Lawlessness and Sin (Part A)

The writer is hearing. He was a single wave come to the throne of grace to a new covenant.

This God, the very God that was on Mount Sinai's son, had to, and died for us. He demonstrates his love while we are still sinners, Christ died for us. He didn't say well when you get good when you when you do better in life then I will reach down and see the opposite. God's is as filthy as you are going to save you just like you are going to take you filled in all clean you up. This is cross reference radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Ricky is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of first John, please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching today. Pastor Rick will begin a brand-new message called lawlessness and sin in first John chapter 3 verse John chapter 3, we will read verses four through nine. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness and sin is lawlessness and you know that he was manifested to take away our sins and in him there is no sin. Whoever abides in him does not sin. Whoever sins is neither seen him nor known him little children, let no one deceive you, he who practices righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous, he who sins is of the devil. The devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for his seed remains in him and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God and I've maintained that the most difficult section of the Bible is first John, you just heard why I'm earning my money today over that paragraph that we just read is this the grace of God changes everything for me personally for you personally. The grace of God changes everything. If it is received and if it is rejected. Everything still changes but it will not be good. And this is the message the gospel, the good news is that man is a sinner. He is highly defective is not worthy of heaven, but God has a solution. If that solution is rejected, it is taken as though from God's point of view as being trampled and then the wrath of God abides on that individual. That's why we as Christians hopefully share a message with truth.

Of course, love and grace and kindness and try to maintain the life that is going to be more attractive than than ugly. As Christians, and Christians can be ugly and people who claim to be Christians can be ugly, but love covers a multitude of sins. And we we hope that in our walk. People will find us willing to love, willing to show grace working hard to be Christlike. While this morning's message is lawlessness and sin, because that's what our text is giving to us and so to set up what we going to examine in a moment. To me the easier part of this morning's message is that flat out, there's no getting around sin. We move from purity in verse three where he says, and everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. And now we come to the topic of impurity in believers. King David of course that great man of God wrote so many of the Psalms. We are just so taken by his his life and and so were those who lived in his time.

The men that came out to follow David who were disgruntled, who were in debt, who many of them troublemakers and not very mindful of God. They were changed when they came in touch with his life during that long reign of David. He had his own problems and he entered into sin, and yet God still used him to write Scripture after the sin was dealt with.

God did not throw David into the dung heap and said you had your chance. I blessed you with so much and you ruined it.

Get out of my face cognizant that David wrote Fry acknowledged.

I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Never in a state of denial as to his relationship with the pure and holy God. 10 times in this little paragraph that I just read we come across the word sin because it is the dominant thought that is being communicated by the spirit here.

I have to brief pause to remind us. John is combating false teaching of Gnosticism which teachers and taught that sin really was irrelevant that were beyond sin and it's really not a problem, and it was it good.

Corrupting the church and this is what John is dealing with in this section. If you forget that if you lose sight of that than what we just read will will just terrify you be confused 10 times the word sin shows up at 11 times God is referred to again in the short paragraph Hebrews chapter 4.

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. I need grace anytime I'm in the presence of God, and I need grace anytime them in the presence of people and I need grace even when I'm alone.

I need the undeserved kindness of God on my life or else I get confused I become troubled by his holiness. Instead of grateful for his holiness because his holiness is potentially terrifying. It means he's totally pure. He just there's nothing in God that is impure. Psalm 32.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. Blessed is the one that God says I'm not charging you with that. I've taken care of that for you that describes the soul that is right with God.

And so this Gnostic teaching that taught that sin was abstract.

It really wasn't something to be concerned with. Let that loose in a church, let that loose in a society where your sins don't really matter when you can lie. You can sheet you can kill. You do whatever you want. It really doesn't matter when you're playing with religion you can pull it off for a little bit, but as it begins to take root becomes invasive and destructive. John condemns such silly ideas and his audience knew it, we don't have the benefit of John coming in speaking to us of what he was saying in his sermon circulating around our community or the Christian world.

They did and so when he writes these things there with them.

They understand what's going on. They they see the whole picture we come along century later, we read this and says whoever sins of the devil which I've sin are not of the devil, I'm of Christ. How do I reconcile these things. Well we reconcile them by not losing sight of the whole picture. When John says in the second chapter, we have an advocate with the fathers of anybody sin so that he is ruled out, he is precluded any notion that if you committed a singular act of sin that you're somehow now demonic is not what he is saying but he is going again at these silly ideas and since we are we are sinners, we tremble at the idea of our sin in the presence of God, especially Hebrews chapter 12 don't turn there because I'm there I'll be done before you get there. Hopefully Hebrews chapter 12 and that 19th verse forward. We read about this greatness of God. He read the rights you have not verse 18 we have not come to the mountain that may be touched and burned with fire into blackness and darkness and tempests into the sound of the trumpet, the voice of the words so that those who heard it begged that word should not be spoken to them anymore, see what he is saying is in the Old Testament when the law was given God showed up to the people of their own mouse NAI and the people were terrified by his awesomeness by his holiness.

The contrast was so overwhelming that many of them just could not tolerated. The writer of hearing. Hebrews is saying.

But we've come to the throne of grace to a new covenant. This God, the very God that was on Mount Sinai's son, had to come and died for us.

He demonstrates his love while we are still sinners, Christ died for us.

He didn't say well when you get good when you when you do better in life then I will reach down and save. It's the opposite. God's is as filthy as you are. I'm going to save you just like you are going to take you filled in all clean you up. Sin is always faced by God because sin divides.

It destroys it dooms people human beings is very serious and if you're a Christian and you're in sin is hard to deal with these things. You gotta face them as God faces them also Gnostics their thoughts about Jesus Christ. Like many today is just lip service was no faith mixed with it.

They didn't trust him. They didn't love him.

They were not submitted to him. They wanted to use him to push their own ideas about religion and about their God again. Hebrews 4 pointing back to the ancients and applying it to those in his time in our time to reset for indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them, but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it, trust, faith is never ever a leap in the dark that something weird. Soren Kierkegaard is the one that that would really push that the Dutch philosopher when uninterested in philosophers. We want the revelation of God's word.

We want anointed preachers who can open it up because the spirit of God is upon them.

Faith is never a leap in the dark is a leak out of the dark into the light because you thought about something that you have been confronted with that you can get away from. And that is the conviction of the Holy Spirit based on truth and we have enough lies in this world to recognize when the truth shows up that it's better we make our move to think just to use the word thank is to use the word think they are connected in their origin.

You really cannot thank someone if you don't think because what you thanking them for but the fact that you are grateful demonstrates that you understand you have been the recipient of something that you don't deserve it. You're not entitled to what you benefit from it. I will hold the door open for somebody at a restaurant or something and they walked to don't even say thank you is why carry a blackjack is I'm not putting a whopping for those of you who missed out on those days when law enforcement carried blackjacks. The little rubber thing that which you got whacked by your new well anyway, I never received the whack, but I have seen those who did saw those I had uncle who was a New York City cop my mama was supposed he was a dirty cop just they're all gone now so you can go you know.

Hey, anyway, back to this sorry. Thank you for letting me take you down.

My memory Lane well, you get to have a church and preach at it and you can do it, but it comes with a price verse for now we look at our text. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, sin is lawlessness blunt and to the point, just like it is.

Sin is not a relevant that's what he is saying you committed your lawless.

That means you've broken from control careful now that we don't sever we get to the whoever sins is of the devil. The same applications.

I'll try not to repeat it. But we must not sever John's words from the rest of his words or the rest of the Bible like to repeat what a W told you said it takes the whole Bible to make a whole Christian and if the if you want to accuse God of being a chatterbox than just say that the much of the Bible is useless to you. It is very important that we understand all of it has its purpose God does not say to humanity. Sin is an illness. Some have even in our day very much in our day and try to say well it's it's really a condition is an illness will spiritually it is an illness, but it's a sin. It it's it merits judgment. It is an offense to God even if it is unintentional. God says it violates my will that, and thus be we being born sinners, we are going to sin is no denying it. There is no encouragement in the Bible to wink at sin are just a little one really doesn't count. That's not God's view never expects a holy God to wink at sin and never expect our salvation to crumble under the weight of sin. So God says I take it very seriously. But I take also seriously God says to us in his word.

The solution for sin which is grace which is the blood of Christ. My son did not die just for you to mess it up if you wanted that anger is hell, so if hell can't move us away from Christ. He will just try. Hell will hell collectively will try to just harass us until we die to diminish our service to dim our light to weaken our perfectibility amongst those who are going to hell because they don't receive the haven't received the gospel.

God is always looking to build us up so we remember grace does not contradict God's holiness.

Grace does not contradict God's holiness. It emphasizes his love. That's how we reconcile, how can a pure God except impure people love that's how love covers a multitude of sin.

It is the antidote to things that offend God.

If God had not loved it be no salvation that be the end of the story you offended you done God's love John is careful to point that out. Sin is more sin certainly is an act, but is more of an attitude, and it begins in the heart and then it shows up in the life through the deeds of the one who is sinning and we believers, we do sin from time to time, and we hate that we offend our Savior and we work to reduce it to deal with it.

We never just dismiss it because Christ is in our hearts. Unbelievers there. They may also hate what we call sin. They may not call it sin. They just may hate that they do that they may hate that they have become addicted to something and can't break it but it's there motive is not the same. They want their freedom back. They want their life back but they're not saying that I've offended Jesus Christ that is paramount to us. We would want our freedom back to what Paramount the main thing is the main thing is the relationship we have with Christ. And yes, he does leave things in our lives.

What would happen if your pastor was sinless as a man, he would be this most self-righteous judge mental individual you ever came across in your life because the sinful nature would do that to him you to God leaves much of these shortcomings to change it words a little bit to keep us humble and right perfect. The perfect life.

It awaits us. We pursue it.

Now we start now and we are much better off by doing that be you perfect is your father in heaven is perfect.

Were told to do that be matured be developed be like Christ be sinless.

He told the woman caught in adultery go and sin no more. She may not have committed that sin again when she committed other ones again that did not condemn her to hell. The grace and mercy of God. It is an attitude.

This sin that we deal with it is veering off of what God has said God's estate between the lines. We veer off into another lane going take another route and he tries to pull us back. We set can't keep it between the lines don't have what it takes. God says I do it's called grace and goodness, and I will work with you and of course the reasons are our dual nature. We are sinners we are saved by grace.

Romans eight verse seven because the carnal mind is at enmity with God is against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

Let carnal mind is not completely dead. When we come to Christ is still there. If anyone says, I don't sin the let them drive you somewhere in traffic, find our real quick or as their spouse go with you if you need another witness so we believers we realize our fence to God that it cost him the cross.

We do not minimize it worse is lawlessness here, again, that is the spirit of refusing divine control in this context, it's, it's, it's, it can be use of certainly adjustable in society.

It is still refusing control.

But of course John is speaking about lawlessness in the presence of God, and there have been many in this. Still, I hear that say sin doesn't count antinomianism. It is given that theological name it means without law, without God's law and if you come across anybody from that like that you have a heretic in your presence.

You have an opponent to the truth of God's word and you should be very careful. There are indeed consequences to lawlessness.

There are penalties built into the actions.

It's not a philosophy. Obedience is not just a good idea. It's not just a philosophy. Disobedience is problematic and the individuals who are disobedient aren't the only ones that suffer and so it is this lawlessness that stirs up so much trouble.

In fact, men often turn against God because he God has the audacity to point out there. Lawlessness, they don't like him, telling them that this is not good for you that this is condemned that this is against you that this is this violates God they become offended, the love of God for man is spiritual and it is perfect and it always rebukes sin.

And that is what John is saying verse five. Now he says and you know that he was manifested to take away our sins and in him there is no sin. Well, this is a welcome response to verse four. Look at verse four again and there we read whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness and sin is lawlessness. And then he says and you know that he was manifested to take away sins. And in him there is no sin. Stark contrast does not say that he was manifested to stop us from sinning. Another words we do not receive perfection.

Christian perfection in its totality, we still stumble but he has come to take away the sin of the world as John the Baptist pointed out as John here the John the apostle point out in the first chapter, the blood of Jesus Christ cleansing us from all sin. And if you going to take away the sin of someone you are going to have to be sinless yourself. Otherwise, you have someone who is bankrupt trying to get someone else out of bankruptcy does work you don't have enough strength in Leviticus, there is the Old Testament picture in their rites and rituals of the scapegoat scapegoat was the one that received the transference of guilt. The guilt of the people was taken symbolically and put on the scapegoat were two goats.

One was slaughtered and sacrificed the other had the sins laid on him and was taken by the Bible calls him a suitable man, which is ritualistically cleaned in the context of Leviticus and he was taken into the wilderness and let go, released away from the camp of the people.

Leviticus 16 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions concerning their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man is what we getting this morning I had my way I would skip this section. What we getting is God saying you got to face sin.

You gotta face it in the house of God, you got a face it in your heart you gonna face it in life and is hammering it in this little section is not just tinkering with a little bit's coming right at us faith transfers our sins to Christ.

Christ removes our sins and God forgets them. He wills them out of existence. That's how big the grace of God is when God says I have forgiven you what you did is willed out of existence before the throne of God, you, and in this life.

The consequences of that act may linger before the throne of God. They are gone, so that when God looks at his people. He sees a finished product because of his son and so much for anyone who says sin doesn't matter, God says, I disagree. And when you wear the cross on your neck borrower or wherever else you have that the emblem of the cross he was saying.

Sin does matter and the solution matters more, and that is again something the world does not want it wants its sin. Verse six.

Now whoever abides in him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him or back to that popular word of John abide which means to remain, we abide, regardless of what the weather is good be stormy can be hot and humid. Whatever the weather is we abide, we remain on the vine.

If we are abusing life we are cheated we are unloved. If we allied to it where all of the above, whatever it may be, we still stick to the Lord Jesus by faith from truth. That's important we Christians say we have faith we mean it is built on a solid foundation is not some superstition or some great wish with no basis behind it by faith from truth. Even though good prayers are offered up to God and not granted, we remain with the Lord.

So when he says whoever abides in him is not sin, not sin. Part that abiding part is critical to get to the benefits of the sin that comes so naturally to us as sinners.

Thanks for tuning in to cross reference rate cross reference is a ministry pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia. If you'd like to learn more about this ministry, we invite you to visit our website cross reference radio.com find a number of teachings from Pastor Rick available there. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast you subscribe will be notified of new editions of cross reference radio. Just search for cross reference radio iTunes Google play music or your favorite podcast apps. You can also follow the links@crossreferenceradio.com. We're glad we were able to spend time with you today to the next time you learning from the book of first John pastor here cross reference