|
"We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him."
(1 John 5:18)
I thoroughly enjoyed studying and teaching the epistle of 1 John. What a blessing it was to dive deep into the Word of God and hear from one of God's finest servants, the Apostle John. He was a man sold out to Christ, someone that God used powerfully in pastoring and writing much of the New Testament we cherish.
Notice 3 powerful truths with me in verse 18:
- We have victory over sin.
- We are kept by the power of Jesus.
- We have victory over Satan.
We have victory over sin.
"We know" (oida) and "whoever is born" (gennao) are perfect tense verbs in the Greek text. The perfect tense points to a past event that has current and future impact. Jesus saved us at a point in time, and we are saved now and will be forever. Notice what John says next: "does not sin." This is in the present tense, like 1 John 3:9, which can be translated, "cannot live in continual sin." The person who is born from above, who has the Holy Spirit of God living within him, cannot live a habitual, continual life of sin. "It expresses the truth, not that he cannot ever slip into acts of sin, but rather that he does not persist in it habitually or 'live in sin' (Dodd). The new birth results in new behavior. Sin and the child or God are incompatible. They may occasionally meet; they cannot live together in harmony." (John Stott, The Epistles of John, p. 192)
We are kept by the power of Jesus.
There are two ways to interpret verse 18b: the person who has been born again keeps himself, as some translations have it, or Jesus keeps the person. The Bible does teach us who are Christians to keep or guard ourselves. For example in 2 Timothy 5:22, Paul tells Timothy to "keep yourself pure." Also, in James 1:27 the Bible says, "to keep oneself unspotted from the world."
But I lean more to the NLT translation which reads, "We know that God's children do not make a practice of sinning, for God's Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them." The New English Bible reads, "It is the Son of God who keeps him safe."
The word keep is tareo and it means to guard, hold fast, preserve, and watch. What a blessed and sublime thought: the Son of God keeps me from living a life of sin. God literally keeps and protects us. Praise His name! When we begin to do something we should not, God lets us know it, and we turn away from the sin we are tempted to commit. The person who says he is a Christian and lives in continual sin with no remorse or conviction by God is simply not a Christian. He has had a false conversion.
More from 1 John 5:18 in tomorrow's devotion. But for today, take a moment to pray to God and thank Him for your salvation. Praise Him for saving and keeping you!
|
Apple
Spotify
Deezer
YouTube
