God's Sperma, Christ's Clothing, and Many Happy Returns of the Day by the Holy Spirit

Righteousness, Love, and the New Birth

(1 John 3:9-10, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, September 25, 2016)

[9] No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. [10] By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Born of God

The Bible teaches us that spiritual rebirth is real. Whether it's Jesus in John 3, Paul in Ephesians 2, Peter in 1 Peter 1, or John throughout 1 John, they all tell the same story. We who were once spiritually dead in our sins have now been born again from above. God did it. That's why John says “born of God.” We are different than we once were, even if we can't remember when this happened, even if we ourselves are disappointed in our faith or holiness. God has begun a new work in us. We are alive in Christ and connected to Him as children of the Almighty.

Before we go any further with today's text, I want to address those who may be wondering now whether they have in fact ever been born again. You believe that such a thing is possible, but you wonder about your own spiritual status. You may have even been in a church for a long time, but you are just not sure what your relationship is to Jesus Christ. What should you do? If you have those doubts, the very best thing that you can do now is turn to Him, trust Him, trust His Word, and commit yourself to the Lord. Invite Him to take you as His own child, and believe Him that He will do it. He means it in John 6:7 when He says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”

Evidence of the new birth

This new birth from God makes a difference in a person's life. John has been writing about that in the previous verses and he has more to say about it here. Sinning (having no share in the holy target of righteousness as presented in God's Word) is out of character in God's family. Let's use the analogy of clothing. Sure, you can put someone else's clothes on, but they don't really fit you, and they don't look right on you. The clothing of sin is appropriate for the spiritually dead. Not for you if you are alive in Christ.

When we wear the right clothes externally, attire that matches who we really are internally, our external look is an accurate sign of our internal reality. Those new clothes are not hypocrisy. They are evidence of something real. Faith and righteousness fit us just fine.

The new internal life of a child of God comes from a spiritual seed. “God's seed abides in us.” (Gk: sperma) A seed is a beginning. There may yet be a lot of new growth that we will experience, but we can count on the fact that God's seed is not dead. The spiritual likeness of our Father will more and more shine through in our lives. That seed of God cannot sin. When we sin now, we are putting on some old clothes that don't even fit us anymore. We need to throw out those old things, because they make us look spiritually ridiculous. See 2 Corinthians 5:1-5.

Let's ground this in a couple of other verses from 1 John. The first is one that we have not come to yet, 1 John 3:23, “And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He has commanded us.” The second is very familiar, and we use it regularly as a declaration of pardon in our worship. It tells us what to do when we find ourselves wearing the wrong clothes. 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Put that together with the instruction of the entire Bible, that sincere confession is accompanied by true repentance, and you have a great help in moving toward our ultimate goal which will one day be entirely fulfilled, that we will not only have the right clothes—we will be like Him. (1 John 3:2)

Evidence that a person is “not of God”

The right clothing of true righteousness is evidence that we are children of God. See Revelation 4:4, 7:9, and 19:13. But what about those who are “not of God.” They have evidence of their condition as well. When they wear the clothes of sin, those clothes fit. They do not do “righteousness.” They may do many things that are genuinely “good” as people count goodness, but they do not have the brotherly love which is to be one of the defining marks of the church.

Before we go any further, what does John mean when he writes about the love of a “brother.” The verses that follow will give us a chance to consider Cain and Abel who were literally brothers in the family where the first man and the first woman were the father and mother. While we can certainly think about our care for our siblings in homes near and far, John has just been writing about a different family made up of all those who are born of God.

Love, meaning not just feelings but actions of doing what is really for the best of the rest of our beloved spiritual family, is a sign of something genuinely Christian. Lack of love for the spiritual family of the Lord is an indication of an affiliation with the old serpent who Jesus calls, “the ruler of this world.” (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11) We have been talking about clothing today, and we remember that fig leaves of our own righteousness will not work for us. This is what we end up with when we refuse to put on the good skins that God has provided for us at the cost of the shedding of blood. The devil, who hates the church, loves fig leaves. We want to be clothed in Christ, extending the warmth of true love for all the brothers and sisters in the family.

Again, I want to address those who are wondering now about the evidence in their own lives. What if you are embarrassed by your own spiritual clothing as you hear these words? Our direction is clear. Take Esther's leap. (Esther 4:16) Commit your self to the Lord, and give your life away in love. Another verse: Psalm 37:5, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and he will act.” You can't have a committed “self” without having a committed “way.” Do both.

The new birth is essential for all who would forsake the practice of sinning. Only by the King of Love can we do His righteousness and love. It means something to be “born of God.” This new birth is both desirable and necessary to live a godly life in our contemporary world. If you want the love of Jesus flowing out of you, there is only one place to go for it. Him.

Finally, Jesus connects the illustration of physical birth with the reality of spiritual birth in John 3. Let me leave you with three thoughts from the use of this illustration from Steve Smallmen:

1. There is life and growth before birth. (Are you here? Keep going! Your day is coming!)

2. Birth is essential for continued life. (Are you here? Happy Birthday!)

3. There is life and growth after a blessed birth. (Are you here? Many happy returns of the day!)

Old Testament Reading—Esther 4 – Queen Esther's Choice

Gospel Reading—Luke 9:18-27 – Jesus, the Suffering Servant, calls us to follow Him