As the Holy Scriptures proclaim relentlessly, the New Covenant Church is a spiritual Israelite institution and all who would be a part of it must become spiritual Israelites by obeying the God of the Israelites which entails living according to His Ten Commandment Law, including commandment #4.

We must remember from Whom the New Testament writers receive their Truth–the number one Law keeper of all time who was in His previous life called the Word (Jn.1:1-4,14), Who was the God of the Old Testament Who wrote the Ten Commandments in stone and gave them to all who would join Him in His Father’s earthly kingdom for eternity.   This is the God who, through His prophet, wrote His definition of a true saint in Second Chronicles 16:9: “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him.”  What constitutes perfection in God’s eyes?  Sinlessness.  What is God’s definition of sin?  The transgression of the Law.  Whose heart is perfect toward the Lord?  HE WHO OBEYS HIS LAW.  Recall that the God of the Old Testament (the Rock–Jesus Christ) said this about the Israelites and the mixed multitude of Gentiles whom He freed from Egyptian slavery: “One Law shall govern both Israelites and Gentiles.”  Nothing has changed.  Read Who and Where is Israel Today?  Key word–Where.  Now let us turn to First John chapter three to study what “the disciple whom Jesus loved” says about those who obey God’s Law, and of equal importance, about those who refuse to do so–all of whom are in the church (2:1).

The first ten verses of First John chapter three brings to light the stark difference between true Christians and counterfeit Christians, all of whom call themselves God’s children.  We will discuss these verses in order of their presentation.

Verse one: All in the church are CALLED “sons of God” who are unknown as such to the world which does not know God, which includes those of the worldly church.  Read about the ten virgins (church members) in the church, five of whom were unknown to be counterfeit by the other five until the return of the Bridegroom (Mat. 25).

Verse two: Again, all in the church are called “sons of God.”  True sons do not now visually appear as we will appear when Jesus returns to resurrect those who are “in Him” and call them to join Him and His angels in the air.  At that time those from Abel to that moment who had walked in holiness (in Him) will be born again, meaning to be changed from physical to spiritual bodily composition, just as the resurrected Jesus was before ascending to the Father.  The mass rebirth of the Very Elect is recorded in First Thessalonians 4:13-17.  Read that passage along with The First Resurrection.  Key word–First.

Verse three: Those who have been converted have the HOPE of salvation which will be awarded those who hold onto that hope throughout their post-conversion lives.  Those who do so “… until the end shall be saved” (Mat. 10:22) at the return of Christ.  Read Hope and Salvation.  Key word–Hope.  Note that those who have such hope keep themselves pure, “EVEN AS HE (CHRIST) IS PURE.”  We must be like the Israelite Jesus.  How do we purify ourselves and stay purified?  “by the washing by the water of the WORD/LAW/GOSPEL/TRUTH OF GOD (Eph. 5:26).  A dirty glass is cleansed by a continuous flow of water coming into it.  It will remain clean as long as the water continues to flow.  A soul is cleansed by the continuous flow of God’s Word into it, IF that soul believes and obeys that Word.  Note the word “even” relative to the purity of Christ.  “Even” denotes complete likeness.  Note the word “even” in Revelation 3:21.  Here Christ tells us that we must overcome Satan’s temptations to sin EVEN as He did.  We must EARN the right to sit with Him on His throne.  Note that He had to earn the right to assume that throne by obeying the Law.

Verse four: Here we are reminded of the Lord’s exact definition of perfection and sin.  If breaking the Law is sin; obeying it is perfection (the absence of sin)–the end result of which is eternal life (Rom. 5:21; 6:22).

Verses five and six:  Here we find a life and death lesson that is normally misunderstood.  The problem lies in the expression “IN HIM,” meaning in Christ.  Professing Christendom believes that this means to have taken Jesus as one’s Savior.  This is a Satanic lie.  A man can take a woman as his wife, then cheat on her.  To take Jesus as one’s Savior then continue to sin is committing spiritual adultery, as do all those who claim to be sinners saved by grace.  There is no such thing as a saved sinner.

Jesus died to remove sin from our past lives (Rom. 3:25).  This act is Biblically known as JUSTIFICATION which is awarded solely by God’s grace.  Not so concerning salvation, which the church refutes.  Christ’s death makes available to the convert the Holy Spirit which is God’s power the convert must use to ward off Satan’s “fiery darts” of temptation and thereby REMAIN free of sin.   Read The Message of the Cross.  Key word–Message.  In order to remain “IN HIM” (Christ) we must resist Satan’s temptations by the power from the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Why?  Because “IN HIM THERE IS NO SIN.”  This proves that ONE CANNOT BE IN CHRIST AND REMAIN A SINNER, NOT EVEN A PART-TIME SINNER AS SINNERS SAVED BY GRACE CLAIM TO BE.  Note that verse six makes this abundantly clear: “Whoever abides in Him does not sin.”  Those who claim to do so have not “seen Him” (learned His ways from the Scriptures) neither known Him (obeyed the Scriptures–His will).

Verse seven:  Here John warns the church about those who would preach “another Jesus” (2 Cor. 11:4), one who claims that purity, righteousness and holiness through obedience to God’s Law are not necessary for salvation.  John states that we must be like Christ by refraining from sin.  We must DO righteousness (works–obedience to His Word) in order to BE righteous as He IS righteous, which is necessary for salvation.

Verse eight through ten:  The seriousness of buying into the “sinning saint,” “Adam makes me do it” ruse is pointed out in these verses.  Here John tells us that those in the church who commit sin is being controlled by the devil.  Some say that John was not writing about the church when talking about sin.  However, he did not need to explain to those in the church the spiritual condition of those outside the church where they had been before their conversion.  What John wrote to church people applies to church people now, the vast majority of whom are counterfeit Christians.  This is what Jesus said in Matthew 7:13,14,22,23; 25:1-12.  In verse eight John reminds us that Jesus died to destroy the works (sins) of the devil IN CHURCH PEOPLE, not in those outside of the church.  His works continue as they always did in his people.  He will continue to rule his people until Christs returns to set set things straight.  Until then we must actively “resist the devil.”  If we do using the power of the Holy Spirit he will flee from us (Jam. 4:7).  Satan’s messengers will tell you it cannot be done.  Remember John’s warning in verse seven and Christ’s warning in Matthew 24:4,5.

In verses nine and ten we are told that he who is born of God (converted) does not sin–the works of Satan having been destroyed in him.  The true convert then keeps Satan out by being filled with the Word (“seed”) of God which bears holy fruit.  This person is “born (begotten) of God.”  This is not the born again experience which will take place at the return of Christ (verse 2 and 1 Thes. 4:13-17) when both the dead and the living “in Christ” will be changed from physical to spiritual bodily composition.  Read Born Again.  Key word–Again.  The expression “cannot sin” is normally dismissed due to a lack of understanding of the word “cannot.”  The conjunction comes from two Greek words:  DYNAMAI (“can”)–to have the power and ability to do something, and OU (“not”)–no, never, under no circumstance.  “Cannot sin” means that the saint can sin but refuses to do so regardless of the situation.

Verse ten tells us that the difference between sons of God and sons of Satan in the church is that one group can sin but refuses to do so while the other can sin and does so.  The latter group has ignored verse seven and follows Satan’s false prophets who tell them that they must sin due to Adam’s miracle, but that all is well because Jesus died so that they could sin and get away with it.  Incredibly, 99.99% of professing Christendom believes Satan and reject God.  UNDERSTAND THE POWER SATAN HOLDS OVER PROFESSING CHRISTENDOM.  As God commands in 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1, “COME OUT OF HER AND BE SEPARATE, DO NOT TOUCH THAT UNCLEAN THING.”  ONLY THEN WILL ONE BE ACCEPTED BY HIM.  L.J.