My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1).
1 John 3:9
says, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin….” Some have misunderstood
this and ran off with the wrong idea that
whatever they do is right, because as Christians, they can’t sin. Yes, for the
Christian, sin isn’t compulsory, but we don’t judge righteousness by what a
Christian does; we judge righteousness by the light of Christ
and His Word.
The Bible
talks about walking in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:7). How
consistent are your actions with the rightness of God? That’s how you know
what’s right from what’s wrong. If you declare that whatever you do is right,
that makes you the standard of rightness
and of righteousness. But you’re not the standard of righteousness.
For example, we read in 1 Corinthians 2:16 that “…we have the mind of
Christ”; this doesn’t mean every thought of your heart, therefore, is always
right. Yes, we have the rightness of God, but He tells us in Romans 12:2, “Be
not conformed to this world, but be transfigured by the renewing of your mind.”
Even though you’re born again, your mind still needs to be renewed.
Let’s look
at our theme verse again; it says, “My little children, these things write I
unto you, that ye sin not….” If it weren’t possible for you to sin, He wouldn’t
have said “I’m writing this to you so that you don’t
sin.” But at the same time, He lets you know sin isn’t compulsory; you don’t
have to sin. That’s the reason for the very next statement: “If any man sin”;
instead of “When any man sins.” He creates a balance.
Don’t go
from one extreme of “Sin is compulsory as long as we’re in this flesh” to the
other extreme of “Whatever I do is right”; no! Your actions, thoughts,
behaviour, responses, and reactions must be consistent with the Word of God,
with the righteousness of Christ,
for He is the standard of righteousness. Hallelujah!
PRAYER
Dear Father,
I thank you for your grace and the power of your righteousness at work in me! I
live free from sin and sin consciousness, producing fruits of righteousness and
good works, manifesting the love of Christ today and always, in Jesus’ Name.
Amen.
FURTHER
STUDY:
Romans 6:1-2; 1 John 2:29 AMPC; 2 Corinthians 5:21
1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Acts 18:1-23 & Job 9-11
2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Galatians 1:1-9 &
Isaiah 26
The Rhapsody of realities is a daily devotional
by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy
International designed to enhance your spiritual growth and development and help
you experience a constant refreshing through Gods word by means of study,
meditation and confession.
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