By James H. Cagle
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2: 1 KJV).
The general epistle of first John is a letter written specifically to the believers; the family of God.
John’s purpose for writing was to encourage the Christians not to sin. John was concerned about the believer’s morals and holiness, which is much different from our modern churches and modern preachers that are concerned about the believer’s morale and happiness.
Sin is a reality that the lost as well as the saved must deal with. Sin becomes a reality when one makes the choice to transgress God’s law (1 Jn. 3: 4). The lost make this choice habitually and the saved occasionally.
The fact that John encourages the Christian not to sin reveals that the Christian is capable of sinning. One does not become sinless perfect when they get saved but they will sin less as they progress in sanctification. John is here painting the attitude of the renewed soul toward sin, and the effect of God’s grace is a revulsion toward sin. Its desires, ambitions, tendencies, are all of them averse to sinning.
And yet in spite of all that, the Christian on occasion is led into sin by the unrenewed flesh, the influence of the world, and the direct attack of the Devil. A Christian may commit an act of sin (1 Jn. 3: 4), but he will not continuously habitually practice sin (1 Jn. 3: 9). If such a one does he is not a Christian (1 Jn. 3: 8).
For the lost person, it is a matter of “when” they sin, for sin is normal for them and it’s not a matter of “if.” But for the Christian, it is a matter of “if” as “in the event that they sin,” and not “when” as if it’s to be expected.
That is because sin is abnormal for a born-again believer. John said, “If any man (Christian) sin.” It doesn’t say when a Christian sins, as though we expect it to happen, and look for it to happen, but if, as though we do not expect it to happen and are surprised when it does happen. For the Christian, sin is an exception to the rule.
And if a Christian sins they don’t lose sonship, but, fellowship with Christ until they confess and forsake their sin, for they have an Advocate, Jesus Christ the sinless righteous One who alone intercedes for them before God the Father (1 Tim. 2: 5).
