Bible Studies

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I'll always quote from the New American Standard Bible, 1995 edition, unless I mention otherwise. Sometimes I'll make comments in the middle of quotations in brackets [ ] or [[ ]] to make them more obvious. cf. means compare; e.g. means for example

INTRODUCTION. 1 John probably has more verses (percentage wise) dealing with the call, enablement, requirement, and privilege for Christians to keep the commandments of God and walk in His righteousness with the victory over all sin than any other book of the Bible. And some of the verses of this epistle are rather shocking; speaking, for example, of US PURIFYING OURSELVES AS THE LORD JESUS IS PURE in 1 John 3:3; of OUR BEING DOERS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND BEING RIGHTEOUS AS HE IS RIGHTEOUS in 1 John 3:7; and of THE LOVE OF GOD BEING PERFECTED IN US AS WE MANIFEST THE LOVE OF GOD IN OUR DAILY LIVES in 1 John 2:5; 4:12, 17, 18.

We will discuss 1 John 1:8; 2:3-6; 4:7-21; 3:3; and 3:7 in that order in this paper. I will discuss 1 John 4:7-21 in more detail since I have not discussed those verses to any extent in my previous writings.

The call, enablement, requirement, and privilege for Christians to walk in the righteousness of God with the victory over all sin is widespread in the New Testament. We desperately need to understand, to emphasize, and to believe (to have faith in) these things in the Christian church in our day. Righteousness, holiness, and the victory over sin can only come by grace THROUGH FAITH, FAITH IN GOD AND IN HIS WORD. We cannot be righteous/live in righteousness without being committed in our hearts to God and His Word. We have to do the right things for the right reasons (motives), by His enabling grace, and for His glory.

We have a serious problem with Christians, including many leaders, sinning in our day, and the problem seems to be getting worse all the time here at the end of this age. Sin destroys divine order and causes every kind of problem. God wants to transform us, not condemn us! WE WILL NEVER GAIN THE VICTORY OVER SIN WHILE WE THINK, AND BELIEVE IN OUR HEARTS, THAT THE NEW TESTAMENT TEACHES THAT WE CANNOT HAVE THE VICTORY OVER SIN, WHICH IS THE DOMINANT VIEWPOINT IN OUR DAY! It doesn't surprise me much when I see all the sin, because (for one primary thing) so many Christian leaders have been teaching that we cannot have the victory over sin in this life for a long time.

We certainly will not hit the target of victory over all sin if we aren't even aiming at the target! And most of us tend to take the path of least resistance; if some sin is OK (but it isn't), then we don't have to make it a top priority to walk in the righteousness of God with the victory over all sin, which is far from always being easy, and it certainly isn't automatic. I'm not concerned about Christians who are totally committed to God and to His Word in their hearts, and who are making it a top priority to walk in His righteousness and holiness by His grace - they are aiming at the target.

If we believe the New Testament teaches that we cannot have the victory over all sin (which is the majority view), we will not have the victory. That's the thing that concerns me the most. I'm concerned because I believe God is concerned. The world, the flesh (the old man who wants to continue to live in sin), and the devil and his hosts are against us, and they are formidable opponents, but they are no match for the extremely powerful saving grace of God in Christ. Things aren't going to improve until many Christians (especially ministers) reconsider what the Bible - especially the new covenant - teaches about righteousness, holiness, and the victory over sin.

Another gigantic problem is that many (or most) of us haven't made nearly enough room for the Holy Spirit and all of His work, fruit, and gifts. We will never walk in much victory over the evil angels and large numbers of demon spirits who are arrayed against us without understanding the Word of God and walking by the Holy Spirit on a continuous basis (by grace through faith). Our enemies (God's enemies) work full time trying to keep us from the truth, or to get us out of the truth that we have; trying to keep us in bondage to sin, or to get us into sin and ever deeper into sin; trying to destroy us physically, financially, etc., but especially spiritually.

I suppose one reason the apostle John emphasized the requirement for Christians to be totally righteous, pure, etc. as the Lord Jesus is righteous (which certainly excludes all sin) to such an extent in this epistle was to emphasize the contrast with the "gospel" (and lifestyle) of the Gnostic heretics that he wrote this epistle against. More importantly, the apostle John understood that the victory over sin is far from being automatic or always easy, since we are engaged in intense warfare against the world, the flesh (the old man who still want to live in sin), and the devil and his multitudinous, organized, and committed hosts.

Even though John emphasized the high call to walk in the righteousness of God with no sin in this epistle, he made it clear that Christians can be tempted and they can sin (see 1 John 2:1, 2); these verses also make it clear that we will be forgiven and restored through the blood of Christ when we repent. This is good news, but we cannot put the emphasis on forgiveness (as it so often happens in our day); we must put the emphasis on victory over all sin through the saving grace of God in Christ. God hates sin! And He paid an infinite price to set us free from bondage to spiritual death and sin! WE WILL NEVER HIT THE TARGET IF WE AREN'T AIMING AT IT!

I have already discussed many key passages of 1 John in my book, "Holiness and Victory Over Sin: Full Salvation Through the Atoning Death of the Lord Jesus Christ," including verse-by-verse studies of 1 John 1:5-2:6 and 2:28-3:12 on pages 200-216, and many other verses from that epistle (including 1 John 2:19, 22, 23; 4:1-6; 5:5, 6) are also discussed on those pages. (The book is available on my website and at amazon.com.) Articles #s 15-17 of my "Twenty-Eight Articles on Holiness and the Victory Over Sin" discuss these passages.


HOW ABOUT 1 JOHN 1:8? I'll quote the verse, "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us." I devoted much attention to the interpretation of 1 John 1:8 in the writings I just mentioned. It would be difficult to overstate how much damage has been done to the Body of Christ through a very widespread misinterpretation of 1 John 1:8. Although 1 John puts such a strong emphasis on Christians living in the righteousness of God with the victory over all sin, and in very strong terms (which I will demonstrate in this paper more than I demonstrated it in my previous writings), the majority of Christians believe that 1 John 1:8 proves that Christians cannot walk with the victory over all sin in this life, and that any Christians who believe they are walking with the victory over all sin are deceived and the truth is not in them. This is extremely important because, as I mentioned, it is impossible for Christians to have faith for victory over sin if we believe the New Testament teaches that such a victory is impossible. Based on my observations some 80 to 90 percent of Christians in our day (who have an opinion on the meaning of 1 John 1:8) think this verse proves that Christians cannot walk with the victory over all sin. Can the majority be wrong? Very much so!

1 John 1:8 has been one of the two primary passages that have been used by many Christians for many hundreds of years to argue for the idea that Christians will not be able to walk with the victory over all sin until after we are glorified. ((The other primary passage is Rom. 7:14-25. That passage is discussed in some detail in my writings. See my book, "Holiness and Victory Over Sin: Full Salvation Through the Atoning Death of the Lord Jesus Christ

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