Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.  1 John 3:4–10

Throughout its history the true church has always maintained that Scripture clearly sets forth certain basic standards of belief and behavior as necessary marks of genuine saving faith. An affirmation and acceptance of the biblical gospel, and a life that is characterized by a worthy walk, have rightly been seen as accurate indicators of the work of the Trinity on a person’s heart. And when such fruit is absent in an individual’s life, the church has appropriately called into question his or her profession of faith.

In recent decades, however, that has begun to change. More and more so-called evangelicals have downplayed the significance of biblical doctrine—even such crucial doctrines as the person of Christ and justification by faith alone. Incredibly, some have even asserted that the lost can be saved apart from any knowledge of the gospel at all, arguing that if pagan people merely live up to whatever standards of religion, morality, and ethics they have, God will accept them. Since they claim there are scarcely any doctrinal necessities, there can hardly be any behavioral ones.

The apostle John would have been appalled by such contemporary evangelical equivocation. He wrote clearly and unmistakably that saving faith involves accepting certain essential doctrines—such as the Trinity and the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross—and results in certain essential actions—including repentance from sin, obedience to the Word, a desire to walk as Christ walked (live righteously), love for the brethren, and a hatred for the evils of the world and the flesh. John and all the writers of the New Testament taught that unless a person believes and practices such truths, he or she is not saved, no matter what he or she might claim. Bad theology damns, and bad behavior reveals bad theology. Yet, in spite of the unmistakable clarity with which this is presented in both this epistle (No one who is born of God practices sin [3:9a]) and the rest of the New Testament, a significant cross section of contemporary Christendom remains unpersuaded and confused concerning the truth.

For example, some commentators say the apostle was exhorting lawless, misbehaving Christians to rededicate their lives to the Lord and move from immature, carnal behavior to spirituality. In this way, they attempt to tone down the letter and make it less definitive or harsh. But their arguments cannot account for John’s clear purpose for writing the letter (in 5:13), which was to enable his readers to examine themselves so that they might know whether or not their faith was saving. The dichotomy John presents is not deeper faith versus shallower faith, but rather a saving faith versus a non-saving one.

MacArthur, John. 1, 2, 3 John. MacArthur New Testament Commentary. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2007.

"Quote" of the Week

"When the Holy Spirit draws sinners to God, regenerates them, and grants them eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, they are recreated (2 Cor. 5:17) to obey the Word, follow Christ, reject the temptations of the world, and display the fruits of righteousness in their lives (Rom. 8:6; Phil. 3:9; Col. 3:2). That is nothing more than foundational new covenant truth (Jer. 31:33; Ezek. 36:25–27; Heb. 8:10; 10:16; cf. Ps. 119:1–5, 9–11, 97–105, 137–140)."  -John MacArthur

There is a preacher of the old school, but he speaks as boldly as ever.  He is not popular, though the world is his parish and he travels to every part of the globe and speaks in every language.  He visits the poor, calls upon the rich, preaches to people of every religion and no religion, and the subject of his sermon is always the same. 

He is an eloquent preacher, often stirring feelings which no other preacher could—bringing tears to the eyes of those who never weep.  His arguments none are able to refute nor is there any heart that has remained unmoved by the force of his appeals.  He shatters life with his message.  Most people hate him yet everyone fears him, his name?  DEATH.  Every tombstone is his pulpit.  Every newspaper prints his text and someday every one of us will be his sermon. 

It is poems like these that “drive people to drinkin.”  The reason being many do not like being reminded of the certainty of death.  They do not like considering the sobering truth that says, “We are all going to die someday; maybe today.”  The problem, however, is that this is an inescapable reality.   

Nowhere is this point more clearly made than in Scripture.  God goes to great lengths in His Word to drive this point home.  He wants us to experience this truth—He wants us to know that it does not matter who we are, how good or how bad, how wicked or how devout, how loved or how despised, death comes to us all.  Why?  So that we will know that life without Him is hopeless, but life with Him is glorious.

For more on this, click HERE and listen to “KNOWING JESUS AS THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE.”  

"Quote" of the Week

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”  -Jesus, John 11:25-26

THE SHEPHERD AND HIS SHEEP by R.C. Sproul

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. John 10:1-3

Jesus began (Chapter 10) with contrasts, and the first contrast was between the one who enters the door of the sheepfold and those who climb over the fences and try to sneak into the sheepfold by some other way. Those who try to sneak in are thieves and robbers, Jesus said, but the shepherd uses the door.

Some biblical commentators look at this text and say that when Jesus spoke of thieves and robbers, He referred to false messiahs or to the Devil. I don’t think so; this comment is far more pointed than that. Remember, this comment came right on the heels of a very heated discussion between Jesus and the Pharisees about the man born blind. This is the context here. Jesus addressed those whom God had called to be the shepherds over His flock, the clergy of His day, who had so recently cast the healed man out of the synagogue, rejecting a sheep in the flock of God. Jesus called these clergy, the Pharisees, thieves and robbers.

Jesus drew this illustration from the sheep industry of the day. The way sheep were cared for in ancient Israel was very different from the way they are handled today. In those days, there was one large, central pen, or sheepfold, in a given community, and at the end of the day people brought their small individual flocks and led them into the big sheepfold. With their combined resources, they paid a gatekeeper, and it was his job to stay with the sheep during the night.

In the morning, the gatekeeper opened the gate to those who were truly shepherds, whose sheep were enclosed in the sheepfold. The shepherds entered by the door, for they had every right to do so—the sheep were theirs and the gatekeeper was their paid servant. When a shepherd entered the sheepfold, the sheep of all the local flocks were mixed, but he began to call, and his sheep recognized his voice and came to him. In fact, a good shepherd was so intimately involved with the care and the nurture of his sheep that he had names for them, and he would call them by name. His sheep followed him out because they knew him.

Jesus used this particular illustration over and over again to speak about His relationship to those whom the Father had given Him, to those who are believers. The illustration teaches us that Christ knows the believer and the believer knows Him, recognizes His voice, and follows Him. This two-way knowledge is absolutely essential. Jesus gave a dreadful warning about this at the end of the Sermon on the Mount when He said: “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ” (Matt. 7:22–23). He said, “You are not My sheep if you don’t know Me and I don’t know you.”

Sproul, R. C. John. St. Andrew's Expositional Commentary. Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2009.

For more on John 10, click HERE and listen to, “KNOWING JESUS AS THE GOOD SHEPHERD.”

"Quote" of the Week

"It is through (Christ) that salvation is found. Those who come to Him find access to life and sustenance...Jesus came not to steal but to give, and His gift is abundant life."  -R.C. Sproul

In declaring himself to be the light, Jesus was claiming divinity. In the Bible, “light” symbolizes the holiness of God (see also Psalm 27:1; 36:9; Acts 9:3; 1 John 1:5). Jesus is not merely a light or another light, he is the one and only true Light. As the Light, Jesus illumines the truth, gives people spiritual understanding, and reveals to us God himself and what he has done for us.

In claiming to be the light of the world, Jesus defined his unique position as the one true light for all people, not just the Jews. Isaiah wrote, “I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6 NKJV).

Death brings eternal darkness; but to follow Jesus means to never walk in darkness, but … have the light of life. When we follow Jesus—accepting him as Savior and Lord and following him—we are walking in his light. We no longer walk blindly in our sin, rather his light shows us our sin and our need of forgiveness, guides us along life’s pathway, and leads us into eternal life with him. The psalmist said, “In Your light we see light” (Psalm 36:9 NKJV). 

Barton, Bruce B. John. Life Application Bible Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1993.