A CHILD OF GOD DOES NOT SIN (5)

*WISDOM FOR TODAY.*

*A CHILD OF GOD DOES NOT SIN.(5)*

*Scripture Treasure.*

1 John 5:17 *All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.*

*We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.*

*Insight and Highlight.*

What makes a child of God requires not only God's decision to make him His child, it requires the child's responsibility to cooperate with God to not sin.

*Scripture Commentaries.*

John tells us that besides being born of God and choosing not to sin, the child of God must keep himself pure.

John says there must be a determination to keep away from sin. John is telling us that God will not do everything for us.

As God guides and guards him, the child of God also has the collective responsibility to keep himself pure.

In John 5:17, John says that all unrighteousness is sin. This is a clear warning that sin is not selective.

Some of us see a sin greater than another. There is no one sin that is greater than the other, though he adds that the severity or punishment of sins may differ. While John says, *".....there is a sin not unto death.*, it may be right to assume there is a sin unto death.

A sin that is not unto death is a sin that is confessed and repented of. This is because the sinner is saved and has received forgiveness. He becomes a child of God.

A sin that is unto death is a sin that is not confessed and repented of. Here, the sinner loses the free gift of salvation offered by God. He remains unrepentant and unforgiven and dies in his sin. This category of sin that is unto death includes people who deliberately and wilfully sin hoping to receive forgiveness. They play on God's tolerance, longsuffering, and forgiveness, and such people may eventually lose the hope of salvation.

Though both categories carried sin at a point in time, the seriousness of the consequences of the latter is greater than the former.

The former chooses to be a child of God. The latter chooses to remain a child of Satan.

So, the one who chooses to be a child of God falls under John's admonition to cooperate with God. He *"......keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.*

John is teaching us that, though God is all-powerful, there is a collective responsibility from the child of God to cooperate with God to achieve God's perfect work of righteousness in him.

Paul says there must be a joining. There must be a coming together to become linked or connected to be one with God

In 1 Cor 6:17, he says *"But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.*

The same thing John implies here in 1 John 5:17, and this is that the proof of the begotten of God is that he keeps himself pure.

You can only be one with God if you have the same attributes with Him.

John says the moment you make up your mind not to sin by keeping yourself pure, the wicked one will not touch you.

These are signs that will follow the child of God.

When the child of God cooperates with God to keep himself pure, he becomes one with God and the apple of His eye.

He is hidden under the shadow of His wings, and it becomes impossible for the devil to touch him, ref Ps 17:8, 91.

John teaches us that you have a part to play to be a child of God.

No one can be a child of God unless he accepts the responsibilities or conditions required for the status of a child of God.

*Remorse corner.*

John is teaching us that the child of God must see all unrighteousness as sin. For him to stay strong as a child of God in righteousness, he must not be selective. Lying is a sin as adultery is.

*Call to Word action.*

John is teaching us that the child of God must remember that though God has made him His child, there are required conditions, one of which is his cooperation with God.

*The Christian clarion duty.*

John is teaching us that the strength of a person to be able to keep himself from sin so that the wicked one does not touch him is found in his identity as a child of God.

*Prayer.*

Lord, help me to be one with You. Make me Your child so that l will be able to keep myself pure and the evil one will not touch me, in Jesus name

Good morning all, and have a blessed day.

God bless you.