BIG IDEA:
OUR LIFESTYLE REVEALS OUR FAMILY IDENTITY
I. (:2-3) OUR PRESENT CONDUCT SHOULD BE ELEVATED BY OUR FAMILY IDENTITY
A. (:2a) Our Present Inclusion in God’s Family
“Beloved, now we are children of God”
B. (:2b) Our Future Expectation of Ultimate Conformity to Christ
“and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.”
1. New Birth Imparted to Us New Nature
2. Growth in Christlikeness during This Life
3. Consummation of Moral Perfection at the Second Coming
C. (:3) Our Striving for Moral Perfection
“And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
We strive for growth in purity; Christ is completely pure intrinsically.
II. (:4-7) ALL MEN WILL LIVE IN ONE OF TWO LIFESTYLES
A. (:4) A Lifestyle of Lawlessness
“Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness”
B. (:5-6) Aside: Christ Has Conquered Sin
1. (:5) The Relationship of Christ to Sin
a. His Mission
“And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins”
b. His Character
“and in Him there is no sin”
Therefore, those who are in union with Him cannot be practicing sin.
2. (:6) The Relationship of Believers to Sin
a. Practicing Sin is Incompatible with Abiding in Christ
“No one who abides in Him sins”
b. Practicing Sin is Incompatible with Knowing God
“no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him”
C. (:7) A Lifestyle of Righteousness
“Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.”
Stedman: “He says that the secret of doing right is to possess and experience within yourself the life of the Righteous One. There is only One who is righteous, or who ever has been righteous, the Lord Jesus himself. His life must be lived again in you in order for you to be righteous. There is no other basis. No flabby substitutes, no sleazy imitations, no cocky parodies, no grim copies, no slimy counterfeit, will be accepted. There is only one basis for righteousness and that is to reproduce, in the plan and purpose of God and by means of the Holy Spirit, the life of the Son of God in you. Nothing else than that is righteousness.”
II. (:8-10) OUR LIFESTYLE REVEALS THE SOURCE OF OUR SPIRITUAL BEING
A. Sinners = The Source of the Devil / children of the devil
“The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning.”
B. Aside: Christ Has Conquered the Devil
“The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”
Wiersbe: “‘Destroy’ does not mean ‘annihilate.’ Satan is certainly still at work today! ‘Destroy,’ here, means ‘to render inoperative, to rob of power.’ Satan has not been annihilated, but his power has been reduced and his weapons have been impaired. He is still a mighty foe, but he is no match for the power of God.”
C. Righteous = The Source of God / children of God
“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.”
D. (:10) Summary: Your Deeds Reveal Your Seed
“By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.”