Turn back with me to 1 John chapter
5. I'd like to read verse 18 again.
I wonder what went on in your mind when you heard that verse
of scripture read. John says, we know that whosoever is born of God
sinneth not, but He that is begotten of God
keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. I've entitled this message, What
Does Sinneth Not Mean? What Does Sinneth Not Mean? He that's born of God sinneth
not. What does that mean? Now I'd like to introduce this
message with a question. Do you sin? Do you sin? Let me give you my answer to
that question. You can compare it with yours. Yes, I do. Turn with me back a few pages
to 1 John 1. Verse 5, this then is the message which
we've heard of him. and declare unto you that God
is light and in him is no darkness at all. Now, among other things,
that means in him is no sin at all. No sin at all. He is the sinless being. He is holy and holiness cannot
sin. Let me repeat that and I want you
to think about it. Holiness cannot sin. God the Father cannot sin. To think that he could is blasphemous. God the Son cannot sin. I realize some people say, well,
he at least had the potential to sin or temptations wouldn't
have meant anything. That's foolishness. God the Son cannot sin. And to
suppose that he had the potential to sin, even though he didn't,
is to deny his immutability. It's to say he could change.
He's impeccable. God the Son cannot sin. God the Holy Spirit cannot sin. He is the Spirit of holiness. The triune God cannot act contrary
to his nature. Holy, holy, holy. Holy is the Father. Holy is the
Son. Holy is the Spirit, is the Lord
God of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Verse six, if we say that we have fellowship
with Him, and you know, a lot of people say that. I walk with
God, I pray to Him, and He hears me, and He speaks to me from
His word. I have fellowship with God. Many people make that claim.
If we say we had a fellowship with Him and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth. Now, I think it's sad that most
preachers will take this verse and say, if you claim to have
fellowship with God and yet you're practicing sin in your life,
you're lying and you're not doing the truth. Now, the man who makes
that claim is lying as he preaches. He doesn't really have any understanding
of this verse of scripture. He's not telling the truth. He's not giving the meaning.
The meaning of this is if we say we have fellowship with him
and walk in the darkness of how a holy God can have fellowship
with someone sinful like me. If we say we have fellowship
with him and are in darkness concerning how God saves sinners
by Christ. If we say we have fellowship
with him and are in darkness as to what grace means in the
first place. If we say we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie. And we do not the truth. Anytime a man says, if you say
you have fellowship with him and you're practicing sin in
your life, you're not having fellowship
with him, you're lying. That man is not being honest. Show me somebody that doesn't
practice sin. There's nobody that sinneth not,
and we're gonna see this from this passage of scripture. That
man is taking this passage of scripture and twisting it and
abusing it and has no light concerning the gospel. Verse seven, but
if we walk in the light, the light of how a holy God can have
fellowship with somebody like me or you through the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the light he's talking
about. I love it when the Lord said, I am the light of the world. When did He say that? As soon
as He said to that woman taken in adultery, woman, where are
those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She
said, no man, Lord. He said, neither do I condemn
thee. And the only reason He didn't
condemn her is because there wasn't anything to condemn her for.
Her sin had been put away through the blood of Christ. And that
is the light that every believer has fellowship in. We have fellowship
in that, don't we? Oh, we rejoice together in that
glorious truth. And notice it doesn't say we
don't sin. It says if we walk in the light as he is in the
light, we have fellowship one with another. That's the only
person I can have fellowship with. That's the only one. Someone who looks to Christ only
is all they have, all they want. The only way I can be accepted
is through Christ only. If we walk in the light as he
is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood
of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth. us from all sin. You know something? I'm continually needing cleansed.
Don't you? I need to be cleansed every single
moment. And that's the way he is. This
is in the present active. It's very, it cleanses us. It's
always in that act. Verse eight, if we say that we have no sin
and remember our text said, he that's born of God sinneth not.
But here it says, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. Self deception. You've lied to yourself and made
yourself believe it. And the truth is not in us. We
have lost all credibility. Verse nine, if we confess our
sins. And this is so important. You
know, somebody says, when you go to bed at night, you need
to confess all the sins you've committed that day. Get them
all out. That's impossible. You don't
have enough time. And a lot of the sins you committed,
you didn't know they were sins anyway. To confess sin is to
take sides with God and agree with God against yourself. That's
what I do when I confess my sin. He's right, I'm wrong. If we confess our sins, if we
say the same thing God says with regard to our sins, He is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins. and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now that's something I wanna
do right now. Lord, I wanna confess my sin. I wanna take sides with
you against myself. I wanna say the same things you
do with regard to my sin. And we have this promise. He's
faithful and just through the gospel to forgive us of our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Verse 10, if we say we've not
sinned, Now there the word sinned is a verb. In verse eight it
was a noun. I always have a sinful nature.
But here it's a verb and with regard to anything I do, I don't
care what it is. If I say, well, I didn't sin,
we make him a liar because he says we have. And his word is
not in us. We do not have any credibility. Now, go back to our text. After reading that passage of
scripture, verse 18, We know that whosoever is born
of God sinneth not. Now, don't say what you think
it means. Well, it couldn't mean he doesn't
sin because of all the things you said about sin previously.
Don't say what you think it means. What does it actually say? What does it actually say? We know that whosoever is born
of God sinneth not. Period. He does not sin. Now we're going to come back
to what this means in just a moment, but I'd like to read you three
translations, which are Bibles people read. They're translations,
but in these translations, they're giving what they think it means
rather than what it says. And while I was sitting there
just a few moments ago, getting ready to get up, I was thinking
of somebody who would dare do that to the word of God. Here's
what it says. Well, here's what I think it
means. And write that down. Do you know that's soul damning?
To take the word of God and change it into something you think it
means rather than what it says. Read the last verses of Revelation. Whosoever shall add or take from
these words, all the plagues of this book will be added to
him. What a horrible thing to do. But let me read these translations.
The New Living Translation says, whosoever is born of God does
not make a practice of sinning. The New International Version
says, whosoever is born of God does not continue to sin. The
English Standard Version, which most reformed people uses, says,
whosoever is born of God does not keep on sinning. Now, if someone came up to me
and said, I don't make a practice of sinning, or I do not continue
to sin, and I do not keep on sinning, I would have one of
two reactions. The first reaction I would have
is fear. That's not my experience. That's
not my experience. Maybe something's wrong with
me. Why am I not like that? That could be a reaction, but
that wouldn't be my reaction. My reaction would be, you're
a self-deceived liar and hypocrite for saying stuff like that. That's
my reaction. That's all it is. But John does say, whosoever is born of God sinneth
not. He does say that, doesn't he?
Whosoever is born of God, sinneth not. Now, what does sinneth not
mean? John begins with, we know. We know. Who's the we? The same
we as we know that all things work together for good, to them
that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
He's speaking as a representative of every believer. We know. They
may not, but we do. We know. And it's my prayer that
by the end of this message, everyone in this room will be enabled
by the grace of God to say, we know. There's no nagging doubt. This is something we know. You
shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. We
know that whosoever Now that is a word that is generally translated
all. All who are born of God. As many
as are born of God. Everybody in this group born
of God. This covers every believer of
every age, all of God's elect, all for whom Christ died. Whosoever,
whatsoever. is born of God. We know whosoever is born of
God. Now let's camp there for just
a moment. Whosoever is fathered by God. That's what that means. Born
of the seed of God. Now every time the word born
of God is used, without exception, It is always in the passive tense. And you know what passive means.
Your natural birth did not depend on some response on your part
for it to take place, did it? And your natural birth could
not be hindered by some resistance on your part. You were totally
100% passive. It's something that was done
to you and you had no part in it. It's the same thing with the
new birth, being born of God. Turn with me to John 1, 12. John 1, 12. Beginning verse 12,
but as many as received him, to them gave he power, to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Now,
what does it mean to receive the Lord Jesus Christ? I think
it's interesting how some people almost make receiving Christ
meritorious. Like, well, at least I received him. Oh, congratulations.
That's foolishness. If you receive him, here's what
you do. You believe on his name. You
believe his name is all that's needed to bring you into glory.
And you receive that as good news. Verse 13, which we're born,
there's that word. And it's passive, which we're
born, not of blood. You are not born of God because
your mom or dad are, or your brother and sister are. It has
no fleshly relationships whatsoever. It has nothing to do with any
relation to the flesh. which were born not of the will
of the flesh. That's talking about man's free
will. No, it's not talking about man's
free will, because there's no such thing. But men try to present man as
having a free will, and if you of your free will decide to accept
God's offer of salvation, then you're born again. Now that is
a denial of the gospel. It's saying that man's will is
sovereign over God's will. It's saying that men are not
totally depraved and dead in sins, and it's saying that salvation
is ultimately dependent upon man. That's salvation by works. No, these men were not born of
the will of the flesh, nor are they born of the will of man.
Man's Efforts, getting together. We're gonna pray till we have
revival. We're not gonna give God any peace until he saves
his people. We're gonna make sure this person's
saved. We're gonna do everything we
can to bring this about. Nobody's born again because of
man's efforts. How are they born of God? Born, fathered, birthed by God. Now I repeat the question, can
God sin? No. Can God the Son sin? No. Can God the Holy Spirit sin? No. Can that which God as Father
did? and that which is born of God,
sin. No. No. Born of God. Look in 1 John 3. Verse nine. Whosoever is born of God. This is talking about the new
birth. This is talking about being fathered by God, born of
the Spirit, the new birth, being given life from the dead. Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin. It's amazing in so many
of these different translations, it says he doesn't practice sin.
I guess he sins sometimes, but he doesn't make it as a habitual,
usual practice. That's not what it says. It says
he does not commit sin. And look what it says next. For
his, his, God's seed, God fathered him, the Holy Spirit begat him,
his seed remaineth in him, and he, what's the next word? He
cannot see it. He lacks the ability to see it. Because he's born of God. That's
why. He lacks the ability to see,
and just like God the Father lacks the ability to see, and
God the Son lacks the ability to see, and God the Holy Spirit
lacks the ability to see, that which is born of God cannot see. Whoever, whatever is born of
God does not sin, period. Now that's what it means. That's
what it means. What does it mean? Whosoever
is born of God sinneth not, it means whosoever is born of God
sinneth not. That is what it means. This is talking about
the new nature. Whatever is born of Adam sins. Whatever is born of God does
not sin. Now we have a beautiful illustration
of this in Galatians chapter four. Beginning in verse 21. Tell me
you that desire to be under the law. Do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham
had two sons, The one by a bondmaid, you remember the story of Sarah
being unable to have a child and she had a young bondmaid
named Hagar. She told Abraham to go to Hagar
and they had a child. There was nothing supernatural
about it. There was something sinful about it, but there was
nothing supernatural about it. He came to a young woman and
she bore a child for him. But he of the free woman, Sarah,
and you know the story of her, she had already gone through
menopause and was unable to bear children. Her birth was supernatural. It was a miracle. It was a God-blessed,
supernatural miracle. It couldn't be done apart from
the miracle of God. He who was of the Babylonians
born of flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise, which
things are an allegory. For these are the two covenants.
And he speaks of the covenant of works and the covenant of
grace. You know, really, this is a works grace issue. This
is a law and grace issue. What we're talking about right
now, really, it's a law and grace issue. You see, if you're born
of God, you didn't have anything to do with it. And you were given
a holy nature because you were born of God. And to deny this
is to cloud the issue of works and grace. It's saying there's
something you do. And that's not the truth at all. Now, to understand this, we're
going to have to understand what really happened in the Garden
of Eden. This is why this is so important. What really happened in the Garden
of Eden? What really happened? Well, remember when God said
to Adam, in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. Well, he
ate the fruit and he died. Now, obviously he didn't die
physically, but he died spiritually. He no longer had love for God. He no longer had communion with
God. He ran from the presence of God. Didn't want to be around
him anymore because he was spiritually dead. Now what can a dead man
do? Nothing. He can't see. He can't
smell. He can't touch. He can't taste. He can't hear spiritually. He's
dead. He's dead. He's dead. The only
way he can do any of those things is if he's resurrected from the
dead and given life. What happened on the cross? We
talked about what happened in the garden, Adam died. What happened
on the cross? On Calvary's tree, Christ removed
that which caused the curse, sin. My sin. The sins of all of God's
elect, the sins of everybody for whom He died, was wiped out. Taken away. He was manifest to
take away our sin, and in Him is no sin. That means if I'm
in Him, I have no sin. I have no reason for God's wrath
to come upon me. I'm not guilty. I'm justified
because of what He did. That's what happened on the cross.
And what happens to a sinner when God saves him? Life from
the dead. Born of God. Born of the Spirit. Now, turn
to John chapter 3. Verse 3. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again,
born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Meaning you
can't figure this out. A natural man cannot possibly
understand the gospel or believe the gospel. I have to be birthed. Look in verse 5. Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. There
is no entering the kingdom of God apart from being born of
God. Look in verse 6. That which is
born of the flesh is flesh. It can arise any above that.
And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not
that I say unto you, you must be born again. The wind blows
where it wills. You hear the sound thereof, but
canst not tell whence it cometh and whether it goeth. So is everyone
that's born of the Spirit. Now this is the sovereign act
of God. He blows where he wills. It's the sovereign act of the
Son and the Father as well. Look in John chapter five, verse
21. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit are one. Verse 21, for as the Father raises
up the dead, and quickens them, gives them life. Even so, in
the precise same manner, the Son quickeneth, gives life to
whom he will. It's his sovereign gift. Look
in verse 24. Verily I say unto you, he that
heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from
death to life. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the hour is coming, and now is when the dead, shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. He's a new creation. Old things
are passed away. Behold, all things have become
new. You see, that new man does not see. That's the only way you can really
understand that passage of scripture. Behold, all things have become
new. That new man is not subject to
sin. Ephesians 2.1 says, and you hath
he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. And then
in verse 10, it says, we are his workmanship created in Christ
Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that
we should walk in them. Can God's workmanship sin? No,
no. James 118, of his own will, begat
he us with the word of truth. Can that which is begotten by
the will of God sin? No, no. God can't bring that
which is evil from his essence and his substance. Now, do I
understand that? No. Do I believe it? Yeah. God's
God. He's holy. I could give a lot
more scriptures on this. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. And just as the triune God cannot
sin, he cannot act contrary to his nature. That which he fathered
cannot sin and cannot act contrary to its nature. But what about my sin? What about my sin? I sin, that's
the long and short of it. My sin is ever before me. And it is. It's ever before me. I always feel it breathing upon
me. When I would do good, evil is
present with me. It's always there. I have an
old nature that sins, and that old nature is not one bit better. It's just as corrupt as ever. It has the same appetite for
sin. It has not become better. You see, every believer has two
minutes. flesh and the spirit. The unbeliever
only has one man, and when he hears someone talking this way,
he says, well, that's foolishness. That's crazy. Well, I can see
why you think that way if you only have one nature. But if
you have two natures, I don't have to convince you this. This
is your experience. Paul said in Galatians 5, 17,
the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit lusts against
the flesh, and these are contrary one to another. Now, read Romans
7 on your own, particularly verses 14 through 25. Some people try
to argue, well, Paul was speaking as a lost man. No, he wasn't.
He was speaking as one who delighted in the law of God after the inward
man. And this is every believer's everyday experience. Romans chapter
7. And what does that one who's
born of God do? He keeps himself. He keeps himself. He's got a
new nature. We're told to keep ourselves
pure, to keep ourselves unspotted from the world, to keep the unity
of the Spirit, to keep the Word, to keep yourselves in the love
of God. Keep my works to the end, speaking of the works of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who keepeth
his garment, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. We make
sure our only garment is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We don't want to be seen in any other way. We keep ourselves. And that wicked one toucheth
him not. Now, you see, if you've got a
new nature, you're on the lookout with regard
to your old nature. He's evil. He's deceitful. You
know how he can lie to you. And you, you're scared of him.
You're scared of him. You don't trust him. I love that
proverb. He that trusteth his heart is
a fool. Trust your heart. You better
not. It'll take you in the wrong direction every time. You look
to the word of God only. I'm so thankful we have the promise
Speaking of the two natures, it says the elder shall serve
the younger. You know, the old nature is serving
the new nature. My old nature makes it to where
I have nowhere to look but Christ. And that's a good thing. That's
a blessed thing. And look how it says the wicked
one toucheth him not. There's nothing for him to work
with. The new man is untouchable. The new man is untouchable. Somebody says, do you believe
in once saved, always saved? Well, it depends on who saved
you. If you saved yourself, if you
had anything to do with it, nah, I don't believe it. I don't believe
it. You won't last. Neither will I. If any part of
salvation is dependent upon me, I will fall away. Not maybe I
won't, I will. There's no question in my mind
about that. If salvation has anything to
do with me or you, no, I don't believe in once saved, always
saved. But if God saved you, yeah. I believe once saved, always
saved. If God elected you, if Christ
died for you, if the Holy Spirit has given you the nature that
cannot and does not sin and keeps itself. Yes, I believe in the
eternal security of God's people. God willed your salvation, Christ
purchased your salvation, and God the Holy Spirit gave you
a nature that comes from God. Literally, as Peter says, partakers
of the divine nature. Can the divine nature sin? It's offensive to think it can,
isn't it? It's offensive to think it can. He that's born of God
doth not sin, and the wicked one cannot touch him. I think
of when the Lord said, the prince of this world has
come and has found nothing in me. He couldn't find anything
he could grab. He couldn't find anything. There
was nothing there. Now, with regard to your old
man, what could Satan find? Is there any accusation he could
make against you that was not true? You know, he's called the accuser
of the brethren, accusing them before God night and day. But
though he makes those accusations, who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justified them.
Who can condemn? It's Christ that died. But a
believer also has a nature that the wicked one cannot touch. You know, he touched Peter. He turned him inside out. But
let me tell you something he didn't touch. What is it? You remember when
the Lord said, I prayed for you that your faith fail not? What
nature is it that believes? It's the holy nature. It's the
new nature. Your old man can't come up with
faith, can't come up with repentance, can't come up with love to God,
but the new man, Satan can't touch it. Whosoever is born of God sinneth
not. He that's forgotten of God keeps
himself, and that wicked one touches him not. Let's pray. Lord, these things are above
our understanding, but we believe. Lord, enable us to believe what
your word says and deliver us from ever giving our thoughts
of what it means rather than bowing to what it says. Lord,
how we thank you for your electing mercy, how we thank you for the
redeeming work of your son, how we thank you for the birth, the
life God, the Holy Spirit gives us. Bless this message for your
glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
Matt, come lay some clothes again, please.