“Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.” 1 John 3:6.
These next few verses are important because they define the difference between Christian and non-Christian behavior.
Those who abide in Christ are going to be empowered to live a life that honors God. It must be emphasized that the idea of abiding is one of living with Christ, not visiting Him on Sunday for an hour or two.
“Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:7-8.
The key to the words sins and righteousness above is the word practices.
In verse 6 the words “Whoever sins…” has the idea of a continuous action, and in verse 7, “He who practices righteousness is righteous” can also be seen as a continuous action.
The New American Standard Version renders verse 8 above a little better. Instead of saying, “He who sins is of the devil…” as above; it is much clearer this way, “…the one who practices sin is of the devil…”
Seen in this manner it becomes clear that it is the practice of righteousness and the practice of sin which sets the believer and unbeliever apart.
Because they are a new creature in Christ Jesus and have His Holy Spirit within them, Christians have a natural tendency to want to do what is right.
This does not mean that they will be perfect, or do right all the time; rather it means that their desires will be to please the Lord.
The non-Christian may also do right in many areas automatically because they know it will benefit them, however without the Spirit and the new nature in Christ this is inconsistent and often difficult.
There are many unsaved folks who are good with their families and are honorable in their communities but that is what God put within them to begin with.
“…for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things contained in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them…” Romans 2:14-16.
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” Romans 8:5-9.
As you can see around you, morality tends to shift and this because the sin nature ever drags one downward; it is not static nor do we get better by reading self-help and psychology books, man is prone to evil.
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron…” 1 Timothy 4:1-2.
Returning to the believer’s practice of righteousness, it is important to see that this is a life characterized by doing what is right, not one completely without sin.
King David, committed adultery, then murder to cover it up, see 2 Samuel 11:1-12: 23. Moses murdered an Egyptian, see Exodus 2:11-22.
Both of these men paid dearly for their sin, four of David’s sons were killed and peace taken from his kingdom, see 2 Samuel 12:8-15. And Moses spent forty years in the back of the desert tending sheep.
In the same way the Christian can reap the reward of their sin in this life, yet, without losing their salvation. It is best to confess your sins when you recognize them and forsake them.
By this it may be possible to avoid suffering the consequences altogether or at least to suffer less.
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Galatians 6:7-9.
“He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.” 1 John 3:8a.
An unsaved person may, as has been shown, be quite moral; there is a lot truth to the saying, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”, hell is filled with nice moral people, they are there because they believed that they could be good enough for God.
God has not allowed them to go there without reminding them often.
“But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Isaiah 64:6.
All of us are born with the sin nature passed down from our first parents; this is genetic, it is not something where we can just be good and do good and it just goes away.
Only God’s own solution will rid us of the desire to practice sinning it can only be done with the shed blood of Christ, a cleansing made available to us by God the Father. This is not just the putting away of our sins, it is also a new nature, a desire for righteousness.
The do-gooder ignores this to his own peril. It must be understood, you cannot do it yourself, only God can make you fit for God. To think otherwise is to be guilty of the same moral arrogance that permeates all liberal and progressive thinking.
These moral people along with the ungodly rakehells are all children of the devil because they do his bidding.
The moralist is lulled to sleep by the devil with the impression that all is well if they just do good, leaving them free to create their own morality, twisting things to fit their own worldview on sex, money, power, or just accruing things. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The majority of those who seek leadership are not even moral men. It is the evildoer who works hardest to control a society and the sheep merely follow.
The sheep are led to him by the pseudo-intelligentsia who flock around him like so many pilot fish eager to grab the scraps he lets them have as he feeds on the weak and helpless.
It is tragic really, moral folks who pay God lip service, pay taxes, vote, raise a family, and work hard all their lives, good citizens cast into hell with people they would not dream of associating with in this life.
“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8.
“He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8.
Here in verse 8, it is stated that, “the devil has sinned from the beginning”, what beginning?
We can know that Lucifer (Satan) and all of the angels predate the events described in Genesis 1:3-31 because God described the angels singing over the creation when He spoke to Job.
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” Job 38:4-7.
Somewhere along the line afterward Satan rebelled against the authority of God.
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.” Isaiah 14:12-15.
In his rebellion it is believed that one third of the angels followed him, they are now called fallen angels.
“And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon [Satan] having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars [angels] of heaven and threw them to the earth.” Revelation 12:3-4a.
Satan, in his hatred of God, has turned his malevolent anger against mankind and having achieved a great victory against Adam and Eve he rages on.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8.
But Satan has an unchangeable fate before him.
“The devil [Satan], who deceived them [in a last rebellion against God], was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Revelation 20:10.
Satan who has lived perhaps hundreds of thousands of years, even millions, will then know what death is.
“…the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8b.
When Satan successfully caused man to sin in the Garden of Eden, ownership of the earth was transferred over to him. This is possible because God had given dominion over the earth to mankind.
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’” Genesis 1:26.
When man lost dominion over the earth, he lost everything, not just the Garden and eternal life; he lost dominion, paradise, and peace with all the animals.
We know that dominion was given to Satan because when he tempted the Lord Jesus, he claimed that it was his to give and Jesus did not deny it.
“Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, ‘All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.’ And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.”’” Luke 4:5-8.
Jesus began to disassemble Satan’s works here at the temptation in the wilderness when He refused to sin against His Father. And whether here or at the cross, He wrested dominion of the earth back from Satan and it is now in the hands of a man, God the Son.
“And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” Colossians 2:13-15.
When a person was sentenced to prison in Rome, the charges were written down and then nailed to the door of their cell. Upon completion of the sentence, the charges were taken down and “It is finished” was written across them and the prisoner was freed.
Ours were nailed to the cross of Christ and anyone who desires to, may accept His sacrifice for them and have “It is finished” written across all the charges against them.
The final destruction of Satan’s kingdom was at the cross and at the completion of that sacrifice Satan, and his principalities and powers were disarmed and made a public spectacle.
Christ will return one day and claim His dominion, and Satan, soon after that will take his place in the lake of fire for eternity.
“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Hebrews 2:14-15.
“Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” 1 John 3:9.
As we have seen, Christians do sin, once again though this verse is referring to habitual sin. Habitual sin is the outward manifestation of the inward heart of a person.
Sin is restrained by nothing but the individuals moral base; his, “I will go thus far and no further”.
“All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits.” Proverbs 16:2.
Unfortunately, man’s moral base is highly subjective and when he lusts after something new, it changes and in some manner, he rationalizes that this is okay too.
Being a new creature in Christ Jesus the Christian has the solid base of the Holy Spirit, God’s own nature residing within them cleansing them and keeping them from the pitfalls of habitual sin.
At the same time if they do sin, these sins are not reckoned against them, having been expunged by the shed blood of Christ.
“…having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” Colossians 2:13b-14.
“My sin – O, the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin – not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!” “It Is Well with My Soul”, written by Horatio G. Spafford, 1828-1888.
Children of the Devil, 1 John 3:6-9 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 12-16-11, updated on 6-16-18.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.