The Family Resemblance
Introduction: The Lost Dictionary
We live in an age that has deliberately misplaced the dictionary. When it comes to the most important words, words like good and evil, righteousness and sin, our generation has decided that a firm definition is an act of intolerance. Sin is now a therapeutic problem, a mistake, a poor choice given your circumstances, or perhaps just your personal truth. It is anything and everything except what God says it is. And because we have abandoned God's definition of the problem, we have necessarily abandoned His solution. A vague diagnosis will always lead to a useless cure.
The world wants a Jesus who is a life coach, not a Savior. They want a gospel that is a self-help program, not a declaration of war. But the apostle John will not allow us this kind of sentimental mush. He writes with a soldier's clarity from the front lines. He is not interested in our feelings about sin. He is interested in God's declaration about it. He gives us the objective, unchangeable, and absolutely foundational definition of sin, and in so doing, he draws a line in the sand. On one side are the children of God, and on the other, the children of the devil. And the dividing line is not a secret feeling or a past decision, but a present and observable reality: do you practice righteousness or do you practice sin?
This passage is a bucket of ice water for a sleepy church. It is a field manual for Christian living. It tells us what sin is, why Jesus came, what the new birth does, and how to tell who is who. If we are to have any clarity in these confused times, we must recover God's dictionary, and John gives it to us right here.
The Text
Everyone who does sin also does lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or has come to know Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. The one who does sin is of the devil, because the devil sins from the beginning. The Son of God was manifested for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifested: everyone who does not do righteousness is not of God, as well as the one who does not love his brother.
(1 John 3:4-10 LSB)
The Definition of the Disease (v. 4)
John begins by giving us God's authoritative definition of sin. This is the bedrock of everything that follows.
"Everyone who does sin also does lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness." (1 John 3:4)
The Greek word for lawlessness is anomia. It literally means "no-law." Sin is not merely the breaking of a rule, like a cosmic traffic violation. It is the rejection of the Lawgiver. It is the declaration of autonomy. It is looking God in the face and saying, "I will not have you rule over me. I am my own law. I am my own god." Every sin, no matter how small it seems to us, is an act of cosmic treason. It is an attempt to dethrone God and enthrone the self.
This definition clears away all the fog. Sin is not a sickness; it is a rebellion. It is not a weakness; it is a willful defiance. It is not a mistake; it is an assault on the character and authority of God Himself. Until we understand the definition of the disease, we will never appreciate the radical nature of the cure.
The Purpose of the Cure (v. 5, 8)
Having defined the problem, John immediately declares the purpose of Christ's coming. Jesus came to deal with this lawlessness in a decisive, two-fold way.
"And you know that He was manifested in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin... The Son of God was manifested for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil." (1 John 3:5, 8b)
First, He was manifested to "take away sins." This points to His priestly work on the cross. He came to deal with the guilt of our lawlessness. He, the sinless one, the perfect law-keeper, stood in the place of us law-breakers and took the penalty that our treason deserved. This is substitutionary atonement. He removes the record of debt that stood against us.
But that is not all. Second, He was manifested to "destroy the works of the devil." This points to His kingly work. Christ's mission was not just a rescue operation; it was an invasion. It was D-Day for the devil's occupied territory. The "works of the devil" are lawlessness, rebellion, death, and deceit. Christ came to dismantle and destroy the devil's entire program, beginning with the power of sin in the hearts of His people. The cross dealt with the penalty of sin, and the resurrection unleashed the power to break sin's dominion.
The Consequence of the New Birth (v. 6, 9)
Because Christ's work is so decisive, it has a radical effect on those who belong to Him. John now makes some of the most startling statements in all of Scripture.
"No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or has come to know Him... Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God." (1 John 3:6, 9)
Now, we must handle this carefully. John is not teaching a doctrine of sinless perfectionism. In this very same letter, he tells us that "if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves" (1 John 1:8). So what does he mean? He is talking about the settled pattern and principle of a life. The verbs for "sins" here in the Greek imply a continuous, habitual practice. The person who is born of God does not and cannot live a life characterized by lawlessness.
Why? John gives the reason: "because His seed abides in him." When you are born again, God plants a new principle of life within you. The Holy Spirit takes up residence. This "seed" creates a new nature, and this new nature is fundamentally and permanently opposed to sin. A sheep can fall into the mud, but it will not wallow there. A pig wallows because it is its nature. The Christian cannot make peace with sin because he has a new nature that is at war with it. The very conflict you feel with your sin is the evidence that God's seed is in you. The new man "cannot sin" in the sense that it is contrary to his very nature to do so, just as it is contrary to the nature of a bird to burrow in the ground.
The Unmistakable Family Traits (v. 7, 10)
John concludes this section with a pastoral warning and a clear, objective test. This is how you tell the families apart.
"Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous... By this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifested: everyone who does not do righteousness is not of God, as well as the one who does not love his brother." (1 John 3:7, 10)
The great deception, then and now, is that you can be a child of God while living like a child of the devil. John says this is impossible. Children bear a family resemblance. If you are a child of God, you will begin to look like your Father and your elder Brother, Jesus Christ. What does He look like? He is righteous. Therefore, the one who practices righteousness shows that he is righteous. He is not righteous because he practices righteousness; he practices righteousness because he has been made righteous in Christ.
The test is manifest, meaning it is visible, public, and obvious. It is not a secret internal feeling. It is a life of doing. There are two great marks of a true child of God: a commitment to righteousness (God's law) and a love for the brethren (God's people). A person who does not practice righteousness and does not love his brother is, whatever he may claim, "not of God." The family resemblance is simply not there. He is showing the traits of the other father, the devil, whose native tongue is lies and whose foundational work is lawlessness.
Conclusion
So what is the takeaway for us? This passage is both a great comfort and a sharp warning. The comfort is for the true believer who is in the thick of the fight against sin. The fact that you are fighting, the fact that you hate your sin, the fact that you cannot make peace with it, is the proof that God's seed is in you. Christ has come not only to forgive your lawlessness but to destroy its power in you. Do not despair in the battle; your King has already won the war.
The warning is for the one who professes Christ but lives comfortably with lawlessness. It is for the one who claims to be a Christian but has no love for the brethren. John's words are a loving plea: "let no one deceive you." Do not mistake your church attendance or your religious vocabulary for the new birth. The new birth is a radical, nature-altering event that always, without exception, produces a new life of righteousness. The test is not what you say you believe, but how you live. The children of God and the children of the devil are made manifest. The question is, which family do you resemble?