Reflections with Andy - 1 John 2: 29 – 3:10 – Sin and Grace

In this Monday reflection on 1 John 2:29–3:10, a passage full of beloved verses — the Father’s lavish love in calling us his children, the funeral liturgy promise that when he is revealed we will be like him, and the declaration that the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil — John also presents an apparent tension: if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, yet those born of God cannot sin. The resolution isn’t that Christians achieve sinless perfection, but that the children of God are never content in sin — we give the Spirit room to convict us, we confess, we receive forgiveness, and we keep moving forward. The honest pastoral word is that we often struggle with the same sins repeatedly, and that’s frustrating. But God’s grace is not limited by our failures. Using the image of a rope being cut and knotted back together each time we are forgiven, the reflection pictures grace as the very thing that draws us progressively closer to God — so that even in our stumbling, he is pulling us nearer.

Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he’ll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God’s Word.

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Good morning! Great to be with you on this Monday. Hope you had a wonderful weekend and are looking forward to a good week.

Today we’re picking up in First John at what is technically the end of chapter 2, rolling into chapter 3 — one of those places where the natural flow of the passage doesn’t quite line up with the chapter break. And that’s a good reminder that chapters and verses are a fairly modern invention — modern meaning medieval. When Scripture was originally written, none of those divisions existed. They were added later to make studying easier. That’s why you sometimes get passages that feel like they belong in a different chapter — like 1 Corinthians 13, which to me has always felt like it should just be part of chapter 12. “And now I will show you a more excellent way” — that’s clearly setting something up, and it flows naturally right into the love chapter. Anyway. Today we’re starting at chapter 2, verse 29, and reading through chapter 3, verse 10:

“If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who does right has been born of him. See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them; they cannot sin because they have been born of God. The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.”

There is a lot in this passage. Let me start with the things that just get me every time.

“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God — and that is what we are.” There’s a Steven Curtis Chapman song called “Speechless” that I love deeply, and it quotes almost that exact verse — oh, how great is the love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called the sons and daughters of God. Every time I read this passage, those lyrics just rise right up. That’s the only appropriate response. Speechless.

And then verse 2: “What we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.” That passage is part of the United Methodist committal liturgy — the words we say at gravesides. I’ve said those verses hundreds of times over the years of ministry, and they never get old. We are children of God now. What we will fully become hasn’t been shown to us yet. But we know this — when we see him, we will be like him. What a hope.

And verse 8 — “The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil.” I love that. Jesus came to destroy evil. To dismantle it. To bring forth the Kingdom of God. Evil will not have the last word, because of the work of Jesus.

Now — here’s the tension in this passage that’s worth sitting with. Back in chapter 1, John said if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. But here in chapter 3 he says those who have been born of God do not sin — they cannot sin, because they have been born of God. So which is it?

This is actually where it fits together, and I think it connects well to what we’ve been talking about all along. John isn’t saying that a child of God will achieve some state of sinless perfection where they never mess up again. He’s talking about the posture of our hearts. Christians should never be content in sin. We should never be comfortable just staying in the places where we know we’ve drifted from God. We give the Spirit room to convict us — and when he does, we confess, we receive forgiveness, and we move forward.

Here’s what’s honest though: we often keep struggling with the same things. That’s frustrating, isn’t it? We take something to the altar, we confess it, we receive forgiveness, we mean it with everything in us — and then we find ourselves struggling with the very same thing again. How many times did Jesus say to forgive? Not seven times — seventy times seven. And if that’s the standard for us forgiving each other, imagine the grace God extends toward us.

See how great is the love the Father has lavished upon us. God’s grace is not limited by your sin. His love has no ceiling.

I’ve heard it described this way: God gives us a little bit of rope, and every time he meets us in our sin and forgives us, he cuts the rope and ties it back together. Cuts it, ties it together. Cuts it, ties it together. And what’s actually happening is that every time sin is confessed and forgiven, the knot brings us a little closer. The rope gets shorter. We are drawn nearer. That’s what grace does — even in our sin, even in our falling and getting back up, God is pulling us closer and closer to himself.

So it’s not about snapping our fingers and becoming perfect. It’s about walking each day through God’s grace, giving the Spirit room to show us where we’ve drifted, and then receiving the forgiveness that was promised back in chapter 1. That’s the rhythm. That’s how it all works together.

You are so loved, friends. I hope you know that today. Have a great day, and I’ll see you tomorrow!