Today is the day that the Lord has made. So let us rejoice and be glad in it. And everyone said, amen. So if you are joining us for the first time here at Peace Church, I want to let you know we're in the midst of a kind of a unique series, not something we typically do, but we're in a series where we ask the congregation what they wanted to hear be preached on. So a couple months ago, we asked our congregation to submit topics that they think that you all think the church never preaches on, whether that's peace church or the church in general, because here's one thing I want you to know

about peace church. If it's in the Bible, we're going to preach on it. Bible talks about a lot of great stuff. We want to get to all of it. And so we asked the church, what do you think the church never preaches on whether here or across the nation or wherever. And the church submitted a bunch of topics. We consolidated those down, put them back to the congregation and asked the congregation to vote on the top six. And so I would say some of the topics that came in, no surprise. A couple of them were a surprise, but I'll tell you this about this topic, the one here

today. If I can, if I can say this, I got to say that this question, this topic that the church chose, this one made me really proud of the church. I hope I can say that. And the reason is, this wasn't like a hot topic. This wasn't like some newsworthy thing that's just our little moment in history. This was a great, eternal, biblical, Christian question.

I was so, so pleased that it made it to the top, and I'm excited to preach on it today. So here's what it is. The church never preaches on the place and power of sin in the Christian life. I think that is a very mature and thoughtful, great question. And there's many places in the Bible that we could go to investigate and answer, but this morning we're going to look at 1 John 3, verses 1-10.

Would you go ahead and turn there now? If you want to use the Bible to be provided, that's on page 1303. Let me just clarify real quick. This is first John, not the gospel of John. The gospel of John comes early in the scriptures. This is a set of three letters that come later in your Bible.

So it's first John written by the same guy, not John the Baptist, but John the apostle. John writes three letters. And the one we're looking at today, first John, this is really a letter that John writes to Christians and he's calling Christians back to the true faith back to the true doctrine see at this point John John was living old enough to see how some false teachings were beginning to creep in among the church and with him being the last living Apostle at this point he wants to write and make sure that Christians are not following their own thoughts about God but they are following what God has revealed about himself they want to make sure that Christians aren't creating a God in their own image but we're worshipping the true God who sits on the throne. And so John writes this letter calling Christians back to the truth and essence of the Christian faith so that we might rightly know and worship the true God. And he comes to chapter 3 of his first letter and it

hits on I think exactly what we're asking here this morning. And so with that, would you hear the word of the Lord? First, John chapter three, we'll look at verses one to 10. Would you hear God's word?

1 John 3:1-10

1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears[a] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 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. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's[b] 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.

Some heavy things here, but this is God's Word. So let's pray and we'll continue. Let's pray

Father in heaven above.

Lord, we ask by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit that you would help us to rightly understand the truth of this word We'd know the power of the gospel to overcome sin and what Jesus has already done for us and so we ask this here and now for your glory for our joy and for the good of our neighbor. And it's in Jesus name that we pray. And everyone said amen and amen.

So church, as we look at this one passage here today, here's, here's one thought I'd love for you to chew on. And it's this.

Christ victory over sin gives us a new identity from sin.

Now, as we walk through this passage here, verse by verse here today, we're going to pick up three things here that I want to let you know where we're, where we are going to be going ahead of time. And it's this, with this new identity that we have in Christ, we also get a new trajectory, we get a new morality, and we get a new family.

1. With our new identity, we get a new trajectory (vv. 1-3)

So, with this new identity that we have because of Jesus, we get a new trajectory. I'm gonna tell you now, we always say this, and I mean it every single time, but I mean it here today too, keep your Bibles open as we walk through verse by verse. So, with our new identity, we get a new trajectory.

Go back to verse one of chapter three. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we shall be called children of God. And I love this little phrase, and so we are. Church, listen, by the power of the gospel, God not only loves us, but he's adopted us. He's welcomed us into his house as his children. Through Christ, we are now adopted into the family of God and with this new identity as God's children. Did you see what the passage says? We've adopted this new identity. We're made new. We're welcomed into God's house. But did you notice what this passage says here? It's going to be hard for the world to recognize us. With this new identity that we have, the world is gonna have a hard time recognizing us. Look it, it says, the reason the world does not know us

is that it did not know him, meaning Jesus. So here's how it works. Many of you know I've adopted son named Will. We adopted Will from Ethiopia about 10 years ago.

Now listen, we flew over to Ethiopia, we adopted our son and we brought him back and we are raising him as our own. We've given him our name. We are instilling our values in him. He is assimilating to our family's culture. All the weird quirks about the Kimmel family, he is adopting to himself. And so here's how it works. If we were to take Will and fly back to Ethiopia with him,

the Ethiopians would not recognize him. Culturally speaking, they would say, he's not like us. He's got a different value system. He has a different language. He has a different name. They wouldn't recognize Will anymore. They would say, this kid is an American kid. Because, I'll tell you right now,

Will is, he's owned the whole American thing. I mean, not only that, this kid is about as Midwestern as it gets. Will puts ranch on his steak. Ethiopians have no category for that. And neither do we. Some of you are judging me right now as a father. But here's the reality. They wouldn't recognize him because he's not, he doesn't belong to them. He's part of our family now.

And the same goes for those of us who are in Christ. That we've been welcomed into God's family that he's raising us now.

We're he's instilling his values and morals into us his culture into us. So the world around us that doesn't know Christ They're not going to recognize us They may say yeah, you wear somewhat of the same clothing, but we don't recognize you. You're part of something else You are foreign you are alien your other and that's how it should be The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him, Jesus. So, you have to understand, the world doesn't recognize us because of who we belong to, that we're part of a different family, we're part of God's family, but also the world does not recognize us because of who we are becoming. Look at verse 2, beloved, we are God's children now. And listen to this, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he, when Jesus appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. Okay, again, this is why you need

to have your Bibles open here. I love what the apostle's getting at here. The apostle's getting at the fact that the truth here is that we, the people of God, we are ever becoming more like Jesus, right, Christians? We are to ever becoming more like Christ.

But listen here, the transformation won't be complete until we are fully with Jesus. Because we are still locked in this mortal body of sin to an extent. That transformation is ever happening, but it won't be complete until we are with Jesus himself. Either through our death and entrance into heaven, when we leave this mortal body of sin, or as the apostle alludes to here when Christ returns.

As the Bible says, it will be changed in the twinkling of an eye. Which by the way, for those of you who are curious, we're closing up this series next week and we will be looking at the end times. We are in serious times and that's an important topic and so we're gonna be looking at what does it look like?

What does that mean for Christ to return? Part of it is the Bible says that we'll be changed to be like him. Because Christ, who died upon the cross as the atoning sacrifice for sins, is the same Christ who three days later was resurrected from the dead, which was the victory over Satan, sin, and death.

The resurrection of Christ is the promise and the guarantee that he is who he said he is. And his promises are true, that we have eternal life that starts now. And Christ's resurrection points to our own resurrection when we will eventually inherit new bodies New bodies that will be finally fully and completely and forever free of sin. That's our trajectory That's who we are becoming. We are heaven-bound and ever becoming more like Christ. Amen And a trajectory is a direction. That's the direction of our lives. That's where we are headed And we are to live like Christ unto Christ ever becoming more like him. And so sin, back to our topic, sin has no place in that trajectory other than, listen here, sin has no place in that trajectory other than to be an ever-diminishing aspect of our life.

That's the trajectory, that's our trajectory, that's the trajectory away from sin that through Christ we are free from the judgment of sin but the effects of sin still linger until we are fully with Christ but our trajectory is less sin and more Jesus every day so Christians it's hard to do but it's time to look in the mirror can you look at your life and can you say over the last year, yeah, I have become more like Jesus. Because if you can't, if you've been a Christian for some time and you can't look over the last year and say, yep, over this last year, I have grown in faith.

I have become more like Jesus. If you can't say that, then here's my question. What are you doing? What are you doing with your life? Are you falling back into the, to the ways of the world that Jesus saved you from? Are you starting to blend back into the world so that they see you as one of their own rather than something different? What are you doing with your life? What trajectory are you actually on? Because here's the thing, we say this, and I'm saying this, and I want you to think about this, not to judge you, but to challenge you, to challenge you to see if you lost hope. Because look at what John says in verse 3.

It says, Everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. So let me put it like this. The focus of your hope is what hones you. Like your hope is that grinding stone that you press yourself against that sharpens you. So if you're not becoming more like Christ, my question for you is, have you lost your hope?

Have you lost sight of your true hope? Because look what the Bible says, everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. The more we place our hope in Christ, the more we grow in him and more like him, and he is pure. And so the more that we press ourself into Christ, the more that we will become pure. But this is if we stay in Christ on that trajectory.

2. With our new identity, we get a new morality (vv. 4-7)

But with this, with this new identity, we get this new trajectory, but we also get a new morality. And John absolutely lays down the law here. Look at verses four, five, and six. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. You know that he, Jesus, appeared in order to take away our sins. And in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Listen, I know what Christians like to do is we like to, we like to reduce sin down to that thing that we can't help but do. Like the sin, I'm sorry, we don't want to do it.

We don't like to do it. But sin is that thing we just can't help but do. But here's what I'm going to say to you. That's not exactly how the Bible talks about that here. Look at here. John talks about how sin is lawlessness, meaning sin is what is outside God's plan for what's glorifying to him. Sin is what is outside God's character. Sin is what is outside God's instructed plan for human flourishing, for moral order and for our good and our joy, sin is lawlessness. So rather than sin being that thing

that you can't help but do, John speaks about sin as that thing that is you doing whatever you want, living as your own authority, meaning that there's no external force or there's nothing external that informs your values or your morality.

Let me just stop right there. Modern people, especially Americans, we would say, whoa, that sounds like freedom. That sounds like freedom to me. Nothing, nothing outside myself is going to tell me how to live. That's freedom. What I'd say to you is that is a lie. That's not freedom. That's death. It's that age old picture of the fish outside of the bowl. Some people say that's freedom. I say that's death.

Sin is lawlessness, meaning that we're outside of God's law. And again, God's law is good and it's what brings us joy and flourishing. It brings order.

Yeah. Because sin is outside God's plan and it's destructive to our souls. Because it's outside of God's good plan for our flourishing, it's destructive to who he's calling us to be, to our soul, to our lives, to our family, and to, obviously, to our culture. That's not bringing freedom, that's bringing death.

Doesn't bring unity, it brings separation. So, where are the parents in the house? Let me see, parents, raise your hand. So let me ask you a question, parents. If your kids go against what you say, are there consequences? But actually, you know what, now that I think about this, maybe this isn't the generation I should be asking you millennials in your never-say-no gentle parenting. Let me, oh, so. Let me ask the parents from 30 years ago. If you were a parent 30 years ago, if your kid went against what you said, were there consequences?

Yeah, because that's how good parents parent. Same goes with God. Sin is against God's law. It's lawlessness. As our passage says, it's lawlessness. And so when you break a law, if there's not consequences, how good was that law?

Sin is lawlessness and that comes with consequences, namely separation from God. But I wanna do something here for a moment. I wanna take some precious time and I wanna explain something. And I wanna call out something.

See, you've heard me say, and I will continue to say, because it is true, that sin separates us from God. Okay, that's a very popular notion about sin that you're gonna hear from me and other modern-day preachers. But I think I've come to realize something about that term. Is we really like to say sin separates us from God? Because it doesn't sound as bad as what it actually is. When we talk about how sin separates us from God, do you know what that actually means? Do you know what separation from God actually results in? Condemnation, death, judgment, hell. Now, we'll shorthand and say separation from God without actually explaining what that means because I think in some way it keeps God in a light that we like to look at rather than the reality that when we are separated from God that means we are separated away from light into darkness away from salvation into condemnation not on a trajectory for heaven but a trajectory for hell and so when we break God's law there are consequences and it is separation from God but when you hear that you need to understand what that actually means that's eternal final and permanent. It's condemnation. It's not a nice thing to think about. It's a terrible, horrendous thing to think about.

Sin also brings brokenness. Brokenness to our families, to our souls, to our lives, to our world. But church, that's not who we are to be or what we are to bring into the world. We are the one who don't live according to lawlessness, but we live according to the good law that brings joy and flourishing and glory to God. As the Apostle Paul, look at what he says in verse 7, or the Apostle John here. Look what he says in verse 7. He says, little children, not actually toddlers here, he's speaking about all God's children, both young and old. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous as he is righteous. I know the only time we use the word righteous in our vernacular is when we say self-righteousness. Righteousness sounds like an arrogant thing, but here's what I'll tell you. Here's your definition for righteousness. Righteousness is living out what is morally right in God's eyes. And so we are given a new sense of morality because of our heavenly father now.

I know some of us here don't like the word code So let me put it this way and I'm completely fine with saying it this way too You could you could say as God's children we follow God's culture of righteousness That's who we embody as a church. We embody the culture of righteousness. What is morally right in God's eyes? Now let me just say, there are many things that we are losing in our world. There are many things that are washing away in our culture, and there's some things that

need to go. But I'll tell you right now, there's something that's being lost in our culture, I'm afraid it already might be lost, and I lament over this. And it's this. It's when a father, as the man of the house, stands as the head of the house with his wife by his side. And he starts a sentence with these four words, in this house we. And then he proceeds to lay out a vision for what the standard of the home should be, not in a domineering way, but in a way that demonstrates his loving authority and his inspirational leadership. And so when kids go wayward, he reminds them of the values and the morals of the home and he calls them back to that.

Such as like this you got to figure out a way to stay in your own home and your own family But so here's an example such as when a father says in this house. We serve the Lord speak the truth and help others Or in this house, we worship God work hard and walk the extra mile Men, does your family know what your vision is for the family? Men, does your family know what the standard is, what the culture of righteousness is like? Do you articulate it here?

Whatever it may be, the notion here is that the Father sets the cultural and moral direction of the home. But listen, He lives that out firstly Himself. Just like our Father in heaven does for us. Parents, listen to me, don't do, oh man. Parents, don't buy into this whole idea that your job is to help kids discover who they want to be. Christian parents, your job is to help kids discover who God has created them to be. Because that's better. I'm telling you, that's better for your kids. They will choose a lesser version of themselves every single time But God has called them to something greater.

This isn't about restricting them This is about blossoming them bringing freedom to their life that they are to be all that they're called to be Don't buy into the lie that your job is to help kids discover Who they want to be or who they are your job is to help them discover who God has created Created them to be a good parent and stills good values into their kids like our Heavenly Father does for us. God is our Father. We are His children. And with Him being our perfect Father, He

has stood and said to us, in this house we. And then He has told us, His culture of righteousness, that He Himself lives out first and we are to follow. And with this new identity we have in Christ, we have a new trajectory for our lives, we have a new morality, which makes us distinct from the world.

3. With our new identity, we get a new family (vv. 8-10)

And with it, as we've been talking, we also get a new family.

So let's take these last three verses, verse by verse, because here's what I'm gonna tell you right now. These last three verses are black and white. So let's look at them. Verse eight, 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. So here's the deal church Jesus has come to undo what the devil does in our lives yet. So many of us keep playing the devil's game It's like this Let's say there's this dog that keeps being aggressive towards your kids.

So what you do is you go and you take this dog and you tie it up to a post But your kids go and grab a stick and they keep going up to this dog and they keep poking it. Now what would you say to that kid? Now listen, that's Christians when we willfully give ourselves to sin. God has destroyed the works of the devil, but when you sin you keep going back to it and keep poking with it. And for whatever little bit of just anger you got towards a kid who would poke a dog that you What's God supposed to think?

When we've been saved from the very thing that we keep giving ourselves to. That's basically a picture of what happens when Christians make a practice of sinning. But Jesus, by his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, he's destroyed the devil's stronghold upon us. But if we keep choosing to sin, it's like we are saying, I belong to the family of the devil, not the family of God.

And that's simply what the scriptures are pointing to. John continues in this very black and white language. Look at verse 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's been born of God.

Born of God, meaning born into the family of God. We're now his children. We have a new identity as we are now part of God's family. So let's get something really clear here because I already hear the objections. Some of you are already writing an email. So let me just hit something here real quick. John is warning against what we would call living in sin, living in a way or in such a way that we

know displeases God and is against his good plan for our lives. John is warning against conscious and continual sin. That is, knowing what's wrong but choosing to keep doing it. John is saying you can't live like that and still call yourself a Christian. Listen, Christians, becoming a Christian or confessing Jesus for the first time, let me tell you what that does. That makes you justified before God. God that gives you a salvation that nothing can take away, but it doesn't make us perfect.

At least not yet. We still live in this mortal body of sin. We are ever being sanctified. That means we are ever becoming more holy. And yes, that's a trajectory. Some of us who are newer in the faith are not as sanctified as others, but none of us are perfect yet. Here's the reality. Christians will still sin because we are not yet made perfect. We are still being sanctified. The difference, though, is between those who fall into sin in moments of weakness because it's all around us versus those who consciously, continually sin in rebellion to God. Those who keep on sinning. The apostle says that he, meaning the born-again Christian, he cannot keep on sinning because he's been born of God. The notion here is keep on. We cannot keep on sinning, cannot keep on doing what we know is wrong in God's eyes. So here's a question I often get. I get this as a pastor and it honestly breaks my heart. So we'll talk about this, we'll talk about how Christians need to reject sin in our lives and that you can't keep on sinning and call yourself a Christian. And then here's a question that comes up. What about those who are enslaved to addiction, such as alcoholism or pornography, that they are addicted? Chemically so, they are enslaved and they cannot help themselves. What about them? Well, here's what I would say. If you are to the point where you know you are truly addicted to the sin and you cannot break the habit, then you need to realize you can't do it on your own and you must seek help. Here's what I'd say.

If you are addicted and you know it, but you're not seeking help, if you are addicted and you realize it, but you're actively choosing to not seek help, are you really enslaved to sin or are you just giving yourself to it? We are the church who stand to care and love for one another. I have sat with people in the throes of grievous addiction and I will tell you, I do not judge them.

My heart breaks for them. I want them to know the power of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome. And as a church, we're gonna lock arms and lift each other up and move forward together. If that's where you are, I'm telling you, God has brought you a church to help you get out of the sin that Christ has already broken. So, if you're caught in addiction, reach out to the church. We are a family. We won't judge you, we wanna help you. Romans chapter eight says that we need to live

by the spirits and put to death the sinful deeds of the body, and then we will live. When Romans says put to death, you rednecks know how to translate that. Put to death means to kill. We kill our sin.

Or as John Owen said back in the 1600s, be killing sin or it will be killing you. Now I'm gonna read our last verse for today, and I'll just tell you right now, you can't be mad at me. This is what the scriptures say.

Look what John says in verse 10. It says, 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. Let me summarize.

Your life makes it very clear whether you follow the ways of the devil or the ways of God. No one is saying you're going to do it perfectly. Stop using that scapegoat answer. No one's saying you're going to do it perfectly, but your life shows are you pursuing the trajectory of Christ or the direction of the devil? Your actions show which path you are on. I need to stop and say something to you Midwest people. I'm Midwest myself, speaking to my own people, gotta call something out here.

We're not talking about niceness. We're not talking about kindness here. There are plenty nice and kind people who do the devil's work. If your response is, well, they're so nice or they're so kind, it's like, okay, that's great, but that's not what we're talking about here. Christians are the ones who pursue not niceness, but righteousness.

Kindness is wonderful, it's a fruit of the Spirit, but it's one of the fruits of the Spirit. It can't be the only defining factor of who we are or the only prevailing ethic in our culture. We need to be the ones who model not just niceness and kindness, but righteousness. And that will put us in opposition. That's when the world says, I don't recognize who you are.

So let's wrap it up here Let's look at these questions. What is the place and power of sin in the lives of Christians number one? Sin has no place in our lives Sin has no place in our lives. We are not to be marked by defined by or give ourselves to sin We are given a new identity in Christ. This is a new trajectory. This is a new morality This is a new family sin has no more place in our life than a hippo does in your living room. It don't belong there. It's not becoming of who we are. It's got no place in our life. Sin has no place in our life other than to be an ever diminishing aspect of our life. So the question is, what power does it have? Well, in a sense, you know the answer to this. The reason that the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. So for those of us who walk in step in the power of the Holy Spirit, who live according to God's Word, sin has no power over you.

Let me tell you right now, you have the cheat code for this. Let's see if there's anyone else who recognizes what I'm about to say. Up up, down down, left right, left right, VA start. Old Super Nintendo cheat code for video games. My friends, you've been given the cheat code. I hope I don't get emails over this. The cheat code is the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives withinside of us. Jesus has destroyed the works of the devil, and when he returned to heaven, he said, I'm gonna send the Holy Spirit to fill, fuel, and guide your lives. So when the devil tries to come at you, when sin tries to come at you, you just apply the cheat code, which is the Holy Spirit inside of you, empowering you to live according to God's word. What power does sin have? It doesn't have any power over us.

Romans 6 says it has no dominion over you, but listen, sin is still very powerful. Sin is still the bent heart of the culture around us. Sin is still the environment that's ever around us. It's like this. There's a room filled with smoke, and we have to live in this room. We as Christians.

Now there's some of us who think, well, I'm redeemed, I'm saved, I can breathe this air all day long, and just constantly breathing it in. What you do when you're just giving yourself to sin. Listen, Jesus has extinguished the fire, but that smoke remains. Versus the Holy Spirit being our oxygen. And that's who we breathe in an environment of sin.

The best example I can put is like this. The poison ivy plant is dead. It's been killed. It's been uprooted. Jesus has killed the poison ivy plant, but its effects still make us itchy. Sin has no dominion over you, but its effects linger. Christ has overcome Satan, sin, and death itself. And so by the power of the cross and through the resurrection of Jesus, through the truth of God's word and the power of the Holy Spirit within us, as we live according to the gospel, you need to know that the stain of your sin has been removed. Yes, we are to wage war against our sin, but it's only Christ who is ultimately overcome. When you sin, you shouldn't feel like guilt shouldn't be the dominating factor, because you're gonna sin. We live in the world, we fall short. The difference is that Christians don't give ourselves to it. We don't live in it.

When Jesus died on the cross, he paid for your past, present, and future sins. That's not an excuse or license to sin. That's so that you would know that the power of the cross covers it all. Which is why, no matter what hurt or pain or sin you do fall into, we are the ones who can still stand and sing, it is well with my soul. Because Christ has control.

Because we've given ourselves to Jesus and nothing can separate us in him, nothing can separate us from the love of God when we are in him. So here's my hope for you Christians, that by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit and through the message of the gospel, may you understand that Christ's victory over sin should empower you to wage war on your sin, to put to death and kill what Christ has already removed, so that you may live righteously before God, because Christ's victory over sin gives us a new identity you may live righteously before God, because Christ's victory over sin gives us a new identity from it.