Alright, I want to direct your
attention to 1 John chapter 3. For the past two weeks I've been
preaching through this chapter, 1 John chapter 3, and using basically
verses 9 and 10 as my base text concerning children of God manifested. And the issue here obviously
is a self-examination by the Word of God so that we may be
assured, we who profess to be believers, who profess to know
and believe in and trust and love Christ, that we may have
an assurance of salvation, an assurance that we are truly children
of God and not just false professors. The Apostle John on over in 1
John makes that statement that these things are written, verse
13 of chapter 5, he said, these things are written or have I
written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God
that you may know that you have eternal life. I want to know
that I have eternal life. How about you? I want to know
that. That word, know, there is the
same word that he uses in 1 John 2 and verse 29. He says, if you
know that he is righteous, that's a settled thought. That's what
that means. That's something that's true,
not just because you believe it. It's true whether you believe
it or don't believe it. And that's the issue, you see, it's settled
truth. The word know in verse 29 of 1 John 2 when he says,
you know that everyone do it, that's knowing by experience.
That's something I can only know when I experience it. But that
first word know is the same one over here that you may know.
That has to do with a settled truth. And so he says that you
may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe
or continue believing on the name of the Son of God. And that's
the issue. Look back at 1 John 3 verse 9. He says, Whosoever is born of
God, that's the new birth, regeneration and conversion, that's the fruit
of God's grace, the fruit of Christ's work on the cross. He
died that we might live. That's what his death was all
about, in satisfying the justice of God. Because sin demands death,
righteousness demands life. His righteousness demands life.
The wages of sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. And so, he says, whosoever is
born of God, whosoever has this miracle, this power, this reality
of spiritual life, And we could talk about that a long time.
He says, they do not commit sin. And as I said, when I opened
up this whole study on 1 John 3, if you don't really understand
that verse, it ought to scare you to death. In other words,
the only way I can know that I'm born of God, that I'm born
again, is I don't commit sin. Now, what does that mean? Well,
he says, for his seed remaineth in him. And he cannot sin. I mean, it's impossible for him
to. That's what that means. Now,
think about that. Look at yourself. Look at me.
You mean, a guy like me, it's impossible for me to sin here.
That's what it says. He cannot. commit sin. And the reason is, is because
he's born of God. He has the life of Christ within. He's been born again. And then
he says in verse 10, this is where I got the title, children
of God manifested. In this, or in this way, the
children of God are manifest. The children of God are known.
Not to the world now. The world won't know us. He said
that in verse 1. But they're known. And he says, and the children
of the devil are known. I want to know that I'm a child
of God and not a child of the devil. And so he says, whosoever
doeth not righteousness is not of God. Now this commiteth sin
and doeth righteousness, commiteth not sin. These are all terms
that we'll have to look at. Neither he that loveth not his
brother. Then he brings love of the brethren. I'm going to
deal with that later on, probably beginning next week. This love
of the brethren. Because that's the two things
that he says that marks and makes known a child of God. Somebody
who's been born of the Spirit. They do righteousness, they commit
not sin, and they love the brethren. Now you might remember, let's
go back and just read this, back in verse 29 of 1 John 2, that's
really where it begins, that would be the division. Sometimes
these chapter divisions aren't, I think, exactly right, but that
doesn't matter. Those weren't inspired of God. Those were by the King James
translators. But he really begins, the thought
begins here. You know what he's doing here? He's showing what
fellowship among brethren really is about. And he starts off,
it's the fellowship of light and truth, and then he says it's
the fellowship of righteousness, and then later on the fellowship
of love. So here's the fellowship of righteousness, verse 21. If
you know that He is righteous, that Christ is righteous, if
you know that God is righteous, then you know that everyone that
doeth righteousness is born of Him. Now, there are people who
do not know that God is righteous, and I'll tell you exactly who
those people are. It's not hard. You can read about it in Romans
chapter 10. There, Paul talks about the self-righteous, religious,
unbelieving Jews who rejected the Lord Jesus Christ and the
work that He accomplished on Calvary. They rejected His blood
as the only payment for all our sins. They rejected His righteousness
imputed as that which alone saves me, justifies me, and entitles
me to the whole inheritance of grace and glory. And what were
they doing? He says in Romans 10 and verse
1 and 2, they were going about to establish a righteousness
of their own. Now what does that mean? It means
they're trying to work their way into God's favor. They're
trying to earn God's blessings by their work. They're trying
to be saved by their works. Now why did they do that? We'll
read it in Romans 10 and verse 1. They were ignorant of God's
righteousness. They didn't know that He's righteous.
He's just. He must judge according to truth.
He cannot accept anything less than perfection as far as attaining
or maintaining salvation as the ground of salvation. Now, who
is that that do not know that he's right? Any sinner who comes
before God expecting any blessedness based on anything but the grace
of God and the mercy of God in Christ, the blood of Christ,
the righteousness of Christ. That's what that is. But if you
know that he's righteous, you know that everyone that doeth
righteousness is born of him. Now, what is it to do righteousness?
Well, I was reading last week about this, just several things.
And one writer put it this way, to do righteousness is not to
live a perfect life, but to do righteousness is to live a life
of perfection in Christ. That's the difference there.
What is to do righteousness according to the scripture? What's to do
right, simply put, but not right according to my standard or your
standard? or society's standard, or religion's
standard, but to do right according to God's standard. And if you
want to see right according to God's standard, I'll tell you
what, look to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. You want to see
the righteousness of love, don't look at me, don't look at yourself,
don't look at any group that you are hooked up with and find
common ground with. Look to Christ, look to His love.
If you want to see how your love for God and for your neighbor
falls on the scale of God's righteousness, compare it with Christ's love.
Now where does your love fall on that scale? It's not even
on the scale. So to do righteousness is not
to live a perfect life. If it is, then there's no one
in this building or outside this building that's born of God.
Agreed? But it's to live a life of perfection,
righteousness in Christ who is my righteousness. He's my holiness. He's my redemption. He's my wisdom.
He's my all and in all. That's what He is. It's to live
a life of grace, realizing that I, at every second of my life,
I'm a sinner saved by the grace of God. I need mercy. I don't
need God to give me what I've earned. If thou, Lord, shouldest
mark iniquities, who would stand? It's to live a life of faith
in Christ, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of my
faith. It's to live a life abiding in
Christ. That's what that doeth righteousness
is. Looking to Him, resting in Him,
hoping in Him, serving Him, not to be saved, but because I'm
given salvation as a free gift from God in Him. That's what
doeth righteousness is. And anybody that does that is
born of God. You don't do that on your own.
It's not natural, it's not of your own will or some decision
you made one day because you're better than everybody who doesn't
decide that way. It's a gift from God alone. It's the power of God, the Holy
Spirit. You see, people... You know,
there are a lot of people today, and this is a deception of Satan,
they talk a lot about the work of the Holy Spirit, but they
really deny the work of the Holy Spirit. Because I want to tell
you something, the main work of the Holy Spirit within you
is to bring you and cause you to look to Christ alone for all
salvation and for all righteousness and for all eternal life and
glory. I had a fellow tell me one time, he said, well, you
preach more on Christ and His finished work than you do the
Holy Spirit. My friend, it's the Holy Spirit who drives me
to preach Christ and His cross and His finished work, and drives
you to look to that and Him alone. In fact, the Bible says in John
chapter 16, the Holy Spirit will not speak of Himself, but He'll
let you in on the things of Christ. If you're looking to Christ,
that is the work of the Holy Spirit. You understand what I'm
saying? So he says in verse 1 of chapter
3, now here's the state of grace. He says, Behold, what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that's that unconditional
love that he gave us in Christ and proved it by the cross work
of Christ, that we, sinners, and literally enemies of God
by nature, dead in trespasses and sins, fallen in Adam, ruined,
that we should be called the sons of God. that we should have
the full rights and title of a child of God. That's what he's
talking about. We've been made free, not by
our works, but by the Son, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore the world knoweth us
not. Don't go by the judgments and the decisions of the world,
they don't know. And he says, because it knew
him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. That's our state
before God right now in Christ. That's not a future aspiration.
And he says, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be.
Now, as far as sinless perfection in ourselves, that doesn't appear
now. Listen, I've heard people try
to talk about it, try to explain it, but boy, you watch them get
tongue-tied. Just ask them a few little simple questions. Number one, they can't go to
Scripture. That's the main thing, isn't it? And number two, just
listen, try to justify that. It doesn't yet appear what I
shall be when I... Listen, when I go to be with
Christ and when I'm raised again unto glory, it doesn't appear
to me what I'll be in that time. I know this, he says, he says,
but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him.
We're going to be like Christ in that resurrected, glorified,
spiritual body. We're gonna be like Him. Then
we will be sinlessly perfect in ourselves. But now, right
now, we're the children of God. Now, what's His subject here?
We're children of God. What's He say down here in verse
10? In this, the children of God are manifest. What's He talking
about here? Children of God. Now, does that make sense or
what? It's amazing to me people go
through these verses, and I know they're difficult verses, but
they miss the obvious. I guess what was the old saying,
they can't see the forest for the trees. What's he talking
about here? What's his subject? Children
of God. Who are the children of God?
And he says, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as
he is. Now that's the state of grace, all right? Now here's
the second thing, verses... Well, read verse 3. Here's the
state of grace again. He says, and every man that hath
this hope in him, this certain expectation of final glory, of
being like Christ, based upon his blood and righteousness alone,
purifieth himself even as he is pure. How are we purified
within ourselves? Our hearts are purified by faith,
by looking to Christ. Our consciences are purified
from guilt under the law because there is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are what? In Christ. Read Hebrews chapter
10 on that subject. That's a good commentary on it
right there. The conscience cleansed, how? From all guilt. and condemnation
because I'm looking to Christ for my whole salvation, for my
whole righteousness. You see what I'm saying? And
that's the purification within. Well, here's the foundation of
all that now. There's the state of grace. Now,
here's the foundation of it. What brought all this about?
How in the world could all this be? What did I do to deserve
all that? Nothing. In fact, I did everything
to deserve condemnation. But how did all this come to
be that I, a sinner, am a child of God? Well, here it is. First
of all, look at verse 4. He begins with the negative on
the foundation of grace, or the cause of grace, you could put
it that way. He says, "...whosoever committeth sin transgresses also
the law, for sin is the transgression of the law." Now, you know what
he's saying there? He's saying, now listen to me, you who are
right now children of God, you're still sinners in yourself. Everything you do, everything
you try to do is still contaminated with sin, corruption. I read
an article the other day, a fellow was trying to say that, well,
our motives are perfect and pure, but our actions are not. And
I thought, what book are you reading, fellow? Because it sure
ain't the Bible. Excuse my French. It's not the
Bible. Everything we do, I'll never
forget this. I've told you this probably a
hundred times, but it just bowled me over. And this is before I
came to know the Lord. And I was sitting back there
in the back. The only reason I came here was to bring my mother.
And that was the only reason I came here. I didn't want to
be here for any other reason. And I heard Brother Mahan make
this statement. He said, there's enough sin in the best prayer
I ever prayed or the best sermon I ever preached to sink a world
to hell. And I almost got up and left.
And I thought, well, I don't want to listen to that guy. Listen to me. We're still sinners. Salvation is not by our works. Not even our best works. And
you know, as a full-fledged child of God, it's still not by my
ways. That's right. Salvation today
is not by my works and efforts. That's what he's saying there.
Whosoever committeth sin transgresses also the law, for sin is the
transgression of the law. Now, verse 4, essentially he's
talking about unbelievers there. Now here's what he's saying,
nobody can be made a child of God by their works. By deeds
of law shall no flesh be justified. By the law. And the reason is,
is because sin is transgression of the law. And if you're ever
going to be saved by your works, it cannot be by transgressions
of the law. And a man at his best state is
altogether vanity. So how did all this come about?
Well, look at verse 5. He says, and you know that he,
that's Christ, was manifested. He came into the world. He was
made known to do what? To take away our sins. That's
how this all come about. That's how a sinner is saved.
That's how a child of the flesh becomes a child of God. Christ takes away his sins. Now how did Christ take them
away? Did he just snap his finger? Heard a fellow say that God could
have saved you without Christ coming into the world and dying.
All he had to do was just snap his fingers and you can be saved.
That's heresy. How did Christ take away our
sins? He took away our sins by taking those sins upon Himself
as they were charged and accounted to Him, coming under the guilt
of those sins and taking them to the cross of Calvary and dying
on that cross. That's how He did it. What was
He doing on that cross and shedding His blood unto death? He was
paying the debt for the sins of His sheep, His church, God's
elect, to God's law and justice. He's satisfied. He is the substitute
who satisfied and finished the transgression, made an end of
sin, and in the process brought forth everlasting righteousness
whereby God could be just and justify the ungodly. You put
all that together and you can put it in one big word that's
used about three or four times in the New Testament called propitiation. John used it. And what he's talking
about is a sin-bearing sacrifice that brings satisfaction. He
took away my sins. I read this last time, but think
about it again. It's so good. It means this,
and look at the next line in verse 5. It says, and in him
is no sin. Now, it's true that in Christ
Himself there is no sin, but that's not what this verse is
saying. This verse is saying He took away our sins and by
that we are children of God. What it means as we are considered
in Christ, there's no sin. Now what does that mean? It means
God sees no sin in us as a matter of divine justice. Doesn't mean
God doesn't see our sins, He does. Remember when Nathan came
to King David after he committed those great sins, and he said,
you've done this evil in God's sight. And David prayed in the
penitent Psalm 51, he said, against thee and thee only have I sinned
and done this evil in thy sight. God sees them. But he doesn't
hold them against us as a matter of divine justice. He doesn't
impute sin to us. He doesn't charge it to us. Why? God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. 2
Corinthians 5 and verse 19, I believe. Psalm 32, Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, chargeth not sin. The debt is not charged to his
people. He charged the debt to Christ.
You see, and Christ paid the debt and in return gave us the
blessings of salvation and eternal life to our good. We didn't earn them. And so it says, the record books
of heaven record against his children no iniquity. No transgression,
no sin. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
He's risen again. God will not impute, charge,
account sins to His saint. He will not require satisfaction
to the law from us because Christ is our satisfaction. Our sins
were made Christ and were justly charged to Him when He was made
sin for us. And He paid for those sins in
full, permanently, completely, eternally. Our sins have been
forever expunged from the book of God's offended justice by
the blood of the Lamb of God. Doesn't that make you happy? The Lord Jesus Christ has, by
the sacrifice of Himself, put away our sins, all our sins,
past sins, present sins, future sins, even our fallen Adam, He
put that away too. They were charged to Him, imputed
to Him, laid upon Him, punished in Him, and put away by Him.
That's what Isaiah 53 is all about, among others. He made
an end of our sins. He removed all the iniquity of
His people in one day. Not even a whole day. And by
one sacrifice, in Him we're fully justified, made righteous from
all things, so much so that the eyes of God's holy law and justice,
in those eyes, we have no sin. In Him is no sin. Think about
that. In myself, I'm nothing but sin. But in Him, no sin. That's an
amazing thing. That's why grace is so amazing.
That's why we sing Amazing Grace. And that's the ground of all
this, right there. Look at it again, 1 John 3. Now
here's the result of it. Now, we see the state of grace,
we see the foundation or the cause of grace. He took away
our sins by the blood of the Lamb. That's what God said, when
I see the blood, I'll what? Pass over you. You know why? Because in Him is no sin. As
I stand in Him, no sin. Now, here's the result. He says
in verse 6, "...whosoever abideth in him sinneth not." Now, those
who continue in him, there's no sin. That's what he's saying
there. Sinneth not. Does that mean that I'm now a
perfect person, that I love perfectly, I obey perfectly, I think perfectly? No. It means in him, no sin. That's what he's talking about.
As long as I'm in Christ, that's the way it is. That's what he's
saying. That's the result of this. If I don't have Christ
now, I'm going to die in my sins. But as long as I'm in Him, abiding
in Him, continuing in Him, and of course we know we won't continue
in Him unless He holds on to us. Isn't that right? So he says, whosoever abideth
in Him sinneth not. This is the way it is, folks.
As long as you're in Christ, God will not charge you with
sin in the eyes of His law and justice. He cannot condemn you. because you're in Christ, and
Christ was condemned for you, and God's just. He cannot condemn
you for sins that have already been put away. That's why this
thing, this false gospel today that there are people who die
in their sins and end up in hell for whom Christ died, do you
know that they are casting shame and reproach upon God and His
justice? God won't send His people away
for sins that are already put away. He won't send him to hell
for that. He can't, he's just. So he says
in verse 6, "...whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known
him." Listen, if you're dead in sins, if you're unregenerate,
and you don't have Christ, then you haven't seen him, you don't
know that God is righteous, and you don't know the true and living
God. Verse 7, little children. He says, "...let no man deceive
you." He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as Christ
is righteous. If you abide in Him, if you look
to Him and rest in Him, then you're righteous even as He is.
You know how you're righteous even as He is? Because He is
your righteousness. And you can't get any better
than that. So He says in verse 8, First John 8, listen to this,
he said, he that commit a sin is of the devil. Now who's he
talking about there? He's talking about unbelievers. He said, for the devil sinneth
from the beginning. That's when he brought about
the fall of man. But he says, for this purpose the Son of God
was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.
What did the devil do? He brought the whole human race
in Adam in the fall under condemnation. That's the natural state of man.
by nature as fallen in Adam according to the covenant of works. Now,
how do you get out of that mess? How do you rise above that mess?
Well, look here, for this purpose the Son of God was manifested,
the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Christ, the Son of
God, the second person of the Trinity, God in human flesh,
And he became flesh that he might destroy the works of the devil.
And how did he do that? Turn to John chapter 12. How did he do that? Well, he'd
already said it, he took away our sins. But listen to this. In John chapter 12, look at verse
31. Now, he's teaching his disciples
here about his death. He'd already told him. He said,
my death is necessary for you to be saved, to have life. He
said, except a seed of wheat fall into the ground, it will
not spring up into the full fruit. It's got to die. That's what
he's talking about. Well, he says in verse 31, now is the
judgment of this world, now shall the prince of this world be cast
out. That's the devil. Now, how's
that going to come about? Look at verse 32. And I, if I
be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto me." Verse
33, this he said signifying what death he should die. Now go back
to 1 John 3. He was manifested to destroy
the works of the devil. The devil brought the condemnation
of the whole human race under Adam. Christ, by His death on
the cross, brought the justification of all His people whom God had
given Him, who are drawn unto Him by the power of the Holy
Spirit. And that's how He did it. That's
the result of it, you see. Christ was made sin for us, Christ
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. So now look at verse 9. Think
about this now. He says, Whosoever is born of
God does not commit sin. What does he mean? He does not
commit sin. There's two ways that can apply
to a child of God. Now listen to what he says. He
says, Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin for... That
means what John is saying there by the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, I'm going to explain to you what I just said. All
right, now listen, for his seed remaineth in him. Now here's
the keys to understand. It says, and he cannot sin because
he's born of God. Now here's the keys to understanding
this verse. First of all, what is his seed there? Okay? You got to know what the seed
is. And there's all kinds of answers to that. Now, but you
know what the word seed, if you were to translate the word seed
there the way we talk today, into plain English, you know
what you would say? You would say offspring. That's what that word means.
It's not like a seed of wheat that you're playing into the
ground there. It's offspring or child or children. That's what it means. And you
could read it this way. It says, whosoever is born of
God, now he's talking about birth now, isn't he? What's born? All
right, whosoever is born again, that's the new birth, doth not
commit sin for his children remain in him. So now who's the his
there, his children? What children is he talking about? He's talking about children of
God. Beloved, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon that we should be called sons of God? Now are we the sons
of God. In this the children of God are
manifested. Whosoever is born of God, the
new birth is of God. Whose seed is this? This is God's
seed. This is His children. That's
what He's talking about, His children. Remaineth in whom? Who's the Him there? Well, in
Him is no sin. So they cannot sin in this sense.
They're in Christ. They're His children in Christ.
Now let me show you that. I want you to turn back to Psalm
22. This is rooted in the Old Testament truth. Same thing. I want you to see this. The Bible
teaches about the seed of Abraham. Abraham had his seed. Galatians
chapter 3 tells us who Abraham's seed is. It's Christ. Abraham's
offspring. Now, what is he talking about?
He's talking about how Christ came through the lineage of Abraham,
according to the flesh. Later on, it's identified as
the seed of David. Christ is the offspring of David,
according to the flesh. That's speaking of his sinless
humanity, which came through Mary, who was a descendant of
David, a descendant of Abraham. Talking about offspring, you
see that? Also, the Bible talks about about believers being the
seed of Abraham. I'll show you that in just a
moment. But look at Psalm 22 and look at verse 30. Now Psalm
22, as you know, is the psalm of the cross. Look how it starts out in verse
1. Read that, it says, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Does that remind you of anything? Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. Recorded
in Matthew 27. It's what the Lord said on the
cross. This is the psalm of the cross.
Talking about, this is a prophecy of his substitutionary death.
And out of his death, here's what's going to come. Look at
verse 30 of Psalm 22. A seed shall serve him. A generation, you might say.
We talk about the next generation. Now, who are we talking about
there? Our children, aren't we? A generation of children shall
serve him. And he says, it shall be accounted
to the Lord for a generation. Now, the generation there is
all his people, his church, his sheep. Listen to this now. Verse 31, they shall come and
shall declare His righteousness, not their own, His righteousness,
that's what His children declare. They don't talk about their own
righteousness, they talk about His. Unto a people that shall
be born. Now somebody say, well that's
talking about future generations. Talking about the new birth there.
That He hath done this. You see that? Now, that's that
same seed over here in 1 John 3, 9. But let me show you something.
Look at Isaiah 53. Now, I tell you, this will help you if you'll
see this and understand the Scriptures. Look at Isaiah 53 in verse 10.
You know what Isaiah 53 is talking about? His death, isn't it? The
man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. He was bruised for our
iniquities. By his stripes we are healed.
It says in verse 10, It says, "...yet it pleased the Lord to
bruise him. He hath put him to grief, when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin." That's the same thing
that Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5.21, he was made sin. And it
says, "...he shall see his..." What? "...seed." His children. His generation. For he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul." You know what that
travail is, don't you? That's like a woman in childbirth
having a baby. The travail. And it says, "...and
shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities."
He shall take away their sins. He'll bore them away and the
cross. He shall see his seed." That's
his children. All right, go to Romans chapter
9. Romans chapter 9. I know I'm
asking you to turn to all these verses, but hey, listen. Think about it now. Think about
reading that verse, that 1 John 3, 9, and not knowing what that
means. Like I said, that ought to scare you to death, but read
God's Word on this thing. Look at Romans chapter 9, look
at verse 6. Now, what Paul's explaining here is the reason
that the majority of the nation Israel rejected Christ. But that
doesn't change things. God still has a people, and He's
going to bring them in. So, he says in Romans 9, 6, he
says, "...not as though the word of God hath taken none effect,
for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel, neither
because they are the seed of Abraham..." That's the physical
children of Abraham, descendants. Are they all children? Children
of God. But in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Now Isaac is
the child of promise. He's a type of Christ. That's
what he's talking about. And so he says, that is, they
which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children
of God, but the children of the promise are counted for thee,
what? Seed. The generation. Now, what are the children of
the promise? One more passage, go to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians
chapter 3. And look at verse 26. Who are the children of the promise? He says in verse 26 of Galatians
chapter 3, For you are all the children of God, how? By faith
in Christ Jesus. Not by your works, not by your
fleshly heritage or pedigree, but because Christ put away your
sins. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, baptized
there means placed into. You've been placed into Christ,
united to Christ. Now, who united you to Christ?
God did. He talks about all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. Who gave you? to Christ. The Father, you didn't give your...
I know people say, give your heart to Jesus. And we do give
our hearts to Christ when God... But that's not the cause of salvation
or the ground or the condition. God gave us to Christ before
the foundation of the world. The Bible says, for as many of you have been
placed into Christ have put on Christ. That means you believe
in Him. In other words, if you were given to Him, you believe
in Him. You will believe in Him. Now look at verse 28, there is
neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither bond nor free, there's
neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus,
and if you be Christ, that's a possessive, that means if you
belong to Christ, then are you Abraham's seed, children of the
promise and heirs according to the promise. Go back to 1 John
3, his children remain in him. Let me tell you something about
a true child of God. A true child of God will never
leave Christ. He'll never do it. And it's not
because he's so good or so much better or grows to perfection
or progressively gets holier. No, sir. It's because Christ
will not let him go. He cannot sin. Two ways. He cannot sin in the sense that
God will not hold his sins against him because Christ took him away.
Secondly, he cannot sin in the sense of falling away totally
from Christ. He may mess up a lot of ways. He may, he will. He will mess
up a lot of ways. He'll sin, but he'll never totally
forsake Christ. He won't do it. And that's what
he's taught. And he cannot sin. And why? Because he's born of God. The
Spirit of God indwells him. The Spirit of God has given him
life from God, life from Christ. He knows he's a sinner. He knows
he's like Peter. To whom shall we go? We've got
no place else to go but Christ and His Word. I've got no other
righteousness to plead but His. And so he says in verse 10, in
this the children of God are manifest and the children of
the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness,
abiding Christ, is not of God. Neither he that loveth not his
brethren. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning,
that we should love one another. And I'll close there. This is
a special, special message of grace, isn't it? I
mean, you think about that. It's amazing. All right.