1st John 3:5-6
5 You know that He appeared –In contrast to the lawless people who continue to sin, John reminds us of our example Jesus. Sin is lawlessness, and those who continue in sin, instead of being In Christ, are lawless. It was God the Father’s plan, and Jesus was obedient to it.
in order to take away sins; The Lamb of God-Lambs’ blood covered the doors of Israel, and allowed God’s judgment to “pass over” them (Exodus 12:22–23). Isaiah 53:12 predicted that the Messiah would “bear the sins of many.” The connection to Passover is the primary reason Jesus is referred to as “The Lamb of God.” Before Jesus, there was no lasting remedy for sin. Jesus came to this earth for the express purpose of shedding His precious blood. He died on the cross to provide forgiveness of sins. We can easily see that this was always the plan of God. Isaac’s question, that persisted throughout the Old Testament is “where is the Lamb?” In Genesis 22:7 Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (NASB). And all those Old Testament prophecies looked forward to when Jesus would come. Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. (NASB) It is revealed throughout the Old Testament, that Jesus’ miraculous birth, His sinless life, and His atoning death were always part of God’s plan. But, when we get to the New Testament, Jesus has come. In the gospels the emphasis is “Behold the Lamb”, here He is!” John the Baptist said in John 1:29 of Jesus Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And when John in Revelation 5:6 gets a glimpse of Jesus in heaven, what does he see? And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.
The Blood Matters–1 Peter 1:18-19 Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you. The shedding of Jesus’ blood was always part of the plan. We cannot remove the blood of Christ from salvation—the shedding of His blood was the means by which we were saved, and by which we were forgiven. Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are cleansed with blood, according to the Law, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. It was the death of our Passover Lamb Jesus, and applying His Blood to our lives Jesus that saves us. Remove the blood, and you remove the sacrifice, remove the sacrifice, and you remove the glory that is due to Jesus because of His sacrifice! (“do this in remembrance of me” in communion).
and in Him there is no sin. —As 1 Peter 2:22 tells us “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” It is Jesus’ example of a perfect life, and the pattern that we have In Him, as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit to in His working out of God’s will in our lives that is the continuing saving of us. Sanctification. Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. So, if we are saved, we will find our lives conforming more and more to His wonderful example of a sinless life. And that means that although we are not sinless, over time we sin LESS.
When peter is describing Jesus’ sacrifice, as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and His appearing to save us, his call in 1st Peter 13-14 is to a life of righteousness, of holiness. 1 Peter 1:13-16 13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Peter sounds a call to battle against the flesh, the world, and the enemy. We are at peace with God, but this produces enmity with the world, because they hate God! We must prepare are mind against the onslaught of our flesh, always wanting it’s own lusts and desires fighting against our spirit. Galatians 5:17 For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want. We, in our spirit, cooperating with the Holy Spirit struggle against our own flesh, and it’s desires. We will have victory, if we fight the battle God’s way. As we practice using the weapons of God’s Word, the Sword of the Lord, and Prayer to help us access God’s power to destroy concentrated resistance of God’s enemies, then we will have victory as we set our mind on Spiritual things, instead of the fleshly desires of this world.
6 No one who remains in Him sins continually; —No person who remains in Christ, abides in Christ can sin continually. Someone who is truly IN CHRIST is opposite in character from a lawless man. This is because the effect of abiding in Christ is always a changed life. Christians do in fact, sin, but we go to the Father in Jesus’ name in repentance to confess our sins, knowing that He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (John 1:9). To deny sin is to be deceived and call God a liar. What is John saying “Everyone who abides in Him does not sin.”? He means that the abiding believer does not have Jesus’ sinless perfection, but is being conformed to His image of sinless perfection more and more all the time, and so, not continuing to practice sin as their way of life. Not sinless, but sinning less. He’s trying to contrast abiding with Christ, with the former life of sin. They are opposites. You cannot sin continually, live a sinful life, and be abiding in Christ. And if you are abiding in Christ, you cannot sin continually, living a sinful life.
To “abide” is to live, continue, or remain; so, to abide in Christ is to live in Him or remain in Him. When a person is saved, they are described as being “in Christ” Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1); Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17). And, if we are “IN Christ”, abiding in Him, then we definitely ARE held in a secure in a permanent relationship John 10:28-30 28 and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” We can have eternal security! But it’s eternal security in abiding relationship with Jesus. Abiding in Christ is not a special level of Christian experience, but is the position of all true believers!
In John 15:4–7, Jesus tells His disciples that drawing life from Him is essential, using the picture of branches united to a vine: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Without the union with Christ that salvation provides, there can be no life in Christ, and no fruit born of the Holy Spirit’s work from the inside out to produce fruit. No desire to serve God, and no relationship with Him. It is about our relationship with Jesus. And practically speaking, this means abiding, continuing in prayer. Pray continually. And it means abiding in God’s Word. Jesus said in John 8:31-32 31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples;
no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him.–What kind of sin? We’re talking about habitual sin. In saying that no one who ‘abides’ in him sins, John is not asserting that it is impossible for a believer to commit an occasional act of sin. Is it serious? YES! Is it fatal? Not In Christ! He has already pointed to the provision made for such an emergency by means of confession (1:9) and Christ’s activity as his people’s Advocate (2:1). But, he is saying that a sinful life, abiding in sin, instead of abiding in Christ, is impossible for a child of God, so that anyone who leads such a life is demonstrating that they are not a child of God.
And God, through His Holy Spirit can empower us to be sinless as much, and only as much as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the process. We, as Christians, can be sinless insofar as we abide now in the Walk of the Spirit, not of the Flesh, sharing the life of eternity NOW, living as Citizens of Heaven Now, by living in Christ, and by being spiritually reborn, and renewed 3 cor 4:26 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” We pray that we may be, as Eph 4:23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,. And that happens as we follow God’s instruction through Paul in Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. We have abiding results in Christ of freedom from sin and our abiding is marked by freedom from sin. IT is possible, In Christ.