How good do I have to be?

Have you ever asked yourself the question: 'How good do I have to be to be a Christian?'

I am not talking about starting the Christian life. We understand that God accepts us totally because of Jesus. His death alone deals with all we have done wrong. But at the same time we know that once we are Christians we are meant to obey God.

Yet obviously we are not perfect. We fall into gossip, or envy or lust. We fail. But how much can we fail? How many times can we fail and still be a Christian? How good do you have to be?

That is the question John is answering. He is writing to Christians so they may be confident they know God. His conclusion in this passage is, 'This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are' (v.10). He answers the question by addressing this particular area of sin and being good.

Let's start by laying the groundwork.

Being children of God (3.1)

The Bible has lots of ways of describing a Christian. The way John describes Christians here shows us one of the greatest privileges of being a Christian.
We are children of God right now (verse 1). 'How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!' The way John talks shows he's talking about something amazing. 'What extraordinary love!' To have God, the creator as your father! To have that intimacy, security, that privilege! This description takes us to the heart of what a Christian is.

Let me illustrate what I mean. We often talk about a Christian as someone who is forgiven by God. That is true and wonderful. But let's compare that with being a child of God.

Imagine a lad who is caught pick-pocketing. He's an orphan, lives on the street and makes his money by thieving. But now he's in front of the judge with a fine he cannot pay, facing prison. But then the judge has mercy. He comes down from the bench, gets out his chequebook and pays the fine for him. That is how we often think of being a Christian. We are in the wrong, facing judgement, but God has intervened and paid our penalty in Christ. And that's wonderful. But in the illustration, what would happen next? Presumably the judge would say, 'I've paid your fine. Don't do it again', then get into his Jag and drive off to his country mansion, leaving the lad to go back to the streets.

But imagine how different it would be if the judge said, 'I've paid your fine. Now come and be my son. I'll adopt you'. And they both get into the Jag and drive home together. That is what God does. He doesn't just forgive us. He makes us his children. He wants to know us. He wants us in his family.

We will be perfect children (verse 2). 'Now we are children of God ... But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.' We are God's children now, but it isn't perfect. But one day, Jesus will return, we shall see him and be transformed to be like him. One day we will be perfected as God's children.

Is that how we think about being a Christian? Maybe, if we are Christians, it would be worth us sitting down in a quiet corner and telling ourselves who we are. 'I am a child of God. He is my Father. That is fundamentally who I am.'
However, saying that takes us back to where we started. Because as we say this to ourselves maybe a voice says, 'Are you sure? Are you good enough?'

Being sure (3.4-10)
John is writing so that we can be sure of who we are. In order for us to do this he gives us what we might call the family likeness test.

A few years ago it was my Mum and Dad's 60th birthday. We had a big bash, and we played 'Mr. & Mrs.' with them, asking them questions to see how well they knew each other. It was quite easy to take the mick, especially of my Dad. Endless time in DIY shops, bad dress sense - tons of stuff. But, as we did this, I became painfully aware that I can be quite like my Dad. I don't mind a bit of time in DIY shops myself!

That is what John is driving at here. You know which family you are in, because you display the family traits.

Mark of the devil's children (3.4,8,10)

If we sin we are showing the devil's likeness. But what does it mean to sin? 'Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness' (verse 4). That is an important definition. Sin is more than doing something wrong. It is being lawless. You've rejected God's law because you've rejected God.

Imagine you saw someone driving at 40 mph in a 30 mph limit. You stop them and say, 'You're breaking the law'. And they reply, 'Law? I don't care about the law! I'll drive at what speed I like'. You see they are not just breaking the law, they are lawless. Just to underline this, let's rerun the scenario. This time you see them driving at 29 mph. You stop them and say, 'I see you're keeping the law'. But they reply, 'Law? I'll drive at what speed I like!' You see, this time though they are not outwardly breaking the law, yet they are still lawless. Their basic attitude is still to live as they want to live. It just happens that at this moment that coincides with the speed limit.

You see the point. The heart of sin is not just doing something wrong, it is being lawless, independent of God, living as I like. That might mean we do heaps of wrong. It might mean we are quite moral. But underneath we live as we like. The mark of being the devil's child does not necessarily mean you are utterly wicked and smell of sulphur. It means you can be very nice and respectable, but you reject God and live with yourself in charge.

Mark of God's children (3.5-7,9)

The family likeness of the children of God is that we don't sin. We have to ask, 'What does John mean, Christians don't sin, and even can't sin?'

We must be clear, he can't mean that Christians never sin. After all in chapter 1 verses 8-10 of this very letter, John has told us that if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves. And he tells us how to find forgiveness if we do sin. So he can't be saying now simply that Christians never sin.

So what does he mean? Let's go back to the judge and his adopted son. The lad is now part of the family. But living in a posh area, one day he spots a fat wallet in a parked open-top car and he swipes it! Later that night though, when he gets home, as he takes off his coat, the wallet falls out and lands at the judge's feet. It's obvious he's nicked it. The judge looks at him and says: 'You do not steal. No child of mine steals. In this family we don't do that.' Imagine if the boy heard that - 'You cannot, do not steal' - and he replied, 'Oh, no, but I can. Actually I'm really good at it. Watch...' He would be missing the point. Saying, 'you do not steal' doesn't mean it's impossible, but that it's unacceptable. 'It doesn't fit with who you are.' John is saying, 'For a child of God, sin doesn't fit.' It's as though God says to his children, 'You don't sin. It's not done in this family.'

Why doesn't sin fit?

* Because God's seed (the Holy Spirit) remains in us (verse 9).
* Because we have a living relationship with Jesus, and he is against sin (verses 5,6).
* Because if you are looking forward to that perfect future you will want to be like Jesus (verses 2,3).
So sin isn't done in God's family. That is the mark of the children of God.

Living in God's family?

We started by asking how good do I have to be, to be a Christian? John doesn't give us a score, a level we have to keep to. Rather he gives us a dynamic. The dynamic says, 'If you are a Christian, you do sin and you don't sin.' Chapter 1.8-10, you do sin. The only thing to do is to confess it and you will find God's forgiveness. But God doesn't just want to forgive us. He wants to know us. He brings us into his family. And so, chapter 3, he says to us as our Father, 'My children don't sin'.

And that dynamic shapes our life. We live against sin. We say, 'I'm a child of God. I can't sin.' So we try to avoid gossip and fight lust. That has a real effect in our lives. But we still sin. When we do, we notice it. It bothers us. We go to chapter 1 and we confess it. We are assured of forgiveness, and we go to chapter 3 and see that children of God don't sin, and on we go. That is normal life, at present, in God's family.

If we are content with sin in our lives, it doesn't trouble us, we don't turn from it, we should be very worried. We are showing the family likeness of the devil rather than God. But if we are living knowing sin doesn't fit, letting that shape our lives, seeking forgiveness when we do sin, that is a sign that we are children of God. If we know that dynamic in our lives, God is saying to us, 'Be assured, be confident, you are my child.'

Nigel Beynon is curate at St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, London.

Nigel Beynon looks at 1 John 2.28 - 3.10