Hi Holland, this is perplexing to me,

3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

I don’t understand Holland. How do we keep his commandments all the time!? We can’t, scripture tells us we can’t. Scripture also says,

For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of ourselves it is the gift of God and not of works lest anyone should boast.

Huh?

And this one,

Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

what does the Bible say… the just shall live by faith? Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. You can stand on your merits or you can stand on the perfect merits of Jesus.

What I don’t understand Holland is this verse:

3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

I don’t keep all the commandments all the time. How does this verse fit in? Who doesn’t want to stand in Christ, of course! Also, it’s by grace that we are saved through faith, NOT OF WORKS, but how does that square up to 1 John 2:3? I’m confused. WE CAN’T KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS! I know this, but it says if we know Him we will keep His commandments. I know Him!! But I do not always keep His commands, (am I a liar ?) I’m a sinner saved by grace. Do you understand what I’m trying to get across Holland? I’m a little bit of something called confused!

Here is the problem with your point of view… you are focused on your sin consciousness, not Christ’s righteousness. When you are not in Christ, you are under condemnation according to Romans – you’re thoughts are consumed with your sin struggle. When you are in Christ, you are not under condemnation, but the Bible says you are the righteousness of God in Christ. You should come to our church… you’ll get the message over time.

Holland, this is not about a point of view, I’m not contending with you here, I’m just trying to figure out WHERE 1 John 2:3 fits with grace. As well as 1 John 3:9 which says: Whoever has been born of God does not sin.

It really is your point of view because you’re focused on the wrong part of the verse… you’re focused on the sin part and not the first part…. being born of God, knowing God, hearing God and then living out what He says to do. If we aren’t fully convinced that we are forgiven and made righteous and holy because of the finished work of the cross then our focus will be on our sin, not our Savior. Whatever you focus on will fill your thoughts, your mind and become your desire. If you spent your time forgetting about your sin and focused on knowing and loving God then over time your desires will change from the inside out and you will only want to do those things that please God.

That is my focus Holland, KNOWING and loving God. I want to know Him and understand Him fully. When Scripture states:Whoever has been born of God does not sin. Does that mean because when God see’s us He doesn’t see our righteousness but Jesus’s righteousness? Or, you remember the story of the man with the withered hand and Jesus said,”stick out your hand”, the guy could have said, what do you mean stick out my hand, can’t you see that I can’t? But through faith he stuck out his hand. Believing that whatever Jesus asked he gave the power to do. Scripture tells us God will not allow more temptation than we can handle, does that mean we can completely overcome sin in our lives?

I’m not focused on my sin, I am focused on God’s Word.

Two different concepts… when you are in sin, you are under condemnation. Everything you do falls short. Even your righteousness is as filthy rags. You can do no right. When you are in Christ, you are under grace. Everything you do is seen through the lens of Christ’s sacrifice. You are forgiven and all your sin is covered by the Blood of Jesus. You are righteous and holy. You can do no wrong.

Second concept… When Jesus defeated sin and death at the cross… that means he overcame all sin. He then says to us, because I overcame, you can overcome. The struggle comes at the point of faith. Am I fully convinced that Jesus’ power working in my life is strong enough to overcome or is it a mixed bag… a little Jesus and a little me… or is it all me? If you don’t believe it’s all Jesus then you won’t rest in what’s been done for you and you will doubt and struggle. That’s why Paul says God doesn’t tempt or test us more than we can handle but makes a way of escape. Jesus is the way of escape.

So the question to ask at every point of struggle is… do I believe Jesus is enough for me? Am I fully convinced that Jesus is enough? Or do I need to rely on something else? Do I need a drink to calm my nerves or is Jesus enough? Do I need a cigarette to calm my anxiety of is Jesus enough? Do I need to take a sleeping pill to help me sleep or is Jesus enough?

Hey Holland, JESUS IS ENOUGH!!!! I think God gave me the answer I was looking for this weekend. I was talking to a friend I grew up with in church and she has gone new age. Although she claims to know God I can’t really pin down who God is with her. Is it the universe, you, me, she can never really answer the question. When talking about sin she asked, who’s rules do we follow, yours, mine, or the gay couple that sits next to me a church? I said, God’s Word, we are to follow God’s Word! She replied that God’s Word was no longer accurate, she also from what I understand (very confusing) that we do not sin, we only act out all the garbage we were raised with, once we get rid of that we are free to accept who we are.

1 John 1:8
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1 John 2:4
4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

I think I got it now!!!

whew…

LOL! Thanks Holland. I love you man.

This is excellent!

Two different concepts… when you are in sin, you are under condemnation. Everything you do falls short. Even your righteousness is as filthy rags. You can do no right. When you are in Christ, you are under grace. Everything you do is seen through the lens of Christ’s sacrifice. You are forgiven and all your sin is covered by the Blood of Jesus. You are righteous and holy. You can do no wrong.
Second concept… When Jesus defeated sin and death at the cross… that means he overcame all sin. He then says to us, because I overcame, you can overcome. The struggle comes at the point of faith. Am I fully convinced that Jesus’ power working in my life is strong enough to overcome or is it a mixed bag… a little Jesus and a little me… or is it all me? If you don’t believe it’s all Jesus then you won’t rest in what’s been done for you and you will doubt and struggle. That’s why Paul says God doesn’t tempt or test us more than we can handle but makes a way of escape. Jesus is the way of escape.