Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy approaches Bible teaching with a passion for getting the basic doctrines explained so that the individual can understand them and then apply them to circumstances in their life. These basic and important lessons are nestled in a framework of history and progression of revelation from the Bible so the whole of Scripture can be applied to your physical and spiritual life.
Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
NT Framework - Impeccability of Christ: Living Without Sin Through Abiding
The battle within every believer's heart is real and relentless. You feel it daily—that tug-of-war between your flesh and spirit, between what you want to do and what you actually do. This struggle left even the apostle Paul crying out, "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?"
But there's profound hope hidden in this tension. When Jeremy Thomas explores the doctrine of Christ's impeccability—His inability to sin—he reveals an extraordinary truth: this same sinless nature can be expressed through you. Not as a permanent state of perfection, but as a reality whenever you truly abide in Him.
More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com
This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).
Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner.
Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament Framework. Today, the full lesson from Jeremy Thomas. Here's a hint of what's to come.
Speaker 2:And he just comes to. You know frustration, in verse 24,. You know, wretched man that I am, who will set me free from the body of this death? You know, it's like a, it's a plea, like I mean. What's the solution to this warfare that wages in me?
Speaker 1:There is a war within us. Paul, the apostle who wrote 14 books in the New Testament, felt it deeply and gave words to it that you and I probably would struggle with describing. He talked about the war between his members, his flesh and his spirit, that there was this law battle going on. Which law would win, the law of sin or the law of the spirit, the law of the mind? You and I have felt that, too, it's impossible not to feel it. Felt that too, it's impossible not to feel it, and at times to wonder am I really a believer? Am I really following God? Well, the question does not hinge upon our experience of sin in the flesh and failure before God as to our salvation. Salvation is hinged purely upon faith in Christ. Salvation is hinged purely upon faith in Christ. And yet there is this war.
Speaker 1:Today we're going to talk about what it means to live this way and, yes, it's possible to both abide in Christ and then, a moment later, abide in the flesh. And for those two things to lend to what people call hypocrisy the apparent contradiction in our lives. But be encouraged, it's not about these experiences that define us. It's about our position in Christ and mature as Christians. Hopefully and intentionally, we are working toward less abiding in the flesh and more abiding in Christ. Today's some very practical applications of the impeccability of Christ.
Speaker 2:So we're in the portion where we have his life, and when we go to each of these sections, what we do is we look at the doctrines. So we've looked at the hypostatic union and he's 100% God, he's 100% man, but he's only one person. You know, he's got a divine nature, a human nature, but he's one person and he's in this condition forever. And we've also looked at the impeccability. That's what we started looking at now. So the impeccability is this idea you see on the screen here under point one. This is sort of a definition that captures what the doctrine of impeccability is all about.
Speaker 2:Jesus Christ was not able to sin in his divine nature. Note the order of the words there not able. And then we say able, not to sin in his human nature. Notice the word order there is switched Able, not and not able to sin as a person. So look, what we've done here in this definition is separate out his two natures. We have to be careful doing that because he's not two different people. So when we say nature, we're referring to all of the constituents of divinity, all the constituents of humanity. So if he's God, he's sovereign, righteous, just. We mean his attributes, that's, his divine nature. When we say his human nature, we mean all the characteristics that a human would have. Like choice, we can love, we learn, okay, right, we have to take up space, right, um, we have a conscience, which is a sense of righteousness and justice. So, but he had both of those natures in himself and in his divine nature he's not able to sin because god can't be tempted to sin, nor is he able to sin j James 1.13.
Speaker 2:In his human nature, remember, he's tempted in all things, as we are, yet without sin. That's where the able not comes in. He was able to not sin, just like Adam. When Adam was first created. We wouldn't say that Adam is pre-programmed to sin, would we? No, god knew he was going to sin, but God's knowledge is not causative. When God knows something in advance, it doesn't cause it to happen. So he knew Adam would sin, but Adam was able not to sin. Right, he was able not, but he did, because it opens the door for possibility.
Speaker 2:And with Jesus and his human nature, he was able not to sin. And this is what preserves the genuine temptability that he could really be tempted in all things as we, because some people think, well, he's God, so he's not going to sin. You know he's not able for Jesus to sin, but I've been showing you, of course, from Hebrews 2 and 4, that in fact Jesus was truly temptable and yet he did not sin. Okay, and I think everybody agrees with that. But as a person, then, as a whole, the last phrase there he's not able to sin. And that's because you've got he's not two people, so you've got his human nature and divine nature in there, together, in the same person, right? They're not mixed, blended, nor are they separated into two separate people, like people in ancient history, like the Nestorians said.
Speaker 2:So this has been wrestled with and this is kind of the conclusion, the description of impeccability that has won the day and makes the most sense of all the scriptural data. So we've got this person and last time I spent some time starting to develop how this can apply to us and we already went over, you know, this whole concept that it helps us resolve the problem of evil. Okay, you know some people say, well, you have to have evil for there to be good. This would be certain types of thinking, but in the person of Christ you didn't have that. People will often say to err is human. That's another error that people make. People do make errors, but it's not a necessary adjunct to humanity, because Jesus Christ didn't err. And I think that what I'm going to try to show today is when certain conditions are met in your life, in my life, you don't err. In other words, there's an expression of Christ's impeccability or inability to sin in us. This is possible for us not to sin.
Speaker 2:Now notice, I'm not going to say the doctrine of Charles Wesley and Wesleyanism, which got captured in Methodism, which is the idea of perfectionism, that certain believers or a believer can get to the point where they don't sin anymore. So that's the doctrine of perfectionism. This is believed in Wesleyan doctrine, even in our own day, of course, every time someone says that, well, I don't sin anymore, I'm like, well, you just did, that is called a lie. But so when I state that we can experience, that is called a lie. So when I state that we can enjoy a sinless experience, I don't mean all the time, but I do mean under certain conditions we can enjoy a sinless experience. Our problem is we don't always meet the condition. But this is an interesting thing because we know the one who's impeccable. Is Christ not able to sin? And now we can see a real manifestation of his own impeccability through us. That's what I hope to show you, and so let's look at it a little bit. So that's the point His impeccability is expressed through us, and here's the condition when we abide in him. Let's just.
Speaker 2:You can turn to john 15, the, the vine and the branches. So we're going to kind of start with an easy one. That's, I think, familiar, just to get across this idea before we go into Galatians and so forth. Jesus said in John 15, after Judas has already turned aside and he's gone out to betray him, jesus said I am the true vine. My father is the vine dresser. So we're supposed to be thinking in terms of viticulture, right, grape growing, and you've got. Christ is the vine. The father is the one who cares for the vine. His job is to bring the vine to fruition. Right, good grapes. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away.
Speaker 2:Now we could discuss the word iro there. I think it means lift up, but they've translated it takes away. You know, if you have a non-fruit-bearing branch on the vine, someone would say, well, you take that off and you throw it away. No, probably not in this verse. This verse, this word iro can mean lift up.
Speaker 2:In actual viticulture, if you have a vine and here comes the spring and it's going to put out new shoots, right? So some of these shoots, they're very weak and gentle, fragile, and what they will do is the branch will like touch the ground and get on the. And what they will do is the branch will like touch the ground and get on the dirt. You're hanging down on the ground. It can't hold itself up yet, right, it's new. And so what the vine dresser would do is he'd come along and they would take little sticks that had a they looked like a slingshot, you know a little V, and they would put them in the ground and lay the little branch up on it to hold it up, to lift it up. And lay the little branch upon it to hold it up, to lift it up, keep it out of the dirt, because you don't want all that dirt getting in all the little new growth. And so I think that's what this word means.
Speaker 2:If you have a branch in me, we would say this is like a new believer and it's not bearing fruit. Most new believers don't. They don't bear much fruit. I mean, they're brand new believers. You know they've got to grow before they can bear fruit, right, just like a vine. So he lifts up that's the idea in verse two.
Speaker 2:He lifts it up and then he talks about a different branch and he says and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so it may bear more fruit. So these are established branches. Right, they're already bearing fruit. What does he do? He prunes it so it'll bear more fruit, and that's also a viticulture practice, quite normal. He says you're already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. So they're branches. That's the point, you're branches.
Speaker 2:And then he says something though, and this is a key to productivity right, abide in me and I in you. Okay, so it's reciprocal abiding. Now you've got the branch. And he's saying to the branch I want you to abide in me and I in you. Okay, so it's reciprocal abiding. Now you've got the branch. And he's saying to the branch I want you to abide in me. And he's saying I am the vine and I'll abide in you. And he says why, next? Why, because, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me.
Speaker 2:Then it goes on to talk about a mature branch that doesn't bear fruit and how it's either disciplined or loses rewards something to that nature in verses 5 and 6. But the point is like a branch cannot bear fruit apart from the vine, right? So the branch has to abide in the vine and the vine has to give its life through the branch. And that way, what do you have on the end of the branch has to abide in the vine and the vine has to give its life through the branch. And that way, what do you have on the end of the branch? You have good fruit.
Speaker 2:And let me ask a question In this analogy of the vine and the branches, where is the fruit coming from? Is it coming from the branch or is it ultimately sourced in the vine itself? It's sourced in the vine itself. It's sourced in the vine itself. That's where the good fruit is coming from, through the branch. Now let me ask you a question Is that fruit, if it's coming from the vine and the vine, is Jesus Christ? Is it flawed or is it perfect? Is it impeccable? It must be impeccable. It must be perfect in every way. So that's very interesting that you can have a manifestation of Christ through you, as long as you meet the condition of abiding. In those moments, let me ask you a question Are you sinning? If you're sinning, it's not coming from him. He can't sin, he's not able to sin right, he's impeccable. So whatever is coming through you, that has to be perfect. Okay, let's go to a little a little.
Speaker 2:Another passage Galatians 2. This will illustrate the same idea that came from Jesus right Through and it's written in John's gospel. Now we're going to go to Paul and look at some of his interesting terminology in Galatians 2. Galatians 2. And this is a famous verse. I think Tony Bell used to call this money verse, right, because it's Galatians 2.20. 20 is a $20 bill, so it's money you could bank on this, right. Galatians 2.20. 20 is a $20 bill. There's money you could bank on this, right. You'd say Galatians 2.20.
Speaker 2:Paul says I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live. Now this is such a strange thing. I'm not living, it's not me doing the living. Think back to the vine and the branches. Is it the branch by itself or is it the branch doing the living? Think back to the vine and the branches. Is it the branch by itself or is it the branch connected to the vine? The branch connected to the vine? You have to have the vine's life pouring through the branch to be fruitful. And isn't that very similar to what Paul is saying here? It's not I who live, no, because I'm just a branch. But he says Christ lives in me. You see that connection in? In concept, you're the vine of the branches.
Speaker 2:He says in the life which I now live in the flesh. He admits, you know, we're here just in the flesh, mortal flesh. But he says this is the way I live my life. I live by faith. And the son of god, over in john, it said abide. So if you're abiding in the vine, do you think you're living by faith? Sure, that's what you're doing, that's how you're abiding, you're living by faith. So is Paul really saying anything entirely different than that analogy? No, this is not I who live, I'm just a branch. So what do I have to do? Plug into the vine, that's Christ living through me, right? So while I am here living in the flesh, the way I live is I live by faith. So see, faith and abiding are related concepts.
Speaker 2:So what would this mean if Christ is living in him? What would the production be? Christ, a picture of christ? I ask you a question can christ picture himself through you according to this verse? Sure, in chapter four says I keep laboring with you that Christ be formed in you, my children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you, can Christ be formed in us so that our lives look like his life? You might say well, yes. So then we might say, well, what does that life look like? We'll come over to chapter 5, verse 22.
Speaker 2:But the fruit of the Spirit is love, singular. I've been pointing that out more lately, that it's singular fruit. It's not the fruits of the Spirit, but it's the fruit of the Spirit is love. And then you have another list joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Would you say that? What I would say is that love is the fruit of the Spirit.
Speaker 2:And then these are all manifestations of love that follow, but without that technical detail. Look, would you say that the fruit of the Spirit here is depictive of who Christ is? Yes, so he's brought in the Spirit here too, which is interesting. We've got abiding, you know, abiding me and you and I, for apart from me you can do nothing. We've got the concept of Paul in chapter 2, verse 20, saying the life I live in the flesh, I live by faith. So we have the concept of faith, abiding faith, and now we've got the concept of walking by the Spirit, 5.16, walk by the Spirit, verse 22,. Is the fruit of the Spirit, and we've got Paul talking about you know, I'm laboring with you till Christ forms in you.
Speaker 2:Do you see that these are all related and that they all really do tie back to the impeccability of christ, enjoying a sinless experience where there's good fruit on the end of that branch. What's good fruit? Well, here it is love manifesting itself in joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, faithfulness, self-control. Against such things there's no law. In other words, these things are all accepted by all men as good things. Nobody disagrees that they like these things, that these are good things, these things are Christ-likeness. Right, so we can then, as we abide, live by faith, walk by the Spirit. What we can have? A genuine manifestation of Christ's impeccability through us, a so-called sinless experience, as sinless as Christ.
Speaker 2:You have to say yes, but it's not all the time right, because, as we'll see in 1 John, there are some problems. Now let's go to Romans 8, or Romans 7, sorry, romans 7. Turn to the left. Remember, we're working up in sort of difficulty. This is also Paul, but it's a little more difficult. Romans 7, 14 through 25. And this one is a little. There's some odd things that are said here. So 7, 14.
Speaker 2:We know that the law is spiritual. He's talking about the law of Moses and he's saying, hey, there's nothing wrong with my law of Moses. I mean, the law of Moses was a perfect reflection of God's righteousness. Right, there's nothing wrong with it. He says it's spiritual. He says, but I? He says I am a flesh sold into bondage to sin. Now, notice, it's I like, it's I left in and of myself. That's the concept. You know, if it's just you or it's just me, we have a problem. Our problem is we can't make ourselves do righteousness. We're sold in bondage to sin. It's just I, it's just me myself, and I and the Scriptures say, apart from him, I can do nothing. So if I'm just left to myself, what's the product? Nothing good, nothing good. That's all he's saying.
Speaker 2:He says, for what I'm doing, I don't understand, for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I'm doing the very thing I hate. So, okay, paul's a believer during all this. I don't want to get into that dispute, but I think he's a believer during all this and he's he's struggling. He's trying to figure out how to live the christian. Think he's a believer during all this and he's struggling. He's trying to figure out how to live the Christian life. He's like I want to do what is right, but I end up doing the very thing I hate. He's saying this is a frustration for me. I can't be successful in the Christian life.
Speaker 2:Verse 16, he says but if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the law, confessing hey, the law is good, I'm bad, law is good, I'm bad. So now, and now is where he says something very strange. No longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. Now wait a minute, paul, are you avoiding responsibility? He says I'm not the one doing it. How convenient. Oh, it's not me, I'm not doing it. That's not me sinning. No, not me, mom.
Speaker 2:It sounds like he's avoiding responsibility, but he's trying to explain that there's a sin principle in him. I call it a sin principle rather than a sin nature. Now, maybe the sin nature is a biblical concept? Maybe it's not. We're never said to have a sin nature Nature is not a term that's used of this aspect of us but 36 times or so in romans 6 and 7 it says sin, like it does here in verse 17, sin, and in the greek it's the sin.
Speaker 2:I mean they don't. They don't translate the, the and put the before sin. But if you could see in the greek it would, it would say ha ha, marcia or whatever, but the before it. So he says it's not I doing it, but it. In the Greek it would say ha-hamartia or whatever, but the before it. So he says it's not I doing it, but it's the sin which dwells in me. And so as a biblical student you say well, why would it keep saying the sin over and over and over? There is a couple of times when it doesn't add that before it, in this section too. So it's very clearly talking about something in us.
Speaker 2:I call it a sin principle or the law of sin, as we'll talk about, because that's at the end of verse 25. It calls it the law of sin or principle of sin. So he says that's present in me. Okay, and that's the source, it sounds like he's saying of his sin right, it's a sin principle Verse 18,.
Speaker 2:For I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh. So he's saying that there's a sin principle in his flesh right. And he even said in Galatians 2, the life I live in the flesh right. And he even said in Galatians 2, the life I live in the flesh, I live by faith. So we know we are living in the flesh, we know that we have this sin principle dwelling in our flesh and that that's the source of our sin. He says then for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. Now, this is just like saying I'm a branch but I'm not attached to the vine, so I can't be productive. Right, I can't be productive when I'm not attached to the vine. It's the same thing, because all I've got is the willing to do good, but I can't do it because I'm not attached to the vine. So it's just me, my flesh and I.
Speaker 2:Verse 19,. For the good that I want I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. He says but if I'm doing the very thing I do not want now, now he's admitting he does it in a way, but this is when I'll wait a bit. Then I'm no longer the one doing it, but the sin principle, see, which dwells in my flesh, in me. See, we have this in us, even as believers, right? In other words, why do we still sin? If we didn't have a sin principle indwelling us, we wouldn't sin anymore. But we do have a sin principle dwelling in us, and so we still sin. He says then what is his findings? What was his discovery? His eureka moment?
Speaker 2:Verse 21 and following I find the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good, because I joyfully concur with the law of God. I mean it's good and I agree with it in my inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, something else going on in my flesh, waging war against the law of my mind. So there's a law of my mind. Okay, this law agrees with the law of God. I agree with God, I want to do what's right, and there's this war in me, and this is making me a prisoner. He says, of the law of sin which is in my members. So you've got the law of my mind, you've got the law of sin, which is the principle of sin in your flesh.
Speaker 2:And he just comes to frustration in verse 24, you know, wretched man, that I am who will set me free from the body of this death? You know, it's like a plea, like I mean, what's the solution to this warfare that wages in me? How can I, who want to do good, ever do anything good as long as the principle of sin is within me, waging war against the law in my mind? My mind says do this, this is good, this is righteous. The law of sin fights against that and I end up sinning. But in a way he's saying and I want you to catch this, that's not who I really am, that's not who we really are. We're not really identified with the law of sin anymore. You're not and I'm not. That still dwells in us, that law of sin in our flesh. But is that who you, we really are? No, and and I think that's why Paul's saying it's no longer I who do it. He's not saying I'm not responsible for it, he's just saying when I act that way, when I sin, I'm not living like who I really am, because chapter 6 already taught us we're identified with Christ. That's who we really are. We are really in Christ. So when we sin, we're not living like we're in Christ, and that's his idea. So let's go on and see how he solves it Verse 25. Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then, on one hand, I myself, with my mind, I am serving the law of God. Right, he wants to do what's good. This is the law of God. On the other hand, he says with my flesh, which the sin principle is in me? He says I'm serving the law of sin. Very frustrating, if this book ended right here it would be. It would be really sad because there's no real answer given to solve the dilemma. But it's not.
Speaker 2:The end of the book in chapter eight presents another law. Okay, there are three laws here, not just two. There's the law of sin that dwells in my flesh. It's a principle of sin. All it wants to do is sin, sin, sin. Right, you've got the law of your mind. The mind says you know, I want to do good, I want to obey the Lord. But he says you know, I can't do that. I want to do that, but I can never do it. I break it. But that's not who I really am. He says when I do, that's not really I who do it.
Speaker 2:The good thing is, he adds in chapter 8 another law. So verse 1, therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Now that's an interesting statement to put in at this point. I think what he's saying is there's no requirement or con. You know, you're not condemned to live in the way that paul has just described. These are not your only two options law of sin, law versus law of mind. He's saying there's another option and he introduces it right. After that right, he says it's the law of the spirit of life. There's the third law, right, and he's introduced the spirit. Thank God, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. In other words, you don't have to live by the law of sin that dwells in your members, in your flesh, right. You can now live by the what Spirit. You can now live by the what spirit. You can now live by the spirit. So he's the solution to the dilemma between the law of sin that dwells in your members and the law of your mind that wants to do what's right, but you can never do it because if you're trying to do it by yourself, you're like a branch disconnected from a vine. See, he's not really saying anything different than what Jesus said in the vine and the branches. It's all the same story repeated.
Speaker 2:I saw a post from a friend of mine yesterday. He says I've always been like this, my whole life. I'm trying to live the Christian life. I'm trying to do better, I want to get better. To me it sounds just. I was like you sound just like Romans 7. You sound like Paul. You know I want to do what's good. I joyfully concur with the law of God, but you know, the doing of the good is not in me. He said but see, there is someone who is in you and that's the law of the Spirit. The Spirit is in you and this is the solution. And that's why Galatians 5, isn't Galatians 5 saying the same thing Walk by the Spirit. Galatians is, in many senses, a little Roman. A little Roman. Romans goes much further. So let's see how much further he goes.
Speaker 2:He says, verse 3, what the law could not do, weak as it was, through the flesh, in other words, people who just lived under the law, like Israel, they didn't have any power to live the Christian life. They didn't have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them like we do. I'll say that down in verse 9. The Spirit of God dwells in you, but what the law could not do, weak as it was, through the flesh, god did. He sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. See, he looked just like any other human being, in other words. But he wasn't sinful, was he? It was just a likeness of sinful flesh as an offering for sin. So he paid the penalty for sin. He condemned sin in the flesh. Now, why did he do that? Well, verse 4, so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.
Speaker 2:Now he's talking about the law of Moses and he's saying there's a specific requirement of the law of Moses that can be fulfilled in us. I mean there's a lot of laws right in the Old Testament. There's no reason to go through and hash out all the laws. But we can summarize all the laws with one word, as we summarize the requirement. And it is righteous.
Speaker 2:It says of Joseph, who became the adoptive father of Jesus, that he was a righteous man. That means he lived up to the requirements of the law. It didn't mean he was sinless. It didn't mean he was sinless because to be righteous under the law, if you sinned you had to bring sacrifice. And that's what it's saying he did Whenever he sinned, he would bring the proper sacrifice. So, under the law, as far as the law was concerned and its requirements, he was counted. He was righteous in that sense, not where he could go to heaven or something like that, not that type of righteousness because he sinned. It just meant he brought the proper sacrifices. But that would be the requirement of the law righteousness.
Speaker 2:So what this verse is saying is that verse 4, the requirement of the law, might be fulfilled in us. Well, that's righteousness, right. But see, the rest of the verse says that we only get this righteousness through us when we don't walk according to the flesh but we walk according to the what Spirit. So three laws, right. Law of sin dwells in your members. Law of the mind Mind wants to do what God wants you to do. If it was just between those two, you keep losing. You end up at the end of Romans 7 with Paul saying wretched man that I am, who will deliver me? Thanks be to God. There is an answer. There's a law of the Spirit, and that's what he's saying. He's saying now if we walk by the Spirit verse 4, then the law's requirement will be fulfilled in us, that is, there will be righteousness. Question is that righteousness as righteous as the righteousness of Jesus Christ? Well, it's produced by the Spirit through us, so it must be. This is a manifestation of the impeccability of Christ through us. Our biggest problem is we don't always meet the condition. We don't always walk by the Spirit, we don't walk according to that law. That becomes our problem.
Speaker 2:Now let's go over to the last passage on this. This is the most difficult one 1 John 3. It's coming from someone who speaks differently, who uses different language. Right, the first one was Jesus, the second one was Paul, and now we're going to John and I told you I'd kind of work you up. So I'm working you up to this one First.
Speaker 2:Second, third, john, jude and Revelation. Right, okay, there's a little song. This is the most difficult one and we were always told in seminary that 1 John would be a book, like the first book we had to translate in Greek, and the reason was because the vocabulary is not difficult, it's really simple, but the theology of John is probably the most difficult in the New Testament, so easy to translate, difficult to understand. Remember, john was the one who the apostle Jesus loved. Remember John was younger than all the others, so you might think of like a teenager when he first met Jesus and to John Jesus was his hero. You know, like I don't know some basketball player might be to someone today, or some celebrity or some movie star or something, for John Jesus was everything and he lives longer than all the others and he writes. You know what we might consider probably the last four books of the New Testament First, second, third, john and Revelation Probably all written late. Certainly Revelation written late, certainly Revelation written late. So these are his process thoughts after many years. He was pastor at Ephesus at the time and this book says some really, let's just say, difficult statements.
Speaker 2:So I want to say a few things about the background of this letter. When John wrote this letter there was a movement called proto-gnosticism that just means early, so like Gnosticism, which is actually coming back today in our culture. But Gnosticism held to an idea of God that he was like on a scale of being we were at the bottom sort of the scale, but God was kind of at the top of the scale and in him he was mostly light, okay, but there was also some darkness. Now so what? What this meant was that if you're a christian, if you're a believer, the gnostics would tell you it's okay to have a little bit of sin. You can still be in fellowship with God with a little bit of sin, because God is light and dark. He's mostly light, but he's still got dark in Him. So as long as your Christian life reflects that, everything's okay. Does that make sense of how they were thinking and they were trying to push this theology on John's audience? So that helps us understand some of the statements.
Speaker 2:For example, in 1.5, look at 1.5. 1.5. This is the message we have heard from him. That's from Christ, and announced to you here. It is God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. And the Greek says not even a bit. Do you see how that is? John's viewpoint is contrasted to the Gnostic viewpoint when God is light, yes, mostly, but he's got a little darkness in him.
Speaker 2:This statement is directly aimed at the proto-Gnostics who are trying to get the believers at Ephesus to say well, it's all right if we have a little sin. Now here's the other part of Gnostic philosophy that was in the background here, and that is that you as a human being have a body and a spirit. They would say your spirit is made for spiritual things, your body is made for physical things. So they'd say you serve God with your spirit, but your body, you need to serve its desires. So if your body hungers, feed it. If your body craves sex, have it. That's unrelated to the spiritual in the proto-gnostic thinking. So what they were trying to pawn off on them is that you know this philosophy of your body, that your body could be used this way, and that was okay, because I mean, you know, god is light mostly, yeah, but he's a little bit darkness too. So it's okay, it doesn't really matter, it doesn't really count as sin, because the body has desires that have to be met. That was their justification for it.
Speaker 2:Now, do you think John agrees with this viewpoint? No, that's why the letter is written to explain that this is not true. First of all, god is light. There's no darkness in Him, not even a bit. Now someone might say well, we don't have any sin Because in my spirit I serve God and the body doesn't count. So whatever I do over there, that doesn't count, it doesn't matter. So I'm having a sinless experience over here in my spirit, even though with my body I'm going to temple, prostitutes or whatever. This is the way they were thinking. So we look at 1.7. I'm sorry, 1.8. And we read this If we say that we have no sin and this is what some of them were saying, even though they were at the temple with the prostitutes because that's just a body, that doesn't matter, it's what you do in your spirit, that's the only thing that matters.
Speaker 2:So he says if we say that we have no sin, we're deceiving ourselves. The truth is not in us. You're a liar. You know this idea that you can go on doing whatever you want with your body and keep serving God in your spirit, that's ridiculous. That's phony, says John. That's not true.
Speaker 2:Verse 10, even more. He says if we say that we have not sinned, what do we do? We make him a liar and his word is not in us. See, you can't say you're without sin. But some people were saying that because those things were just happening with their body. That's unrelated to God. We worship God in our spirit only. So you know, it doesn't matter if we let the body do these other things. That's unrelated to God. We worship God in our spirit only. So you know, it doesn't matter if we let the body do these other things, that doesn't count. John is not allowing that. See, he's saying no, no, no, no, no, no. You can't say that that's a sinless experience because, biblically, you are sinning. Your body matters. 1 Corinthians 6 talks about it. He redeemed our body. Our bodies are being used for him Right Now.
Speaker 2:Let's go to chapter 3. Hold your place there and understand chapter 3, verse 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. This is where it gets difficult to follow, but don't forget anything you've learned up to this point. Can we enjoy a sinless experience if we meet certain conditions? Yeah, if we abide, if we're living by faith. Christ is formed in us. We're walking by the Spirit. Okay, the fruit at the end of that is 100% amen. So now we have 3.5.
Speaker 2:You know that he appeared in order to take away sins. Is that why jesus came to take away sins? Sure, right, we all agree with that. Paid for the penalty on the cross, paid all the penalty for sin, it says. And in him there is no sin. Do we all agree with that? There's no sin in him, absolutely. Hey, this is good news, right.
Speaker 2:And then he says something no one who abides in him sins. Do we really have a problem with that? No, because we've already been taught that in John 15. You can have a sinless production of Christ through you. So no one who abides in him sins. There's the idea of a sinless experience there.
Speaker 2:And then it says no one who sins has seen him or knows him. That's where some people have problems, because let me ask you a question have you sinned? Have I sinned? Well, yes, yes, amen. I agree agree with you. Let's quit it, right. Um, we can say quit it, but what ends up? That's what paul was saying in romans 7 I want to quit, but he couldn't quit right. So the answer was to learn to walk by the spirit, not to learn to quit sinning, and that's a very important lesson. Right, you can't stop yourself from sinning, but you can learn to abide, walk by the Spirit, and then you can enjoy a sinless experience until you stop abiding.
Speaker 2:He says so no one who sins has seen him or knows him. What would that mean then In the context? What it would mean is you don't know him rightly, as a believer, you don't really understand who god is okay at that point. So when you sin, when I sin, do I know god correctly at that point or have somehow I stepped away from knowing Him correctly? I've stepped away from proper knowledge of God. Can a believer step away from proper knowledge of God? Sure, sure, every time you sin, you have done that Every time. In fact, what you mostly do when you sin is you put Him out of mind. You don't have him in your thinking, do you? What do you have in thinking? You have whatever. You're sinning, you're sinning. That's what you're thinking. So you don't know him correctly at that point. You've stepped away from that.
Speaker 2:Little children verse 7, make sure no one deceives you. And then we have a terrible problem. What is so frustrating about this is the way they translated this to try to alleviate a problem, what they conceived to be a problem. In the book of 1 John, do you see where it says practices righteousness. So you know, if you practice righteousness, you're righteous, if you practice sin, you're of the devil. Okay, do you practice sin? Does anybody want to deny that they practice sin? Did you sin today? Did you sin yesterday? How? About two days ago, three days ago Four, five, six, seven. So are you telling me that you continually practice sin, practice sin. Well, this verse says in this translation that you are continually sinning. It says you're of the devil. But what did chapter 1, verse 10 say? What did chapter 1, verse 10 say If you say you've not sinned, you're a liar. And the word is not in it. So chapter 1 says you can't say you're not sinning. But chapter 3, verse 7, says well, you see that some people feel like this is a contradiction between these two verses. In one, you can't say you're not sinning. In the other one, if you're sinning, you're of the devil.
Speaker 2:What I don't like about the verse and the way they translate it here is practices. They put that word in there. They added that word. That word is not in the Greek text. They put that word in there, they added that word. That word is not in the Greek text. It is a possible meaning of the present tense, but it is not the only meaning of a present tense. Okay, here's what they're trying to do here.
Speaker 2:I'm going to explain a whole lot in Christianity right now, in one minute. They want to say translators here and other theologians that if you are really a believer, you will not continually or habitually sin. That's the only way they can reconcile this with 110. This is a well-known discussion. The problem is, in the last 70 years in theology is, this viewpoint has come to a halt, and the reason is is because it creates that conflict with 110, because 110 doesn't just say sin, it uses the exact same word that's over here in the same 10. So if you're going to be consistent and you want to translate this practices sin, meaning you're of the devil, then over here in chapter 1, verse 10, you have to say practices sin. But that creates a direct contradiction. In one passage it says the exact opposite of the other passage. So that solution will not work.
Speaker 2:Besides we just went through it Do you continually practice sin habitually? Yes, and guess what? If you're an honest believer? Every believer does continually, habitually sin. Try going 10 days, try going two days without sin. Okay, good luck. I mean you can deceive yourself and say you don't sin.
Speaker 2:But paul says, or john says, if you do, that you're a liar and the truth's not in you. Then over here it says he who sins is of the devil. So it's not a habitual sin. That's not what paul's talking about and that's not how you measure some, whether someone's a believer or not. Look for a pattern. That's not what he's about here. So let's see what he is about. Verse 9 is what he's about, and again you'll have to leave out the practice, because that's an interpretation. That's not a translation. It's not a direct translation. All the practices in here, you have to mark them out. It's not unless you like contradictions and you want to just live with it.
Speaker 2:No one who is born of God sins. Is what it says. Why? Why is it that those who are born of God don't sin? Because it says his seed abides in him and his seed cannot sin because he's born of God. Okay, let's just say, I'm just going to say this is no different than anything we've seen in the other passages, even though it sounds harder, doesn't it sound harder? It's like what? It's really? No different than any of the other passages. He's talking about abiding in this whole book.
Speaker 2:Okay, and are you born of God? Yeah, how do you get born of God? You believe in Jesus Christ. You're born of God. Yeah, how do you get born of God? You believe in Jesus Christ. You're born of God.
Speaker 2:What does it say in John 1, 12 and 13? That he gave the right to those who receive him to be called children of God, even to those who believe in his name. Are you a child of God? Did you believe? Yeah, you believe the gospel. So you're born of God. Now that's who you really are. You're not really a sinner, you are really a born of God individual. So no one who's born of God sins sins. Why? Because his seed abides in him and he cannot sin because he's born of God. Do you see the impeccability there? Cannot sin. What did we say? Impeccability was Not able to sin. In other words, when we live as we truly are, as born of God people, we're abiding right and we enjoy a sinless experience. That is amazing.
Speaker 2:Now, when we don't guess what that is of the devil, can a christian be said to be of the devil when he sinned? Sure, absolutely. When peter in matthew 16 told jesus this will never happen to you. Going to the cross, he says no, this will never happen to you. What did jesus say to peter? Get behind me, satan, but wait. Wasn't peter a believer? Didn't he, three verses before, say thou art the christ, the son of the living god? Sure he's a believer, didn't he, three verses before say thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Sure, he's a believer, but the source of that statement you will never go to the cross was Satan.
Speaker 2:It is a stark realization for every one of us in this room and outside this room, to realize that when we sin, Satan has been involved in influencing us. Yes, also our flesh. Paul talked about that. The law of sin that dwells in his members. Sure, that's involved too. It's a war going on In us. Paul said, the war waging in me, outside of us, satan, spiritual warfare we're involved in.
Speaker 2:So whenever we sin, see, we really are of the devil at that point, because we're against God's purposes. When we sin, are we against God's purpose? Are you against? Yes, you have to be ready to admit I am against God. At this point. I'm not agreeing with his purposes for me, I'm agreeing with Satan.
Speaker 2:And the problem is then that we go back and forth. Right, we abide, and now the sources of our actions are the impeccable Christ worked out through us by the means of the Spirit, in our life, for this sinless experience. And then, 10 minutes later, we're a walking contradiction, aren't we? And it happens like this. It's so fast, just look at it. The rest of the day Everything will be boom, boom, boom. You're walking with the Lord, and then suddenly, you are like another person. So this is both good news and bad news, right, more good than bad, though. You have opened to you a new way of living, and it is all tied back to the impeccable Christ, and that now, because he's placed his seed in you, which I would interpret as the Spirit of God, you have a new way of living, and that way of living and that way of living is to abide.
Speaker 2:So what is your responsibility daily as a Christian? Well, it's to abide. It's not to beat sin. Paul tried that. Romans 7. I want to do good, he says. I can't do it. I find, then, a principle within me that dwells in my flesh Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me? Right? What was the answer? The third law, the law of the Spirit. See, when we abide in him, the Spirit is at work, and the Spirit forms Christ's life in us, and there is a sinless experience.
Speaker 2:And so now I'll tell a funny story. So I've been waiting to tell this for years, honey, so I'm going to tell it. So, years ago, I was doing something I don't know. I was frustrated with life I don't even remember the circumstances that surrounded it and she's talking to me and trying to coach me through it, like she always does so faithfully, and she says I said I don't know of any sin in my life. And she says, okay, jesus Christ. And it now always comes up as a funny thing In a sense yes, like when you are walking by the Spirit, when you are living as a born of God person, you don't have sin in your life. What I was trying to sort out with her was like what is the source of this frustration and difficulty that's come into our life? It could be satanic warfare, spiritual warfare, that type of thing, but nothing necessarily related to anything I'm doing.
Speaker 2:It's the whole Job story. Again, right, the whole Job story. While he's an Old Testament saint, it's a little bit different. But did Job sin in all the events that transpired when Satan was given free reign, so to speak, to bring turmoil and difficulty into Job's life? He lost all 10 of his kids in one day and then he goes back and he works Job over some more and Job's own health is taken away. And in all this it says Job did not sin.
Speaker 2:And so the whole question in the book of Job is like well, why is this happening to me? And his friends are saying well, we know you had to have done something, job, because this stuff doesn't happen. If you're not doing something wrong, some sin. And he says that I don't know anything. And I think that was the situation I was in, right, I was like, I mean, I don't know anything. You know, I don't have any consciousness of sin in my life right now.
Speaker 2:Okay, jesus Christ. Well, in a sense, I mean because see his seed, the Spirit dwells in us and as we walk or abide, then he produces a sinless experience in our life. And I think that that's what we want the world to see, that's what we want our friends and family members to see, that's what we want our fellow church brothers and sisters in Christ to see. Right, and I'm saying it's possible. It's not just possible, it's the solution. It's the solution and I think I marvel that he will do this through us. I marvel Every one of you.
Speaker 2:I look in 2 Corinthians 4. It talks about each one of us is like a lampshade, and the light inside the lamp is Christ. We contain him within us. This is the way it describes it. We contain him within us and we're like lampshades, and the light that goes through us is Christ, when we're abiding, of course, but it's another image of the same idea. You, me, all of us, we are all to abide every single day, all the time, so as to become a light to the world, and that means living by faith, abiding Okay.
Speaker 1:Good. Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spokane Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app, and until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.