The Standard November 11, 2023
In his gospel and letters, the Apostle John spells out how deeply intertwined the faith of the Christian is with obedience. As in a healthy parent-child relationship, the child does not earn love or acceptance by obeying. The child wants to show love and respect for the parent by obedience.
“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he [Jesus] walked.” (1 John 2:3-6)
“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 or sister.” (1 John 3:4-10)
“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:1-5)
Jen Wilkin in her “Abide” Bible Study says that overcoming is “not that we become free from sin, where we never sin again, but that we become quicker to repent and slower to repeat.” As Christians who are being transformed into the image of Christ, we walk more and more like Jesus walked. We do not persist in the same sin at the same rate. As God draws us closer through Scripture, prayer and meditation, we become more attuned to the guidance and correction of the Holy Spirit and our habits change. Like King David we pray, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)
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