WWUTT 421 Sin is Lawlessness?

Sin is lawlessness. It is a rebellion against the law of God, whether or not we knew that we were breaking the law of God. But then we're presented with the law, we become aware of our sin, and seek the forgiveness of Christ when we understand the text.

You're listening to When We Understand The Text, an online Bible ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty. Find videos and more at our website, www .utt .com. Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.

The Definition of Sin in 1 John 3

Thank you, Becky. Let's continue with our study of 1 John. We're in chapter 3. I'm going to be reading verses 4 through 10. 1 John 3, starting in verse 4. 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, in Christ, 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. And this is right after we just talked about being children of God.

We are children of the Father, because we've been adopted into the family of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. We are God's children now, and everyone who hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure.

Jesus' Command to Be Perfect

As Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. And so as we want to be worthy sons and daughters of God, we desire to be like our Father, perfect as He is perfect. And so then we get into verse 4 where it says, everyone who makes a practice of sinning, who doesn't purify himself as He is pure, those who keep on sinning, they practice lawlessness.

Sin is lawlessness. So by sinning, we are rebelling against what our Father has commanded of His children to do. And we are practicing lawlessness. Who else practices lawlessness? The devil does. So we're in league with Satan.

We are not of our Father God. And notice the definition of sin there is plainly stated. Sin is lawlessness. There are all kinds of yahoos out there that will try to offer their own definition of sin. And a lot of times that definition is just straight up heretical.

This is Chris Vallotton. He is one of the teachers at Bethel Church and also co-founder of the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. Here is Chris Vallotton's definition of sin.

The only way you can sin is to know that what you're doing is wrong and do it anyway. I had a young man stand up and challenge me at YWAM. He said, can I ask you a question? He was kind of passionate.

I said, yeah, he's getting really frustrated with me. I said, yeah. He said, can you go a whole day without sinning? I said, uh-huh. He goes, he sits down. I'm like, wow, that was simple. I thought he was going to take her on to the...

I said, I've gone a whole week without sinning. Now he looks like he's in shock. And so I started to say, wait a second, let's define what sin is. Sin means that you knew something was wrong and you did it anyway.

Yep, not in the Bible. That's not what the Bible says sin is. Sin is lawlessness. We have it right here. There's your definition. 1 John 3, 4. Sin is lawlessness. It's rebellion. It's breaking the law of God.

Do you have to know what the law is in order to break it? Of course not. Do you have to know what the posted speed limit is in order for you to break the speed limit? Break the law and speed beyond what the limit is for the road that you're on.

A cop's going to pull you over and he's going to write you a ticket for speeding, regardless of whether or not you knew what the posted speed limit was. It's your responsibility to know what the law is and to follow it.

And so sin is a willful rebellion against the law of God. And we break that law, whether we know what it is or not. Now, transgression, that's a different matter. A transgression is to know what the law is and to deliberately go against it.

But to sin, everybody is guilty of that, regardless of whether or not they know the law. And then we have places in Scripture that articulate specific sins. So you have in 1 Timothy 1, verse 8,. We know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just, but for the lawless and the disobedient, so that by the law they will see that they have broken it, that they are lawless, that they are disobedient, and they need to repent and cry out to God for forgiveness and beg for his mercy and grace, and all who ask will receive.

But they need to know that they need the righteousness of Christ when they see according to the law that they are unrighteous. The law is laid down not for the just, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and the sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

That's the law, and that's the purpose of the law, is so that every mouth would be stopped from being able to proclaim their own righteousness and that they would become knowledgeable of their sin because they saw their sins articulated in the law.

They see what the law says, they realize they have not obeyed it, and before God they have sinned, rebelled, broken the law. They deserve the penalty, and the penalty is given for us in Romans 6, for the wages of sin is death, and that's what we all deserve.

But the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So if we beg Christ for forgiveness, he gives it to us, and we are adopted into the family of God. We become the sons and daughters of God.

Sin, Law, and the Need for Christ's Righteousness

That definition, by the way, or that explanation of sin that Chris Vallotton was giving is straight up heretical. It's not just wrong, it's heresy. How do I know that? Because of something that was stated in 1 John 1.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. Back to verse 8, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If Chris Vallotton has not the truth, then what he's clinging to is a lie, and he does not truly know the word of God. He's articulating this boastfully, thumping his chest. I've gone a whole week without sinning before.

No, he hasn't. He may not be practicing sin. Now, he could say that, but that's not what he's talking about. He's talking about the ability for a person to attain a perfection in which they can live their lives without sin.

We cannot do that. A person who says they have no sin makes God out to be a liar, and the truth is not in them. However, we have it stated a different way here in 1 John 3. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil.

Not if a person sins, they're of the devil. If they make a practice of sinning, they're of the devil. A person who sins and feels remorseful for their sin and begs God for forgiveness, that's not a person who practices sin.

That's a person who is responding to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. That's a person who's still fighting with the old man, the old Adam, that still exists within our flesh. But a person who practices sinning and goes on sinning and thinks to themselves, you know what?

What I'm doing is not wrong. God's grace is just going to cover me anyway. Well, they are not of God. They are of the devil. As Paul said in Romans 6, let us not continue to submit our members as slaves to unrighteousness, but we submit our members to God as slaves to righteousness.

Whoever is still caught in that snare of the devil and keeps on sinning, as they did before they came to Christ, is not saved, but is following in the trap of Satan. And so we're going to continue studying this more tomorrow, this section in 1 John 3, verses 4 -10.

Repentance and Prayer for Cleansing

Let not the Christian continue in sin any longer. Repent. And I don't want to give you too much leeway here, because if you feel truly convicted over what it is that we are reading, then perhaps there is something you need to take before the Lord.

Let's go before God now. Our God and Father, we pray for the conviction of the Holy Spirit, because we desire to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. So if there is any sinful or unclean way in us, seek it out.

Convict us of it, so that we might come before our Lord Christ and be cleansed of our sins. We desire to be pure as you are pure. And so show us the stain that remains on our life and where we need Christ to make us clean, to wash us new.

We pray and ask this in the name of Christ. Amen.

Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog, sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues. You can find a link to the blog through our website www .utt .com.

Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's Word when we understand the text.