The Test of Character 1 JOhn 3:6

The Test of Character:
Your Lifestyle Is Evidence of Your Life
1 John 3:6

Introductory Thoughts

· We have been referring, right along, to the Greek language, to help us understand many of the nuances of this book, but in this passage, you cannot understand what is being said unless you carefully analyze the tenses of the action words.
· The best English translation for this passage is the NASB, updated edition.
· The King James Version is very misleading here, partly because the translators did not properly understand the tenses at the time the KJV was translated, and partly because the English language has changed since then.
· The key to the entire passage is 3:10, which is the bottom line: “By this, the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother…”
· This passage consists of a test to determine if you are a child of God or a child (spiritually) of the Devil.
· Harsh words, but they are simple Biblical Truth!

· Biblical Context—not everyone is a child of God

· The practice of sin contradicts God’s Law, and by implication, the Lawgiver— “…Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness …” (NASB)

· The practice of sin contradicts The Savior and His Mission! “…You know that He appeared in order to take away (our) sins; and in Him there is no sin…”

1. The Simple Truth: Salvation is a Lifestyle, or it is not real—1 John 3:6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

a. Language Notes:

(1) Whoever abides in Him—“all, the one abiding (participle, present active, nominative, singular)”
(a) ALL—this applies to all of a particular class
(b) The ONE abiding—there is a singular aspect here—it applies to all, but more importantly, is applies to each ONE.
(c) Not sins—present active indicative 3 singular.
(d) First, it is singular again—this applies to each individual of a test.
(e) It is the present tense. It does not say, “anyone who at any time commits a sin.” It says, anyone who practices sin as a lifestyle.
(f) The message here is that if you are abiding in Christ, you will not live a lifestyle of sin.

(2) The contrasting statement—“… Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him …”

(a) All—same as above, all of a class
(b) The class—a parallel word—the one practicing sin—participle, present nominative singular—again, it focuses on the acts of each individual.
(c) has not seen—not, has seen—“has seen” is a perfect tense. The perfect tense refers to an action which has taken place in the past, which has reached a culmination, and the effects of which continue. Since this is a negated statement (not) what this means is that the one who practices sin has not ever seen Christ—what a statement on the doctrine of perseverance—the one who practices sin as a lifestyle has never seen Christ!
(d) Nor has known—nor (ïšäc), an intensive word—and the word for “known” is also perfect tense, with the same effect. The one who practices sin has never at any time known Christ, and He has not known them.

Mat 7:21-23 ""Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"


(e) “hoti oudepote egnon humas” That I never, at any time (aorist tense) knew (by experience, by personal relationship, by acquaintance) you.

b. The bottom line—Those who abide in Christ (that is, those who are saved!) do not practice a lifestyle of sin—those who do practice a lifestyle of sin are not in Christ and have never been in Christ.

c. How this contrasts with the theology of so many in our supposedly Bible-believing churches today!

(1) Many believe in “term” Hell insurance from the Jesus Christ mutual Fire Insurance and guaranteed Heavenly travel company.

(2) It is common for people to think of themselves or their loved ones, who show no evidence of true salvation, as “saved but backslidden.” There is no way to reconcile that belief with this scripture.

(3) What says the rest of the Bible? As we will see, the ONLY form of salvation taught in the Bible is one that changes lives

(4) In the Bible, a changed life and a consistent lifestyle is NOT OPTIONAL

2. Sanctification in the Gospels

a. The Sermon on the Mount—dominated by the moral imperative for believers. I.e., members of the Kingdom have kingdom responsibilities as well as rights—

(1) Mat 5:17-20 ""Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."

(2) Mat 5:48 "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

(3) Mat 7:24 ""Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:"

b. The call to take up the cross.

(1) Mat 16:24 "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
(2) Mark 10:21 "Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me."
(3) Luke 9:23 "And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."


c. John—

(1) John 10:27 ""My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."
(2) John 14:15 ""If you love Me, keep My commandments."

3. Sanctification in the Letters of Paul

a. Romans

(1) That we have power over sin, not the other way around. Rom 6:6-14
(2) Rom 8:5-13 "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors; not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."


(3) To present ourselves to God as a sacrifice of service. Rom 12:1-2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

b. The Other Letters of Paul

(1) To Glorify God in our lives 1 Cor 6:9-20
(2) To Discipline our bodies—1 Cor 9:24-27 "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."

(3) To not fellowship closely with unbelievers—2 Cor 6:14 "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?"

(4) Walk in the Spirit—Gal 5:16 "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh….22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."



(5) The practical side—Eph 4:17-32, Eph 5:1-8, Phil 3:16-20

1 Th 4:1-5 "Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; 2 for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;"

(6) The earthly good of being heavenly minded—Col 3:1-10

Heb 12:1-2 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

2 Tim 2:19 "Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.""

4. Sanctification in the Other New Testament Writings

James 1:22-27 "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."

James 4:7-8 "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

1 Pet 1:13 "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;"
1 Pet 2:9-11 "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. 11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,"

1 Pet 2:21-24 "For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: 22 "Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth"; 23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed."

1 Pet 3:11 "Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it."

1 Pet 4:1 "Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,"

1 Pet 5:8-9 "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world."

1 John 2:3-6 "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."

Rev 22:12-15 ""And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." 14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie."