This week the Lord surprised me by dropping two verses in my heart just before church which I knew He was pressing me to make the center of the message for today. It was on topic to what we were going to cover, only coming from an entirely different approach.

The passages were found in 1 John 3:1-3 & Romans 2.

This placed the focus of our teaching on maintaining the hope of Jesus‘ return within our hearts which works to the purification of our souls. This is 100% in step with the direction our teachings have taken the past two weeks regarding all our expressions of hope in God needing to align with the overall Hope we have been given in Him which is Christ being formed in us.

As it is, I had no notes to teach from and so, I have very little in terms of material for this associated article. So I will place the two passages below and leave it to your curiosity and desire to learn to listen to the associated audio or video.

Key texts:

1 John 3:1-10,

“(1) (See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children – and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him.  

(2)  Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as he is.  (3)  And everyone who has this hope focused on Him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure).”  

This is something I think, and have thought for some time, is overlooked by Christians and it is a dangerous one to overlook.

Translators do us a huge injustice by failing to clearly convey meanings, tenses and nuances of words so as to do real justice to passages. This one is key.

In 1 John 3:3, the phrase “everyone who has this hope in Him” (Greek: pas ho echon) refers to a present, active, and continuous state of holding this hope, implying a maintained, living, and sustaining expectation of Christ’s return.

This hope isn’t static but active, functioning as a present influence that drives the believer to purify themselves, similar to how Christ is pure.The grammatical significance of this is profound!

The phrase uses the present active participle (echon — “having” or “holding”) which suggests an ongoing, habitual state rather than a one-time event.

This hope is not merely a passive wish; it is a present reality that actively shapes the believer’s life. It is described as a force that “excites and stimulates” followers to pursue purity in their daily lives.

The verse implies that as long as this hope is actively held (maintained) within, it will produce the fruit of self-purification. The hope is focused on the future, yet it transforms the present, encouraging believers to endure by holding to what is not yet seen. So the grammar suggests a continuous, active possession of this hope, which necessitates its maintenance.

“(4)  Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; indeed, sin is lawlessness.  (5)  And you know that Jesus was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.  

(6)  Everyone who resides in him does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him.  

(7)  Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous.  (8)  The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil.  

(9)  Everyone who has been fathered by God does not practice sin, because God’s seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God.

 (10)  By this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone who does not practice righteousness – the one who does not love his fellow Christian – is not of God.”

In verses 8-9, both instances of “commit” (poieō) refer to the habitual, ongoing practice of sin rather than single acts. Verse 8 defines this lifestyle as belonging to the devil, while verse 9 states that those born of God cannot live in this manner because His seed remains in them.

This implies a deeper meaning which aligns with the words of Paul in Romans 7 when he said that in Christ, if he sins it is no longer him that is doing it but the sin that still dwells in his body. 

Romans 7:15-20,

“(15) For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want – instead, I do what I hate.  (16)  But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good.  (17)  But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me.  (18)  For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it.  (19)  For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want!  (20)  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.”

There are those who believe this is Paul referring to his life prior to Christ, but this simply cannot be. The one who is still dead in their sins are still one with their sins and the devil who is the father of all sin. As such, it could not be said of them in their fallen condition – that when they sin, it is not them doing it. They cannot rightly claim a difference between what they produce as fruit from their spirit and the influence of their sin laden bodies for they are one! The only ones who have been separated from the dominion of sin over their bodies are Christians. THEY have a love for God according to their inward man or spirit, but still have an influence towards sin that arises from the passions still at work in their bodies. This fits Paul’s words and our passage in 1 John 3:9 which links out inability to sin to our new natures in Christ.

As Jesus put it, a good tree cannot bear bad fruit!

Regardless of this, both of these verses utilize the present active participle of poieō, indicating that the “sin” in question is a, settled, continuous practice or lifestyle, not an isolated incident.

I go into some detailed illustrations of this drawn from the letters of Paul which show a difference between the way sin is treated even when it is habitual which may help you – the reader.

Finally, I read and made commentary on Romans 2:1-11,

“(1) Therefore you are without excuse, whoever you are, when you judge someone else. For on whatever grounds you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things.  

(2)  Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth against those who practice such things.  (3)  And do you think, whoever you are, when you judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape God’s judgment?  

(4)  Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?  

(5)  But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed!

(6)  He will reward each one according to his works:  (7)  eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality,  (8)  but wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition and do not obey the truth but follow unrighteousness.  

(9)  There will be affliction and distress on everyone who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek,  (10)  but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek.  (11)  For there is no partiality with God.”

Blessings!

 

Blessings!