be moments of lament and sorrow, with minor keys, slowdowns and pauses. But then the tempo will pick up again; joy will return as we stick to the notes as written.  

This is the song of Easter: Christ has died, saving us from sin’s penalty; Christ has risen, setting us free from sin’s power; and one day, Christ will return, and “when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is.” 

So, the question on this Easter Day is this: Are you still trying to play that old song, or are you singing the new song of redemption that Jesus died and rose to give us?

Let us sing the song of the redeemed. Revelation 5:9 says, “And they sang a new song: ‘Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.’”

Jesus’ resurrection means that He has triumphed over sin and death, purchasing us from every evil power that held us captive, so we can stand before the Father, clothed in His righteousness. His resurrection means that because Jesus defeated the devil, we can overcome the evil one too. No longer are we slaves to sin and death. We are set free to sing a new song, walking as Jesus walked, abiding in Him.

If you know the reason for His death and what His resurrection means, then you can proclaim with joy: Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Hallelujah!

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, as we celebrate Easter and what Jesus has done for us by dying on the Cross, we rejoice that He did not stay in the grave, but He rose triumphant, conquering sin and death. Please help us to triumph over the sin in our lives, so we can abide in You, obeying Your commands and loving others. As David prayed in Psalm 19:14, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” In Jesus our Redeemer’s name we pray. Amen.