Our practice

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 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. – 1 John 3.4-9

This can be a difficult passage to grasp. It seems to say on a quick reading that anyone who sins at all doesn’t know God despite the fact that earlier we read that if anyone says he does not sin he is a liar. How can these to statements match up?

I think the key phrase here is ‘he who practices righteousness is righteous.’ The passage is talking about what we practice as a way of life. Christians are still going to battle sin. It is always going to be an issue for us.

‘He who practices righteousness is righteous.’ The Christian will have righteousness as his practice and his way of life. He will not be perfect and sinless sin will not be his way or his normal practice. The child of God cannot live a life of sin because his practice will be righteous. Christ took away our sin. Sins will be the exception in our lives. They will be abhorrent. They will cause us to stop and pray and ask God for help in putting them away. We will cast them off. They won’t be our way.

The world practices sin. We practice righteousness.

There will be a difference.