“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away 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. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 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. 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. 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” (1st John 3:4-10, ESV).
Sin is Lawlessness
Throughout most of the Bible, we get sin in the applied version. Rarely do we get a stated definition of sin. So, Sunday, we put a magnifying glass on this one, where John says: “Sin is lawlessness.”
Typically, many definitions of sin float through our society and even the church, as a whole. But, Highland, here is sin defined for us, according to Scripture. This is the definition we need to grip and hold onto, together, with God’s Word.
God has revealed His holiness through creation and the order thereof, through His law and through His only son, Jesus. Every person senses and bears witness to the Almighty by way of their conscience and, therefore, are without excuse. For the truths established by the Lord remain immovable.
Therefore, when we sin, it is not simply a moral failure, a lapse in judgment or a mistake, it’s an offense in the face of God. It’s a violation of His holy nature and His law. While these violations break God’s law, more importantly, they break the heart of God.
What this passage is pointing out is that the violating-nature of our sinfulness, or our lawlessness, is not simply that we offend the heart and nature of God in an act or pattern of sinfulness; it’s that, in our hearts, we have written our own version of truth and, thereby, abide by our own set of laws. Hence, we become our own god and God’s law does not apply to us. Therefore, we are lawless, because we have placed ourselves above the law of the Almighty, who is the maker of heaven and earth.
Only Willing to Listen to Our Own Voice
Not too long ago, we had a guest speaker give his testimony to the Truth Spring Trade School class. His name is Joshua. In his testimony, he said that before he surrendered his life to Christ, he was lawless. That statement grabbed my attention because I had never heard anyone describe themself as lawless. He went on to say that, in his lawlessness, he would only listen to his own voice.
To further highlight this point, in Genesis 4, when Cain is enraged within his heart and the Lord speaks to him, helping Cain to direct his own heart, Cain, obviously, rejects the voice of the Lord, obeying his own voice, rooted in sin, where his lawlessness cultivates sin and death.
When Pharoah is approached by Moses, he rejects the voice of the Lord through Moses’ plea. So, enter the plagues. Even still, Pharaoh's heart listens only to his own voice, rooted in his plagiarized version of truth, abiding by his own laws. In his pride, he declares that God’s law does not apply to him; therefore, he is lawless, since God is God all by Himself. Pharoah deems himself to be above the law; therefore he falls under God’s wrath.
The Law of the Strickland Household
In closing, to offer a practical illustration, in the Strickland household, our law consists of two rules: 1. Obey and 2. Have a good attitude. Now, clearly, our sons have broken the laws of our home. Discipline has been applied. Discipline includes consequences and discussion. More than putting on a display of our power as their parents, we want to know that our sons understand that the “law” is for their benefit and benefits all. Additionally, we want to know that they know how they have violated the law and what needs to be done to restore order.
To be expected, in those moments, they have been upset and even mad, but they hear and receive our voice (Thank God! That is due to the prayer life of us, as a people.). There’s fruit because the root-system of our hearts and home are rooted in a Christ-centered love and the law serves to shape us, according to our love for each another.
While an infraction of our household’s law is expected, the greater issue would be that if one of our sons rejected the law of our home, writing their own version of truth, abiding by their own set of laws, then their heart’s posture would become mom and dad’s law does not apply to me. The issue therein lies – that our son lives in his parent’s house - their law is the law of the house. If this were the case, that son would become lawless – rejecting the law of our home.
The result is not just an infraction of the law, or an offense here or there – it’s now that they themselves have become an offense to the law and to the law-makers – because the law is in Carrie and I and it is from us. Therefore, they are rejecting us as parents and they have chosen to “parent” their own lives. The intentionally, premeditated lawless-life of a sinful heart remains under the wrath of God. What must one do? Revisiting the start of our series – repent.
What Must the Lawless One Do? Repent.
To repent is to acknowledge that we are helpless and sinful, and that our sin is offensive to the Lord. 1st John really lays out the evidence of our repentance – and here it is, we love God in return.
Knowing that God is love and that the Lord has displayed His redeeming love to us through Jesus, those who are repentant simply love God in return. 1st John does a great job of laying out what God’s redeeming love and our repentance look like, as they meet.
This is what His redeeming love and our repentance looks like in the life of the believer - there is a sharing in His holy-nature:
We are painfully aware of and uncomfortable in our personal sin and we hate it - conviction; sharing in His holy-nature (Hebrews 12).
We display a devoted love toward fellow believers and sinners - as believers, we are known by our love - compassion (1st John).
We long to do what is right in the eyes of God - our hearts hunger and thirst for righteousness - we have an appetite for righteousness, not sin - consecration (Matthew 5).
See you Sunday, Highland.
I love you,
Rob