1 John 2:28-3:10

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — 1 Chronicles 16:8-10
• Hymn — Now Thank We All Our God (#181)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin
• Assurance of Pardon — John 19:30
• Hymn of the Month — God of Abraham, Praise (#234)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — 1 John 2:28–3:10
• Sermon
• Hymn — Blessed Are the Sons of God (#461)
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: What It Means to Be Children of God

Scripture: 1 John 2:28–3:10

I. The Children of God Are Dependent on the Father's Love

A. John addresses believers as "little children," evoking the image of an infant utterly dependent on a parent — a prayerless Christian is therefore an oxymoron

1. In Mark 10, Jesus contrasts the self-confident Rich Young Ruler with his disciples, who are wholly dependent on God for salvation
2. "With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible" — salvation belongs entirely to God

B. Before issuing any imperative, John grounds obedience in identity: 1 John 3:1 — "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God"

1. John Yarbrough's commentary identifies three lapses infiltrating the church: theological (denial of Christ's humanity), ethical (1 John 2:4, 2:16), and relational (failure to love the brethren)
2. John's corrective is to remind believers who they are before calling them to what they must do

C. The Heidelberg Catechism's third section (Gratitude) reflects the Reformers' and Puritans' conviction that true obedience flows not from slavish fear but from gratitude for God's grace

1. True obedience flows from swimming in the fountain of the Father's love, not from standing fearfully at Mount Sinai
2. "To know" in verse 1 carries the Hebrew sense of intimate, loving relationship — as in Romans 8:29, those whom God foreknew (fore-loved) he predestined

D. Practical application: do you sit often at the cross and marvel at the Father's love? That wonder is the incentive for a life of obedience

II. The Children of God Are Dependent on the Son's Example

A. 1 John 3:4 defines sin with unusual clarity: sin is lawlessness — the deliberate breaking of God's law

1. Romans 5:12–21 — sin was in the world before the Mosaic law, yet death reigned, because all humanity sinned in Adam, our corporate head
2. Romans 2 — God's law is written on every image-bearer's heart; conscience either accuses or excuses, proving all are lawbreakers
3. Sin is not a slip or a mistake — to sin is to be a felon, a law-breaker

B. The gospel is not only that Christ died for sins and grants eternal life; it is also liberation from the dominion of sin in daily life

1. Verse 8: the Son appeared to destroy the works of the devil — liberation means a new trajectory away from sin
2. Verses 2–6 emphasize looking like the Son: we shall be like him (1 John 3:2); we purify ourselves as he is pure (1 John 3:3); in him there is no sin (1 John 3:5)

C. Christ is not only our Liberator — he is our role model, our elder brother

1. As joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8), we are like younger siblings longing to imitate the elder brother
2. The indicative grounds the imperative: when he appears we will be like him in glory; therefore we now purify ourselves in hope of that appearing
3. Moses glimpsed only God's back and his face shone; when Christ returns, our entire being — body, mind, and soul — will be glorified like him

III. The Children of God Are Dependent on the Spirit's Presence

A. 1 John 3:9 — "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him"

1. Drawing on John 3:6 ("that which is born of the Spirit is spirit"), the "seed" is most likely the indwelling Spirit, who implants a new nature that perpetually opposes sin

B. This is not sinless perfectionism — 1 John 1:8 already rules that out: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves"

1. The ESV rightly captures the present continuous force of the Greek: "cannot keep on sinning"
2. The Spirit's presence produces the internal warfare Paul describes in Romans 7 — the children of God see the heinousness of sin, confess it, and endeavor after new obedience
3. As the Dutch theologian Wilhelmus à Brakel illustrates: a child dragged along against his will moves his feet only to resist falling — so the child of God, when overwhelmed by indwelling corruption, resists every step

C. The Spirit is more perseverant and more powerful than the flesh

1. Seasons of backsliding never bring true joy or delight — there is always internal chaos; God will always open the prodigal's eyes to the filth he is feeding on and draw him back
2. The Father runs to embrace returning children; the angels celebrate

D. These realities do not produce complacency — they incentivize human effort

1. The new principle of life implanted by the Spirit drives believers to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12)
2. Practical test: for a true child of God, sin brings only misery — righteousness, holiness, and purity are where true joy is found