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Amen. Amen. First John chapter number three starts out with these very famous verses, Behold what manner of love the Father had bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew him not. Now a couple of things to point out here. First of all, the Bible clearly teaches that we become children of God by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Some people have an attitude that just says, well, everyone is a child of God. We're all God's children. But the Bible says in John 1 12, but as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even them that believe on his name. Now if it says that we become the sons of God, that means that we were not already automatically the sons of God. But God has bestowed this love upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew him not. Now Jesus also said in the book of John, he said, you are not of the world, even as I'm not of the world, right? And he talked about people outside the faith, you know, they, therefore they're of the world, the world heareth them, they speak of the world and so forth. You know, these kinds of things come up in the gospel of John and also in the book of first John in both places, you'll find these kinds of statements. Jesus said to the Jews that did not believe on him, you know, he said, I'm from above, you're from beneath, you know, you're of this world, I'm not of this world. So the Bible says, therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew him not. So the fact that we are children of God makes us foreigners and strangers and pilgrims in this world where we don't quite fit in or belong in this world with the unregenerate people around us. Because if you think about it, our new birth in Christ when we got saved is actually we are born from above. We are not just earthly creatures here, right, that have, you know, have an earthly mother and father, but we also have the spiritual birth that's from God, that's from heaven. And so even as Christ was from above, the new man, the spirit that dwells in us is from above as well and makes us somewhat foreign to this world. So therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew him not because we're the children of God. Just as Jesus Christ, the son of God was not of this world. The Bible says in verse number two, beloved, now are we the sons of God and it does 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. So what we need to understand is that we are not yet totally conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. We are not yet like him as we will be like him when he appears. I mean, when he actually comes at the second coming, then we will be like him, okay? That is when our salvation will truly be complete in body, soul, and spirit, because right now we have the first fruits of the spirit, but we're still waiting for the redemption of our body. The Bible says in Romans chapter eight, our body is still the same old sinful flesh that it was before we got saved. Nothing changed, but our spirit has been resurrected. We've been saved spiritually, but you know, we still have the physical flesh, the old man, and that's what we're going to get into a lot in the sermon tonight. It says in verse three, and every man that had this hope in him purify at himself, even as he is pure. And so we as Christians are going through a process of being purified, being tried, being refined. We're growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are not yet conformed to his image, but that's the process that we're in. That's the goal. That's what we're supposed to be doing while we're on this earth. We're supposed to be more and more like Christ as we go through the Christian life, as we grow in the faith. And so that hasn't finished yet. And so therefore we are not perfect. We are not without sin. Okay. And don't forget about the fact that John himself just told us in chapter one, that if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Because obviously he's about to say some things in chapter three that would sound like they contradict that. You know, over in chapter one, he's saying, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And so in a few verses here, he's going to say, well, whosoever is born of God doesn't commit sin. And we're going to explain why that is and the point that he's making here. But I don't want to get ahead of myself. Let's get there in time. Verse number four says, whosoever committed sin transgresseth also the law for sin is the transgression of the law. And again, we talked about this in the sermon on chapters one and two, the fact that people are going to sort of divorce Christianity from the rules and say, well, it's not a religion. It's a relationship. It's not about the dos and the don'ts. But John made it really clear in chapter one that, you know, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have that fellowship with God. And then in chapter two, he said that if we say that we're in the light and we hate our brother, well, we're in darkness even until now. Or if we say, I know him and we keep not his commandments, we're lying. Doesn't mean that we're not saved. It doesn't mean that he doesn't know us. It doesn't mean that we're not born again, but it does not mean that we have a relationship with him or that we actually know him the way the apostle Paul said that it was the aspiration of his life to know Christ and to know the Lord and to know his power and so forth. And so the point is that if a person is not following the commandments of God, this is an unrighteous person. This is an ungodly person. This is a bad Christian. If they're saved, they're a bad Christian. They're not being a good Christian, they're being a bad Christian, right? You see, I have children and my children will always be my children, but they can be good children or they can be bad children. They can grow up to be good adults or bad adults. Okay, but whether they're good or bad, they're still my children, right? If they disobey, they'll be punished, but they won't be no longer my children. They'll always be my children. My DNA is in every cell of their body and nothing can change that. Well, we that are saved, okay, yes, we will never lose that salvation. We've been passed from death to life. We have everlasting life, but it's possible for a Christian to walk in the flesh and to do things that are wrong, and this person is not a great godly Christian. I don't care what kind of feelings they have about God, and I don't care how many worship services they go to and how many places they sway and talk about, how much they love Jesus. I don't care how many tears they cry. If they are not keeping Christ's commandments, they don't love Jesus Christ. If you love me, keep my commandments. And the Bible says that if you say that you love God and you don't keep, I mean, just a quick review, chapter two, verse four, he that sayeth I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him, right? And so people that claim to love God, well, what does the Bible say? This is the love of God that we keep his commandments. So it is totally foreign to the New Testament, this teaching that says, well, the rules don't matter. It's all about your heart, wrong, because what is leading you to do all these simple things is a problem with your heart, okay? And that's one of the main points that John is getting across here in this chapter. For example, he says in verse seven, little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. Now, stop and let that sink in. Some of these statements that John makes, they almost seem so obvious that it's easy to miss them. You know, sin is the transgression of the law, well, well, duh. But guess what? A lot of people don't know that. And so it's good to have these really rock solid clear statements to break these things down. And so this might seem obvious or intuitive when we say he that doeth righteousness is righteous. But you know what? That's not what a lot of people in this world believe. A lot of people in this world would say, well, yeah, he's doing all the right things, but, you know, he's a big meanie, he's a big jerk. And then this other person who's just doing all the wrong things, just out fornicating, getting drunk, just going, but you know, oh, but he's got that heart for the Lord. Folks, that's what is being taught today in a lot of these non-denom type new evangelical churches that the rules don't matter and they're not teaching that he that doeth righteousness is righteous. Okay. What does it mean to be a good Christian? It means you're doing stuff that God told you to do. Now obviously the love of God is important and having the right heart is important. Having the right motives are important. I'm 100% for that and I preach whole sermons on that, but we need to also balance that with this concept that says, hey, if you're out doing stuff that God told you not to do, don't tell me that you're a good Christian because you're not. And if somebody is doing the stuff that they're supposed to do, don't let people deceive you and tell you, well, that guy, you know, I mean, yeah, I mean, he does all the right stuff, but you know, well, you know, he's doing that stuff because he's righteous. Okay. Now obviously there are people that are faking and whatever, but that's not the point that we're making right now. The point that we're making right now is just that our actions define us. You know, when we say whosoever doeth righteousness, we don't just mean when people are looking or to put on a show. Of course there are those types of Pharisees. I'm talking about, you know who you really are. You know what you do. And let me tell you something. If your actions are totally contrary to what the Bible teaches, you know, then you're an unrighteous person. Does everybody see what I'm saying? Like your actions define you, your actions matter. Keeping the rules matter, keeping God's commandments. It matters. It's not what saves you, but it is what makes you a profitable, good Christian versus an unprofitable unfaithful backslidden Christian, right? I mean, how would we define being backslidden? What does it mean to be backslidden? How would we say that guy's backslidden? I'll tell you why. Because he's not going to church. He's not reading his Bible. He's not going soloing. He's taken up old habits again of whatever, drinking, whatever. That's what we say. That's backslidden. I just got a feeling about that guy. I just feel like he's backslidden. You know, it's more concrete than that, isn't it? You know? And so it's important to realize that our actions are tied in with pleasing God. Our actions are tied in with being right with God. They do matter and commandments matter. And you know, the Bible goes on and on about this. And this chapter really emphasizes that, for example, what about verse 24? It says, he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him and he in him, right? So he starts out talking about commandments early in the chapter, sin is the transgression of the law. And then boom, we're talking about commandments in chapter three, verse 24. How about verse 22? How to get your prayers answered? And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things which are pleasing in his sight. So how do you get your prayers answered? One of those ways is keeping God's commandments. If you're a person who has total disregard for God's commandments, don't be surprised if you're not getting prayers answered, because the Bible says, whatsoever we ask, we receive of him because we keep his commandments. So anytime you hear some pastor or preacher or Christian minister of any kind getting up and telling you, hey, it's not about keeping commandments, it's not about do's and don'ts. Now, if they're talking about salvation, then I'll say, amen. But if they say, well, that's not what Christianity is about, man, that's not what church is about, it's not what religion is about, man, it's not even a religion, man, I hate religion, but I love Jesus. That's stupid, okay? It's just trendy baloney that people have made up to tell people what they want to hear because in the last days, people have itching ears and they'll turn away their ears from the truth and they'll be turned unto fables, so of course they're going to go to a church that tells them, hey, we don't care about rules, we don't care about the commandments of Christ, go do what you want. That's what people like to hear because they want to go do whatever they want. People want to be told that there's no such thing as sin in the New Testament and that we're under grace and there is no rule and that, you know, as long as the Holy Spirit's not convicting you about it at that moment, just go for it. How about if the Bible says no, don't do it whether the Holy Spirit is specifically speaking to you or not? It's not like, you know, I walk into a store and this is an absurd example, but this whole doctrine is absurd. If I walked into a store and I'm just like reaching to steal something and I'm just like, are you there, Holy Spirit, is this cool, is this okay, I mean, are we cool? Even if I don't hear anything or feel anything or, you know, I know God's not pleased with me shoplifting no matter whether conviction is there or not. I don't have to just test it, okay, but that should kind of illustrate how dumb this doctrine is that says, and look, I've showed people point blank because in many ways I came out of this movement because when I was a teenager I spent about five years going to these type of liberal churches, so I've been on the inside of this thing and I've heard this more times than I can where I would literally open my Bible and show somebody like, hey, it's a sin to do X, Y, and Z. And here's what they said, and I kid you not, if I had a nickel for every time I heard this I could buy like one Chipotle burrito, but still, that's still a lot of nickels, okay? But basically this is what they would say, like, well, you know what, hey, if the Holy Spirit has spoken to you about that then you shouldn't do it, but the Holy Spirit hasn't spoken to me about that, so I'm going to continue doing it. Even something that the Bible just point blank said no, you know, because they just said, well, you know, you're getting too hung up on the dos and the don'ts, it's about the relationship, it's about walking in the Spirit, and as long as I'm walking in the Spirit and the Holy Spirit's going to, you know, he'll give me a heads up if I shouldn't steal stuff or whatever. And obviously they didn't use it for stealing, but I'm using stealing as an illustration of how this is a silly way to decide what's right and wrong, okay? So now let's kind of get into, you know, I kind of wanted to give you that broader picture of what we're talking about. Now let's kind of get into the nitty gritty of the difficult verses in this passage now that we kind of have a broader view of some of the points that John's making in general in this book and in this chapter. So the Bible says in verse five, first of all, it said in verse four that sin is the transgression of the law, verse five, and you know that he was manifested to take away our sins and in him is no sin. So Jesus came to take away our sins and Jesus has no sin in him. Whosoever abideth in him, sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Now that right away, that's a difficult verse right there when you get to verse six, because you're like, wait a minute, hold on, hold up. John already told us in chapter number one that if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, right? I mean, and the apostle Paul in Romans seven talks about how he struggled with sin and obviously we see all kinds of righteous, godly men in the Bible doing things that are wrong. Okay, so what is this verse saying when it says, whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him? Well, let's keep reading. Little children that know man deceive you, he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth 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, and here's the key verse here, whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God. In this, the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil. So notice what it says here, whosoever is born of God does not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God. Now, here's what a lot of preachers and teachers of the Bible will do when they run into a difficult passage like this, because this is a difficult passage. Here's what they'll do, they'll just basically deny what's right in front of their face. And what they'll try to do is say, well, that's not really what that says. And so you'll have people say, well, if you go back to the Greek, what it actually means here is that the person who's truly saved doesn't make a practice of sinning. They don't sin a lot, they don't sin all the time, they don't live a life that's characterized by sin. Is that what this says? There's no way that that's what this says, okay? And by the way, if you go back to the Greek, it doesn't say anything like that. Here's the word in question, okay, it says, and I'm going to prove to you, even without knowing any Greek, I'm going to prove to you that they're wrong right now by comparing this with chapter five, because in chapter three here it says, whosoever is born of God does not commit sin. And they say, well, commit there if you go back to the Greek. First of all, the King James Bible is translated correctly, period. It's 100% accurate. And so that's just a cop out to just say, oh, well, I don't understand it, or I don't like what it says, so it must not be translated correctly. You know, why don't you go join the Mormon Church, because that's what the Mormon Church always does. You show them any verse in the Bible, they're like, well, we believe the Bible is the word of God, so long as it's been translated correctly. And what that means is, every time we disagree with it, it hasn't been translated correctly. And then what happens is, you have all these people out there who don't know Greek, and they don't know Hebrew, just tell me, well, that's not translated correctly. You know, even though we got 54 expert scholars working on the King James for seven years, and they're not even starting from scratch, they're making a great translation even better. They're already building off of a great translation in the bishop's Bible, and just make it even better. But then all of a sudden, you have these armchair theologians. And by the way, let me just break this down for you. In order to get a master of divinity at a seminary, that's what a lot of these guys have, the MDiv degree, master of divinity, here's what you have to do to get a master of divinity degree, one semester of basic Hebrew, two semesters of basic Greek. And you know what? That is a complete joke. That will allow you to read precisely zero Greek literature without software helping you and training wheels and all kinds of cheats and helps and dictionaries and lexicons and grammar. You don't have a clue, okay, how to sit there and translate the New Testament into English because you had one semester of basic Hebrew and two semesters of basic Greek. That is ridiculous, okay? That is a joke. All of you here went to school and took a couple years of Spanish in high school. You know more Spanish, all of you, even the toddler that has their hand up knows more Spanish than 99% of these pastors that have an MDiv. I'm serious. They're doing less, they're not even going as far as you had to graduate from high school in California. The amount of Spanish that you needed to graduate high school in California is stricter than what these guys, you'll learn more vocabulary in high school Spanish class than these guys are doing in a semester at their Bible seminary. Look it up, go to the big seminaries, go to the big Bible colleges across America, go to their websites and look at the classes that are required to get a master's of divinity and tell me if I'm wrong. Tell me if they're reading the Iliad and the Odyssey. If you handed the Iliad or the Odyssey to any of these guys, they wouldn't even be able to make heads or tails of it. And I'm not exaggerating, they would not be able to read even one sentence of it. Even the presidents of these Bible colleges probably couldn't even read a single sentence of it. But one thing I promise you, every single scholar who worked on the New Testament in the King James Version, every single one of them, I promise you, read the Iliad and the Odyssey cover to cover and could read and understand classical Greek literature. You know why? Because they actually knew the language, they actually had to know the language back then. They didn't have software, they didn't have cheats and training wheels. So to sit there and have somebody tell you who can't even count to 10 in Greek, well, if you go back to the Greek, it actually says someone who makes a practice of sinning, it is false. Because you know what this literally says? You know, I've read this in Greek, and here's what it literally says in Greek. It says that whosoever is born of God does not do sin. Like that's the word. It's like literally the most basic word for just do. Like if you just ask a Greek person, how do you say do in Greek, to do or make something? If you just looked up any ancient Greek dictionary, the basic word for just doing something, that's the word that's used here. And the King James Bible translates as commit sin, because you know, to do sin is to commit sin, right? Obviously, committing sin is just how we say that in English to make it sound better. The literal translation would be, he doesn't do sin. But now go to chapter five, and let me prove you that these people are wrong. No Greek required. Look at verse 18. Because they're saying like, well, you know, the Bible is just talking about not being a habitual sinner, it's just talking about not making a practice of sin. You know, it says commit sin, if you go back to the Greek, it's just don't make a practice of sin. Okay, but look at 1 John 5 18, we know that whosoever is born of God, sinneth not. Notice how their word is gone now. Where's the word for commit? It's gone. So, isn't this showing that if we look at chapter three, and if we look at chapter five, we're not talking about making a practice of sin or making a habit of sin or sinning all the time. No, it just says that whosoever is born of God does not commit sin. And here it just says whosoever is born of God sinneth not. And the word for do, which is not really that fancy of a word that they're making it out to be, it's literally just do. It's like the Spanish word hacer. That's what it is. It's the same thing. You know, no hacer picado, no pica. That's it. No big deal. There's nothing to see here, folks. Move right along. Now, why am I making such a big deal out of this? I'm making a big deal out of it because it's a big deal. Because they build a false doctrine on this that says, well, in order to be saved, you know, you can't be sinning a lot, you can only sin a little bit. And here's what they do, they want to tell you, well, you have to change and you have to live right. You don't have to be perfect, but you just have to live right. And they'll use verses like, well, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature, old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. And then this is what they'll say, see, there's got to be some change. Did that verse say some change? Let's listen to the verse again and let's see if it says some change. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold, some things are become new. Is that what it says? It says, behold, all things are become new. All things are become new. See, this is the true story, my friend, and it doesn't require us to change the Word of God. It doesn't require us to lie and pretend that we know languages we don't know and say, well, if you go and check it in the Greek, yada, yada, yada. No, it doesn't require changing the Bible. Instead, we just go with what the text actually says, okay? Here's the true story. The true story is that the new creature, the new man, what the Bible calls the inward man, the new man, the new creature is totally sinless and that the only reason that we sin is because of our sinful flesh and that is because that is the part of us that is not saved until the second coming of Christ when our body is redeemed. But until then or until we die, we have this war going on. The flesh lusted against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary to one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would. So when the Bible says, whosoever is born of God does not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him because he cannot sin because he's born of God, folks, our spirit is born of God. The new man is born of God and cannot sin. It is impossible for the new man to sin. It is impossible for the spirit to sin. So why do we still sin? Because we still have the old man. That's why if we walk in the spirit, we'll not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now keep your finger here in 1 John 3, we're going to come back, look at Romans 7. Lest you doubt what I'm saying, I'm going to show you point blank that the Apostle Paul clearly teaches this in Romans 7 and once you see it, it comes clear. It says in Romans 7 verse 14, for we know that the law is spiritual but I'm carnal, carnal to sin. And by the way, a lot of these false teachers who want to change the Bible to say they don't make a practice of sin, you know, they don't sin habitually, they want to change the Bible even though the King James Version just says they don't commit sin, they sin not. These same people will say there's no such thing as a carnal Christian because if you're carnal, you're not a Christian. Who's ever heard somebody say there's no such thing as a carnal Christian? Yeah, hands all over the building. Yet the Apostle Paul says, I'm carnal. So these liars are saying that the Apostle Paul is not a Christian. Why would you listen to somebody who says the Apostle Paul is not a Christian? Well they don't say that. Yeah, of course, because they'll lie and twist Romans 7. No, Romans 7 is Paul talking, what did he say? Point blank, what did he say? I'm carnal. You believe him? I believe him. I'm carnal so I don't understand. For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, when he says what I would, he means what I want to do. That do I not. You know, the stuff I want to do, I don't do. But what I hate, that do I. Does everybody see that in verse 15? He's like, man, I'm carnal, stuff that I hate, I end up doing it. Stuff that I want to do, I don't do. If I do that which I would not, which is sinful stuff, right? I consent unto the law that is good. Now look at verse 17, my friend, don't miss it. Now then, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. What did the Apostle Paul just say? When I sin, when I do the things that I would not, it's no longer I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Why? Because he's saying that's not the real me. The real me is the new me, the saved me, the born again me. And so when I do these bad things, it's no longer I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. And you say, well, that seems like kind of a cop out, you know, to blame. Well, you know what? You can call it whatever you want. It's the word of God. Call it whatever you want. It's what the Bible says. The Apostle Paul said that when he commits sin, he said, it's not me that did it. It's sin that dwelleth in me. It's no longer I that do it. And in fact, lest you misunderstand, he says it again, keep reading. Verse 18, for I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. So just as the new man is incapable of sinning, the old man doesn't have any good thing about him. That's why the Bible says they that are in the flesh cannot please God. So the old man is totally incapable of pleasing God. Obviously the old man can do right things or do good things. Unsaved people can do right things or do good things, but they can't please God. Nothing that they do pleases God. And in them intrinsically is rottenness, just like in all of our flesh is rottenness. And he says, for I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Watch this, for to will is present with me saying, like, I want to do what's right. But how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would do, for the good that I would, I do not. Now by the way, Christ said something similar to this in the garden of Gethsemane when he said, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. To will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. Translation, you know, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. And in case you missed it in verse 17, here you go again in verse 20. If I do that, I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Now you understand how John can say, whosoever is born of God does not commit sin. Same reason why the apostle Paul said, if I do that, I would not, it's no longer I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find that a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me, for I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bring me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. And here's what false teachers will do, and listen to me, people who twist this passage, people who turn Romans 7 on its head, I believe that they're all unsaved. Because saved people love this passage. Anybody who's actually saved loves Romans 7. I love it. You know why? Because it's so relatable. Because we feel the same way because we're constantly struggling and we want to do what's right and ah, you know, and there's a battle going on. But see, what kind of a person gets up and says, well, oh, that's not what this is saying. It's some lying holier than thou fake who thinks that they're going to heaven because they're righteous. Because every saved person knows that this is life, that Romans 7 is the way life actually is. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot, you're so much better than the Apostle Paul and you just walk on water. But these false teachers, I mean, this is such a clear passage. These lying false prophets, though, and by the way, Jeff Durbin at Apologia Church is one of them who says, oh, yeah, you know, twist this kind of stuff and twist 1 John 3 and all that. And here's the thing about that, this is what, you'll hear false, who's the other guy who twists this? Paul Washer, does he twist Romans 7 specifically? Okay, can I get a witness, all right, we got one, two people, okay, good. God bless you. I see that hand. What's that? The holiness crowd, the holiness Pentecostals. You know, another one that I heard specifically twist this passage is that guy that looks like a homeless person and writes books about the family. That's not who I'm talking about, though. Who's the guy who looks like a homeless person? Michael Pearl, thank you. Michael Pearl has all these teachings on Romans 7. And here's what they say, because you have to wonder, like, how can they get around this? How can they get up and say, no such thing as a carnal Christian? How can they get up and say, that's not what this passage is saying, when the passage is so clear? Here's what they say. My friend, are you ready for this? Oh, he's talking about before he was saved. Now, first of all, this is all present tense, number one, but let's just put that stupidity to bed right now. It says in verse 22, for I delight in the law of God after the inward man. So I guess that's what unsaved people do, right? Unsaved people delight in the law of God after their inward man, but then they just have this other law warring in their members and bringing them into captivity to sin. Why would an unsaved person delight in the law of God after the inward man? The saved person has that inward man, that new creature. I mean, folks, they're lying. But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? What is it that's causing the apostle Paul to sin? His body, aka the flesh. That's why he says, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? And folks, is this the only scripture where Paul teaches this? No, because elsewhere he talks about the flesh versus the spirit dichotomy. This is a big theme for the apostle Paul, old man versus new man, flesh versus the spirit, the war that's going on in all of us. And Jesus Christ talked about how we need to deny self and take up the cross daily and follow him. Why would we have to deny self daily? Because self's pulling us in the wrong direction daily. If self is not pulling us in the wrong direction every single day, then why would Jesus tell us to daily deny self and take up the cross and follow him? How do you deny somebody that's not even, well, you know, what if I just woke, my kids just woke up in the morning and they all come down to the table and I just say, no, no, no, no, no. No, denied. In order for me to say no, they have to ask for something. They have to say, give me ice cream. No. Give me a candy bar. No. Now that would make sense, wouldn't it? I want to drink a Coca-Cola for breakfast. I want to put Coca-Cola in my cereal instead of milk. No. But if they don't ask for anything, if they're not, and look, if they're asking for something good, am I going to deny them? If they ask for bread, am I going to give them a stone? If they ask for a fish, will I give them a serpent? If they ask for an egg, will I give them a scorpion? No. God is talking about denying self because self wants something bad. Self is going the wrong way every day and so we've got to deny self, deny the flesh, deny the old man, and we just saw it on Sunday night, mortify the members of your uncleanness upon this earth, right? Mortify the flesh. Why die daily? I mean, we could go to so many scriptures throughout the New Testament. This is not a unique to Romans 7 teaching. But these people are teaching a thinly veiled works-based salvation. They give lip service to faith alone. They give lip service to salvation by grace, but when you really get down to it, it all comes down to works for them, doesn't it? You know? And they always find all these ways to smuggle in works. Well, you can't make a practice of sinning, you know, whatever. What does that even mean? It's meaningless. It's just a way to explain away the passage instead of actually dealing with what it actually says that the regenerate man, the born again person cannot commit sin, okay? And the reason why we commit sin is because part of us is unregenerate. The flesh will remain unregenerate until the second coming of Christ when we are changed. And then we will be like him, for we shall see him as if we did. Oh, we just saw that at the beginning of this passage, didn't we? You see, that's when we will be like him. Until then, we are in this body of death, this body that is spiritually unsaved, unregenerate. It's not the new body, my friend. That's why it has issues. That's why it has problems. And so we're there in Romans 7, it says, a wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. And I guess that's what every unsaved person does, right? Unsaved people, they just love the Lord on the inside, but it's just their body that's the problem. But I guess now that we're saved, we just have no problem keeping the commandments of God. That's absurd. It's a false doctrine is what it is. And you know, you say, well, you're using some pretty strong language about these people. You know, you're talking pretty, pretty derogatory about these people. Well, you know, because it makes me mad to see ministers of the gospel, so-called, lying and teaching people of workspace salvation and confusing people. When we need to make the gospel clear, it's faith alone. It's salvation by faith, not of works, as any man should boast. And you know what? That message is clearly thundered forth from this pulpit for the last 17 years. And that's why the people in our church aren't confused about where they're going to go when they die. They're not confused about who gets the glory for salvation. They're not confused about what it means to be saved and what it means to present the gospel to someone else. And they're not doubting their salvation needlessly because someone said, well, you know, if you're sinning a lot, you know, or practicing it or some, you know, like habitually, you know, and then you're kind of like, well, I don't, I mean, I don't know, I mean, is what I do considered habitual? I don't know because nobody's perfect. And if you say that you have no sin, you're a liar. That's what the Bible says. So let's, let's get back to first John three boy, Romans seven really clears this up when Paul says it's no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. And that's what we need to understand that he that is born of God, your body, your flesh is not born again. Your flesh is not born. That will take place at the second coming only right now, the spirit is born again. You have the first fruits of the spirit. You're sealed unto the day of redemption and he, which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. And on the day of Christ, you will be changed in a moment, twinkle and I body, soul and spirit will be saved. That's why the Bible says in many places that we are already saved, but then it also says now is our salvation nearer than when we believe talking about that ultimate salvation at the coming of Christ. When the body is redeemed, we have the redemption of our body as well. So it says here in verse number eight, he that committed sin is of the devil for the devil sin is 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 commit sin could not be any clearer. My friend, you can add words that aren't there, but that's what it actually says for his seed remain within him. And he cannot sin. Well, I mean, he can sin a little. Is that what it says? No, he's just incapable of sin. That's what the Bible actually says. He cannot sin. Why can't he sin? He can't sin because he's born of God. Now what sense would it make to say, well, he can only sin a little bit because he's born of God. He can't do it for too long because he's born of God. He can't do it habitually because he doesn't make any sense. Makes perfect sense that we're talking about the new man versus the old man. 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. For this is the message that he heard from the beginning that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of that wicked one and slew his brother. And wherefore slew him because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous. Marvel now, my brethren, if the world hates you. Now stop and think for a minute. Why would the world hate us? The Bible says that Cain hated Abel because his own works were evil and his brothers were righteous. What does the Bible say at the beginning of this chapter? Behold what manner of love the father had bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God, therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew him not. Now let me ask you this, what if we have a believer in Christ, a saved Christian, somebody who's saved, but they're actually walking in the flesh and living a worldly life. Are they going to be hated by this world? No. I mean, if, if I were to go into work and school and society, and I'm just living like this world, I'm just basically just living a carnal worldly life. Is the world just going to hate me because their works are evil and my own works are righteous? No, because they're there, you know, I'm going to fit right in at that point. And that's what a lot of Christians do. They pretty much just live just like the world and just kind of fit in. And a lot of people around them don't even know that they're Christian or don't even know that they're safe. So they're not going to suffer persecution. You're not going to suffer persecution for being a lame Christian. You know, for, for, for going to work and just fitting in and doing all the same stuff and going along with everybody, that's not going to get you persecution. What gets you persecution is when you are seen by this world and manifested as a child of God. When you are manifest as a child of God and how's that? It's because they see the works that you're doing. They see that, Hey, we don't, you know, the world knoweth us not like, have you ever noticed how the world, they look at Christians and they're just kind of like, they just don't, it's like, they don't, they don't get it. They're just like, what's wrong with these people? I mean, look, unsaved worldly people. They think that there's something wrong with Christians. Am I right? They look at Christians like, what is wrong with these people? You know, and they have these little slogans like Jesus, save us from your followers and stuff because they think there's something wrong with Christians. They think being a Christian is bad. When they hear that you're Christian, it's like, Oh man, like, you're not a Christian. Are you? Why do they have that attitude? They know us not. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not, and we're the light of the world. And sometimes the world just comprehends us not. They don't get it. Why does the world not know us? Because they knew him not. The world knoweth us not because it knew him not. And Jesus said that, you know, the time will come when, and I might quote this just slightly wrong, but this is basically what it says in, uh, John 16, three is my favorite Bible verse. I just want to let you know, you know, me and Hillary just love John 16, three, but, uh, you know, Bill Clinton's favorite Bible verse, John 16, three is that, uh, you know, it says, you know, the time will come when he that killeth you will think that he doeth God's service. I'm not sure why that's Bill Clinton's favorite Bible verse, but it is. I can't quote it as well as Bill, but I did my best. I think that that's roughly what it says, but it says these things will they do unto you because they've not known me nor the father. That's actually 16, three. That's the one Bill's into. Right. You got it. Okay. Like they'll, why, why will they, why will someone think that they're doing God a service by killing a Christian? Because they haven't known me. Jesus said they haven't known the father. They haven't known me. So therefore the world knoweth us not. Why does the world know us not? Because it knew him not okay. And so why does the world know us not because it knew him not. Why did Cain hate Abel? Because Cain is of the wicked one and Abel is of God. Marvel not my brethren if the world hates you. Why? Because their works are evil and your works are righteous. But if your works aren't righteous, they're not going to hate you. So you have a lot of Christians who say, well, you know, how come I'm not going through any persecution? How come nobody hates me? You know, how come I'm a Christian, this church is Baptist and they don't have these problems that you seem to have. They're not letting the light shine. When the light shines, the darkness doesn't comprehend it. They don't get it. But see, the church, these churches are so dim, the world gets it. They're like, yeah, okay, yeah. They see a real Baptist church like, ah, bright light, bright light, bright light, you know, they can't handle it. Okay. Whereas the church is not letting it shine, they have no issue with, they're totally fine. So now you can kind of see how the whole chapter goes together, how even verse one, which seems to be maybe, you know, talking about something else, verse one is key to even understanding, you know, for example, verse 12, right? Therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew him not. And then, you know, why did Cain kill Abel? Because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous. Marvel not my brother and if the world hates you. We know that we've passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer. And again, you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. What does this say? Now a lot of people would say, well, this is just singling out the sin of murder that you can't be saved if you're a murderer. Yet there are murderers in the Bible who are saved. And here's what the Bible means when it says no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. The same thing it means when it says all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. You know, people love to point out that there will be no drunkards in heaven and there will be no drunkards in heaven, or they love to point out that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. But what about the fact that all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone? And by the way, look up the verse about drunkards in Galatians five. It lists about 20 other sins. And then in case he missed your sin, he says, and such like. They that do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Here's the bottom line. No sinner is going to heaven. Not one sinner is going to heaven. They're not going to, okay? Because here's what happens. If I win somebody to Christ, who's a sinner, which is everybody's a sinner. When I win them to Christ, in God's eyes, they're not a sinner anymore, because he's seeing them through the lens of the blood of Christ, number one. But number two, the only reason that that person continues to sin after salvation is because of their sinful flesh, or is their sinful flesh going to go to heaven? See this flesh right here, this skin right here, you know, this blood and flesh and bone right here, this is not going to heaven. Your bloody flesh, skin, right, these molecules aren't going. The flesh ain't going. In fact, if I were to die tonight, my body will be here for you all to see that it's not in heaven. You'll see it's here. It's with us. In case there's any doubt about whether my flesh was going to heaven, you can look at my corpse. Maybe you can identify the body for the police and say, hey, that is Steven Anderson. But you know what? My soul will be in heaven. Now eventually, eventually my body is going to be in heaven, but it's not going to be this body. It's going to be a new body, going to be a changed body. Does everybody understand that? Now let me ask you this, is the guy who's going to heaven, which is my soul that's going to go to heaven, and ultimately the new, is that guy a liar? Is that guy a drunk? Well, this guy's not even a drunkard, but I'm saying like, you know, is that guy a sinner whatsoever? The Steven Anderson that will walk into heaven is going to be 100% sinless. Because guess what? No sin is allowed in heaven, okay? If I showed up in my sinful condition, if a bunch of liars and drunks and murderers and people showed up in heaven, they'd screw it up, right? They can't go in that condition. They have to be changed. So your soul can go, right? Body's not going, right? Leave your body at the door. No, just kidding. But I'm saying, you can't come in with your body because it's a sinful, wicked body. The only body that gets to go into heaven is what kind of body? The spiritual body, the new body, the saved body, the redeemed body. Does everybody understand this? So no murderers are going to heaven. No liars are going to heaven. No thieves are going to heaven. No drunkards are going to heaven. But here's the thing. People who do those things on this earth will still go to heaven if they're saved. Through salvation, they get a redeemed soul and ultimately a redeemed body that allows them to go into heaven. Does everybody see that? I hope I've made this clear and made it simple enough that even a theologian can understand hopefully what I'm saying tonight, although that's a tall order. Okay, so that's what the Bible's teaching here. Hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. And then he's going to talk about the things that we should be doing to basically be living the righteous life that God wants us to live. To live as sons of God, to walk in the new man. It's not to hate our brother in our heart and that we... And you say... Let me back up here because I want to make sure I cover this well tonight as opposed to just making it all the way to the end of the chapter. I'd rather really make sure that we nail this down, okay? We know... Don't miss this. Verse 14. We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brother. Now what is this teaching about being born of God and how whosoever is born of God did not commit sin? What does this teaching have to do with assurance of our salvation? Okay. Well, I would point again to what the apostle Paul said in Romans 7, I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But then I have this other law in my flesh, you know, worrying my members. I delight in the law of God after the inward man. This is... We know that we've been passed... We know that we've passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He loveth not his brother abideth in death. Here's the thing about that is that we as saved Christians, if we look within, right? If we look down into the inward man, if we look into our hearts, you know what? We ought to find there a person who loves God, loves the brethren, wants to keep the commandments of God, loves righteousness, loves saved Christians. Does everybody see what I'm saying? Now if you say, well, Pastor Anderson, you know, I look in my heart and I just don't love God. I can't find it. It isn't there. Then you're not saved. Now we want to be careful that we don't misunderstand and think that, well, you know, if you don't love God, you're not saved. So if you're living a sinful life, you know, that means you're not keeping his commandments so you don't love God. So you're not saved. No, no. Don't go through that mental gymnastic process of jumping up a few steps removed like that. Think about what I'm saying. We acknowledge the fact that a person can be living outwardly a sinful life even if they're saved. Why? Because they're walking in the flesh. Because the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. But here's what I'm saying. If the spirit isn't willing, are you even saved? Because see, the saved Christian has a battle going on between the flesh and the spirit. But what if you don't have that battle going on? Then you're not saved. I mean, doesn't this make sense? If the whole point is, well, it's the new man that's without sin. It's the new man that loves God. It's the new man that delights in the law of God. It's the new man that loves the brotherhood, but our sinful flesh, man, he just has to be denied. He has to be mortified. He has to be put off. We've got to put off the old man with his deeds and put on the new man. Well, here's the thing. If you don't have the new man, you're not saved, which means that you should be able to do introspection of your own heart and say, hey, yeah, deep down I do love God. Deep down, I would like to be doing all the right things. And I wish that I would do all the right things. I do love the Lord. I do love the word of God. I do love the people of God. I do love church. If you look at your heart and that isn't there, then guess what, you're not saved. Because people that are saved have that love in their heart for God and for their neighbor both. Now, it doesn't mean that they're walking in love. It doesn't mean that that love is necessarily manifesting outwardly. It doesn't mean that that love is translating into action because if they're walking in the flesh, they're going to fulfill the lust of the flesh. Whereas if they walk in the spirit, then what's on the inside is going to shine forth. So here's the thing. We could go to the dimmest, lamest church in Phoenix. If they're actually saved though, the pilot light is on. They're not necessarily going to be able to bake bread in their oven, but the pilot light's on. So if you're saved, I think this illustration works. If you're saved, the pilot light's on. Now what you want to be is you want to be set to broil or you want to be set to 450. You want to be set to 375, depending on what you're making. But we want to be set to 350. We want to be set to 375. We want to be set to 450. We want to be set to broil for making garlic bread or whatever. But I didn't have dinner. I'm kind of hungry. Sorry. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth's peaking. But the point is that some of these churches, they're set to like 150. And it's like, how are we going to get a meal out of this thing? And the people who go there are starving because they're trying to cook with a little pilot light. But here's the bottom line. In our lives as Christians, everyone who's saved has that pilot light of the love of God, that pilot light of loving their neighbor, that pilot light of delighting in the word of God. But what we need to do is go to church, which cranks up the gas. And it's like, oh, go to church. Singing the hymns. Oh, reading my Bible. Praying. And it's like click, click, click, click. And we're turning up the gas. And we're feeding the spirit. And we're shutting the door on the old man. And we're walking in the new man. But here's the thing. If you look within your heart and the pilot light isn't there, then you're not even saved. So you should do some reflection. And if you're just like, man, I just don't give a rip about the things of God at all. I just don't care. I'm here because somebody brought me, my parents brought me, my friends brought me. But honestly, I really just care about me. I just care about making money. I just care about whatever. What else do people care about? Just having fun, being famous, being popular, having friends. That's all I care about. If you don't have this light inside you that says, hey, I want to serve God. I love God. Or man, I'm just so thankful for what Christ did for me. And I just love the Lord. I love Jesus. If that's not even on the inside, well, then you, my friend, are doomed. But obviously, you can get saved before it's eternally too late. But as it stands right now, be afraid. Be very afraid if that's you. Now, look, I'm not here to get up and try to get you to doubt your salvation because you practice lawlessness or whatever these people tell you. You make a practice of it, like you opened up a doctor's office about sinning or something. But I'm not here to make you doubt and say, oh, you're struggling with sin? And people would be like, if you're still struggling with the same sin that you struggled with 10 years ago, you're not sinning. That's stupid because guess what? I'm 41 years old. I'm not really starting new sins at this stage in life. You know, it's not like I'm looking for a new sin to get into at age 41, right? The stuff that you struggle with when you're 80 years old, you're probably not just going to take up some new sin when you're 80. It's probably going to be the same junk that you've struggled with your whole life. You know what I'm saying? Like, look, there are certain sins that we just don't do. But the certain sins that I just don't do, don't even care, not even tempted by are different than the sins that you don't care about, don't do, not even tempted by. It's different from male to female. What's more tempting? It's different between different demographics and just different personalities. I mean, look, some people, drugs and alcohol are a big temptation for them. For me, I'm just like, get it away from me. I have no interest. Does that make me more spiritual than them? No. It's just a different temptations. Everybody's different, my friend, right? And so guess what? The stuff that you're struggling with now, 20 years from now, you're not just going to be sinless. Those are the same temptations that you're going to have to daily deny. There are people who were chain smokers, and 20 years later, they still want that cigarette again. Does that mean they're not saved? Oh, you want a cigarette? Not saved. Well, you know what? The obese person is probably still going to crave a Twinkie 30 years from now, too. You know what I'm saying? Those cravings just don't ever go away. A Twinkie sounds pretty good right now, in fact. To will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. And so the point is, you're never going to be 100% over sin. Obviously, we can have victory over sin by daily denying self, daily putting on the new man, daily turning up the gas spiritually, but you're never going to be just 100% past it. So then these guys get up and say, oh, well, if you still are dealing with that same sin, you're not saved. They're just making people doubt. But a legitimate reason to doubt your salvation would be if you just have no love for God, even in the inward man. That's a scary thing. So I hope you can understand the difference between those two things. And I hope that you're satisfied with my explanation of this chapter. I know I didn't get to the end of the chapter, but I covered all the verses that people struggle with. And so I hope that your questions are answered. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for this chapter, Lord, and for its important teachings, Lord. And obviously there are going to be those who will twist this passage to teach a sinless perfection doctrine. But Lord, we know that even if this passage didn't exist, they would just twist something else, Lord, because they're, they're wicked people that, that rest the scriptures. And Lord, we pray that you just give us understanding, open our eyes, that we would have understanding of your word, Lord, and help us every single day to win that battle against sin. Help us to take up the cross and deny self and follow you with our lives, Lord, so that we can be more and more like you as we mature as Christians. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.