1 John 3:10 [10] In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. Our text teaches us that there is a clear distinction between the children of God, and the children of the devil. One of the biggest lies the devil ever told, was that we are all God’s children. That is not what the Bible says about being a child of God. We do not become a child of God until we are born again. If you are wondering …

1 John 3:9 [9] Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. Every time I read this verse, I think of the beloved evangelist who preached a revival at our church on our position verses our condition. We know that John is not teaching sinless perfection, because in chapter one and verse nine, he tells us what a Christian is to do when they sin. John understands that our position cannot change, but our condition is always changing. Our position depends upon Christ, …

1 John 3:8 [8] He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.  I’m reminded of the old song, “Who is on the Lord’s side?” Before salvation, we were not on his side. We were on the wrong side. The side of sin, Satan, death and destruction. We were lost without God, and without hope. Just like our verse declares, we committed sin and were of the devil. Those who are still in sin, and live …

1 John 3:7 [7] Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. Children can sometimes be easily deceived because of their lack of knowledge. The same is true about those who are spiritually young in the Lord. John is going to establish a truth that every believer must get a hold of to prevent them from being deceived by false teachers. He wants young believers to realize that we have a belief that behaves.  Find out what someone believes, then you will know how they will behave. There are many …

1 John 3:6 [6] Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. We should carefully consider this verse. John is not saying that when someone gets saved, they reach sinless perfection. He is not teaching that once you put your faith in Christ, you will never sin again. I have met people who believed this false doctrine, but they did not get it from the Bible. John writes in chapters one and two telling Christians how to deal with their sins. He clearly warns us, in chapter one, of the dangers of saying …

1 John 3:5  [5] And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.  This verse contains two wonderful truths about our Savior. The first truth is, that he came to take away our sins. The second truth is, that he was sinless. Had Jesus not been sinless, he could have never taken our sins away. John says we know both of these to be a fact because his life was manifested before us. Jesus lived a sinless life for all the world to see. Though the Pharisees and others tried to …

1 John 3:4  [4] Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. If you believe the Bible, then you believe it to be a book of facts, and not fiction. So, what about this verse? Read it carefully and think about it. If we are now under grace, and not the law, then how is it that we transgress the law? Many teach because we are living under grace that the law is not effective in the lives of New Testament believers. They say that we can throw away the rule book and …

1 John 3:3 [3] And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. The phrase, “keeping me on my toes”, is one that we are all familiar with. It means the individual is being helped to stay on top of things. They are being held accountable, while being encouraged, to strive for their best performance. We have all experienced this in life. We have all had someone or something “keep us on our toes”.  When we think about the rapture, and the events that are to follow, this phrase comes to mind. John …

1 John 3:2 [2] Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  Most of us can remember from our childhood days, the fairytale “Cinderella.” We recall the evil step mother and her two daughters who mistreated the damsel and saw her only as a slave to their household. Cinderella was poor, unwanted and unloved by those whom she served daily. Her life seemed hopeless, until one day a fairy …

 1 John 3:1 [1] Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Several years ago, I heard the story of a man who was standing at the top of a tall building in New York City. He was preparing to jump off the top of the building and commit suicide. Some of the people of the city had gathered around the skyscraper and began to chant for the man to jump. He could hear them as their …