What Christmas Promises... Forgiveness

1 John 3:1-10 gives us another insight into the promise of Christmas.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God.

Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Beloved, now are we the children 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.

And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure. Whosoever practices sin, transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the Law. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin.

Whosoever abideth in him does not practice sin. Whosoever practices sin hath not seen him, neither known him.

Little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous. He that commiteth 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. Whosoever is born of God does not practice sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot practice sin because he is born of God.

In 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.

Jesus Christ was manifested to take away our sins, and you know that He was manifested to take away our sins.

This statement that the apostle John makes in his first epistle, 1 John 3:5, is one of four statements that he makes concerning the promise of Christmas:

In 1 John 1:2, Christmas promises life. The life was manifested.

In 1 John 3:8, for this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. The promise of victory.

1 John 4:9: In this was manifested the love of God toward us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. The promise of love.

And here in 1 John 3:5, the promise of forgiveness. He's talking about sin.

It's interesting to note that many people today are talking about sin. The word sin has come back into our popular vocabulary once again. A leading psychiatrist writes a book entitled Whatever Happened to Sin?

And sin is something that all of us have trouble with in one way or another. There's not a person listening to my voice right now who does not have to confess that he has a problem with sin. And this is understandable because of what sin is and because of where sin came from and because of what sin does.

Sin is much more than a word in the dictionary. The word that John uses for sin is the word that means to miss the mark. This is one of the favorite words for sin in the Bible. To miss the mark. God said, here's the target you ought to hit. And we hit down here somewhere and we miss the mark, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

But he tells us there's another word for sin in verse 4. It's transgression of the law. Sin not only means to miss the mark, but sin means to go over the mark that God has drawn. God says, here is a line, you don't go any farther than this. We say, "Oh," and so we transgress—lawlessness.

Sin came from the devil. That's what makes it such a difficult, dangerous thing. He that practices sin is of the devil. Sin is not weakness. Sin is not just some kind of disease in our system. Sin is an ingrained, inborn rebellion against God and it leads to death. It led to the death of our Lord Jesus who was sinless.

No one here can afford to joke about sin, laugh about sin. It's so easy for us to say, "Well now, this is the way I am. This is my lifestyle." That word lifestyle covers a multitude of sins. "Now you can't change my lifestyle." Well, God will change your lifestyle someday and you'll discover that lifestyle may have been death style.

What has the Lord Jesus Christ done for us to solve the sin problem? The basic problem in the world today? The biggest problem in the world today is the sin problem. At the heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?

What has Jesus Christ done to help you and me solve the sin problem? Well, according to 1 John 3:1-10, our Lord performs 3 very wonderful ministries to help us solve the sin problem. And if you and I will just let Him do what He wants to do in our lives, we can have victory.

Now what has our Lord Jesus Christ done and what does He do? Well, verse 5 gives us His first ministry.

#1 - He Died for Us

And you know that He was manifested to bear away our sins. Oh, what a beautiful picture. He was manifested. He came to this earth. Little baby born in Bethlehem grew up a perfect young man, began to minister, was tempted of the devil, bore our sins and His own body on the tree that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness.

Now, John wrote these words during the Christmas season of the year 70 AD. He probably wrote them somewhere in the month of December or January. The Christians in those days celebrated the birth of Christ. They didn't begin to do it till the third century of the church. But this message was a good message for John to give at any season of the year, and particularly at Christmas time.

You and I get the idea that the Lord Jesus Christ was born to be a baby in a manger. Now don't misunderstand me. I'm glad he was a baby, and I'm glad he was in a manger. But being a baby in a manger is not the ultimate. He was manifested in the flesh that he might go to the cross. And it was there at the cross that he bore away our sins. He was manifested to bear away our sins.

Now you and I are celebrating Christmas, which is a very nice thing to do. But why is Christmas important? It's important because it brings us Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ takes away our sins. And if I have no sin problem, I don't need Jesus Christ.

This is why people don't like Christmas. They don't want to admit they need a Savior. "Oh, you mean Christmas is a time when we think about the Savior? Well, I don't need a Savior." You don't need one. You just think you don't need one. But he came to bear away our sins.

Now, he came to bear our sins. He didn't come to cover our sins. This is what the Old Testament sacrifices did. They covered sin. Year after year, the priests offered the same sacrifices that could never take away sins. When our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, He didn't just cover my sins so that God could pass over them. He bore them away. You recall John the Baptist said, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world."

It's interesting that in the Old Testament, on the day of atonement, there were two goats brought, a live goat and a goat to be killed. And the priest would slay one of the goats, and the blood would be taken and put on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies. And that blood would be a covering.

But that's not the only thing that God did. The other goat, the live goat, the priest would take and put his hands on the goat's head and confess the sins of the people. And that goat would be led away into the wilderness and turned loose. And the Jewish people had an idea that the goat would go to a cliff and the goat would fall off the cliff and die, taking the sins with him.

Now the two goats represented one work, the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The first goat represented the death of Christ, the blood of Christ, shed for us. The second goat represented the sins being carried away. How far were they carried away? Psalm 103:12, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our sins from us." The blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanses us from all sin.

Now the word for bear here is a very interesting word. It means to carry like you carry a load on your shoulders. He carried our sins on his shoulders. "Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. He bare our sins and his own body on the tree, Peter said, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness. By whose stripes ye were healed.

He bore my sins and he bore them away. Oh, what a glorious work he did for us on the cross. And that's the first ministry. He died for us.

#2 - He Lives In Us

But there's a second ministry he performs, and that's in verses 6-9. He lives in us. He died for us, and that took care of the guilt and the penalty of sin. But he also lives in us, and that takes care of the power of sin.

Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. Or, to put it the way John puts it, does not practice sin. Whosoever sins has not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you. He that practices righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that practices 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. Whosoever is born of God does not practice sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot practice sin because he is born of God.

Now notice that word "practice." The person who goes on habitually, deliberately, willfully practicing sin as though it were a habit or an art or something to be cultured is revealing the fact that he's not saved. Now a true believer will sin, for if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, 1 John 1:8. But when a true believer sins, he is convicted. He confesses his sin. He claims the forgiveness. He asks God to cleanse him. He forsakes that sin.

The difference between a believer and an unbeliever is the believer does not practice sin. He does not habitually, deliberately continue in the same sin because he has a new nature. Whosoever is born of God does not practice sin, for his seed remaineth in him. Now that word "seed" there, his seed, is the seed of God. It's a new nature. And he cannot practice sin because he is born of God.

One of the most practical tests of salvation is this matter of sin in the life. When you became a Christian, you received a new nature. And that new nature is born of God, and that new nature cannot sin. Now the old nature can sin. If I give it a chance, the old nature will produce all kinds of sin. But I have a new nature, and that new nature does not sin and cannot sin.

Paul gives us a picture of this in Galatians 5. He said the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, so that you cannot do the things that you would. This is that struggle that goes on within.

Down in Romans chapter 7, Paul said, "I find a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. And the good that I would, I do not. And the evil that I would not, that I do. Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" But then he goes on to say in Romans chapter 8, "There's no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death."

You see, the only way to have victory over sin is through Jesus Christ. And when he died for me, he delivered me from the guilt and the penalty of sin. But when he rose again from the dead and sent the Spirit of God into my heart, he gave me a new nature.

Now that new nature, the old nature can't be changed. That old nature is as wicked and as rotten and as rebellious as it ever was. It will never change. There is a popular doctrine going around today among Christians and evangelicals that somehow God has eradicated the old nature and we have just the new nature. That is not Bible. That is not Bible.

We will have this old nature until the day we die. It'll never change. It'll never improve. You can put it into church and baptize it and confirm it and give it the Lord's Supper and let it listen to sermons and sing songs and pray prayers and read the Bible. It will not change. It will never improve.

But God has given us a new nature, and it's the new nature that loves to do the will of God. The old nature hates God. The old nature wants to rebel against God. The old nature is enmity against God and is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. But through the new nature, we can have victory.

So if you want to have victory over sin, you abide in Christ. Now let's put this in the practical language of daily living. I open my eyes in the morning and immediately there's a decision I've got to make. Who's going to run my life today? The old nature or the new nature? Am I going to walk in the flesh or am I going to walk in the spirit?

Now Paul makes it very clear in Galatians 5:16, "Walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." But suppose I don't walk in the spirit? "The works of the flesh are manifest," Galatians 5. And he names them. Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, all of the ugly things that the old nature produces.

But if I walk in the spirit, what do I get? The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law.

How do I walk in the spirit? Well, it begins with prayer. As soon as my eyes open in the morning, I say, "Good morning, Lord. This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it." I start the day talking with God and trusting God. I start the day asking the spirit of God to fill me and to keep me filled. I start the day yielding to God the members of my body—my eyes, my ears, my lips, my tongue, my hands, my feet. I yield them to God, saying, "Lord God, use these members for your glory."

Now it's so easy. I get out of bed, rush around, turn on the radio or turn on the TV or pick up the morning newspaper. Don't talk to God. Just rush into the day. And the next thing you know, the works of the flesh are becoming manifest, and we're in trouble. But if we walk in the spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

And all day long there comes this conflict. And I have to say, "Lord, I'm trusting you. I'm yielding to you. I want you to glorify yourself in my life." And the victory comes as I feed on his word. As I walk in the spirit, I have fellowship with God's people. I obey God's word. I claim the promises of God.

Whosoever abideth in him does not practice sin. When you are abiding in Christ, and Christ is abiding in you, you have the power of the Holy Spirit at work in your life, and you have victory.

So the first thing the Lord has done is he died for us. That took care of the guilt and the penalty of sin. He lives in us, and that gives us power over the practice of sin.

#3 - He's Coming For Us

But then thirdly, and finally, he's coming for us. This is in verses 2 and 3. He's coming for us.

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

Now, when Jesus Christ comes for us and we see him, we're going to be like him. Now, we're going to have a glorified body like unto his body. Now, when I get to glory, the old nature is going to be completely done away with. I will be in a new environment. I will have a new body, a glorified body. And I'll never again have to battle this problem of sin.

I'm saved now. My spirit has been redeemed. My body is going to be redeemed when Jesus comes. We're waiting for the redemption of the body. But right now I'm living in an unredeemed body, in an unredeemed world, and in that unredeemed body is an old nature that creates all kinds of problems.

But when the Lord Jesus Christ comes for us, he's going to finish what he started. He died for me. That takes care of the very penalty of sin. He lives in me. That takes care of the power of sin. He comes for me. That will take care, say the theologians, of the very presence of sin. My body will be transformed to have a glorious body like unto his. I'll have a new home, a whole new atmosphere, a whole new environment where everything will be pure and glorious and holy and righteous and loving and splendid, all of the glory of God when he comes.

Now it seems to me that our Lord Jesus Christ has done a very, very fine job of solving the sin problem. Moses didn't solve the sin problem. In fact, Moses in giving the law, accentuated the problem. By the law is the knowledge of sin. And all that Moses could do is say don't do this and don't do that, but do this and do that. And people cried out and said we can't. God said I know you can't. That's why I gave you the law to let you know you could not. Now, by grace, I want to save you.

Moses didn't solve the sin problem with the law, and yet people today are trying to solve the sin problem with law. John the Baptist didn't solve the sin problem with baptism. I've met many people who've been baptized, and I believe in baptism, but they've never been saved and they think that by being baptized they're going to solve the sin problem. John the Baptist didn't solve the sin problem. Jesus did.

John himself said to our Lord in those waters in this manner, said Jesus to John, "In this manner we shall fulfill all righteousness." In what manner? Through death, burial, and resurrection. How did Jesus bring in righteousness and solve the sin problem? Death, burial, and resurrection.

He was manifested to take away our sins. This is the only solution for the sin problem. He was manifested to take away our sins.

Now you know this, John says. So John says, and you know, you know that he, Jesus, was manifested to take away our sins. You know this. What have you done about it?

You say, what should I do about it? Well, you should trust him. You should come to him and say, "Lord Jesus, I believe that you died for me. I believe that you bore my sins in your body on the cross and I will trust you now as my Saviour. I will receive you, implant that new nature within. Forgive me. Take the record of my life and across that record, please write, 'Accepted in the beloved one,' wash away my sin."

And then once we have been saved, we come to him and say, "Lord, I want to abide in you and I want you to abide in me. I'm going to abide in the fellowship and abide in the word and abide in the spirit because I want you to give me victory over the power of sin. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead, so also we should walk in newness of life. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new."

No reason for us to stumble and fall when Jesus Christ lives in us.

And then we spend our thoughts and our mind and our heart lifting them upward to heaven and saying, "You know, he's coming for me." The return of Jesus Christ is a tremendous motivation for godly living. Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure. "And now little children, abide in Him, that when He shall appear"—not if, when He shall appear—"we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming."

Ashamed. "But Lord, that was my lifestyle." Ashamed. Ashamed.

He was manifested to take away our sins. The greatest problem in the world today has been solved, the sin problem, because He died for us. He lives in us and He's coming for us.

The Son has solved the sin problem for you. Now will you receive him and trust Him, our Father and our God.

If our hearts were somehow projected on a screen and we, let alone others, could see what our sins are really like, oh God, how we would cry out for mercy. Forgive us, Lord, because we have covered sin. We have whitewashed it, we have redefined it, we have sometimes even approved of it. We've argued about it. We've excused it. But oh Lord, the one thing we need more than anything else is to be saved from it.

And I pray that today people will come and trust Jesus Christ and be born again and receive the new nature and find in Christ forgiveness. I pray for believers, Lord, you know the needs of our own hearts. We need to walk as He walked and be as He is in this world.

I pray that during this season and every season we might live as those who have a Saviour and who are looking for him to come again.

I pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.