I John 3-5

Dear one… Stop it!

Ok. Everybody knows who the most loved apostle was: John. He’s the writer of love. He stalks about love more in his 3 little letters than all of Paul’s epistles. So I’m reading through the love letter that is I John and its keeps hitting me: This guy has a subject he’s not really all that loving about. He comes back to it again and again. In the middle of all these mushy labels like Dear ones, My little children, and Beloved, John wacks the reader up side the head with a simple command:

Stop it!

I’ll give you three guesses about what he wants us to stop… and the first two don’t count.

Sin.

John is really focused on getting you and me to face the fact that sin is a serious problem we need to address. Over and over he says “You must not sin.” Look at all of these challenges he packs into just 4 verses! (3:6-10)

No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.
No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
He who does what is sinful is of the devil…
No one who is born of God will continue to sin…
Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God…

This guy is serious and passionate about this. Now, you need to know he has already said it’s impossible to completely quit sinning. He explained in the first chapter of his letter that anyone who claims to be sinless is nuts or a liar.

But don’t let that take you off the hook. John thinks we need to set our sights on living without sin… even if we can’t fully do it. We ought to think of sin as an affront to God, a slap in Christ’s face, as spitting on the Holy Spirit.

Sin is a big deal! Even with the grace and love of God surrounding us, John brings it down with the big hammer:

STOP IT! JUST STOP SINNING!

So, there’s your challenge for the day… straight from the most loving of all the apostles!


Jeff Walling
May 16