1 John 3:4-6
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
As children of God, we have life that belongs to God; this life will grow naturally inside us and gradually make us take on the form of Jesus Christ. That's why John, in verse 2, said that "when Christ appears, we shall be like him." He didn't say we might look more like Him, but he said we "shall" be like Him, as if our growth is guaranteed. A lot of people have told me I'm too skinny and ought to eat more, but I would point my father to them and let them know that since he's so skinny there's not much I can do to gain weight. Not only am I as skinny as my father, I walk more and more like him too. Since I inherited life from him, I naturally would become more and more like him.
I have discovered that this rule is actually also true in our spiritual life. As long as we don't hinder God's work, the Spirit of God will naturally shape us from inside so that we will look more and more like the Lord. Therefore, we have the responsibility of cleansing ourselves to become holy. The Lord was here in order to eliminate sin from people; now that we have received the grace of the Lord, we shouldn't commit more sins to offend God. When the Holy Spirit shines inside us and we see how filthy are, we must turn back to Him and believe that God has the authority to forgive sins and wash away all our trespasses and unrighteousness.
The Holy Spirit is really living inside us, and one of the most important tasks of the Spirit is for us to blame ourselves for sin, for righteousness and for judgment. It's for sin because we often live in self-centeredness and disbelief, so we often don't live by God's will. It's for righteousness because Jesus is the Lord who's completely righteous. We thought we were righteous before, but under the light of righteousness from the Lord we see how filthy we are. It's for judgment because God's judgment on sinners is truly terrifying and everyone wants to escape it. If we know how terrifying it is, we would come before God to seek His clemency and forgiveness.
Pray with Pastor Tong
Lord, I thank you because you are the Holy Lord, and your holy life is ruling inside our life. Please come and shape us to be more like you, and please give us a softened heart so that we can be shaped by you in our daily life in order to manifest your beauty. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
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