I love how the book of Ezekiel ends. We have a description of the new temple, the new city and the new people, all demonstrating God's holiness. And the final words.... "And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE." Ezekiel 48:35b
The Lord is there. The very presence of God is what is going to make His eternal kingdom so amazing. That is what we have to look forward to as children of God - being able to experience the presence of our Father, Messiah, Redeemer, Friend. Experiencing relationship with God with absolutely no hindrance of even the slightest hint of sin. It will be perfect relationship!
In the meantime though, we do need to continue to struggle against our tendency to sin. There should, however, be a distinct difference in the way we live our lives as Christians.
1 John 3:4-10 (NIV)
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:4-10 (ERV)
Anyone who sins breaks God’s law. Yes, sinning is the same as living against God’s law. You know that Christ came to take away people’s sins. There is no sin in Christ. So whoever lives in Christ does not continue to sin. If they continue to sin, they have never really understood Christ and have never known him.
Dear children, don’t let anyone lead you into the wrong way. Christ always did what was right. So to be good like Christ, you must do what is right. The devil has been sinning since the beginning. Anyone who continues to sin belongs to the devil. The Son of God came for this: to destroy the devil’s work.
Those who are God’s children do not continue to sin, because the new life God gave them stays in them. They cannot keep sinning, because they have become children of God. So we can see who God’s children are and who the devil’s children are. These are the ones who are not God’s children: those who don’t do what is right and those who do not love their brothers and sisters in God’s family.
Simply put, Christian are incompatible with sin (continually practicing sin). I love how John MacArthur points out that John gives three arguments based on the Trinity.
First - Father God:
it is absolutely inconceivable that a Christian would practice sin which is lawlessness which is rebellion against the Law of God when they have come under the Law of God, seen that the Law is holy, just and good, confessed their sins and come to love the Law of God and obey it...So when God transforms a soul, defiance is replaced by compliance. Rebellion is replaced by submission. Lawlessness is replaced by obedience. Hate for God's Law is replaced by love for God's Law. And so the argument that we already studied, we're not going to go back over it again, is the simple argument that we cannot continue in an unbroken pattern of sin because we have a new relationship to the Law of God. We love it, we submit to it, we don't rebel against it, we don't despise it....
Second - God the Son, Jesus Christ:
Jesus Christ came to take away our sins. We became joined to Him, the Righteous One, and He defeated the work of Satan. He didn't save us just so we could keep on sinning at the same rate we did before. He saved us so we could be delivered from sin and pursue righteousness. John is really black and white here. He says that no one who continues to practice sin is saved. If someone is living contrary to God's Word (and, if claiming to be a Christian, does not repent after being confronted in love) then that person is, quite simply, not a Christian at all. Because Christians desire to act like Christ. We are not perfect, but we are in progress.
Third - God the Holy Spirit:
The Holy Spirit is the One who produces this new birth in our lives. We are reborn by the power of the Holy Spirit, not by our own power. When we truly become saved, we are a new creation - the old has gone, the new has come, and we will be forever different. And that powerful Word does not fade away.
And so, it should be obvious whether or not someone is a Christian or not, because of the way they live their lives.
Sin is incompatible with the believer because it is incompatible with the Word of God, incompatible with the work of Christ and incompatible with the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Tomorrow's passage: Ezra 1-2, 1 John 4
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