Overall Question: If we are Sons of God, what do we do about sin?

1 John 3:1 CEV “Think how much the Father loves us. He loves us so much that he lets us be called his children, as we truly are. But since the people of this world did not know who Christ is, they don’t know who we are.”

Sunday – Sons of God
1 John 3:1 Holman “Look at how great a love the Father has given us, that we should be called God’s children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know Him.”
1 John 3:1 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES A prince could manifest no higher love for a wandering, ragged, vicious orphan boy, found in the streets, than by adopting him into his own family, and admitting him to the same privileges and honours as his own sons; and yet this would be a trifle compared with the honour which God has bestowed on us.
John 1:12 Holman “But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name,”
1 John 2:29 Holman “If you know that He is righteous, you know this as well: everyone who does what is right has been born of Him.”
1 John 3:9 Holman “Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God.”

Monday – Results and Responsibilities
1 John 3:2-3 God’s Word to the Nations “2 Dear friends, now we are God’s children. What we will be isn’t completely clear yet. We do know that when Christ appears we will be like him because we will see him as he is. 3 So all people who have this confidence in Christ keep themselves pure, as Christ is pure.”
1 John 3:3 COMMENTARY FAMILY BIBLE NOTES The apostle here gives the distinguishing mark of a true hope, as contrasted with every false hope. Every man who has the hope of the gospel, by the habitual contemplation of Christ, and earnest, prayerful, persevering efforts to imitate his example, becomes, through the grace of God, more and more like him.
Satan’s and Eve’s wish to be like God:
Genesis 3:5 NRSV “for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."”
Isaiah 14:14 NRSV “I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High."”
Ezekiel 28:2 NRSV “Mortal, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD: Because your heart is proud and you have said, "I am a god; I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas," yet you are but a mortal, and no god, though you compare your mind with the mind of a god.”

Tuesday – A Definition of Sin
1 John 3:4 20th Century NT “Every one who lives sinfully is living in violation of Law. Sin is violation of Law.”
1 John 3:4 COMMENTARY BY JAMIESON, FAUSSET, AND BROWN sin is ... transgression of ... law--definition of sin in general. The Greek having the article to both, implies that they are convertible terms. The Greek "sin" (hamartia) is literally, "a missing of the mark." God's will being that mark to be ever aimed at. "By the law is the knowledge of sin." The crookedness of a line is shown by being brought into juxtaposition with a straight ruler.
Exodus 9:27 WEB “Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.” “The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit. He has ceased to be wise and to do good.”
Psalm 36:3 ESV “The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good.”
Psalm 51:4 WEB “Against you, and you only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight; that you may be proved right when you speak, and justified when you judge.”
Isaiah 1:2 WEB “Hear, heavens, and listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: "I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.”
Jeremiah 3:13 WEB “Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against Yahweh your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,’ says Yahweh."”
Matthew 7:23 WEB “Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.’”
Romans 6:17 CEV “You used to be slaves of sin. But I thank God that with all your heart you obeyed the teaching you received from me.”
Romans 6:20 CEV “When you were slaves of sin, you didn’t have to please God.”
1 John 1:8 CEV “If we say that we have not sinned, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth isn’t in our hearts.”
1 John 3:4 CEV “Everyone who sins breaks God’s law, because sin is the same as breaking God’s law.”
1 John 5:17 CEV “Everything that is wrong is sin, but not all sins are deadly.”

Wednesday – The Appearance of Jesus
1 John 1:2 BBE “(And the life was made clear to us, and we have seen it and are witnessing to it and giving you word of that eternal life which was with the Father and was seen by us);”
1 John 3:5 BBE “And you have knowledge that he came to take away sin: and in him there is no sin.”
1 John 3:5 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY The apostle here refers to the main purpose of Christ’s coming, the salvation of men from sin. That purpose may be regarded as being fulfilled either by (1) Christ’s bearing away sin in an expiatory sense, or by (2) His destroying sin. Both interpretations are valid, since He does the first in order to be able to accomplish the second. In so doing, the Saviour takes away the lawlessness of which sin is an expression, and saves man from transgressing the law of God. However, Christ will take away the sin only of those who wish to be free from sin.
It is well to note, in the setting in which John makes the statement, that Christ was manifested to take away sin, not to take away law. The Gnostics wished to believe that the restraints, in the form of law, were removed in their case; but John knows that Christ retained the law while removing the transgression of the law.
1 John 3:8 BBE “The sinner is a child of the Evil One; for the Evil One has been a sinner from the first. And the Son of God was seen on earth so that he might put an end to the works of the Evil One.”
John 1:29 BBE “The day after, John sees Jesus coming to him and says, See, here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
How does Jesus accomplish this task?
Hebrews 9:26 KJ21 “for then would He have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once, in the end of the world, hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
Hebrews 9:28 KJ21 “so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto those who look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin, unto salvation.”
1 John 2:2 KJ21 “And He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
1 John 4:10 KJ21 “Herein is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
Revelation 1:5-6 KJ21 “5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince over the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”

Thursday – No Sin!
How can the following groups of verses be reconciled?
Group 1: 1 John 3:6 NRSV “What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
1 John 3:8-9 NRSV “8 Anyone who keeps on sinning belongs to the devil. He has sinned from the beginning, but the Son of God came to destroy all that he has done. 9 God’s children cannot keep on being sinful. His life-giving power lives in them and makes them his children, so that they cannot keep on sinning.”
1 John 3:8 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES All who habitually and characteristically sin are of the devil. This..was evidently the principal idea in the mind of the apostle. His object here is to show that those who sinned, in the sense in which it would seem some maintained that the children of God might sin, could have no real evidence of piety, but really belonged to Satan.
Group 2: 1 John 1:6-2:2 NRSV “6 If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; 7 but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 ¶ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 2:1 ¶ My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”
1 John 2:1-2 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY We have an Advocate with the Father; one who has undertaken, and is fully able, to plead in behalf of every one who applies for pardon and salvation in his name, depending on his pleading for them. He is "Jesus," the Saviour, and "Christ," the Messiah, the Anointed. He alone is "the Righteous One," who received his nature pure from sin, and as our Surety perfectly obeyed the law of God, and so fulfilled all righteousness. All men, in every land, and through successive generations, are invited to come to God through this all-sufficient atonement, and by this new and living way. The gospel, when rightly understood and received, sets the heart against all sin, and stops the allowed practice of it; at the same time it gives blessed relief to the wounded consciences of those who have sinned.


Philippines 2:14-16 NRSV “14 ¶ Do all things without murmuring and arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world. 16 It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”
Philippines 2:14 COMMENTARY BY BARNES In a quiet, peaceful, inoffensive manner...Let there be no brawls, strifes, or contentions.

I have chosen--Not to vote on this one.

The toss up is to 'help' sinners but condemn sin in all its forms VS only have sympathy with and not condemn sinners.

My youngest brother is an alcoholic that grew up in the church from a certain point. He knows that alcohol is poison to his system and when he sees me, he does feel ashamed although I don't say a word to him regarding his state.

I feel that he will turn off his hearing if I was to speak or condemn his lifestyle choices but the Holy Spirit can work on his heart on the inside.

He knows what it is doing to his body. I don't feel any less love for him. I pray for an deliverance for him from his drugs of choice. Yes, he also smokes. Our sister died from lung cancer so he knows what is in the genes. His father died from liver problems related to alcoholism.

ChildofChrist,

*'Help' sinners but condemn sin in all its forms*, is not necessarily incompatible with *only have sympathy with and not condemn sinners*. At least not as far as I can see. It looks to me like, "You have chosen well, grasshopper."

Agape`