1 John 2:28 appears to be the theme verse of this letter. If we abide in Christ, then we will be able to boldly stand before Him with confidence when He returns rather than feeling the need to shrink away in shame. As believers, we are all saved and have eternal life. But we will all stand before Jesus and give an account of how we have lived for Him. If we abide in Him, then we will be able to stand confidently before Him. If, however, we do not abide in Him, then John tells us we face the real possibility when Jesus returns of wanting to shrink away in shame. In no way does this passage suggest the possibility that we can ever lose our salvation! John wrote this letter to help us know how to have this confidence.

Christ is righteous—completely righteous (“God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5). Because of this, anyone we see who exhibits the true righteousness of Christ must be born again. The opposite is not necessarily true. This is not a test to determine if someone is born again nor is it a test for our own assurance of salvation. We have already seen in this letter that Christians can walk in darkness and do sin (1 John 1:6,8;2:1). But when we see someone living as Christ lived, we can know that they are born again. See, behold, marvel at the greatness of God’s love toward us that we are called children of God. That is what we are. We are God’s children because we have been born again into His family. This is a spiritual reality that is not seen by the world but we can see it in fellow believers who exhibit Christ’s righteousness. When Jesus comes again, then we will all be transformed to be like He is. Our hope in Jesus, our belief in Him, is what brings about our new birth and in that we are made pure as He is pure. At the core of every believer is a complete purity that comes from the Saviour and that purity will be fully realised when He returns.

Some bible translations refer to the “practice” or “habbit” of sinning in this last section (1 John 3:4-10) but the original language doesn’t talk about habitual or ongoing sin, it speaks only of sin. “Everyone who sins breaks the law…” is likely a more accurate translation. This passage initially appears to say that whoever sins cannot be saved. But the passage is connected to John’s previous idea that when someone exhibits the righteousness of Christ, then their born again nature is clearly seen. God is completely sinless and so no wickedness or unrighteousness can come from Him. If we are born again, then our born-again nature comes from God and that cannot produce sin. Sin only comes from ignorance and blindness of God and can never be a result of abiding in Christ. For a believer, sin should be abnormal and unnatural. But we do still struggle with sin in this life which is why 1 John 1:8, 10 remains true and 1 John 1:9 is so important. Paul said a similar thing when he spoke of his struggle with sin. He said that when he did what he did not want to do, it wasn’t him (his identity was as a child of God) but it was the sin living in him (which would only be completely removed when Christ returned) (Rom 7:20). Some people, perhaps also the false teachers’ John warned about, seem to think they are free to sin and still claim to be righteous. But don’t be deceived. Sin only comes from the devil and must never be seen to be part of our regenerate nature in Christ.

Does your sin shock you? Does it feel unnatural to you? It should. If you find any level of sin comfortable and acceptable then heed John’s reminder that no sin originate’s from God, but only from the devil and do whatever it takes to cut that out of your life. Follow the cycle of abiding, walking in the light, letting the light reveal sin, confessing that sin, and then continue your walk in fellowship with God as you grow closer every day.