(REFLECTIONS ON 1 John 3:1-10 )

1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

Yes, that is what we are! We are children of God. However, do we act and live like the children of God? Or, do we act and live like the children of this world? That is the question that needs to continue to be in our minds as we work through 1 John.

Isn’t that why John wrote this letter to the church? He said his purpose for writing is so that we do not sin. Again, John emphasizes that as children of God, not born of this world, but born of the Spirit, that we cannot go on sinning.

9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 

We are born again, into the family of God, and as the children of God need to act and live as such. When we read, “no one who is born of God will continue to sin,” how do we react? There are many that explain that this verse isn’t talking about just any sin, but that we don’t live a life in continuous sin.

The meaning many would say, isn’t that we don’t ever sin, but that we shouldn’t live a life where we are in habitual sin, but that we need to learn that when we do sin to repent of our sin. However, does this explanation then give us an excuse to keep on sinning sometimes and lessen the impact these words have on us?

What if we don’t try to explain things away,
but rather let these words fill us this morning,
“no one who is born of God will continue to sin.”

Earlier in verse 6, John writes,

6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

How do we as children of God reconcile these verses with our current lifestyle? Are we living as the children of God or as the children of this world. In verse 9, we are reminded that no one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed, or Jesus Christ, remains in them.

One of the reasons that I like John’s letters so much is because his words hit me so hard each time. It makes me reflect on my faith, my life, and the church. Are we living as the children of God, or are we living as children of the world?

No, I don’t want to interpret this Scripture making it easy for me to make excuses or to ignore it. This is how I hope we can approach Scripture, not trying to explain it in a way that makes our life and faith easier, but to come face to face with God’s word, and our life, so that we can allow it to convict us and change us to be more like His children.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: 1 John 3