[We regret the occasional electronic noise during this sermon]
I suppose that some of you have probably wrestled with John a bit. Because John is quite insistent that sin has no place in the Christian life.
Sin is utterly inconsistent with the Christian life.
Or, to use John's exact words, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot sin because he has been born of God.” (3:9)
While this sounds impossible, you have to think about the alternative.
The alternative would be to say that sin is okay. Sin is perfectly consistent with the Christian life! And those who are born of God sin regularly!
But if that is the case, if sin is “okay” then why did Jesus come?
John Calvin said it well: “inasmuch as Christ's kingdom flourishes in them, sin is abolished.” (quoted in Yarbrough, 183)
But this is likely to create a certain amount of difficulty in John's hearers, because as we look at ourselves, we often see how far short we fall. |
