You might be surprised to hear the real reason Christ appeared.
1 John 3:7-10 (ESV)
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
Listen to passage & devotional:
Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 24: The Sanctification of Sinners
We believe that this true faith,
produced in man by the hearing of God’s Word
and by the work of the Holy Spirit,
regenerates him and makes him a “new man,”
causing him to live the “new life”
and freeing him from the slavery of sin.
Therefore,
far from making people cold
toward living in a pious and holy way,
this justifying faith,
quite to the contrary,
so works within them that
apart from it
they will never do a thing out of love for God
but only out of love for themselves
and fear of being condemned.
So then, it is impossible
for this holy faith to be unfruitful in a human being,
seeing that we do not speak of an empty faith
but of what Scripture calls
“faith working through love,”
which leads a man to do by himself
the works that God has commanded
in his Word.
Summary
You've likely heard the saying that 'you are what you eat.' Although there's always that one person who seems to maintain excellent physical fitness despite consuming the unhealthiest of fare, most of the rest of us sooner or later begin to resemble the dietary choices we make.
There's a even stronger correlation between your spiritual beliefs and your actions. We've seen often these last few months that there are only two types of people: those who remain in Adam, and those who have been brought to new life in Christ. Consequently, people's actions indicate their spiritual status. John writes, "Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he [Christ] is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil" (v7b-8a).
John is speaking in very general terms here. Just as some teenage boys can consume a dozen donuts and wash it down with a pint of ice cream without gaining a pound - a phenomenon that seems to defy logic and biology - many people often seem outwardly righteous, but yet remain completely disconnected from Christ.
Neither is John claiming here that one who is in Christ has attained perfection and is totally without sin. The ESV renders it well in v9, in that "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God."
In other words, you'll still occasionally trip over sins, but as one who is in Christ (or as the text puts it, one in whom "God's seed abides") you don't "make a practice of sinning." When your sin becomes evident, you quickly repent of it.
Dig Deeper
It's easy to miss in this passage. The gist of this text is to illustrate that your core spiritual status is often very evident in how you act. You either "practice righteousness" because "God's seed abides in you," or you "make a practice of sinning," because you're "of the devil."
But right there in the middle of this passage (which makes sense if you're familiar with John's writing style), John explains in no uncertain terms why Jesus came. Most people would say that Jesus came to demonstrate what true love is, or to provide an example of how to live righteously; Jesus certainly did that, but it's not the primary purpose he came.
"The reason the Son of God appeared," John explains, "was to destroy the works of the devil."
Jesus hates sin. He paid dearly to free you from it. Be sure to make it evident to everyone, including yourself, that you abide in Christ by hating sin also. It's always easiest to hate the sins in others, but be sure to begin and keep your focus on hating it in yourself first, and putting it to death whenever you see it gaining steam.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father God, whose children practice righteousness;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'll hate sin as Jesus does, and for the strength to "destroy the work of the devil" whenever you see that work seeping into your actions;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Luke 20
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