Sinning Saints? | 1 John 5:17-18

Okay, welcome everyone to this awesome Lord's Day. Let's turn in our Bibles to 1st John chapter 5. 1st John chapter 5, verses 17 through 18 for today, continuing to work through these challenging verses.

And I want to begin in verse 16, where we left off the previous Lord's Day. 1st John chapter 5, verse 16. God's Word says, If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, or not unto death, he shall ask, and he, God, will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death.

There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should make requests for this. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death. We know that no one who has been born of God sins, but he who was begotten of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.

This is God's Word. Amen. Okay, so last time we left off trying to make sense out of these difficult verses in 16 and 17, primarily in verse 16. And we saw that the proper interpretation of that verse is of sinning unto death and not unto death, and what that means, and all of those other key terms, must satisfy several checks and balances.

Several checks and balances that are built into the text with respect to the translation of the text, the interpretation of the text, and the doctrine that we draw out from the text. So the one that best fits this criteria, these checks and balances, we saw was the fourth understanding, which is that a believer commits sin not unto eternal death, and that is ongoing.

That's in an ongoing tense, sinning, and an unbeliever ultimately commits sin unto eternal death. Unto eternal death. And a believer cannot sin unto eternal death because they cannot sin as unbelievers.

They're not unbelievers without any repentance or correction, and they cannot ultimately fall away from the faith because God keeps him, like we see in this passage. So we also have to be careful to distinguish between various eternal sins.

It's sin in general, not a sin leading to death. I know some translations say a sin not unto death and a sin unto death. It's really just sin. Sin. And there's a category of sins that falls under. And so we can pray for those who sin unto eternal death as unbelievers in a general sense.

In a general sense. Even for those who fall away on a more private level. So they're not like openly defying God and the faith. And to think of a parallel here, if you remember Pilgrim's Progress, there were two neighbors of Christian.

One of them was pliable. Pliable was the one who fell away and went back home because the slave despond kind of discouraged him. And he didn't want to keep going. So he went back home. Right. That's a kind of sinner unto unto death that you can pray for, that we can pray for.

And or those who live ignorantly in unbelief, they live ignorantly in unbelief. And regarding that, let's turn over to 1st Timothy 1 .12. In 1st Timothy 1 .12, we kind of see a little autobiographical description of the Apostle Paul.

But prior to his conversion to Christ, 1st Timothy 1 .12. I, the Apostle Paul, am grateful to Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has strengthened me because he regarded me faithful, putting me into service, even though even though I was formerly a what?

A blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. He was a public opponent, in other words, of Christianity, of the faith. Yet I was shown mercy because I act. Here's the key distinction, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief.

That's the distinction. I acted ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was more than abundant with the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Amen. So God can save even a violent, blaspheming, persecuting aggressor like the Apostle Paul formerly was.

And to that, we can all give a hearty amen. We're all wretched sinners in need of God's grace, right? And so now, on the other hand, however, on the other hand, we should not pray for those who fall away after knowing the truth and willfully rejecting it.

Those who know the truth and willfully reject it and preach against it with knowledge and motive. So unlike the Apostle, he was acting ignorantly in unbelief. This type of sinner has knowledge and consent and motive.

Malice, intent to mislead and deceive with malice and often with hypocrisy as well. And for that parallel, you can think of the other neighbor that Christian had, which was obstinate. Obstinate was the stubborn one.

He said, no, I'm not going with you. He said, and I will go back to my place, said obstinate. I will be no companion of such misled, fantastical fellows. He's like, y 'all are just, y 'all living in make-believe.

He didn't believe the gospel. And he was trying to dissuade others from going with Christian to the eternal kingdom. So we do not, we should not pray for those who knowingly and openly defy the gospel and the one true God of the gospel.

Oftentimes hypocritically, especially, especially if they preach a false gospel to deceive others. Which we saw the warning in Galatians 1, 6 through 9. If anyone, even if we, brings a different gospel to you, different from, contrary to the one that we preach to you, let him be anathema.

Let him be eternally cursed and condemned to hell by God. So we don't pray for those false teachers. Now, when God gives life to the sinning brother, in this context, God reaffirms the promise of eternal life to the sinning brother and restores him to repentance.

As we saw, right? Resulting in leaving the temporary blindness or darkness of sin and walking back towards the light of eternal life that we believers have now. Although we can be caught up in sin, in a pattern of sin, like verse 16 says.

This is also consistent with the historic confessions of faith, of the church. There is no one who does good and does not sin. And the best of people may fall into great sins and provocations against God through the power and deceitfulness of their indwelling corruption and strength of temptation, their flesh.

Therefore, God has mercifully provided in the covenant of grace, the new covenant, that when believers sin and fall, they shall be restored to salvation through what? Through repentance. That's from our 1689 Baptist confession in the chapter on repentance to life and salvation.

Amen. So, and it's also very important to remember this interpretive key regarding this passage and many of the passages in 1st John. John is operating on this underlying theological axiom that there is this already not yet principle at play.

And much of 1st John points to these eternal realities and destinations that are not yet fully realized. So he talks about walking in the light or walking blindness or darkness, for example. And here as well, those who sin not unto death, eternal death and those who sin unto eternal death.

Right. So these are not yet fully realized, but they are presently evident and manifested in the lives of believers who sin not unto death, but have been given eternal life already. And of unbelievers who ultimately sin unto eternal death.

OK, so keep that in mind. Keep that principle in mind of the already not yet principle. So for today, you can see from the title, the sermon title Sinning Saints. Do saints still sin? There's a lot more that goes into these verses that we're going to dive into.

But there is an overarching question here that we need to answer in this passage. We have to reconcile something in this passage. Hence the title Sinning Saints. Do saints still sin? And there are additional difficulties and challenging challenges in these verses, both in translation and in doctrine.

So it didn't end in verse 16. It keeps going here in verse 18 and on as well. And this is a helpful reminder for us to know to understand that some parts of Scripture are hard to understand. They're challenging, they're difficult, and they require careful study as well as guidance from God's church.

God's ordained leaders and teachers and pastors and so on. Both in the history of the church and today. And likewise, interpretations of this text, they will continue to reveal our underlying traditions, both good and bad.

Because some people take this passage to mean, like verse 18, we know that no one has been born of God's sins. They take that to mean that we can be sinlessly perfect in this life. But is that the case?

We've already dealt with this previously in chapter 3 of 1 John and before that as well. But these are the things that we need to rightly divide in God's Word. And we pastors and teachers also need to be careful with being overly confident when it comes to these difficult passages.

Because sometimes we can give a false impression like, oh, this is no big deal. And a lot of pietistic churches and fundamentalist churches tend to do that. They'll just say, well, look, this is the difficult, this is what it says right here.

But sometimes it's not so simple. We have to be honest when we preach to God's people about these challenges, these interpretive challenges. And not give a false sense of superficiality or understanding oversimplification and so on.

Right? So we need to be careful. That being said, now, we continue to see here the apostle dealing with generalities and categoricals or universals. Right? He says very clearly in verse 17, all unrighteousness, not some, all unrighteousness categorically is sin universally.

All unrighteousness is sin. And there is sin in a general sense not leading to death as opposed to specific sin. But this is sin that you can still repent and be forgiven for. Now, in verse 18, he continues.

We know that no one. Right? Another categorical universal. No one who has been born of God sins. But he, he who was begotten of God keeps him. Christ keeps him. And the evil one does not touch him. Him is pointing to a every man and woman.

It is a, it represents every child of God who was born of God. So it's, it's dealing with these categoricals. Categorical universal statements. And notice also the continued emphasis that the apostle has throughout this letter.

And really throughout the entire Bible. On knowledge. Knowing. We know. We know. Already. These things. We know that no one who has been born of God sins. Right? And now there's a, there's a key interpretive question that we have to answer ourselves here.

Regarding this passage. Is this text law or is it gospel? What is it showing us? Is this showing us imperative or indicative? Is it a command or is it a promise? An indicator? Descriptive versus prescriptive?

A command? Think about this as we continue to work through this passage. Okay? Now we've seen there are hermeneutical principles of interpretation. That we need to always apply when we are dealing with any passage.

But especially a challenging one like this. The correct interpretation must agree with both the immediate context of the passage. As well as the key terms used. And is logically consistent with the larger whole counsel of God context.

The passages as well as the doctrines that scripture teaches as a whole. The system of doctrine. Without unwarranted assumptions or deductions or speculations about the text. If it's too speculative or if it's not warranted.

What we conclude. Then it's not valid. It may not be valid. We're putting too much into the text that the text does not warrant. So we have to be careful not to do that. Which can lead to a false understanding or conclusion of the passage.

Right? The analogies of scripture and of faith. Interpret scripture with scripture. And consistently with the system of doctrine that the Bible teaches us. As well as the testimony of the faithful church.

Which helps guide our understanding today. As opposed to having a brand new interpretation that no one has ever come up with before. Right? That's probably wrong. It may be even heretical. So we don't come up with stuff.

We don't innovate like many seminary professors try to do these days. These liberals and creative types that are really denying the faith in many ways. So verse 17. Once again. I want to read from Clark's translation which is more accurately rendered from the Greek.

All unrighteousness is sin. And there is sin not unto death. Okay? There is sin not unto death. And all unrighteousness is sin. The apostle here restates, clarifies, and expands upon what he taught us earlier in the letter.

Right? He previously taught us in 1 John chapter 3 verse 4 a similar concept. Let's turn back over there. In 1 John chapter 3 verse 4. 1 John chapter 3 verse 4. Everyone who does sin also does lawlessness.

And sin is what? Sin is lawlessness. And you know that Christ was manifested in order to take away sins. And in him there is no sin. Christ is the only one who is sinlessly perfect. Amen? No one else can claim sinless perfection except Christ alone.

Who in all ways was tempted like us yet without sin. Like Hebrews also tells us. So just as sin is lawlessness, so likewise all unrighteousness is sin. These are two sides of the same coin. He's kind of filling in the picture for us a little bit more clearly.

Very important that we understand this. What is sin? Right? Like the Baptist larger catechism that we recite answers in question 24. Sin is any lack of conformity unto or transgression of any law of God.

Violation of. Breaking of any law of God. Given to as a rule to the rational creature. It is his moral law that we deal with respect to sin. Summarized in the Ten Commandments. Right? And further summarized in the two great commandments.

To love God and neighbor. Like Christ taught us himself. And the Old Testament also teaches us. There is. So. This we have seen is another one of the letters repeated emphases and focus. And that is sin.

The letter deals heavily with sin. And we as believers. We as believers must know what sin is. And how to deal with it whenever we do sin. And also when others sin. And rightly identify those who sin unto death and not unto death.

So that we can also pray or not pray accordingly. Right? We have to discern these things accurately according to the truth of God's word. So this brings us now back to the question. And actually I wanted to bring up the call to worship for today.

We read a powerful passage in Psalm 130. This issue of sin. Once again drawn out in Psalm 130 verse 3. If you should keep iniquities. Oh yeah. Oh Lord. Who could stand? Who could stand? No one could stand.

If he should keep iniquities. But with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared. Amen. That's a powerful promise from God's Holy Word. Even in the Old Testament. His promise is there. Of forgiveness.

Through faith. In the Messiah. In Christ. So now what is this passage teaching us? Is it law or gospel? Indicative or imperative? Let's start in verse 18 again. We know that no one who has been born of God or child of God sins.

But he who was begotten of God. Christ keeps him. And the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God. Notice again. We know that we are of God. We belong to God. And that the whole world by contrast lies in the power of the evil one.

Right? Lies in the power of the evil one. So beloved. These verses. I hope you see clearly. That these verses are powerful gospel indicatives. They are gospel indicatives of what he has done for us. Is doing for us.

Continues to do for us. And will do for us. Right? These are God's promises and indicatives of how he loves his people. How he adopts them. And regenerates them. And keeps them. That is a powerful promise.

Promises from God's word. It is God who keeps us and preserves us. His saints. Remember the psalm 9710. It's an excellent memory verse. The Lord preserves the souls of his saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.

The evil one cannot touch him. And notice also something very important. The passive. There's an emphasis on the passive voice once again. No one who has been born of God. By God. Since. Has been born.

It's something that was done to us. By God's spirit. We didn't make ourselves born again by something that we did. God did it to us. And we passively received it. Just like 1 John 5 .1 says. Earlier on in the chapter.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ. Has been born of God. Already. Already. Same phrase. Same exact phrase. Already. And everyone who loves the one who gives new birth. Consequently. Loves also the one.

Who has. Been born of him. As well. We've all. Anybody who believes. Is because we have been born of God. By God. By his spirit and means of grace. His spirit and the gospel. The power of God unto salvation.

Amen. This is what it's all about. And because. God is the one. Who gave us. The gifts of eternal life. And. Repentance. Like. 1 John 5 .11 also says. And in Timothy. That God grants us repentance. Those are gifts from God.

And furthermore. Everyone. Who has been born of God. Once again. Does not sin. Because his seed. Abides in him. 1 John 3 .9. Amen. These are powerful gospel promises. Beloved we cannot lose sight of them.

Now. Let's. Start making sense of the difficulties in this passage. Because there are. There are several here that we have to look out for. Both in the original language. And there's also textual variance.

Right. So some manuscripts say different things. In the verses. We have to account for that. Determine which one. Is the best. Translation. And interpretation. So once again. 1 John 5 .18 -19. We know that no one.

Who has been born of God sins. But he who was begotten of God. That is Christ keeps him. And the evil one does not touch him. Okay. But there are different translations of this passage. For example. So that's from the legacy standard Bible.

But. A different. Translation. Is from like the net Bible. The new English translation. Which can also be very helpful. It says. We know that no one. We know that everyone. Fathered by God. So it's still passive.

Does not sin. But God. Protects the one he has fathered. God protects the one. He has fathered. And the evil one. Cannot touch him. Right. So instead of. So there's notice the difference there. He has been born of God.

Or everyone fathered by God. Does not sin. And also. But he who was begotten of God keeps him. So the legacy standard. And several others translate. He who was begotten of God. As referring to Christ.

But in the net version. Everyone fathered by. But God protects the one. Who he has fathered. So instead of referring to Christ. It refers to. Believers who have been born of God. And the evil one. Cannot touch him.

Okay. So let's dive into this. These challenges. Notice also. Once again. How the net Bible. Translates verse 18. Everyone fathered by God. Does not sin. Everyone fathered by God. Does not sin. This should sound familiar for us.

Right. This should be familiar from John's. Previous teaching. In these passages. Because we know. That he. He has a favorite phrase. That he likes to use. In the Greek. Everyone believing. Everyone believing.

And similarly. This phrase here. Is. Passed. Passed. Everyone fathered. Or born by God. Does not sin. Very interesting there. So it's important. To keep in mind. These phrases that. The apostle likes to use.

Because often times. People misunderstand them. And. But he uses them all throughout. Including in his gospel. Like in John 3 also. Now the meaning of the phrase. In 518. Which the net Bible. Translates as.

But God protects the one he has fathered. And the legacy standard. Translates as. But he who was begotten of God. Keeps him. So Christ keeps him. Is extraordinarily. Difficult. To make sense of. And this is from the net Bible.

Translators and commentators. Because the author's capacity. For making obscure statements. Results in. Five different meanings. Potentially. In this passage. So it's not that simple. We have to be careful with these things.

Handle them responsibly. One understanding is. That the fathering by God. Protects him. The Christian. So the fact that. The Christian is born of God. That protects him. But the manuscript evidence for this.

Is extremely slight. It's not in the majority. And it was likely. A scribal attempt to clarify. An obscure phrase. A scribe trying to interpret it. Rather than it being. The original rendering. What it originally says.

So that's probably not the case. That understanding. The next translation is. The one. Fathered by God. Who is Jesus. Protects him. The Christian. That's similar to what the Legacy Standard Bible. Translates it as.

And this is a very popular. Interpretation. That is also grammatically possible. However. There are some issues. There are some challenges here. Because the introduction. Of a reference to Jesus. In this context.

Is sudden and kind of. It's kind of without warrant. It seems like it's without warrant. Because there's no antecedent. So it seems like it's just sort of assumed. That it's referring to Christ. When it may not be referring to him.

And it's too ambiguous. To definitively. Refer to Christ. The way that the passage reads in the original. So to be. Unambiguous. The author could have mentioned the son of God. Here. Or used the pronoun.

As a reference to Christ. As he consistently does elsewhere in 1 John. So they're trying to make sense of it. In light of the rest of the context of 1 John as well. So this interpretation. While it is possible.

Seems in context to be. Very unlikely. Okay. So it may not be likely. Which is what the Legacy Standard Bible. Translates it as. Now there's another one. The one fathered by God. The Christian protects himself.

So God doesn't protect him. But the one fathered by God. The believer protects himself. So why is that? Why is it translated like that? Here there is a textual problem. Because a number. Of manuscripts.

Say himself. Instead of him. In 518. But himself. May also be explained. As a scribal attempt at. Interpreting. Or smoothing out the grammar. In the text there. So what the Christian. Protects himself.

Means in the context. Is just not very clear. So that's probably not. The correct understanding either. Now there's another one here. The one fathered by God. The Christian holds on to him. Holds on to God.

So God doesn't keep him. But the believer holds on. Or clings to God. But this is very. Grammatically awkward. Because him. Refers to God. Instead of the Christian. It should be. The grammar is pretty clear.

That God is the one. Who keeps him. The believer. Not the believer. Holding on to God. And furthermore. Although. Tereo. Which can mean. Hold on to. Is not a common usage. In John's writings. So that translation.

Just isn't common. To really warrant. Translating it that way. And it occurs elsewhere. Only once in Revelation 3. Which is another one of John's. Writings. Which says. So remember. What you have received and heard.

And keep it. Keep it. Obey it. And repent. So not likely the right one. Now there's this final one here. The one fathered by God. That is the Christian. He. God. Protects him. Protects the Christian. The believer.

The one born of God. Right? So this translation. May be influenced by the Semitic style. And such a construction. Is also present. In John 17 too. Which says that in order. That everyone whom you. God have given to him.

Christ. He. Christ may give to them. Believers. Eternal life. He gives to them eternal life. So this appears to be. The most probable understanding. Interpretation and translation. In terms of both the syntax.

And the grammar. And of the sense. Right? Because it makes God the protector of the Christian. Rather than the Christian protecting himself. And which fits the context much better. And there is precedent.

In John's other writings. For these phrases. The way he phrases it. So as you can see. This is not straight forward. By any means. It's challenging and it requires. Good translators and commentators. To help us to work through this passage.

So now this brings us. Now that we've kind of laid some of the ground work. Once again. This brings us to the question here. Do saints still sin? Do saints still sin? Right? I want to read once again.

Verses 16 through 17. And keep this in mind. The question. Of whether saints still sin. If anyone sees his brother. Sinning. A sin not unto death. He shall ask. And he God will give him. The sinning brother life.

And to those. Who sin not unto death. Right? There is sin to death. I do not say that he should ask concerning that. All unrighteousness is sin. And there is sin that is not unto death. Right? So remember from the previous Lord's Day.

The brother here is sinning. He is sinning. In an ongoing sense. Right? Ongoing sense. And I quote it from B .B. Warfield. Who had a helpful description. Of this passage. It is to be noticed he says. That the apostle does not say.

If anyone observe. His brother's sin. But if anyone observe his brother's sinning. He is not speaking of a single act of sin. Or even a succession. Of disconnected acts of sin. He is speaking of habitual sinning.

Or of a course of sinning. It is as if one would say. If you see a brother casting his life. On a lower than the true Christian plane. Okay. So this brings us to a. An interpretive dilemma now. There is a.

This is what we have to answer. And seek to reconcile. Because if this verse refers to a Christian brother. Sinning in a continual sense. How do we reconcile this. With verse 18. And with the rest of John's letter.

And other parts of scripture. Because remember. Verse 18 says. In the net bible. We know already. That everyone fathered by God. Does not sin. Does not sin. Period. Or comma. It just does not sin. But God protects the one.

He has father. And the evil one cannot touch him. Right. So. Okay. How do we reconcile this. And notice also that this passage. Reminds us of. And further reemphasizes. Similar points that the apostle.

Previously made. In chapter 3. So let's turn back over there beloved. To 1 John chapter 3. Starting in verse 4. This is going to shed some light on. How we make proper sense of this passage. 1 John. Chapter 3 verse 4.

God's word says. Who does sin also does lawlessness. And sin is lawlessness. And you know. That he was manifested. In order to take away sins. And in him Christ there is no sin. No one. Who abides in him.

Sins. Okay. No one who sins. Has seen him. Or has come to know him. Okay. Little children let no one deceive you. Like the antichrist that he's warned us about. The one. Who does righteousness is righteous.

Just as he Christ is righteous. The one who does sin. Is of the devil. Not of God. Not born of God. Because the devil sins from the beginning. Okay. Take note of what he says there. Because the devil sins from the beginning.

The son of God. Was manifested for this purpose. But to destroy the works of the devil. Everyone. Then. Who has been born of God. Does not sin. Notice the emphasis once again. Does not sin. Because his seed abides in him.

And he cannot sin. He cannot sin. Because. He has been born of God. He has been regenerated. By God's spirit. By this. The children of God and the children of the devil. Are manifested. Are apparent. Everyone who does not do righteousness.

Is not of God. As well as the one who does not love his brother. Amen. Okay. Okay. This helps us to understand. The passage of chapter 5. Verse 18. Now. Here we need to be careful. Because we need to have a biblical.

A doctrinal balance. To reconcile these passages appropriately. Right. But the answer is. Once you see it. The context. The whole context. Is very clear. These passages. Teach us that a Christian. Can and does still sin.

Verse 16 and on. Sometimes. In an ongoing sense. Or in a pattern of sins. At times. Not always. But at times. But it is not sinning. Unto death. Unto eternal death. Right. Why? Why is that? What is the difference?

What is the difference between a believer who sins. And an unbeliever who sins? Because believers. Sin differently. That is the key difference. A believer sins differently. From an unbeliever. Okay. Because believers.

Do not sin as. As unregenerate. Unrepentant. Unbelievers. Who will be judged as criminals. Before God. Nor do they sin like the devil. Who did what? Who sins from the beginning. According to their fallen natures.

Right. So unbelievers and the devil. Sin according to their fallen natures. But we do not sin that way anymore. Beloved. Because God has done something to us. To change us. By contrast. Believers are being sanctified.

Continually. And disciplined. Continually. By God himself. Their adopted father. Our adopted father. Who has initially regenerated us. He has made us born again. Right. He has birthed us. From his spirit.

With a renewed nature. A renewed moral nature. And disposition. Right. So instead of wanting to sin. Continually. We now follow God and his word. Not perfectly. We still sin. But it is not the same way.

It is not the same way. And also because God. Protects the one he has fathered. Right. He has made born again. From falling away. In an ultimate sense. And the evil one cannot touch him. Verse 18. And by God the spirit.

Indwelling them. Indwelling us. Convicting. Our consciences. Those of us who have been born again. And conforming us. To the image of. The son of God. Right. He activates the means of grace. In us. The word of God preached.

The sacraments. The Lord's supper. Baptism. He activates those things in us. To conform us to the image of Christ. And to sanctify us. And by mortification of our sin. We actively seek to. Put sin to death in our lives.

And to stop sinning. By repentance. Of. When we do sin. We repent. By the means of grace. Like I mentioned earlier. Baptism. Prayer. The Lord's supper. The word of God preached. Especially. And read. And studied.

By the church. Through church discipline. Right. We deal with sin in this life. Now. Through those various means that God has given us. That is the difference beloved. The distinction here is vital. Unbelievers don't have any of this stuff.

That we have. We have all of these blessings and benefits. Of dealing with our sin now. And a believer's life. Is further marked. By repentance. By repentance. Because we as believers. Still sin. In our unredeemed flesh.

Right. Which is primarily our unredeemed bodies. Not exclusively. But primarily. 1st John 1 through 10 says what? If we say that we have no sin. We deceive ourselves. And the truth is not even in us. But if we confess our sins.

He is faithful and just. And righteous to forgive us our sins. And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Amen. If we say that we have not sinned. We make him a liar. God a liar. And his word is not in us.

So we cannot deceive ourselves. With sinless perfection. Right. We do still sin. And we may even fall into patterns of sin. But the difference is. That all of these things are working. In us and for us.

To prevent us. To cause us to repent. And to put our sin to death. And to walk back into the light. And fellowship with God. And his people. And to not have fellowship. With the unfruitful works of darkness.

Right. That is the key. Difference. It is just as. Martin Luther's. Very first thesis. Of his 95 thesis says. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. When he said repent. When he said repent. Willed that the whole.

Life of believers. Should be repentance. Should be marked by repentance. Amen. The believers life is marked by. Repentance. Repentance. Is to continue. Through the whole course of our lives. Because of our body of death and its activities.

Because of our flesh. So it is everyone's duty. To repent of particular. Known sins. With particular care. Amen. That is from our baptist confession of faith. In the same chapter 15. Of repentance to life and salvation.

Beloved. This is so important for us to understand. And to not allow us. These passages. To fall into despair. Because it says. The one born of God does not sin. No it is not that we don't sin at all.

It is that we don't sin like we used to. We don't sin like we used to. We sin differently now. Because now. We have all of these things. Working for us. Towards us. And it is in us. To stop sinning. Not perfectly.

But to grow in sanctification and righteousness. And die more and more. Unto sin. Like the confession says. And like the scriptures teach us. Let us rejoice. Beloved in all the amazing. Powerful means that God has given us.

To deal with our sin. Including himself. He has given us himself. Including his unique. Beloved son. Amen. Just as 1 John 2. 1 -2 tells us. Beloved. Let's close out with that passage. 1 John 2. Verse 1 and 2.

This is one of the most precious promises. From God's word. My little children. You who believe. I am writing these things to you. So that you may not sin. Right? So we do strive to obey God and not sin.

But and. If anyone sins. Which we all do. We have an advocate. A paraclete. With the father. Jesus Christ the righteous. And he himself is the propitiation. For our sins. All our sins. He satisfies the sin debt and wrath.

For all our sins. And not for ours only. But also for those. Of the whole world. Of believers. Beloved. Amen. Now I love. What John Calvin also says in his commentary. In his sermon on Ephesians. He says but yet.