Living Righteously—Avoiding Lawlessness

Living Righteously—Avoiding Lawlessness

1 John 3:4-5

1 John 3:4: Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

·       Perhaps this verse sums up the “human condition” as well as any verse in the Bible; sin is lawlessness.

·       All heartache and human misery are the result of lawlessness.

·       Therefore, the “major characteristic” of our days as well as in the ancient days is lawlessness—it is an attitude in every heart resulting in lawless acts by every person.

·       Maybe you are thinking, “I obey the laws—I’m a law-abiding, respectable person. I’m not lawless!” I’m glad you keep man’s laws.

·       Now, I’m not talking about traffic violations or paying your taxes— I’m talking about law in the “widest” sense—because law is the “essence” of the nature of all reality.

·       Why do we call the law of gravity a law? Because its “nature” is incredibly “consistent” and therefore has to be dealt with—it is inescapable.

·       There is also the law of electricity—the essence of the way it works is consistent and if you want to use it you must “act” within its reality.

·       Therefore, when we refer to the “laws of reality” as the nature of that reality—then lawlessness is disobedient behavior in relationship to those laws—it is behavior that ignores the laws of reality.

Genesis 3:4-5: Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

·       Lawlessness is sin; it is the original sin. It was the devil’s sin, wanting to be like God, and take the place of God in his own “reality.”

·       The devil’s “essence” is lawlessness.

·       Therefore lawlessness is of the devil!

·       The devil enticed Eve with lawlessness, encouraging them to rebel against God (who is the ultimate reality) to become like God.

·       Adam and Eve were already made in the image of God.

·       But the devil wanted to “separate” them from God; therefore he would appeal to them to become independent from God through disobedience.

·       Therefore, lawlessness is to become your “own law,” to make up your own rules for life and “rebel against those that already exist.”

·       Lawlessness says, “I don’t care what anyone else says, I’m going to do what I want to do. I’ll do it my way! I can handle this, I’ll figure it out!

·       Lawlessness is essentially--extreme selfishness—it’s really “self-worship.”

·       It manifests itself in extreme “independence” from God-- instead extreme “dependence” on God. There is no middle ground.

·       If you are not in “dependence” on God then you are in independence.

·       Lawlessness takes on two forms; open defiance and the appearance of respectability.

·       Open defiance is obvious with people openly rejecting the “forms of authority.”

·       The process of lawlessness is just as much at work in the “respectable crowd” as in the defiant crowd, they are just sneakier in how they do it.

·       The Apostle Paul refers to these two different groups in Romans 2.

Romans 2:1:  Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 

·       It doesn’t matter whether you are in the openly defiant crowd or the sneaky respectable crowd; lawlessness is still sin.

·       Those that are the defiant radicals look at the “respectables” and call them a bunch of hypocrites, narrow minded bigots, and are trying to force them into conformity to their traditions.

·       Those that are the “respectables” look at the radicals and point fingers at them and say they are the real problems.

·       They say the radicals have no respect for traditions, are trying to upset the society and are in constant rebellion.

·       If you tell them about Jesus, they just say, “No thanks, I’ll do it my way.”

·       Both are in lawlessness. So what is the answer? What is our greatest need? It’s obvious, right?

Hebrews 10:15-17:  But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

·        The Holy Spirit shows us the answer; there had to be an “internal” change--a “heart change” and a “mind change.”

·        But how is our God going to accomplish this in us? There has to be removal of our lawlessness.

1 John 3:5: And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.

·        Take away the “lawless” spirit—is to eliminate the basic cause of all of the human misery.

·        We must change the nature or essence of man himself—man is his own worst problem.

·        The only hope is Jesus—He was manifested to take away our sins. Only “someone” who had no sin could take away the sins of others. Only people who are free can help others find freedom.

·        This is like a drunk person in a bar preaching Jesus to the rest of the drunk people; barstool evangelism.

·        Instead what most of us do is waste time with treating the surface issues that are merely symptoms of the underlying problem.  But we must deal with the disease itself—the basic cause.

·        We have tried education—but it cannot reach the root of the problem. Instead it just covers the problem “with a veneer of respectability” that just makes the problem more dangerous.

·        We have tried psychological treatment- we thought we could raise up a bunch of people who could understand the mind and this could all be straightened out. But now many years after our psychological research the best we have done is develop drugs that just mask the problem.

·        We have tried legislation and law enforcement—sometimes we can contain the problem within certain limits, but this is also failing. The problem is so vast, too deep seated and too widespread.

·        We have tried to ignore the problem--There are many now that think if we just leave them alone and somehow they will figure it out. Let them out of the prisons— because mankind is basically good—it’s our system that’s making them bad.

Acts 10:38: God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

·       The only way to take away the lawless spirit is to “heal” the underlying problem—not put lipstick on it like many in our society are trying to do.

·       Some say this is so narrow minded—surely there must be other ways to save humanity. This is like saying there must be many different ways to breathe, other than breathe the one thing--to breathe air.

·       This is no magic—like saying “abracadabra” and poof, suddenly you are free from sin, lawlessness is gone, and you will never have problems again.

·       When you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior that is only the beginning. You are made a new creation.

·       The results should always be the same; there is a “taking away of sin” and the “elimination of lawlessness.” Our hearts and minds are changed in this process and chaos is replaced with peace.

·       Generation after generation have seen the hardest cases responding to this reality; drug addicts, alcoholics, thieves, murderers, sex perverts… and everyone: Chinese, Africans, Indians, Russians, Eskimos.

·       It doesn’t matter about the color of their skin or where a man lives, it is always the same: the healing of lawlessness.

John 1:4-5: In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

·       This “restraint of lawlessness” has affected life as we know it for the last 2000 years through the church.

·       On any given Sunday, there are people on golf courses who have no interest in attending church.

·       On any given Sunday there are other people on beaches, or lying in bed reading newspapers, or watching sports on television. In short they are enjoying themselves and see going to church as a waste of time.

·       They do not realize that they are only able to do these things because the gospel of Jesus Christ has so penetrated our society and culture that it makes life as we know it possible.

·       The gospel of Jesus Christ is the salt in our society (and the Holy Spirit) has limited the natural lawlessness which would otherwise have made the life we live impossible.

·       Without this restraint the times in which live would be so horrible that it would be impossible to find any peace anywhere on this planet—we would only have unrestrained lawlessness.

·       But evil is spreading on massive scale- and we just try the same things over and over again like eventually it will work, but it will not work. So--are we doomed to destroy ourselves in lawlessness?

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4: Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

·       The son of perdition is the “lawless one,” a.k.a. the antichrist. As was mentioned in the beginning of this message the root of lawlessness is wanting to avoid God’s rules and be your “own God.”

·       Lawlessness is “extreme selfishness,” which taken to its ultimate desire is to be worshiped or adored. Since we adore ourselves, so should others adore us. Lawlessness loves self above all…therefore, everyone else should adore you, too.

·       Ultimate lawlessness is the desire to control others to bend to your will. It’s the desire to sit in the place of God.

2 Thessalonians 2:5-7: Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

·       Paul is reminding the believers in Thessalonica that he taught them these things in prophecy.

·       For now, Satan and the man of sin are being restrained. The principle of their working (lawlessness) is now present in the world but it is being restrained by the Holy Spirit.

·       But there is a time in the near future when the Spirit will “be taken out of the way” of lawlessness.

·       It doesn’t mean the Spirit will leave or be removed—because we know that multitudes will be saved and sealed in the great Tribulation period. It means He will no longer restrain lawlessness.

·       Paul states two certain facts about the man of sin, “the lawless one.”

·       First, the lawless one will be revealed when the Holy Spirit removes His restraint.

·       Second, the lawless one will be destroyed by the mere brightness of Jesus at His coming.

2 Thessalonians 2:8-9: The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

·       The coming of the “lawless one” is according to the working of Satan: The Antichrist will come with power, with signs and with lying wonders. But all of this is according to the working of Satan, not God.

·       If someone performs signs and wonders, it’s not enough to prove they are from God.

·       Satan can perform his own powerful works, and they are used to deceive many because they did not really want to know the truth anyway.

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14: But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

·       In those days it may be too late for those who don’t want to know the truth, because of strong delusions and lying signs and wonders. Since they don’t want the truth—they will believe the lie.

·       But in our time the Holy Spirit is still restraining lawlessness, and drawing people to the Way, the Truth, and the Life through the gospel.

·       Time is short, we must step up our preaching of the gospel—that’s our job—the rest is the job of the Spirit!