"He that committeth sin is of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin" (I John 3:8, 9).
This text is the definition of a real, sky-blue Gospel conversion. It does not say if you are sanctified you will not commit sin, but if you are really and truly converted you have gone out of the sinning business. There are two terms used in the Gospels by our Lord Himself, and they are synonymous; that is, you can use either of them in the place of the other in a sentence and you will not destroy the sense. In Matthew, the 18th chapter, you will find that Jesus says, "Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." And in the third chapter of John, he says, "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." We are told if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. A person must be born again, converted, become a new creature in Christ Jesus, before he can be a candidate for Pentecost. In other words, there must be a birth before there can be a baptism -- one must become a child before he can be an heir. We cannot live in the Spirit unless we are born of the Spirit. They that are after the Spirit, mind the things of the Spirit. These truths, it seems to me, are axiomatic -- so self-evident they require no argument. One of these texts gives us the signs, the unmistakable fruits of the fact we are born again. Read it -- read them both. Doth not commit sin. He that committeth sin is of the devil. The Book teaches everywhere that whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are. It is not what people say, nor whether we belong to the church; it is, What does God's Word say? Not what the preacher thinks of us, but what does the Spirit testify to. When we are really converted the old disposition is gone, the old habits are gone, the old language is gone; we are new creatures, gone out of the sinning business, not only when you are converted, but you had to get out before God would save you. No one can pray in faith who holds on to some sin. Do not tell me that you sin every day. God says he that is converted doth not commit sin. And he that committeth sin is of the devil. As many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God. If any man has not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His. No one can get located so easily if in any doubt about their relation to Him. Just sit down all alone with your Bible, and then hear what God has to say to you through the Word. Any impression that does not agree with the Word of God is of the devil. Any emotion that does not have the approval of the Word is not of God. You cannot go by your emotions. The Spirit and the Word agree. You never knew of a sinning Christian. I never saw one yet. The very moment a man sins he becomes a sinner. and needs to repent and fly at once to the blood. Repenting is the work of a man who has sinned. Did you ever know an honest thief? Did you ever see a sober drunkard? Did you ever know a truthful liar? You can find all three as soon as you can find a sinning Christian. He that is born of God doth not commit sin. Whosoever committeth sin is of the devil. You do not like this kind of preaching? Of course you do not, but that does not alter the truth, and I did not make this truth. It was God's own truth before you and I were born, and what is true once is always true.
Conversion is a wonderful change. Read the Word and see what the Holy Ghost has to say about it. It is a passing from death to life; it is a new creature; it is passing from darkness to light; it is being taken out of the pit and having one's feet on the Rock; it is having the heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone; it is being risen with Christ. It is such a wonderful change that everybody knows when and where it took place. I used to preach in my earlier ministry, "If you do not know the very time and the very spot when and where you were converted, then you never were converted. One day a lady and my wife and I were riding along the road when she said, "Brother Kulp, you do annoy me by your preaching." And I asked her, "How do I annoy you?" She said, "You preach that if you do not know when and where you were converted, you never were converted, and I do not know a time that I did not love Jesus." I had no reason to doubt her word. She lived a consistent Christian life and died in the faith; but I still insist upon it, that nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine out every million know when and where they were converted. I can take the devil to the very spot and know the very minute when God came to my soul; and all my sins were forgiven and I had the witness of the Spirit that I was converted, born again, became a new creature in Christ Jesus. I have never doubted it.
"He doth not commit sin. Well, let us ask, What is Sin? And you answer, "Any transgression of the law of God." Yes, that is Bible and we all agree to that, and any transgression of the law of God requires the blood. Sins of ignorance require the blood. But are we willing now to take all the Scripture definitions of sin? Let us examine, for we want to be right. Here is one, "Whatsoever is not of faith IS SIN." Is that right? Of course it is right. It has the stamp and seal of the Holy Ghost. Then, it is wrong for me to do a thing of which I have any doubt. In other words, doubtful things are wrong -- are sinful. "Whosoever doubteth is condemned if he eat" will apply all the way along. I knew an old man who came to the altar, who had for years been making a profession, and he was a good man, living in a community where chewing tobacco among the members of the church was nearly as common as eating bread; and I knew if I could get a doubt in that man's mind in regard to tobacco, then it would be a sin for him to use it, and he would give it up. I told him it was "filthiness of the flesh," and all filthiness would have to be abandoned. He saw it and gave it up; for to him it was sin, the entrance of the Word gave light. "He that hath respect of persons committeth sin." God says so. I have thought this is for preachers especially. I have been told by members of the church where I have been in meetings, "If you could only get that man he would be such an addition t6 the church." What did they mean? Simply this -- he had money, had influence and position in society. God cares no more for a millionaire than a tramp. All souls are precious in His sight. We dare not be respecters of persons. God says it is sin. I visited a dying woman one time, and as she told me her story, I pitied her from the bottom of my heart. She was one of the neglected ones. She told me, "Once I belonged to church. I lived in a little log house; the pastor went right by my house again and again, and went to the big house of Mr. , over on the hill. I was a poor woman, and I rebelled so against that treatment, I backslid." She had been neglected. That pastor -- no, he was not a pastor, for a real pastor would not have done it -- was a respecter of persons, and sinned. God's Word for it.
He that is born of God -- that is, he that is converted -- is a partaker of the Divine nature. Godly means like God. Partaker of the Divine nature means godly. Not, he that is sanctified, but he that is born of God, partakes of the Spirit of God. If any man has not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His. I was visiting once with my wife, and called on a woman who, while in poverty knew God as very few know Him. When we entered she was eating dry bread and drinking water. I revolted at the sight and asked for permission to go and get her something. She was living in a room, all alone; had two boys well able to take care of her, but they had women of fashion for their wives, and not one of the wives wanted this old saint around. She said to me when I wanted to go and get something for her: "Oh, this is all I need; I have plenty." I sat there with my wife talking to her and the sentences that fell from her lips were like strings of pearls. We were talking about being like Jesus. My wife sat there weeping and said to this old saint, "I often wish I were more like Him." And then came the reply which I have told often to the comfort of many saints: "Child, if there is any resemblance, it shows we are in the family." Thank God for that. Partakers of the Divine nature. Sons and daughters of God.
"He that buildeth the things which once he destroyed transgresseth the law." Well, then. he sins, for all transgression of the law is sin. It means, if I ever quit a thing because it was morally wrong, then afterward went back to it, then I sinned. Is that right? Seems to me that God says so in this Word. Let us stick to the old Book. I was preaching down in Kentucky, in a grove, where there are a number of professors of holiness who raise tobacco, and I had not been there long before God gave me a message that uncovered the sin and stirred these native tobacco users and growers. One man under deep conviction threw away his pipe and tobacco, and some of the Saints! came to him and asked him, "Did you throw that away because Kulp told you to, or did God?" And soon he went back to his vomit, and sinned. I was at a meeting in Indiana, and there was a man at the altar who was much troubled; he was raising tobacco on shares with another man, and he came to me and asked me what he should do. I told him he could keep his word with the other man, but must get out of the business forever. Some of this same crowd who were there went to him and said, "We have raised tobacco all our lives and it never hurt us." And they hindered that man in his quest after God.
God is love, and every one that loveth is born of God. If you are godly, you will love. and love the unlovely, for that is what He does. We cannot carry enmity in our hearts against anyone and keep right with God. We can love people we do not like. How can we? Let me tell you. We like people who are congenial. We love their company; we make friends of them; we esteem them highly. There are other folks who are not congenial. We do not like them, but we must love them and we do. They have souls; Jesus died for them. Perhaps you are not congenial to them, and they may not like you. But the Spirit of Jesus will not allow us to have anything in our hearts against them. I was at a prayer meeting one night where there was a woman who had been seeking God for two years, and she was willing to do anything that He asked -- but one -- and that was, forgive the man who killed her brother. He was insane, and became violently so. They had to send for officers to take him to the Insane Asylum. When they came one of them was afraid of him, and as he was violent, he drew his revolver and shot him, and killed him. Every time that woman came to the altar God would ask her, "Will you forgive the man who killed your brother?" And every time in her heart she said "No," and went away unsaved. But this night, a rainy night -- oh, it pays to go to meeting on rainy nights -- God again asked her, "Will you forgive the man who killed your brother?" And she said, "O God, as I hope for forgiveness from Thee, I do now forgive the man who killed my brother." And she came through. I was preaching at a certain church and saw in the meeting a man who was under deep conviction. I went to him and urged him to be a Christian. He looked at me and said, "Must I forgive everybody in order to be a Christian?" And I said, "Yes, sir." "Then," said he, "I will never be one." I could sympathize with that man, if I dared. His mother was left a widow with small children, and in the hour of midnight a man got into the house and outraged that mother, and now this man, a stalwart-looking fellow, declared, "I will never be a Christian if I must forgive that fellow." Yet the Word tells us Jesus prayed, "Father forgive them," and Stephen prayed, "Lay not this sin to their charge." If we forgive not men their trespasses, neither will our heavenly Father forgive us our trespasses. Forgive as we hope to be forgiven.
God is love, and the Book declares, "Every one that loveth is born of God." When a soul is really converted it wants to do something for them who have despitefully used it. Major Baker, of Boston, told me one day that there was a certain man whom he positively did not like. But the next day after he met God he went down the street and he saw this man standing by the side of the curb alongside of a mule, and said he, "My heart so overflowed with love to that man that I actually loved the mule alongside of him." It was said of Fenelon, "If you want to get him to pray for you, just abuse him and he will be sure to do it." No wonder that a noted sinner came from his home saying, "If I stayed a half-hour longer with Fenelon I should be a Christian in spite of myself."
"Whosoever is born of God overcometh the world." Conversion makes one an overcomer. I know a little woman who had a hard time getting through to God. She was a "dresser," liked feathers and flowers and jewelry, and she was a long time saying yes to God. She was at the altar -- you see I believe in an altar, an old-fashioned mourners' bench-and came night after night; but one night she said "Yes" to God -- a yes that covered all the things that He asked for. She stripped for the race. She took off her rings, her ribbons, all her fashions, and in twenty-four hours after she was converted the Lord sanctified her in five minutes. She said she had so much to do to get converted that she had no trouble getting sanctified. She was an overcomer from the beginning. I was in the habit of going to church with my parents when I was a boy, and I always sat with my father. I was not allowed to sit in the back part of the church and misbehave, while my father prayed and sang and shouted up front. They were in a protracted meeting and it was protracted through several weeks, souls being at the altar and praying through. But there was one woman who came night after night, and never seemed to get anywhere. I was always walking with my parents when I went home after the meeting was out at night, and they would stop at the various corners and talk awhile, and say good-bye, and so one night they were discussing this woman who did not get through, and finally one old saint, Aunt Kitty Crumley, said, "Well, she will get through when she takes off that big cameo breastpin."
Of course I was all ears just then, and when I went to church after that I was "all eyes." I wanted to see her "get through," and as I did not know what getting through meant, I was quite certain I would learn when she took off the breastpin, for I could see and know that. So I watched her every night, and one night up went her hands and off came the pin, and she went through. Oh, yes, there is something in it. He that is converted overcometh the world. All its fashions, all its customs, all its laws, and are free from sin. Sometime ago a beautiful young lady came to me dressed in the garb that becometh holiness and the house of God, and said, "I want to give you this," and she handed me a string of real pearls -- not the Woolworth kind, but the real things. I gave them to the Bible School to be sold for the Rescue work, or Missions -- just as the Lord led.
All unrighteousness is sin. Is this so? God says so in the Word. Well, now, take this truth, will you. It is a most unrighteous thing to owe a man a dollar when you have a dollar in your pocket with which you might pay him. That dollar is not yours. There has been reproach brought on the church because some folks are so loose about paying their debts. I was one time enlarging a church, and asking folks for money. I went to the grocer, supposing that as the church was so near his property that he would consider the improvement and give me a donation. When I asked him he said, "Yes, I will give you the bills I have against the members." To him who knoweth to do good, pay his debts, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. If you are not able to pay, go see your creditor -- do not dodge around the corner; tell him you are embarrassed, and that you will pay as soon as you have an opportunity. If you want people to believe in you, you must show them the goods. By their fruits ye shall know them. John Finch, of Nebraska, said one time, "Every neighborhood ought to have a revival once a year for the sake of the storekeepers." I was in a meeting a few weeks ago and a man and wife agreed to sell their home, and then go back to the old community where they once lived, and pay up all they owed. There will be a surprise when that saved couple go around to see the old creditors and shout while they pay up the old bills. I am believing the merchants will be willing to invest in that kind of an experience, and will believe in the salvation of a man who sells his home that he may pay his old debts. That man and wife can sing now, "It is real, yes, it is real, thank God, I know it is real." A man came to me sometime ago and holding tip a piece of paper he said, "Do you see that?" Of course I saw it, and asked what it was. And he said, "That is a receipt from the Grand Trunk R. R. I rode on the bumpers sometime before I was converted, and the thing troubled me so I wrote to the R. R. Co., and asked them what the fare was from Battle Creek to South Bend. And when I found out I wrote them, sent them the money and told them of the circumstance. They thanked me and sent this receipt." I am thinking just now that the R. R. Cos. would all be glad for a revival all over the land. Real righteousness settles up whenever it can, and all unrighteousness is sin.
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He knows whom he hath believed, and knows he is saved from sin. Read it carefully. He was manifested to take away our sins. He shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. By the grace of God Jesus Christ tasted death for every man. The grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men, teaching us that denying all ungodliness, we should live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present world, looking for the gracious appearing of the great God, our Savior Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave Himself for us that He might purify unto Himself a peculiar people. Get it! Did you? In this present world and now, He wants some folks who will illustrate by godly living His power to save unto the uttermost. A man who was seeking earnestly said to a worker, "Give me a promise that I may grasp it." One was quoted and he said, "That is what I want." He believed it and God saved him for Jesus' sake. Believe it, and live it, and you have hastened the coming of our Lord.
