Understanding John's Use of Sonship

Because of various circumstances, I have recently been forced to quickly pick up my grasp of Koine Greek. Having taken two years at Northwestern, I have a fair comprehension, but as it is true with most things, when you do use it, you lose it.

Today I translated half of 1 John, and as I was teaching myself again the art of detecting augments, reduplication, and hortatory subjunctives, I came to realize the repeated contrast that the Apostle makes. It is all very dark or light to him; nothing much is inbetween. As an aside, having that mindset today probably would have made it hard for him to connect in most churches. No one is really good, and on the same note, no one is completely evil. It is really more of a spectrum. It is usually contingent on how you are feeling each day whether the "good" side will outweigh the "evil." But really no one is ALL evil or ALL righteous? ..... Isn't this what is taught, by and large?

But the Apostle seems to be quite a hardliner. A passage that particularly stuck out came toward the end of my translation tonight. My translation reads:

4Everyone who does sin also does lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that he was manifested that he might take away sins, and there is no sin in him. 6 Everyone who remains in him does not sin, everyone who sins has not seen him nor has known him. 7 Children, let no one deceive you, the one who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8 The one who does sin is from the devil, because the devil sins from the beginning. Until now the Son was made manifest from God, in order that he might destroy the work of the devil. 9 Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because his seed remains in him, and he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is visible the children of God and the children of the devil: Everyone who does not do righteousness is not from God, and the one who oes not love his brother. (1 John 3:4-10; my translation).

Consider some of the juxtapositions and conclusions John makes.

Sin --> Lawlessless --> Cannot remain in Christ --> Why? --> He died to take away sins & No sin is in him

Does righteously --> Is righteous --> Remains with Christ --> Why? --> He is righteous

Does sin --> From the devil --> Why? --> The devil has been characterized by sinning from the beginning

A theology of "What you do, you are, and who you are, that is who you are connected with" permeates all of John's writings. In fact, John, in chapter eight of his gospel, reports how Jesus lambasts the Pharisee's assertion that they are children of Abraham.

34Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35The slave does not remain in the house forever;the son remains forever. 36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father (John 8:34-38; ESV).

What Jesus implies in this last verse, he later goes on to clarify in verse 44, namely that they are the children of the devil. They were seeking to kill him and were committing sin, therefore they were functionally categorized with the devil rather than the Father. They were equated with who they were alike. What they did defined who they were.

Now, of course, there are many nuances to this. Sinless perfectionism will never be a reality, and John even confesses that if we claim to have no sin we make God to be a liar (1 John 1: 8,10). but humans are always known by what they do and where their desires lie. Furthermore, John is making stressing the dichotomy of the children of the devil and the children of God to emphasize that Christians, who are united with a Holy God, will be known by their holiness. They are told that they cannot sin (vs. 9). Of course, this is not talking about ontological capactity. To imply as much I think misses the point. God's children will be known for being like God. Conversely, the devil's children will be known for be like the devil.

Philosophy of Blogging

With this post, I will have made the complete plunge into the blogosphere. And what a blogosphere it is! With the variety of blogs being so vast, I feel is is necessary for me and perhaps helpful for you for me to establish the purpose of this blog.

1.) To strengthen and stretch my mind as I struggle and grapple with complex issues that I come across in my study or daily interaction with others. Being a Bible student and a lover of God, the majority of my posts will center around the nature of the Trinity and the thirst they have for their own glory.

2.) To increase me joy in God. The Psalmist commands us to delight ourselves in the Lord (Ps 37:4) and Paul later admonishes us to rejoice in the Lord always (Phil 4:4). My prayer is that this blog will nurture both the hearts and minds of the author and the readers.

3.) To use my (and your) time wisely. With this response, I know some may sneer and respond, "You have begun your quest on a blog. Very little could my more time-consuming and wasteful than surfing from one blog to another." I absolutely agree; however, much about blogging is very beneficial. Being that so many individuals are internet-savvy, the field of blogs is drenched with God-fearing, Christ-exalting believers who can sharpen one another. This is my prayer.

May God give me grace to diligently post various thoughtful musings about his nature and the nature of mankind, and may he also give you wisdom as to whether this is a blog that is worthwhile visiting. If it is not, please do not waste your time; it is a precious gift from God. If it is, and if the posting stimulate your mind, engage me on my ideas so that we can more fully comprehend how wide and how deep is the love of God.