We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.
The main message of this verse is: Jesus can prevent us from sinning, 2. We have become like Jesus – i.e. born of God.
When we are ‘born again’ (See John 3 where Jesus talks to Nicodemus) we become born of God. We belong to God, like your baby belongs to you. Not just ‘ownership’, your child is part of you, made by you and (if you are blessed enough to be female) borne by you. My kids can’t not be Jarvises – it’s who they are; unchangeable, even if they wanted to deny their birth and upbringing– and some people do – that doesn’t mean their DNA is somehow altered to stop matching ours. 2 Tim 2.13
Good news! This amazing transformation means we do not have to go on sinning. We can walk in purity because we belong to Jesus. This is a challenge, because I know I am not completely sinless. And yet, when God looks at me, what does He see? He sees Jesus, His sacrifice for me, the filter of Calvary. When I meet Him face to face, that ‘not yet’ transformation will be completed. But I can come to Jesus, speak to God, be filled with His Spirit because of and by the Blood.
Charles Wesley really got this and explained it really well in the hymn ‘Love Divine all Loves excelling’ – ‘Changed from Glory into Glory, til in Heaven we take our place’ – Charles is very confident that God is changing Him – and will go on doing so. Ask God to seal this truth in your heart now!
The ‘now and not yet’: we are forgiven and continually being redeemed, a work ‘in progress’ - the present continuous! So, continue to stick close to Jesus and listen to His Spirit.
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Application:
Take some time to remember and then praise for the ways that God has changed you thus far, you may even want to make a list.
Prayer:
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.