Open your Bibles with me to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. This is a difficult chapter and mostly misunderstood because people take it out of its context. Let me just read some of these verses here and show you what I mean.

John is writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit and he says in verse one of 1 John 3, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Now it's obvious who he's talking about here. He's talking about the true children of God. He's not talking about everybody without exception. Children of God are those whom God chose before the foundation of the world and adopted into his family. You can read about that in passages like Ephesians chapter 1. It's called the adoption of grace. And that means simply that God chose people who didn't deserve to be chosen and didn't earn it. It was simply God's sovereign choice. He chose his children. It's kind of like this. If you were going to adopt a child, you would go to an orphanage and you'd pick the child you want. You probably wouldn't sit back and say, well, let's see which one can earn my love or that kind of thing. But you would pick your choice. And that's what God has done with his people.

Sons of God adopted into his family. by the adoption of grace through Christ Jesus, accepted in Christ. And so he says, behold what manner of love. It's the kind of love that is not what you would call logical in the human mind. It's the kind of love that where God sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die for His enemies. Read about that in Romans chapter 5, when we were yet enemies. Christ died for the ungodly. It's sovereign love. It has nothing to do, and this is hard for us to understand now because by nature, that is, as we're naturally born, we don't know anything about this kind of love. But it's the kind of love that picks the worst, the most unworthy of objects to save and to bring into his family. What manner of love. This is the kind of love that we don't know anything about. This is godly love. And so he says that we, Sinners like us, undeserving. In fact, if you want to talk about what we deserve, it's nothing but condemnation and hell. If we don't deserve God's love, we deserve His wrath. That we should be called the sons of God.

Therefore, Now look what he says. Therefore the world knoweth us not. Because it knew him not. Talking about Christ. The world didn't know Christ. There was a time in his earthly ministry where multitudes followed him for the loaves and the fishes and the miracles and all of that. But they, in the end, they rejected him. We all did by nature. Because we, they looked at the Messiah as one who would come in the clouds and conquer their enemies and pat them on the back and say, well done, people. But he didn't do that. He came to save sinners. Even Gentiles. Samaritans. He ate with publicans and sinners. Think about it. He didn't fit their idea of what the Messiah would be. They were mistaken about it. Even in their readings and studyings of the Old Testament.

Somebody asked me one time, you know the famous passage that we think is such a beautiful description of the Messiah is Isaiah 53. The man of sorrows acquainted with grief. And I had a rabbi ask me one time who I thought that was talking about. And I said, it's talking about Christ, talking about Jesus of Nazareth. He said, no, he said, that's talking about Israel. No, it's not. See, they miss it because of pride and unbelief. The world knows him not. Do you know that the world really, in essence, does not know what a Christian is? think they do, somebody goes to church especially if it's called a Christian church somebody's trying to be a good person a true believer, a true Christian is one who submits to and follows the Lord Jesus Christ as he is identified and distinguished in this book here mainly as the Lord our righteousness because he is the very righteousness of God And this is what John is saying.

When you consider what God has done for His people, it's amazing. Amazing grace, we say. Amazing love. Behold what manner of love. We follow the Lord Jesus Christ, whom the world essentially rejected. You remember what Christ said in John chapter 15? He said, marvel not if the world hate you. It hated me before it hated you. The servant's not greater than the master. If they hated our master, our savior, if we follow him, they'll hate us too. Once they understand what we're saying.

Think about it. Here's the Pharisees, a religious group. And they were doing their best to keep the law in order to be saved. And Christ came along and said, what you're doing is evil because it denies the glory of God. It denies the work of the Messiah. It exalts the sinner. It's pride. It's self-righteousness. God won't have it. He'll spew it out of his mouth. And that's when they began to hate him.

Well, verse two says, beloved, now are we the sons of God. This is not something, if we're brought to faith in Christ and repentance of dead works by the gifts of God, the power of God, the work of God, and that's what salvation is. If we're brought to believe in Christ and to repent of our own dead works, somebody says, well, we got to repent of our sins. Well, what we don't understand by nature is that even our best deeds are sinful when aimed at bringing about our salvation, because only Christ can do that. So, if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, sonship, being in the family of God, daughtership, is not something we have to earn or achieve or wait for. It's right now.

Now are we the sons of God. Now granted, it doth not yet appear what we shall be. We see through a glass darkly. Remember Paul said that in 1 Corinthians 13? Boy, I do, don't you? What I'm going to be when I die and go to be with the Lord. Or what I'm going to be when he comes back the second time and glorifies us. It doth not yet appear what we shall be. We see descriptions of it to a point in the Bible, but there's still a lot we don't know. I think probably the best chapter of the Bible to describe it is 1 Corinthians 15, but when you're finished reading it, you still have a lot of questions. You won't know everything.

But look what he says in verse two. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, sons by adoption, sons by grace, sons by redemption, spiritual members of the family of God. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know this, we know that. When he shall appear, when Christ will come, we'll be like him. where we shall see him as he is with unhindered eyes. Think about having a clear view, a clearer view. You know, when the Holy Spirit opens our eyes or gives us eyes to see and ears to hear, we do have a clear view of who Christ is in the glory of his person. He's God manifest in the flesh. We do have a clear view of the power of his finished work. but not like we're gonna have then, in glory. Oh my, to see him with unhindered eyes. I could throw away my glasses. And see him with pure, unhindered spiritual eyes. See him as he is. Now that's the destiny of every true child of God. Right there. We're gonna see Him as He is.

You know, people talk about, well, I wanna see mama, I wanna see this one, I wanna see that one. John says, we'll see Him as He is. And you know what? That'll be enough. That'll be more than enough. Need to understand that. So that's the destiny.

So, wherein lies my acceptance with God, Is it something I do or don't do? Now, I can tell you that I may do some things that God would not accept. I may do some things that God would accept, but how does he accept them? Is it because of any merit in me? And the answer's no. The good works of a believer are not meritorious. They glorify God. They're honoring to Him. That's what Matthew 5, 16 tells us when it says, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and do what? Glorify your Father, which is in, not glorify you.

See, a lot of people, they do good works because they want return. They want the key to the city. They want honor. They want to make a name for themselves. That's not what we want. We want to glorify our Father which is in heaven. And what I want you to know about any good work that honestly God does through or in me, it's of him. I'm not the source of it. Paul said that. He said it's not I but Christ that dwelleth in me. God is the source of it. He's the source of all good. With and in his people.

So what is my acceptance towards God? How'd I get in this family? You're sons of God, children of God, daughters of God. Well look at verse three. And every man that hath this hope, not just any hope now, this hope in him, in Christ, you see that? Not just any hope and not just any hope anywhere. It's this hope in Christ purifies himself. There's our purification right there. It's not in baptism. It's not in taking baths, although you should take one. This purification before God is in Christ, purifies himself even as Christ is pure.

Now what does that mean? How is Christ pure? Christ is the sinless, substitutionary surety and sacrifice and redeemer of his people. And you know what? He's that for me. That's how I purify myself. I'm a sinner. In myself, in my flesh, I get dirty every day. with sin, even at night when I sleep. How am I purified from that sin? Christ Jesus died for my sins and put them away. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth me from what? All sin. You see, my sins are not charged to me. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity." My sins are not credited to my account. His righteousness brought on by His blood, His death on the cross, His obedience unto death is credited to my account.

Romans 4 and verse 6. where David described the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputeth, chargeth, counteth, reckoneth righteousness without works, without my works. That's the gospel message. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, it's the power of God and the salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, the Greek also, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed. From faith to faith as it is written, to justify, live by faith. That's the gospel message, folks.

I always, when I see this verse here, every man, every woman that have this hope, the gospel hope, in Christ, purifies himself even as Christ is pure. Christ is pure. He kept the law perfectly. The only way he came in contact with sin was by proximity, because he walked this earth and ate with publicans and sinners, and by imputation. God made him sin. Christ who knew no sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That's important. And I'm telling you, pursue that Learn it. Don't let it pass by you. And so, if you have this hope, well, what is this hope? Well, we've said it so many ways. You know my favorite hymn. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. There's my purification. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name, on Christ, the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. You see, no other ground will purify you, will save you, will justify you. Church membership won't do it. Church attendance won't do it. Should you join a church? A church where the gospel is preached, yes. Should you go to church? A church where the gospel is preached, yes. But that's not gonna purify you. That's not gonna save you. God saves sinners by his grace through the righteousness of another, the Lord Jesus Christ. So in verse four, he says, whosoever committeth sin transgresses also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. Now this thing of committing sin in first John three, has to be kept within its context. Now, again, we are all sinners. Only two types of people in this world. Sinners lost in their sins, not knowing which way to go for salvation, and sinners saved by grace. And so when you say, commit a sin, John, what do you mean? Well, ask yourself this question if you're a believer. Does anything you do by way of serving the Lord, does it measure up equally to the righteousness that Christ accomplished in his obedience unto death? Does it measure up? No. You say you love people. That's good. Do you love them like Christ loved them? You say you try to obey God. Well, first of all, trying to is not good enough as far as getting saved. But do you obey him like Christ obeyed him? He said, I always do the Father's will. Talking about his revealed will by way of command. I know we all do his will by way of his sovereign will. Nothing's outside of God's sovereign will. That's mind-boggling truth from the Bible, but it's there. It's there. If you want to argue with it, don't argue with me, argue with God about it, okay? Which you don't have the wherewithal to do so. But think about it. Christ said, I always do the will of my Father. When the devil attacked him, tempted him, his answer was, the devil doesn't have an ally in me. You know, when the devil attacks us, if the Lord allows him to do it, or sends him to do it sometimes, he has an ally in us, it's called the flesh. That's why we have to fight it. But whosoever commit a sin, now a lot of people, they will go to the Greek, and that's okay, and they'll say, well, that means practice sin. They say, well, we sin, but we don't practice it. Well, I don't know exactly where you draw the line there. as far as your practice. I guess you practice it, some people practice it until they get good at it. I don't know. But here's the thing about it. John in this passage is not talking about what we would call a life of morality versus a life of immorality. That's not what he's talking about. Now there are passages in the Bible that do speak of that. But this isn't one of them. You know what John is talking about? Look at verse five. And you know that Christ was manifested, made known, appeared to take away our sins. And in him is no sin. Now in Christ himself there's no sin, but what this is saying is this, as we stand before God in Christ, no sin is charged to us.

And how do you know that? Look at verse six. Keep the context. Whosoever what, abideth in him. That's what John's talking about. You remember back over in chapter two, he talked about how that it's the last time an antichrist has also appeared. They went out from us. That's verse 19 of chapter two. They went out from us. They left us. They left the faith. They apostatized. They did not abide, which proves they never were saved. That's what he said in verse 19. Look at it. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. And they went out, but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. They had a profession of truth. but it wasn't stamped on their hearts by the Spirit to where they couldn't leave it.

And then he said in verse 20, but you have an unction, a power, an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things, and you abide. That's what John's talking about. When he says, whosoever committeth sin transgressed, he means whosoever leaves Christ, unbelief of Christ. In other words, here's what he's saying, folks. He's saying if you don't cling to Christ and stay with him, you're committing sin no matter what else you do. As the old preacher used to say, you may be clean as a hound's tooth in the eyes of men. But if you're not abiding in Christ, continuing in Christ, resting in Christ, submitted to Christ, following Christ, it's all sin. That's what he's saying.

Because verse six, whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. There's no sin charged. That doesn't mean you're not a sinner, you are. You will be until you leave this world or until Christ comes back. He said, whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Now you can filter that down and say, well, that just means you're a moral person. But John's not talking about that. That's not his subject. What is his subject? Abiding in Christ, as opposed to those who leave Christ and go another way.

He says in verse seven, little children, let no man deceive you now. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as Christ is righteous. Remember what he said over there in the last part of chapter two? In verse 29, if you know that Christ is righteous, you know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him. And what is doing righteousness? It's looking to Christ, it's resting in Christ, it's following Christ. Who is our righteousness? Because without Christ, we have no righteousness. Nothing.

The Lord God Himself, the Father, spoke at His baptism and said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him. Outside of Christ, there is no pleasing God. You see, God has all of His glory, every attribute of His nature in the glorious person and finished work of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. To reject Christ is to reject God, period, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

So let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness, he that follows Christ, rest in Him. He who puts all of his eggs in that one basket, the Lord Jesus Christ, he's righteous. Even as Christ is righteous. And that doesn't mean that what we do in trying to obey God measures up to the perfection of Christ. It means that Christ is our righteousness. So in verse eight he says, he that commit a sin is of the devil. He that rejects Christ, he that leaves Christ, that's of the devil. You know the devil's number one goal is to get you to get your eyes and your heart and your mind off of Christ. Let me show you that. Turn to 2 Corinthians 11.

2 Corinthians 11. And you know, this was Paul's greatest concern as he wrote the churches in the New Testament. See, Paul was used of God to start many of these Gentile churches, Ephesus, Corinth, Philippi, all these churches. And Paul was a missionary. He didn't stay. I think he stayed longer in Ephesus than any place, if I'm not mistaken. But he went away and he would hear things about these churches and then he would be inspired by the Holy Spirit to write letters to correct errors or to encourage them.

And he wrote the Corinthian church because when he left the Corinthian church, false preachers came in to try to seduce the people of God away from their whole faith in Christ and get it onto themselves and onto others. And so look at verse two of 2 Corinthians 11. Here's what Paul wrote to the Corinthian church. For I'm jealous over you with godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. The only Savior, the only Lord, the only God that I preached to you was Christ, who is the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

But he says in verse three, but I fear less by any means as the serpent begot Eve through his subtlety. That's Satan. So your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity. That's the singularity that is in Christ. You see that? They were trying to get their minds off of the singularity, the simplicity of the person and work of Christ and onto themselves and to others. And then he says in verse four, for if he that cometh preaches another Jesus, in the Greek that means another of a different kind, whom we have not preached. Or if you receive another spirit which you've not received, or another gospel which you've not accepted, you might well bear with. And that word hymn is in italics, which means it was supplied by the translator. Paul's saying, bear with me. You don't bear with the false preachers. You don't listen to them.

Go back to first John three. So he that committeth sin is of the devil. The devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. The work of the devil was to bring sinners into a state of condemnation. The work of Christ is to bring them into a state of justification. Look at verse nine. Whosoever is born of God, now that's the new birth, you must be born again, doth not commit sin, does not forsake Christ. If you've been really born again, you will not apostatize, you will abide in Christ. Now that doesn't mean you're gonna be a perfect person. Doesn't mean you're not gonna slip up. But it does mean this, if you're born again, you're born into the family of God and He will not let you go. That's preservation. And so who doth not commit sin, for His seed remaineth, that seed is His children. That's what the word seed there means, his child. Remaineth in him, remaineth in Christ, abide in Christ. And he cannot sin, he cannot leave Christ because he's born of God. You've got the work of the unction in you, the work of the Spirit in you. He's given you a new heart, a new mind, new eyes, new ears, new desires. And you can't leave him.

And then he says in verse 10, in this the children of God are manifest, made known. How? Well, they're moral people. Well, they should be. If you read the Bible, some of them weren't always that moral. But unbelievers can be moral in the eyes of men. So how are the children of God made manifest? they look to Christ, they rest in Christ, they believe in Him, they won't turn to another. And the children of the devil, they go elsewhere. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. All of that, all of that gives evidence of a child of God, one who is saved by the grace of God, whose mind and heart and will has been changed and cannot be changed back. If you're truly born again by the Spirit, hearing the gospel, believing the gospel, I've got news for you. You've gone past the point of no return. And if you can return from it, you weren't born again. You see that? That's what John is saying in 1 John 3.