I John 3:4

TEXT: I John 3:4 - Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.

This is a very unpleasant subject - the subject of sin.

1. Why was the book of I John written? The only way to find out is to read the five chapters that make up the book.

   1. 1:4 - That your joy may be full.

      1. They did not have a full joy.

      2. Ps. 23:4 - my cup runneth over.

      3. Has your cup run over?

      4. Do you have a cup?

      5. Is it half full?

      6. Joy is a fruit of the spirit. Gal. 5: love, joy.

   2. 2:1 - That ye sin not.

      1. John says, "I do not want you to sin."

      2. But if you do sin, you have an advocate with the Father.

   3. 2:7,8 - Old commandment which is the new commandment.

      1. Or a new commandment which is the old commandment.

      2. They are the same commandment.

2. Background of John.

   1. There are all kinds of doctrine and philosophy in this world.

      1. This group of people have come to the conclusion that they can just pretty much do what they want to do, because they think they ought to do it.

      2. What is a commandment? What is the law? They are the same thing: the law of God revealed in His Word.

         1. The darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

         2. They were in darkness, lost, and could not understand the old commandment, but now that they are saved, John will show them the old commandment which they will see in a brand new light, and will be able to understand it.

         3. You will see the old commandment so clearly, you will think it is a brand new commandment, when in reality it is the exact same old commandment you have never really understood.

      3. Verse 9 - You can't be in the light and hate your brother.

         1. They were getting to the place where they believed they could hate their brother and still be saved, but this just isn't so.

      4. Verse 10, 11 - The darkness of a lost condition will blind their eyes to think they can hate their brothers and still be saved.

      5. Verse 12 - He writes because their sins are forgiven for his names sake.

      6. Verse 13 - Fathers, young men, children.

      7. Verse 14 - Fathers, young men, children.

   2. He wants them to understand they when they have known the Lord, they have overcome the wicked one and there are a lot of things they just don't do because they have been saved.

      1. Verse 21 - He wants them to understand that since they have been saved, there are a lot of things they just won't do.

      2. Verse 26 - He wants them to understand about those people that will seduce you.

         1. Those people have taught that they can have hatred for their brother and still be saved.

         2. That's not true. If you hate your brother, you never were saved.

         3. He is not talking about losing your salvation, but you never did have it.

   3. Chapter 3, he begins to tell them what sin is.

3. What is sin?

   1. When was the last time you sinned?

      1. I know the stock answer, we sin every day.

      2. But that is not what we are asking.

      3. When was the last time you sinned?

      4. Can you name the sin?

      5. We discover some things about sin that the Bible is very clear on.

   2. There are three kinds of sin, three types of sin.

      1. Mental sin.

      2. Physical sin.

      3. Spiritual sin.

   3. They are all sin.

      1. I am not talking about white and black sin.

      2. They are all sin.

      3. The definition of sin is "missing the mark".

      4. When we compare our lives to shooting at a target, there are varying degrees of missing the bulls eye.

      5. All sin is missing the mark, but some sins are further from the bulls eye than others.

4. Old Testament sin.

   1. iniquity - a sin against a person or property.

   2. A sin of ignorance - a sin against God.

   3. An abomination - A thing against God to which there is no sacrifice. A thing much worse than a willful sin.

5. Types of sacrifices in the Old Testament.

   1. Burnt offering - To fulfill the required symbolism for salvation.

   2. Meal offering - Always give a meal offering with a blood sacrifice of some kind.

   3. Peace offering - An offering because of peace.

   4. A sin offering for sin committed in ignorance.

   5. A trespass offering.

      1. There is a difference between a sin offering and a trespass offering.

      2. Look at the comments in Leviticus chapter 4 and 5 for the differences.

6. It is a sin for a man to look upon a woman and lust after her in his heart.

   1. He has committed adultery already in his heart.

      1. But it is a worse sin for him to physically commit that act.

   2. On the other hand, if this man looks upon the nakedness of a near kin, it is called an abomination, and that is the most terrible sin of all.

7. What law do we transgress to sin? Whose law?

   1. It is not what we think is a sin.

      1. That doesn't make it a sin.

      2. Just because somebody does something we don't like, doesn't make it a sin.

      3. We define a sin by the transgression of the law.

      4. I do not go by what I think, but I go by what God's Word says is a sin.

      5. Whatever God's Word says is a sin, makes it a sin, because we are living up to his standard, not ours.

      6. We are not talking about customs, but about what God's word says.

   2. John is telling these people that they must find out what the law says, but they must not think that the only way to serve God is through the law.

8. Compare the book of Galatians with the book of I John.

   1. Why was the book of Galatians written?

      1. What we are going to find is that I John was written concerning people that were going to the extreme of disregarding the law, and the book of Galatians was written to people that was going to the extreme of saying that you serve God only through the law.

      2. So there are two extremes.

      3. We don't want to be involved in either of these extremes, we want the truth.

   2. Another set of extremists: whosoever will, sovereignty of God.

      1. We don't want to be on either side, but in the middle, where the Word of God is.

      2. We also don't want to be involved in those who disregard the law, or with those who think they serve only with the law.

      3. We want to be in the middle, where the Word of God is.

   3. A general view of why Galatians was written.

      1. 1:6-9 - There is a perverted gospel these people had received.

      2. 3:1-3 - Were you saved by keeping the law or by faith?

         1. The age old controversy.

         2. Paul wants them to understand they must serve the Lord in spirit, they must have truth, but they must also have spirit, and they were leaving out the spirit.

      3. Verse 12 - The law is not of faith.

         1. I John 3:4 - Sin is transgression of the law.

         2. These two verse do not contradict each other, but both are truth.

      4. Gal. 3:21-23 - This truth is not understood by the majority of people in the world today. There is nothing wrong with the law, it is good, perfect, and will lead you to life if you will obey what it is teaching you.

      5. Gal. 5:1 - Stand fast in the law of liberty, not in the law. Do not forsake the law, but use the law rightly.

9. I John 3:4 - Sin is the transgression of the law.

   1. Should we obey the law?

      1. You answer for yourself.

      2. Answer it with a scripture.

      3. Sin is the transgression of the law.

   2. We ought to obey what the law says, but remember, the Galatians had an un-loving, dogmatic approach to serving God, and it wasn't pleasing to God.

      1. They would make a list of things to do to please God.

      2. They sound like the Pharisees, don't they?

      3. I don't want to be like the Pharisees.

   3. The people John wrote to were saying, "I can do whatever I want to do." Can they? Are you free to do what you want to do? If you can do what you want to do, then God must not have hold on you.

10. This is the solution:

    1. Matt. 22:34-40 - The greatest commandment in the law is to love the Lord with all your heart and mind, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself.

    2. Some people say they don't understand.

    3. This pastor I talked to believed it was all right for ladies to wear pants, I don't. He thinks it's all right for men to wear shorts, I don't.

       1. He asked me, "Why?" I said, "God said it's an abomination."

       2. He said, "We're not under the law, but grace." I said, "The law was under grace. God came to Adam by grace, not by law. Noah found grace in the eyes of God."

       3. He understood that. He asked further, "Why do you believe that?" I answered, "God said it was wrong."

       4. He asked, "Why do you do it?" I said, "Because I love God."

       5. He said, "You don't do it because of a sense of obligation toward God?" I said, "No, I don't have to do it, I do it because I love God."

       6. He said, "You can't argue with that."

       7. And nobody can, because it is the truth.

    4. The whole thing boils down to this.

       1. Sin is the transgression of the law.

       2. We don't want to be on the extreme side that says there is no law, or with the other extreme who says the law is everything.

       3. We are free to obey the law because we love God.

          1. Do you love God?

          2. Do you obey the law because you love God?

          3. Do you want God to direct your life, for him to be with you?

          4. Do you love God enough to leave off the things of this world and obey His word?

          5. That's up to you.

       4. Somebody would say, I do love God. Then prove it.

          1. They would say, I don't have to prove anything to you.

          2. I know that, but can you prove it to God?

          3. How do you prove to God that you love Him?

          4. By obeying His law.

       5. You are not doing anything for me, or anybody else.

          1. You are doing it for God.

          2. Do you want to do it for God?

       6. We are living in the "me" generation.

          1. Just look at this "me" generation.

          2. They are very dissatisfied.

          3. If you are saved, you have a deep yearning in your heart to obey God, and there is no way you can get away from it.

       7. If you are not saved, you might have a desire to do things right so people will look at you, but if you are saved, you have a desire to obey God's word, and you want to with all of your heart.

       8. Sometimes you don't know how.

          1. Sometimes people's opinion will trouble you, but down deep in your heart, you know you want to obey God.

          2. Sometimes when God gives you something to do, you'll be afraid, because you don't know the outcome.

       9. You may not want to give up some things.

          1. Do you love him enough to give them up?

          2. Things willfully committed against God is sin.

Solution

1. Verse 6 - When you abide with God, you do not sin.

   1. James 1:14, We sin when we are drawn away of our own lust and enticed.

   2. I am not talking about sinless perfection, for we retain our sinful nature after we are saved.

   3. A person who willfully goes against the word of God over and over again, is declared a heretic and we are to leave them alone.

2. When we sin, we must ask God to forgive us, then we must forgive ourselves, and go on and serve the Lord.

   1. Peter denied the Lord and even swore to emphasis it.

      1. But he went out and wept bitterly.

      2. Peter had a terrible crying fit, he couldn't stop for his anguish was very bitter.

      3. That's the way a saved person reacts to sin.

   2. How many times did Peter deny the Lord?

      1. Three times, and that happened all at once.

      2. He never denied the Lord after that.

      3. He did get mixed up about supporting the Jews or the Gentiles, but he never denied the Lord again.