THE BIRTH THAT CAN NOT SIN.
By Cyrus Simmons
“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him; and he can not sin, because he is born of God.” 1 John 3:9. This birth from above is a happy transition from a carnal to a spiritual life. We are translated “into the kingdom of His dear Son” (Col. 1:13); we are admitted into the divine family, “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4); God is our Father, Christ, our elder Brother, and we are called “the sons of God” (1 John 3:1). As in our natural existence we have childhood, youth, and manhood, so also there is spiritual childhood, spiritual youth, spiritual manhood. Those of the new birth are called “children,” “little children,” “young men,” “fathers.” 1 John 2:1, 12–14. Some are spoken of as “babes” that have to be nourished on the milk of the Word; others are said to be “of full age” in the faith. Heb. 5:12, 13. The warning against deception is addressed by John to the children in spirituality: “Little children, let no man deceive you; he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.” 1 John 3:7. This shows there is progression in the doing of righteousness, just as there is growth in grace. Not that righteousness can be qualified, any more than truth can be more true, or a square, more square. The qualification is in the doing of it, and affects the doer, not the righteousness he essays to do. That is the reason the righteousness of the doer, and the knowledge of his divine birth, are tested by the perfection of the righteousness he does,—“he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.” While infantile in spirituality, our doing of righteousness will be less perfect than when we are of full age, and we will be more liable to forget the divine Pattern and be deceived. As we grow, however, “unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13), by sensing the great imperfections of our characters, by resting from our own works, and by leaning on the Everlasting Arm, our joy is more full as we see our actions become correspondingly more in consonance with the true standard of righteousness. Thus the new life advances, step by step, “unto a perfect man,” until it is thoroughly attuned to the will of God; until His habitation is its habitation; until it breathes the very atmosphere of heaven, and holds its conversation therein; until the righteousness of Christ is fulfilled in it—then it does not sin; then it can not sin. As there is danger of being deceived, how do we know when this perfect fruition is attained? “Ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him.” 1 John 2:29. The touchstone of divine birth is the doing of righteousness. No limitations can be placed upon righteous actions which attest a divine birth. They are the inseparable companions of the perfect life. The reason one perfectly born does not commit sin is because “his seed remaineth in him.” 1 John 3:9. As long as Christ remains in the new creature, he will not sin, he can not sin. How essential to obey the injunction: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” 2 Cor. 13:5. Jesus wants to live in us; He wants our works to be His works; then they will be righteous. He wants to do more than live awhile in us, He wants to abide with us; then not only some but all our actions will be righteous; then we will not commit sin; then we can not sin; “for His seed remaineth in us.” In the soul temple of a perfect character Jesus remains as a continual guest. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matt. 5:48. If this were impossible, the commandment would not have been given. Perfection is “the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:14. Toward gaining this prize, all our heart, and mind, and soul, and strength, should be energized. Each day we should examine ourselves whether Jesus Christ is in us; each day we should forget “those things which are behind, and reach forth unto those things which are before.” Though in our effort to attain perfection we often fall, because we do not allow His seed to remain in us, still ever by our side do we find the forgiving Saviour, by whom we are “apprehended,” comforted, and started out anew. The abounding of iniquity in these last days that has made callous to feeling the human heart; the waxing worse and worse of evil men and seducers, deceiving and being deceived; the cold formalism of godliness, bereft of life and power,—all alike repudiate the possibility of a perfect Christian life on this earth. But to this end is the Christian born, that, like his Pattern, he may be perfected through suffering. When perfected, he will be perfectly born—a birth that can not sin. CYRUS SIMMONS.