Fighting Smart

Jesus, the Devil, and their Respective Followers

(1 John 3:6-8, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, September 18, 2016)

[6] No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. [7] Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. [8] Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

Whoever practices righteousness is righteous

While many people are uncomfortable talking in moral categories—good versus evil—there are evil thoughts, words, and actions that nearly all human beings would recognize as reprehensible. What is harder for us to see is that right and wrong do not spring from the will of the majority. Even if the majority of people believe that something is wrong, if the God of the universe says it is right, then it is right.

Are we to congratulate ourselves with merely knowing God's Word? Throughout the Bible God has revealed to Israel and to the church that knowing what God says and even offering a verbal assent that you agree with him is not the essence of holy living. (Isaiah 29:13, Romans 2:13, Matthew 21:28-32)

In 1 John 3, John is reaffirming this biblical point which is testified to everywhere. Those who do righteousness are righteous. Remember that when we read about “practicing” or “making a practice” in this passage, the underlying Greek word simply means “doing.” No one who remains or “abides” in Jesus, staying in His Word (John 8:31-32), does so without moral consequences. They turn away from sin. If they do not turn away from sin, they have not seen Jesus with the eyes of their hearts—they have not known Him. John does not want the church, “little children,” especially those who are new in the faith, to be deceived on this point by very religious-sounding, immoral people. John knows that we have sin (1 John 1:8). Nonetheless...

Jesus was truly righteous. His followers follow Him.

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil

The other side of the righteous/evil divide is also spoken of here. Yes we all sin, but when we sin, we confess and repent. Those who don't do that are unrighteous. They sin. Period. Their consciences may either accuse them, excuse them, or both. (Romans 2:15) Either way, they do not repent. They sin.

What is repentance? Repentance is a turning or changing of the mind that actually changes the life. It is a surrender. This was a big issue for God's people at the end of the Middle Ages. The church was working with a 1000 year-old Latin translation of the Greek New Testament, and with a wrong way of religious life that was familiar to everyone. Their Latin Bible, the Vulgate, translated the Greek for “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” to say “Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Doing penance involved sorrow for sin and also offering satisfaction to God for the sin by doing something else that would take care of the penalty. Faith insists that only Jesus could offer satisfaction for our sins and that He has done so by being wounded for our transgressions. Repentance addresses our actual underlying sin and turns back to God and away from death in that particular matter. There is a difference between doing penance and repenting.

So how do we handle sin? Do we do penance, or do we repent? There is a big difference. The New Testament is clear. So is 1 John 3:6-8. Those who do sin are not righteous; they are of the devil. The problem with doing penance is that it can devolve into a religious work where we still continue in the presenting sin, but we think that we have made up for it with our works.

Jesus and the devil

There are two teams here and two captains. They cannot both win.

This contest goes back to the beginning. In Genesis 3, when God first confronted sin, he spoke of a war between two leaders. At the center of a very important passage, we read these words:

[14] The LORD God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field;

on your belly you shall go,

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

[15] I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

There will be a fight. The fight will be between the serpent and the woman, between his seed and her seed. “He shall bruise your head.” The chosen male descendant of Eve shall bruise the serpent's head by crushing it under His heel. In that process, He shall suffer injury. There is much that is concealed in that verse waiting for the day when these events would take place. But what is revealed from the beginning is precisely what John is not ashamed to write in our text.

Jesus is working for life. The devil is working for death. You cannot live long on both teams. You need to be clear about your choice. You have a captain, and there are others who are waiting to work with you for the progress of His everlasting kingdom.

Look what Paul says about this in Romans 16:20. “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” But any victory you have is all by God's power and grace. And so Paul immediately writes, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”

Some practical advice that flows from repentance rather than doing penance: Remember those who have died suddenly. One day a man seems to be perfectly healthy. Then he stands before the Lord. How much time do we have on this earth? Turn away from sin and turn toward the love of your life, who alone could offer satisfaction for our sins. Finally, for ourselves and for others we love, follow this simple advice to avoid the pit of self-preoccupation: Worship and Serve, then Work. Tempted? Get up and sing to the Lord and do something for someone else. Then do the next thing in a life of taking dominion. Work. None of this is penance. It is just fighting smart.

Old Testament Reading—Esther 3 – Haman and the Jews – An epic battle begins...

Gospel Reading—Luke 9:10-17 – Jesus feeds five thousand – “You give them something to eat.”