To hate sin is easy. To fight it is necessary. To repent of it is essential. But unfortunately, to completely avoid it is impossible. John understood this fact when he wrote his first epistle. This book contains some very strong and convicting statements, to the point where reading it is actually rather difficult for me, as it should be for you as well. It contains statements like:
• “He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” - 1 John 2:4
• “Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.” - 1 John 3:6
• “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
• “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
• “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” - 1 John 3:15
What Christian can read these words and not tremble? If we are truly saved, the very idea that we could be of the devil rather than of the Father should be unpalatable to us. Chapter 3 verse 9 is especially scary, because it says we cannot sin, and yet every Christian knows that to stop sinning completely is beyond impossible. But these aren’t the only words John writes. At the beginning of the second chapter, he writes “...if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous”.
John’s purpose in writing this book isn’t to give us a sin licence by reminding us that Jesus is our advocate if we sin, but to highlight just how serious sin is, by telling us how distinct it makes us from God. He specifically tells us that he wrote these words “so that you may not sin”.
This epistle is hard for a sinner to read because it is supposed to be! We should get chills when we read it. It should bring us to our knees and have us beat our chest, as the tax collector in Luke 18:13-14. If this epistle does not have you pleading with God for mercy, what does that say about your faith?
And yet it’s not all talk of doom. John speaks words of hope, because though we are worthless on our own, we are not children of the devil. Rather, if we have received Jesus, we have been given the right to become children of God (John 1:12). Through Jesus, our sins have been nailed to the cross. He is our advocate. All we have to do is confess, and we will be forgiven (1 John 1:9).
Hate sin. Fight it, repent of it, avoid it, confess it, and with everything you have, trust in Jesus to cleanse you of it. Sin is our enemy, and Jesus is our savior. If we believe in Him, we know we have eternal life (1 John 5:13). Therefore, walk in it.