So you may not sin

1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; We have a great encouragement today from this verse. The reason John was writing this letter was so that they may not sin. So there’s something in this letter that will result in our not sinning. Are you as surprised by this statement as I have been? Is it really possible for us not to sin? Let’s let John answer this question. Here’s the answer. It’s found in 1 Jo. 3:5-6. “You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins.” John wrote that Jesus is life. In his gospel, John recorded Jesus’ story of the vine and the branches where Jesus taught them that if He abides in them and they abide in Him, they will bear much fruit, for apart from Him they could do nothing but sin (John 15:5-7). John’s point for them and for us is this. Jesus is life. When we abide in Him and He in us, He doesn’t sin. If we receive His life and give what we receive, it isn’t sin, it’s Jesus living in us. John wrote to encourage his readers to abide in Christ, who is eternal life. He wasn’t saying that they could achieve sinless perfection because he acknowledges that there will be times when we do sin. “If anyone sins.” John was encouraging them to rely upon the life of Jesus as their source of righteousness and love, AND rely upon Him as their advocate when they do not abide in Him. Jesus is the only righteousness we have. His life, His righteousness is our righteousness advocating for us as well as living and abiding in us. Today, I encourage you to abide in Jesus Christ as your life in every circumstance. Look to Him to love through you. Look to Him for wisdom and grace before you respond to the situations and people God places in your life today. God gave His Son to shed His blood so we could be washed and forgiven when we sin. Additionally He gave us the life of Jesus so we might not sin today as we abide in Him and receive our lives and love from and through Him. What confidence we have before God and in life. As we continue going through 1 John, remember, everything we read and consider was given to us by God through the Holy Spirit, through John, so that by abiding in Jesus and living to love with Him, we might not sin.