Let’s investigate an
interesting passage of Scripture:
2 Beloved, now we are children
of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He
appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.
3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
5 And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.
6 No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;
8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;
12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous.
1 John 3:2-12
John makes an interesting contrast: righteousness vs. sin; making oneself pure as the Messiah is pure. The one who is righteous, as the Messiah is, does not practice sin.
So, what is sin?
John defines it for you in verse 4:
Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
What is lawlessness? Being lawless, not obeying the law (torah, God’s Old Testament instructions on how to live with God and man).
So,
to use the Hebrew term in this verse:
Everyone who practices sin also
practices torahlessness (disobedience to the torah); and sin IS
torahlessness.
This is like algebra: if a = b and b = c, then a = c. If sin is lawlessness, and lawlessness is disobedience to the law/torah, then sin IS torahlessness: living without regard or obedience to God’s torah, which are God’s instructions.
Now, let’s re-read this passage with the definition John supplied inserted into this passage and more clearly see the contrast he is making.
2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.
3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
4 Everyone who practices sin also practices torahlessness; and sin is torahlessness.
5 And you know that He appeared in order to take away disobedience to torah; and in Him there is no torahlessness.
6 No one who abides in Him practices torahlessness; no one who practices torahlessness has seen Him or knows Him.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness (obeying torah) is righteous, just as He is righteous (He was without sin/did not disobey the torah);
8 the one who practices torahlessness is of the devil; for the devil has been torahless from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
9 No one who is born of God practices torahlessness, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot be torahless, because he is born of God.
10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness (obedience to torah) is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning (Genesis is the beginning), that we should love one another;
12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil (Cain disobeyed God’s instructions), and his brother's were righteous (Abel obeyed God’s instructions). [The story of Cain and Abel was told in the beginning.]
John shows that a righteous man lives like Messiah – sinless - obedient to the torah, which makes his lifestyle pure and righteous in God’s eyes. The one who lives lawlessly, in disobedience to God’s torah/God’s instructions, is an UNrighteous man, and “is of the devil” (v. 8). John further emphasizes this comparison by telling a story from “the beginning” (a biblical phrase that always refers to the torah, the first five books of the Bible) comparing Cain (who disobeyed God’s instructions, leading to murder) and Abel (who obeyed God’s instructions) and was considered righteous. Y’shua (Jesus) came in order to DESTROY this sinful, disobedience to God type of lifestyle so that all who believe in Him can live righteously!
John also tells us that it is obvious who is who: if you belong to God, you live according to the torah; if you do not live according to the torah, you belong to the devil. (v.10)
Using its own definitions, this passage clearly proves that New Testament believers ARE to live in obedience to the torah. The teachings that as a Gentile believer we are “free from the law” or that the law only applies to the Jews is proven by John the Apostle, in his own words, to be a false teaching.
The incongruity of the traditional stances, above, is that these believers DO uphold the torah in certain areas such as teaching that murder, adultery, stealing, and lying are wrong (all in the 10 Commandments), yet also teaching that homosexuality, bestiality, abortion, and divorce are wrong which are not in the 10 Commandments but are part of the torah, God’s instructions. Therefore, if we believe and practice part of it, why not believe and practice it all?
So to those believers who have been taught that the law/torah is not applicable to them, we can see from this passage that that is not so. Therefore, believers would be wise to begin to investigate living like Y’shua (Jesus) lived: keeping the Sabbath God ordained in Genesis, keeping the feasts Y’shua kept, and beginning to learn God’s instructions and implement them.
Please note: not all torah commandments CAN be kept today because there is NO TEMPLE. For instance, certain sacrifices and offerings are forbidden BY the torah to be done anywhere EXCEPT the temple in Jerusalem. Since there is no temple today, we cannot even give a thank offering to God in the way the torah specifies. However, this does not excuse us from keeping the parts we CAN keep today and thus live like our Savior.
Disregard and disobey the
torah to your own peril; John said so.
8 the one who practices torahlessness is of the devil;…The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
9 No one who is born of
God practices torahlessness, because His seed abides in him; and he
cannot be torahless, because he is born of God.