Ephesians 4:3-6; One Faith – Clarifying James 2 (1Jo 3:6-9), part 5.
length: 64:42 - taught on Apr, 13 2021
Class Outline:
Tuesday April 13, 2021
You will not fully understand this passage in James unless you listen or read the whole series.
If we use the “present tense” as a solution to 1JO 3:6, 9 (“No one who is born of God constantly sins”) then we come to a conclusion that a “moderate amount” of sin should be tolerated.
No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.
No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
All sin is the fruit of ignorance and blindness towards God. “The one who sins has not seen Him or knows Him.” All sin is satanic or after the pattern of the devil, though that does not mean we can blame the devil for our personal sins.
Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
When we sin we are manifesting our old, dead, man, flesh. We manifest who we are in Christ through righteousness.
By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious [manifest]:
“manifest” - a sinning Christian conceals his true character. A sinning child of the devil reveals his true character.
Then: the one who does unrighteousness is not of God, nor he who does not love his brother. Meaning, unrighteousness and lack of love are manifestations of those who are not born of God. When we can confidently say that we are born of God through faith alone in Christ alone, then we can correctly conclude from John’s letter as well as Galatians and Romans, and others as well, that we were made by God for righteousness alone.
anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; 12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous.
John uses the clear, and cut and dry example of Cain and Abel - one was evil, the other righteous.
Christians were made by God to love their brothers. To be as Cain, for a believer, to hate, is abnormal.
Thus from 1Jo 3 we see sin as associated with death and the devil (though we are responsible for our sins). So Paul in Romans.
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned
that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
James states that sin brings forth death. But we usually don’t physically die when we sin. We also do not get cast into the Lake of Fire. A life of sin can bring physical death that seems early, when death is directly associated with the sins, but early death is most often impossible to determine. Still in the cases of sin that obviously does lead to physical death, sin is openly shown to be associated with death.
Yet, if in the Bible, life is the life of Christ, eternal life, then sin would have nothing to do with it. If righteousness and love and peace are of life then sin is of death. Sin belongs to the realm of death. It only brings forth pain and misery and hinders life in ourselves and in others. James tells us that temptation and lust conceive sin, i.e., gives birth to death.
The theme of death as a consequence of sin is frequent in the Book of Proverbs.
The fear of the Lord prolongs life,
But the years of the wicked will be shortened.
He who is steadfast in righteousness will attain to life,
And he who pursues evil will bring about his own death.
In the way of righteousness is life,
And in its pathway there is no death.
The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,
To turn aside from the snares of death.
He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul,
But he who is careless of his ways will die.
If a believer is behaving as those who are destined for death, his action can be said to be of death, though he himself has been freed from death through the blood of Christ. When he does sin it is not from his nature, but from his old crucified nature. By faith, we should all be convinced of what nature we really are, and if we did, we would find the right motivation and power against sin.
So then, when we look at this section of the Epistle of James we first see that he is warning them of the effects of sin and that he is writing to believers.
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren [believers]. 17 Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above [not from human lust or works], coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow. 18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures.
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