away our sins, and this He did when dying on the cross of Calvary. As by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous. Hebrews 9:28 declares that He bare the sins of many, and also, in verse 26 of the same chapter, that He was manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Thanks be to God, because of Jesus’ precious death, both sins and sin shall ultimately be forever removed. Our sins are gone the moment we believe in Jesus; sin shall be banished when we a re changed into His likeness at the rap ture. We are reminded in our verse that the value of His work, the work of taking away our sins, depends on the fact that in Him is no sin. All the value of the work of Calvary rests upon the perfection of Him who did that work. Verse 6. Whosoever th e re fo re abides in Christ — walks and lives in communion with Him — will not commit, or practice, sin. This, of course, is quite evident. It is un thinkable that anyone who knows and loves the Lord Jesus could live a life of insubjection or rebellion against God. John says, as it were, “How can a believer, while lying on Jesus’ breast and feeling the heart beats of his blessed Lord and look ing up into His blessed face, how can he sin ?” On the other hand, this very statement suggests that when a Christian is not abiding in Christ, he is capable of sinning. That subject was thoroughly gone into by the Spirit of God in chapter 1. We should not sin, but often do. And for this reason, our Advocate pleads for us in the Father’s presence. Scrip ture elsewhere shows how the be liever is capable of committing the most serious of sins when out of touch with God. Only while treading the path of dependence on God, and breathing the atmosphere of heaven through the ministry of the Word by the Spirit, is a believer safe and
apt tp live a life that glorifies Him. However, no true Christian lives in sin, though he may be overtaken by it, or fall into sin. It has often been remarked that a sheep may fall into a mud-puddle, but is not going to wallow in it, as a swine does. The latter part of verse 6 clearly shows this, for it tells us that one who sins has never been saved at all. It does not say that such an one is not saved — does not see or know Christ — but that he has not known Him at all, has never been saved at all. In other words, living a sinful life proves one to be a sinner, and not a Christian. This verse is a rather puzzling one for those who believe, mistakenly, in the sinless perfection of a Christian as to practical life. All such admit that a believer is capable of sinning, and they even teach that when he sins he is lost, and needs to be saved again. But, unfortunately for their teaching this verse shows that one who sins was never saved at all; he has not seen nor known the Lord. The explanation of the verse is found in realizing that it is not referring at all to a believer, but to a sinner as yet unsaved. The point is that the verse contrasts the believer in its first clause with the unbeliever in the second part. The Christian is marked by the fact that he lives for God; the sinner by the fact that he doesn’t. That’s all. A sin ner proves he is a sinner by living in sin ; a Christian proves he is a Chris tian by living as such. It is true that a believer may commit sin and does, but that does not mark him; it is not characteristic of him. Verse 7. He that doeth righteous ness is righteous. We might think that this should be put the other way around, namely: “He that is right eous doeth righteousness.” Just as we say of the unconverted, “He that is a sinner sins.” But it is put in the reverse order, because John is speaking of the evidence of Chris tianity in the lives of the children of 31
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