“Sin creates the greatest division between God and me.”
He nodded his head in agreement and revealed his spiritual bomb.
“If this is true, how can you have the closest possible relationship with God if you constantly believe you are a sinner?” He smiled, casually turned around, and took a few steps to give me time to think.
Wow! That’s a tough one!
I settled back in my chair with moderate confusion. My previous answers seemed obvious, but his current question could not be dismissed with such ease.
Was this really true? Was my continual belief that I was a sinner hindering my relationship with God?
He definitely had my attention and began reading from his Bible before I could answer.
“I John 3:1—How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” He closed the book in his hand.
“Are the children of God, sinners?” He paused for a moment, then continued, “Was Jesus, the Son of God, a child of God?” He opened the book to the exact page and read.
“I John 3:2-3—Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”
Once again, he looked directly at me with his question, “Do you have the hope of God in you?”
I answered with mild belief, “I think so?”
He replied with another question, “Of what hope is he speaking?”
“I’m not sure.” I was struggling with my thoughts.
“Are you as pure as Jesus?” The seriousness of his countenance never changed.
“That’s a hard one to get a hold of, Joshua!” I took a deep breath while I watched inherent love return with his smile.
“No doubt, it is very difficult to think of yourself as being pure like Jesus, but I want you to realize that he says you are.” He walked to the whiteboard and began speaking from memory, as he wrote.
“1 John 3:4-6—Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”
We each took another cookie before he returned to his teachings.
“Let’s look at these verses, line by line.
“Verse 4: Sin is breaking the law. Sin is lawlessness.
“Agreed?”
“Agreed!” I said and reached for my glass.
“Verse 5: Jesus appeared to take away sin.
“Are you with me?”
“Yep.”
“Now, the hard one.
“Verse 6: No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.”
I replied in contemplation, “Really? It says that doesn’t it.”
He smiled at my enlightenment, stating, “And finally it ends with the second half of verse six which says that if you continue to sin, you have not seen him or known him.
“Remember, as a Christian, you are to believe that Jesus lives in you, and you live in him. If he lives in you, I think that would surely classify as knowing him. But here it tells us that no one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”
Questions poured from his thoughts while my mind did its best to keep up.
“Do you continue to sin? Yes? Have you never seen him or known him? Maybe? You might even be thinking, ‘Yes, I have known God?’ Tough questions! Are you confused? Are you deceived?” He looked directly at me with a smile on his face and grace in his heart as I nodded in silent agreement.
“Okay, then let’s start at the beginning. What is sin?”
It seemed like an easy question, but I did not have a precise answer. Fortunately for me, he continued before I could speak. He set his glass down and pointed to the board with explanation.
“1 John 3:4—Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
“Sin, which is breaking the law, is also known as, ‘transgression’ of the law.”
The statement, Transgressing the line of the law = Crossing the line of God’s law = Sin, appeared on the whiteboard.
He recited God’s word as his marker worked feverously.
“Ephesians 2:1-2—As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
“Remember, God is not talking to Adam in this verse, he is talking to the people of the disciple John’s time and also to you. God was not speaking about the, ‘You must not eat from the tree,’ law, which he had given to Adam. He was addressing a different law. This other law was the one he gave to Moses as the leader of God’s people in the desert. It was the law under which the Jewish Nation was living at that time. God refers to this law as “the Law” throughout the Bible.”
I interrupted, “What is the Law?”
Tilting his head slightly, he replied with a smile, “You are learning.” He began speaking with new found enthusiasm.
“The first law of God, which he gave to Adam, is found in Genesis.
“Genesis 2:16-17— And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.
“Adam transgressed or crossed the line of this law when he disobeyed God and sin entered into the world. Then sin caused Adam and all mankind, including you, to be distanced from God. The sin nature is passed down through men to their children, and it creates a chasm between you and your Lord. But, because of his love for you, God tolerates living with the sin nature which is harbored in your flesh, while his Holy Spirit dwells within you. This does not mean he likes to do this or encourages your sinful actions in any way. God endures your fleshly sinful nature because by doing this, he can teach you about himself in a more effective way. God wants an intimate relationship with you more than anything and the best method he can use to teach you about righteousness is for him to live within you.”
He pointed to the board as he completed the sentence he had written.
The law of God given to Adam = Don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
“Your next step toward understanding righteousness is to realize that ‘the Law’ 1 John 3:4 is referring to is not the law God gave to Adam; it is the law he gave to Moses.
“The Law of Moses is found collectively in the first five books of the Bible including Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. All five of these books were inspired by God and written by Moses. They collectively are also known as the Pentateuch: Penta meaning, five, and teuch, which means tools or scrolls. God gave him the Law, along with the Mosaic Covenant, on Mount Sinai.” Joshua recited the next verse from memory.
“John 1:16-17—From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
He pulled a sheet of paper from between the pages of his Bible and handed it to me.
“The word ‘Bible’ comes from the Greek word ‘Biblia,’ meaning books. It is a