No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
(1 John 3:6-10)
Christians are in a warfare. Unfortunately, we are often fighting against the wrong enemy. In many situations, you find Christians fighting against other people. Sometimes they even fight against themselves. But our enemy is not another human being. Even the most evil human beings are not our real enemy.
The enemy of every Christian is unseen and unhuman. But it is not an impersonal force either. While our enemy is not human, he is a person. And even though there are many who would like us to believe that this person does not exist, there is tremendous evidence of his reality and existence.
A number of years ago, the best selling author, Hal Lindsey, wrote an interesting book entitled Satan Is Alive And Well On Planet Earth. It became a bestseller as well. The reason why, of course, is that most of us realize that Satan is real. D. L. Moody once said that he knew that the Devil was real for two reasons: first, because the Bible says so; and second, because he had done business with him. We’ve all probably done a little business with the Devil.
But quite apart from what the Bible teaches about Satan, consider the current state of affairs of our world. Even in our "civilized" society you find tremendous evidence of the existence of the Devil. While we might be able to rationalize certain small acts of evil as mere imperfections in human character, there are hideous and grotesque acts of pure evil that are routinely committed in our society that can have no other explanation than the presence of an evil force like Satan himself. Someone once said that: "It is stupid of modern civilization to have given up believing in the Devil when he is the only explanation for it!" Indeed! How do you explain acts of evil so despicable and grotesque that we would not even want to mention them today in the hearing of our children? Indeed, Satan is alive and well on planet earth.
We have learned from our study in 1 John that sin is a reality in our world, and we will see today that sin and unrighteousness is the fruit of Satan’s labor. Sin and unrighteousness have their origin in the person of Satan. He is our real enemy. And he is the one we must oppose and fight against.
We saw in the last message how Jesus came to deal with sin. In 1 John 3:5 we read, "But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins." Christ came to deal with sin by dying on the Cross and offering Himself as the sacrifice for sin. Through His death on the Cross, we can be free from sin by receiving Him as our Lord and Savior.
But Christ also came to deal with the Devil. The last statement in verse 8 tells us this: The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. Jesus came to deal with the Devil by destroying the Devil’s work. He has already gained the great victory over Satan that enables us to walk in that victory. So let’s consider certain truths we must clearly understand if we are to walk in Christ’s victory.
When our text speaks about the devil’s work, to what does it refer? Well, a great part of the Devil’s work is deception. We see this clearly in the very beginning of the human race in the story of the Devil’s encounter with Adam and Eve. As you recall, they were in the Garden of Eden in paradise. God had provided everything they needed. He walked with Adam in the cool of the day and communed with them. God had put them in charge. They were in authority over all creation. All they had to do was to continue to obey God. And the test of their obedience was to keep one simple commandment. They were to never eat of the fruit of one tree in the garden — the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It sounds easy enough, doesn’t it?
This became the source of the Devil’s deception. He came to them and lied to them about three things. He lied about God’s love for them. He told them that God didn’t really have their best interest at heart. God really didn’t care about them or He would not withhold anything from them. He also lied about God’s Word to them. He tried to convince them that God was really the deceiver. God didn’t want them to know as much as He did and that was the real reason why He told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And he also lied about the consequences of sin and disobedience for them. God had said that they would receive a sentence of death if they ate of the forbidden fruit in disobedience to Him. Satan came along and told them that it was a lie. Satan tried to convince them that God was the deceiver when in fact Satan was doing the deceiving. This is the way he operates.
We see that he continues his deception today. This is nowhere more clear than in his success in deceiving humanity concerning the real consequences of sin and disobedience to God. We also see this in how he has deceived our society concerning the true nature of righteousness.
The current attitude in our society is that those who sin are cool. They are in touch. People who commit sins are really living life. They are enjoying life. Listen to the attitudes on contemporary talk shows. Listen to the arguments people make in justifying sinful behavior and sinful lifestyles. Sin is portrayed as exciting and fulfilling.
On the flip side, those who stand for righteousness are portrayed as negative, narrow, and puritanical. They are painted as extremist, and radicals. Worse still, they’re called Republicans. Those who stand for righteousness are depicted as the real problem in our society today.
But this is deception. This is a strategy of Satan. This is the fruit of the Devil’s work. So what is the truth? John appeals to us in verse 7: Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. But we are being led astray. What is the truth?
We must understand the truth about sin. Sin is the Devil’s work. Whatever you have been told about sin, you must understand that sin is not cool, not ultimately fulfilling, not good for you. Sin will exact a devastating penalty. There are terrible consequences for sin. The last part of verse 6 reads: No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Verse 8 reads: He who does what is sinful is of the devil. And we read in verse 10: This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. It is clear from these verses that those who practice sin are of the Devil.
These Scriptures also teach us that a habitual sinful lifestyle is a characteristic indicator that a person does not know Christ as Savior and Lord. Now what is in view here is not a sin here and there. The teaching of these Scriptures is not that an act of sin indicates that one is not a believer. Earlier in this letter John has already stated that "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8) No, he is not talking about a sin here and there but about a worldview or lifestyle that integrates and excuses sin. He is talking about a philosophy of living that allows a person to continue sinning without any remorse or desire to change. And he says that this indicates that such a person is really not a Christian at all.
This is the deception that Satan has perpetrated on our society. This is the perspective that many in our society today have concerning sin. Our society integrates sin, excuses sin, and even promotes sin. They act as if sin will have no real consequences. And, of course, if there is no God, then there will be no consequences for sin. But if there is a God, and if He is the God revealed in the Bible, then we will all stand before Him one day. On that day the consequences will be very real. This is the truth about sin. Sin destroys. Sin condemns. Sin is the Devil’s work of destruction.
But not only must we know that truth about sin, we must also know the truth about righteousness. The truth about righteousness is that righteousness is a mark of a Christ-centered life. Righteousness is from God.
Look at verse 7: Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The first part of verse 6 reads: No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. Similarly, in verse 9 and the first part of verse 10 we read: No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are.
The teaching is clear. True Christians have been born of God. True Christians have been implanted with a new nature. And this new nature is against sin. It is pro-righteousness and anti-sin. So if we have truly been born again, there should be a desire within us to avoid sin. And when we do sin, which John has already indicated that we would, we will be convicted of that sin and confess it in humble repentance to God. We will do this because the very life of God is working in us. The seed of a righteous life has been implanted in our very being.
What our text is saying is that we, as believers, will not and cannot go on excusing sin. Rather, we will be convicted by it. Sin will bother us. God’s Holy Spirit will convict us. We will struggle with sin. We will not be able to excuse it away. We will not be able to justify it. We will be burdened to the point of having to deal with it by confession and repentance. This is evidence that Christ is in our lives. This is evidence that the Holy Spirit is working within us. This is evidence that we are children of God.
So we see that the truth about sin and righteousness is that both proceed from the life within. If that life is controlled by Satan, then the fruit of that life will be a life of sin. But if our lives are controlled by God, then the fruit of those lives will be righteousness. The fruit indicates the nature of the tree. Our behavior indicates the nature of our lives.
So, if you are really following Christ, sin should bother you. Does it? If it does, then the Holy Spirit is working in your life to convict you. Respond to that conviction by confessing your sins to God and repenting of your sins. Repentance simply means that you turn away from that sin. Repentance means that you forsake that sin. Repentance means that you do what is necessary to guard your life against that sin in the future. That is the fruit of righteousness.
On the other hand, if sin really does not bother you then you may not be a true Christian. Perhaps you have realized that today. But don’t despair. This is why Christ came. He came to deal with our sins. He came to destroy the Devil’s work. He came to set you free. He came to give you His life. He came to make you a Christian. If you desire to come to Him and receive His life today, then don’t delay. If you sense the Holy Spirit’s calling, His prompting for you to surrender your life to Jesus, then respond now. He will be faithful to deal with your sin by His forgiveness and to destroy the Devil’s work in your life. He will enable you to walk in Christ’s victory.
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