As we start a new week together Lord, keep me focused on You and the journey You have planned for me. Bless the Lord oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Amen.
1 John 3
So far in I John, we have seen in chapter one that our fellowship is with Jesus Christ and God the Father and with one another. Since our Father is a holy, righteous God, and we are all sinners, the only way we can have fellowship with Him is by the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all our sin and unrighteousness. If we confess our sins, He will forgive us.
And daily we must walk in His light or else His truth is not in us. Chapter two continues by telling us that the way we walk in His light and know Him is to keep His commandments and to love one another. We are not to love this world and its sinful, satanic system: which is the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life. This “system” is of the antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son, and this “system” will try to deceive you. Your protection is to abide in Christ and He will anoint you with His truth.
Read chapter 3 all the way through without stopping and get a feeling for what John‘s main thought in this chapter is.
Jot down your first thought or impression of this chapter.
Sin is a key word in chapter 3, so we want to take a closer look at sin. What is sin? Where did it begin? Where does it reside? How does it manifest itself? What is its punishment? What is its cure?
I John 3:8 says, “the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning.”
Read Ezekiel 28:12-19 and list the description of “the king of Tyre” until unrighteousness was found in him.
v.12 - _________________________________________________________________________
v.12 - __________________________________________________________________________
v.14 - __________________________________________________________________________
v.15 - ___________________________________________________________________________
Most commentators agree that this is a reference to Satan and his relationship to God before he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. Verses 13 and 14 state that he was “in Eden, the garden of God”, “on the holy mountain of God”.
According to verses 16 and 17, what happened to him?
Now read Isaiah 14:12-15 and see what you learn from this passage about the basic cause of his downfall.
As you can see in Ezekiel and Isaiah, sin began with Satan.
Read Genesis 2:15-17 and Genesis 3 to see how sin was then transmitted to man.
Basically, Satan questioned God’s Word, he denied God’s Word, and he exchanged God’s Word for his own lie. He tempted Eve to eat the fruit so she would “be like God, knowing good and evil”. This is the very same desire that Satan had when he sinned and now he passed this desire on to man.
What did sin do to the relationship between God and man?
So, the main definition of sin would be disobedience that separates!
Read Romans 5:12 – 19. Whose obedience solved our problem?
We’ve focused on sin today so we can do a serious study of I John 3. The last thing we want to notice today about the verb sin in chapter 3 is that it is in the present tense, active voice in every instance in this chapter. (sorry….you need a little grammar lesson)
Present tense = continuous action
Active voice = the subject produced the action
Check each instance of the word sin and note the truth you learn simply by knowing the tense and voice of this verb.
Are we forced to sin? Think about it!
Lord, I humbly come before Your throne confessing my sin. You’ve made it clear in Your Word that I am responsible for my sin and that I am accountable to You. Thank you for Your precious, spotless blood that cleanses me from all of my unrighteousness. Your grace and mercy are gifts of the cross, and for that I am eternally thankful! Amen.
