FIRST JOHN

Conclusion (Part 3)

1 John 5:18-21

TEXT FOR THIS STUDY

18) We know that no one who is born of God sins, but He who was born of God keeps him, and the Evil One does not touch Him.
19) We know that we are of God and that the whole world lies in the power of the Evil.
20) We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
21) Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

THE CHRISTIAN IS COMMITTED TO A LIFESTYLE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (5:18)

If you just glance at verse 18, you can really come away so guilt-ridden. John claims that no one who is born of God ______________. That is a huge burden for any person to carry. If that is true, then we are all lost.

The truth though is that God chose the Greek language to convey His message rather than the English language. English is way too simple and non-specific. For example, when we studied John's teaching on "love," we discovered that whereas English has only one word for love, Greek has FOUR words for love. John is wanting us to love GOD'S kind of love. In this present instance the verb tense of "sins" is huge in Greek. When we read the English translation of this verse "no one sins," you walk away thinking, "I am NEVER supposed to sin." In Greek though the verb tense means "no one is to continue sinning." In other words, sin is not to be a habit. Yes, I am going to fall. Yes, I am going to sin. Yet I am not going to live continually in that sin. I may fall from time to time; however, I am not going to surrender totally to that sin.

We see the exact same sentiment in Proverbs 24:16. According to this verse how often does the righteous man fall? How many times does he get back up after he falls? How often does the wicked man fall?

In other words the righteous person does fall; however, each time he gets back up. The wicked falls permanently into destruction.

John goes on to list 3 reasons why the Christian does NOT live a life of habitual sin. According to 5:18 the Christian is "_________ of God."

Second, who keeps the Christian from sinning habitually?

Who is not allowed to touch the Christian?

Because I am born of God, I have the new nature living in me. I am truly God's son; therefore, I can act like God's Son Jesus. The problem though is that I still have the old Carey Ford living in me. As a result I am going to sin. Moreover, I live in an environment hostile to Christianity. According to verse 19 why is the world hostile to Jesus and to Christians?

When Satan claimed that he would give the kingdoms of the world to Jesus if Jesus would worship him just once, he wasn't kidding. Yes, Satan is allowed to rule because all things are ultimately under God's control; however, at the present time Satan really does rule here on earth because of God's permission.

What had God given to Adam after He created him (Gen. 1:26)? Or what did God instruct Adam to do?

When Adam sinned, he relinquished his dominion over the earth and yielded it to Satan. Salvation is basically the process of taking this dominion from Satan and giving it back to man. According to Heb. 2:6-8 (especially the first part of verse 8) what has God done for mankind?

This has already happened in the instance of the One Man Jesus. According to Matt. 28:18 what has God given Jesus?

One day when God has finished His work in us, what shall we likewise do (Rev. 22:5--last part of this verse)?

None of this EXCUSES me for sinning. It does though explain WHY I sin. HOWEVER, all of this ENCOURAGES me not to sin. I can have genuine victory in my life because of the "new me" and because of the One who guards me.