1 John 3:4-10 - Do You Know?

Today, Monday August 2 Do You Know? 1 John 3:4-10 “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; 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 keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.” Do you know that Jesus appeared in order to take away your sins? This passage is very helpful for the believer that truly wants to live a life that pleases God! So many believers have trusted the Lord for their salvation but clearly are struggling with overcoming the temptations of the flesh. The person who has no desire to leave the life of sin and deliberately and habitually sins is proving that he does not know Christ and therefore cannot be abiding in Him. In these verses we are assured and have confidence that we can have victory over sin, the flesh and the devil! First we must realize and believe there is more in the death of Christ on the cross than simply our salvation from judgment, as wonderful as that is. Through His death, Christ broke the power of the sin principle in our lives. The theme of Romans 6-8 is this identification with Christ in His death and resurrection. Christ not only died for me, but I died with Christ! Now I can yield myself to Him and sin will not have dominion over me. In the previous chapter (2:14), John commended the young men “because they were strong and the Word of God was abiding in them and they had overcome the evil one”. Once we become a follower of Jesus Christ and have been transferred into the family of God, out of the family of the devil, the devil declares war on us. Peter warns us to “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  Resist him….” (1 Peter 5:8-9a) James tells us, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Jesus instructed his disciple, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  (Matthew 26:41) For sure, after we truly have become a genuine, born-again follower of Jesus Christ, we are promised we can have victory over habitual sin in our lives! John tells us here in verse 5, “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.” There is no incentive or motivation to fight a battle that you think you have already lost. But when you know that you have Jesus on your side and that the reason He came was to deliver you from the penalty, the guilt and the power of sin, it makes all the difference in the world. You know from the moment you wake up in the morning that you can live the life of an “overcomer”!!!!!!! God bless!