I did choose thee, Lord, for,
Lord, that Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neidert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. I'm preaching on this subject,
the man that does not sing. I'm going to be reading from
1 John chapter 3, verses 4 through 6, and I need to make this comment
before I read this passage of scripture. Did you know that
no scripture can be understood unless God the Holy Spirit makes
it known? The Bible's not something you
can figure out intellectually. We're completely dependent upon
the revealing light of God the Holy Spirit to teach us what
something means. Now with that in mind, let me
read this passage of scripture to you with regard to this man
that does not sin. Beginning in verse 4 of 1 John
chapter 3, we read, Whosoever commiteth sin transgresseth also
the law. For sin is the transgression
of the law. Speaking of God's law. And you
know that He was manifested to take away our sins and in Him
is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him, sinneth
not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, nor known him." Now this is a passage of scripture. If
God the Holy Spirit is not our teacher, and it's true with regard
to every passage of scripture, we will become so muddled and
confused and unable to understand it. So hold how I pray for God's
help in dealing with this passage of scripture. Now notice verse
six, whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. Now here we have
the man who does not sin. He's the man who abides in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Notice it does not say that the
one abiding in Christ has his sins forgiven. It does not say
the one abiding in Christ does not have his sins imputed to
him or charged to his account. It says that one who abides in
Christ sinneth not. He does not sin. The tense of the verb is in the
present active tense. Right now, present tense, he
does not sin. I know that most people interpret
this, that means sin is not the bent and tenor of his life. Well,
the language of this scripture won't allow that interpretation.
That's forcing an interpretation on it because you don't really
understand what it means if that is your interpretation of this.
This is not talking about the bent and tenor of a man's life. It's basically good, but there's
some sin. He's the only human. He's going
to mess up some. It says he does not sin. It could mean that, couldn't
it? Well, let's read the rest of the verse. Verse 6. Whosoever
sinneth, that once again is in the present active. It's talking
about right now. It's not talking about the tenor
of someone's life. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, neither known him. Now, that man who abides in Christ
does not sin. And that man who sins has neither
seen Christ nor known Christ. Now what in the world does all
of this mean? Look back up in verse 4 of the
text in 1 John chapter 3. If you could read along in the
Bible, it would be helpful. Whosoever commiteth sin, transgresseth
also the law." Sin is the transgression of God's holy law. Somebody says, well what I do
doesn't hurt anybody. That's not the issue. Sin is
against God. Whether you think your sin hurts
anybody or not is really of no consequence. Sin is against God. It's contempt for God. It's transgressing
God's holy law. Now you think of the Ten Commandments.
Thou shalt have no other God before me. To put anything before
God is sin. The second commandment is forbidding
idolatry. Idolatry is when we make up our
imagination of the way we'd like God to be so we can fit Him into
our agenda and feel comfortable with it. That's sin, to make
up a God that you feel comfortable with. The third commandment is
against taking His name in vain, to even speak with His name without
the proper reverence is sin. The fourth commandment, Remember
the Sabbath day to keep it holy? A failure to rest. You are to
do no work on the Sabbath day. It represents resting in Christ. The fifth commandment, honor
your father and mother. Give them the honor that's due
them and honor all God-placed authority, whether you agree
with it or not. The sixth commandment, thou shalt
not kill. You're not to kill anybody. You're
not to kill their character by slander, by innuendo, by gossip. You're not to kill their bodies.
The seventh commandment is against sexual sin. Thou shalt not commit
adultery. Any form of sexual sin, I don't
care if it's evil, only going on our mind, is great sin against
God. The eighth commandment, thou
shalt not Bear false witness. You shall not lie. You'll tell
the truth. The ninth commandment. I shall
not steal. You're not to take what belongs
only to somebody else to yourself. Whether it's taking credit for
something, whether it's shoplifting, whether it's robbing glory from
God. The last commandment, thou shalt
not covet. You're not to covet anything
that belongs to your neighbor. You're to be perfectly content.
And anything short of perfect obedience to those ten commandments
is sin. Sin is the transgression of the
law. And James tells us to offend in one point is to be guilty
of all. If I break one of those commandments, I've broken all
ten of them. And if I keep nine of them and
or if I break nine of them and keep one, I've still broken all
ten. The law stands and falls together. You've either kept
all of them perfectly or you've broken every one of them every
time you breathe. Now, the reason men have such
superficial views of sin is because they have such superficial views
of God. Listen to these scriptures. 1
John 5, 17 says, All unrighteousness is sin. Romans chapter 3, verse
23 says, All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. To come short of His glory of
sin. James chapter 4 verse 17, to him that knoweth to do good
and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Proverbs 24 7, the thought
of foolishness is sin. James 2.9, if you have respect
of persons, you commit sin. Different standards for different
people. Especially a different standard for myself and other
people. I'm always easier on myself than
I am on anybody else. Now that is to commit sin in
God's sight. Romans chapter 14, verse 23 says,
Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Whatever is not generated
from true faith in Christ, the gift of God's grace, is sin.
Proverbs 21.4, a high look, a proud heart, and the plowing of the
wicked. You see, and our text tells us
sin is the transgression of the law. And I repeat, the reason
men have such superficial views of sin is because they have such
a superficial view of God and a low view of God. They make
God to be somebody that they can please and that they can
be comfortable with. But what does God really think
of sin? One look at the cross where the
Son of God is nailed to that tree, crying, my God, my God,
why have you forsaken me? There's one reason, sin. He was
made to bear our sins in his own body on the tree, and God's
wrath destroyed him because God hates sin, even if it's found
on his only begotten and well-beloved son. So when John is speaking
of someone not sinning in the context, Somebody who is not
sinning is someone who doesn't transgress the law. Someone who
does not commit sin. Now in verse 5, we read, and
you know that He was manifested, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ,
to take away our sins. And in Him is no sin. He was manifested to remove the
sins of everybody He died for, to put them away. Now once in
the end of the world has He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. Now remember, when Paul defined
the gospel. He defined it as how that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures. And he's speaking
of the Old Testament Scriptures. There's no understanding of the
death of Christ apart from what the Old Testament Scriptures
speak regarding the death of Christ. You know, people dismiss
the Old Testament almost like God was different back then.
And now he was mad and angry and wrathful then, and now he's
nice and forgiving and merciful. That's a complete misrepresentation
of the Bible. But here's how Christ died for
our sins, according to the Scriptures. This is on the Day of Atonement,
talking about the scapegoat. You've heard the term scapegoat
before. Well, here's where it comes from. Concerning Aaron the high priest
on the Day of Atonement, that he's going to bring in the live
goat, And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the
live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children
of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them
upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand
of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon
him all their iniquities. unto a land not inhabited, and
he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness." Now this
life goat typified what actually took place on the cross. My sin. The sins of all of God's elect.
My sin was removed from me, and he was made to bear it in his
own body on Calvary's tree. And the moment he died, God's
wrath was satisfied. He couldn't ask for any more.
He completely saved, he completely put away the sin, he completely
cancelled the sin of every single person he died for. And now everybody
he died for is described in Colossians chapter 1 verse 22 as holy. unblameable and unreprovable
in God's sight. And if I'm holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in God's sight, there's only one reason. I'm
holy. I'm unblameable. And I'm unreprovable. My sin has been removed. It is
no more. Hebrews 1.3 says, When he had
by himself purged our sins. Notice it doesn't say he purged
our sins. It says he by himself purged
our sins. That means with no contributions
from me. No help from me. Not my tears and my remorse and
my repentings and my strivings to do better and my promises.
No, he by himself with no help from near you purged our sins. And in him is no sin. Now, in him there's no sin true,
there's no moral defilement. He never in his person sinned.
But that's really not what that's talking about. What it's talking
about in him is no sin. Now there was a time when he
drank the contents of that cup the father gave him to drink
on Calvary's tree. When he drank that cup, that
cup was the sins of all God's elect. And at that time in him
was sin. In him was sin. And that is why
the wrath of God came down upon him. But when he said it is finished,
those sins were paid for. God's justice was satisfied,
and God is satisfied with everybody that Christ died for. He took
away, He removed, He put away, He blotted out, He made those
sins not to be. I love that passage of Scripture
where it says, unto them that look for Him, Hebrews chapter
9, unto them that look for Him. shall he appear the second time,
this is talking about his second advent, without sin unto salvation. How could that be? Because all
those sins are gone. In him is no sin, and if I am
in him, I have no sin. He took them all away. He said,
I've blotted out as a thick cloud thine iniquities and will not
remember thy sin. In him is no sin. And that means
if I'm in Him, I have no sin. And in verse 6, the verse we
began with, Whosoever abideth in Him, sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth, hath not seen
Him, neither know Him. Now, let me say this before I
try to comment upon this passage of Scripture. This can only be
grasped and understood by faith and not by sight. I don't look
at myself and say, yeah, I'm somebody without sin. I believe
this because God's Word says it. So, not by what I see, but
by what God says, and I believe what he says. Now listen to what
he says, whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. What does it mean to abide in
Him? First, what is meant by in Him? We can understand what
it means to abide in Him if we understand what the Bible means
by in Him. In Him is a place. It's a location. There's in Christ,
and there's outside of Christ. And the scripture gives so many
examples of this. If you were in the ark, You were
safe. If you were outside of the ark,
you'd be destroyed. If you were in the house, with
the blood over the door, when God came to destroy the firstborn
in Egypt, you were safe only as you were in the house. If
you were outside of the house, you'd be destroyed. In the cities
of refuge, God appointed six cities of refuge. This is a picture
of Christ that's given to illustrate the gospel. If a man had slain
somebody accidentally, that person who was slain, their relative,
had the right to get vengeance. But he gave six cities of refuge
that if you could escape and get into these cities of refuge,
you'd find safety. But here's the kicker. You couldn't
leave the city. If you went outside of the city,
the avenger of blood could kill you. The safety was found only
in the city. Now, in Christ is a big place.
In Him, In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,
and all of God's salvation, all of God's blessing, all of God's
favor is in Him. He hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. All of God's mercy,
all of God's grace is in Christ. Outside of Christ there's nothing
but God's wrath. I can understand why Paul said,
oh, that I may win Christ and be found in Him. When God comes
looking for me, I simply want to be seen in the Lord Jesus
Christ, accepted in the beloved, where all God sees is Jesus Christ. I feel that way. Well, Paul felt
that way too. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of
the law, But that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith. Now if I am in, listen real carefully,
if you're in, if I'm in the Lord Jesus Christ, there's nothing
I did to get myself in there. Scripture says of Him are you
in Christ Jesus. I didn't climb in and do some
kind of work to put myself in Him. I'm in Him by God. Of Him, are you in Christ Jesus? And if I'm in Christ, I've always
been in Christ. There was a time in my experience
when I was saved. There was a time when I didn't
know God. The Lord saved me, and now I know Him. But there
was a time in my experience when I was not saved. I was an enemy
by nature. Yet, during that time, all that
time, I was still in Christ. As a matter of fact, I was in
Christ before I was born. Before I formed thee in the belly,
I knew thee. As a matter of fact, I was in
Christ before time began. according as He hath chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world. You know what that
means? I was in Christ when there was
no time. I was in Christ in eternity. That means I've always been in
Christ. Now, do I understand that? No. I don't understand
that, but I believe it. According as He hath chosen us
in Him, before the foundation of the world. Now, if I've always
been in Christ, what is this thing of abiding in Christ? What
does that mean? If I've always been in Christ,
what does it mean to abide in Christ? Because this passage
of scripture says, whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. Now, the word abide is translated
by five other words in the New Testament. Remember, in Christ
is a place. I want to be found in Christ. And I don't want to
be outside of Christ at any time. I only want to be found in Him. Now the word abide is also translated
dwelling. That's where you live. That's
where you feel comfortable. That's where you have liberty.
It's translated enduring. You endure abiding in Christ. Remain. You remain in Christ. You don't go anywhere else. Standing. This is your standing in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Tarrying. That's where you enjoy
being. When you tarry somewhere, that's
because you like being there. Now this thing of abiding in
Christ is to consciously and intelligently never want to go
or be found anywhere else. Being in Christ, I don't want
out of Him. I simply want to be found in Him. That's the only
place you want to be so that that is all that God sees. Now, let me try to give an illustration
of being in Christ, and I hope this will be helpful. What if
you could come into a room, a big room, plenty of room, and in
that room, being in that room made you perfect and sinless. There would be nothing in that
room but comfort, security, pleasure, great friends, good food, perfect
peace, perfect encouragement, perfect satisfaction, perfect
beauty, a place where boredom would be impossible and each
moment is better than the last. Now, you know what you want to
do? You want to stay in that room. Why would you ever want
to leave? What if outside of that room
there was nothing but wrath and judgment and despair? Why? You wouldn't want to be outside
of that room. You would only want to be in that room. You'd never want to leave. Now
to abide in Christ, you want to simply be in Him. Everything
you need, everything you want, everything you desire is in Him. And you never want God to look
at you independently of him. When God looks at you, this is
what your desire is. I just want him to see the Lord
Jesus Christ, and I am in him. Now, whosoever abideth in him
sinneth not, because in him is no sin. In 1 John 2, verse 28,
we read, And now little children abide in him. Same thing. that
when he shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed
before him that is coming. Now the only way When the Lord
returns that I can have confidence and not be ashamed is if I have
no sin. No sin to be ashamed of. That's
my confidence that I stand perfect without fault before God. I hear
preachers present the gospel and they talk about judgment
day like there's going to be some kind of judgment of believers where
they're going to be rewarded or lose rewards because of their
works. Where's their gospel in that?
That means my sins will be brought up on Judgment Day. That wouldn't
give me any comfort, but the only way I can have confidence
in Him and His coming is if I have no sin to be judged for. Look in 1 John 3, verse 9. Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin. Well, somebody says that
means he doesn't sin as a usual practice in his life. That's
not what that says. And that's a dishonest forcing
something on that passage of Scripture. It says, Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed, God's seed,
the new nature, remaineth in him, and he cannot sin. He lacks the ability to sin because
he's born of God. Now, my sins were put away, and
I was given a new nature, born from above, born of God. And
that nature that's born of God cannot sin. It does not commit
sin. Now, this is one of the mysteries
of the gospel that I don't know that I can explain, just believe.
In this same book, John says, if we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves. The truth is not in us. At no
time am I to say I have no sin, because I've always got this
old nature, this sinful nature. And he says in verse 10, if we
say we've not sinned, and there the word's a verb, the first
time it was a noun, here's a verb. If we say we've not sinned, we
make him a liar, because he says we are. Now, here is the state
of the believer. I sin all the time. And I do
not sin at all. The old man doesn't do anything
but sin. The new man never sins. Every believer has two natures,
the old man and the new man. Somebody says, well, I don't
understand that. Well, if you don't have two natures, you won't understand.
But if you have two natures, you'll understand it. You'll
know exactly what Paul meant when he said, O wretched man
that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? You
have an old nature that's nothing but sin, and you have a new nature
that does not sin. Well, can you see the new nature
that doesn't sin? No. I know it by faith. I know
it by faith. I know it because God's Word
declares this to be. Now, with regard to sin, John
said in 1 John 2, 1, Little children, these things write I unto you,
that ye sin not. Make it your resolve to never
sin again. But he said, And if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
What a blessed thought that is. And then in verse 6, he said,
He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk,
even as he walked. That's how a believer is to walk,
just like the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have this blessed promise
in verse 2 of chapter 3. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know
that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall
see Him as He is. That's the one who does not see
Him. We have this message on DVD and
CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Kniper for him.
God will be pleased to make himself known.