1John 3: 1-11

Jan. 2, 2022

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.

2Beloved, 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.

3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

4Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

5And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

6Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

7Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

8He 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.

9Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

10In 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.

11For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

Sin. That’s the problem with free will, isn’t it? Like posted speed limits – most folks consider them ‘suggestions’ and decide for themselves just how fast or slow they will drive. But if you’re caught speeding, there’s a price to pay because there are traffic laws. The Ten Commandments are our Laws. Everything that Jesus taught was Law (Matt 5: 17Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.)

Like the rich young man, we think to ourselves that we haven’t transgressed any of the 10 Commandments (St. Mark 10: 19Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. 20And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.) but think about your tongue …

We have sports teams we love and teams we hate; we have politicians we love and ones we hate; we have fellow travelers on highways that we love and those we hate but it’s that ‘hate’ part we need to be careful of. The things we say about those we hate. Foul language; it used to be that folks would, at the very least, lower their voices if they were going to cuss; or, folks would tamp down what they said if they were in the presence of older folks in a show of respect (boy! those days are long gone, aren’t they?) Keep this mind – St. Matthew 15: 11Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. And, of course, there’s this – St. Matthew 5: 22But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

How are we feeling about being sin-free now? Hmmm.

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