1 John 3: 7-10 for men's group in August 2025
1 John 3: 7-10
7 Little children, let no one deceive you: the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as that one is righteous. 8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this reason the Son of God was revealed: in order to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Everyone who is fathered by God does not practice sin, because his seed resides in him, and he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are evident: everyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, namely, the one who does not love his brother.
verse 7 from ESV
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous
The difference I note is that ESV, right or wrong, is more clear that the "just as that one is righteous" is actually Jesus
Flowchart
Interesting notes
- we will avoid cheap questions that assume black and white understanding of the passage "the one who practices sin if of the devil" does not mean that sinning one time means you're not saved... put the juvenile things behind us
- "the devil has been sinning from the beginning"
- from the beginning of what?
- has he really been sinning the entire time? don't we have mythology about Lucifer being an angel of light??? (note the heavy sarcasm from me here...)
Reflection
I've been loosely mediating on this and Romans 7 and 8
Romans 7:16-8:11
15 For what I am doing I do not understand, because what I want to do, this I do not practice, but what I hate, this I do. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
I think I'm mostly walking away from these texts with 2 things on my heart:
- I must be desensitized to some sin in my life - I think it's impossible for me to know in my inner being am I genuinely separating myself from my sinfulness and enjoying God's presence, or am I using grace as an excuse to sin... The entanglement of my own heart is one of the most difficult things to navigate in personal faith.
- I am questioning my devotion... am I devoted to Jesus, to his law, to doing good... or am I a slave to myself?
As I write this out, the Christian concept of "setting the captives free" and jubilee and freedom strike my heart deeply. Just these phrases begin to call up emotions. But as I look at my life right now, what am I doing that shouts freedom? I spend more time lately playing games than being entrenched in theological study, I think about work more than things which are noble and praiseworthy, and I seem to purposefully focus on my own situations internally rather than on God's grace (which I do externally a lot - but I feel this tension inside - a hook of doubt)
Romans 8:5a
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh,
Romans 6
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Why would I be hesitant to regularly set my mind on things of the spirit? I absolutely feel something inside that rebels against the things of God at times... at odd times as well.
A Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me to set my mind on things of the Spirit - to live in accordance with your will and righteousness. I confess I run in ways I think are secret or hidden, I reject godly things daily, and yet in your compassionate love you have saved me from this body of sin and death. Praise be to God, guide my heart and mind today, just enough so that tomorrow I can ask for what I need for the day
Romans 8:21-25
21 Consequently, I find the principle with me, the one who wants to do good, that evil is present with me. 22 For I joyfully agree with the law of God in my inner person, 23 but I observe another law in my members, at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that exists in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself with my mind am enslaved to the law of God, but with my flesh I am enslaved to the law of sin.