1 John 1:5-10(NKJV)
5This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
(This week at LWCC we were blessed to hear from Dr. B.J. Pruitt. Here are some thoughts on him messages.)
Two weeks ago in our study on How to Walk by Faith, we touched on the Prayer of Faith. In that study from James chapter 5, the writer mentioned sin and forgiveness in what he had to say about praying in faith. There is nothing that stops our faith walk more quickly than allowing sin in our lives. We can never rise up in a consistent and aggressive faith when the devil has an open door through which to bring condemnation against us. To really walk in the kind of faith we need, sin must be dealt with.
1 John chapter 1 is a powerful statement about dealing with sin. There are many messages preached on how bad sin is and on the necessity to repent, or turn away from sin, and they are true and important. However it is not fair to tell people what they have to do and not tell them how. Of course the bible is full of how to overcome sin, but this section of 1 John is one of the most important.
Let me make a distinction first. In verse 6 of this scripture it talks about walking in darkness. In the second chapter John tells us that if we say we know him we should be keeping his commandments and walking as He walks. Again he says if this is not true of our lives, we are lying about abiding in him. I used to read this scripture and question whether I was really saved. It seemed at first that if there was any sin at all in my life I did not know him and I was walking in darkness. However, in light of verse 8, this cannot be true.
In verse eight he says if I say I have no sin I am a liar. How can both be true. There used to be a saying that Pentecostals were fond of using to express their humility. What it really expressed was ignorance. They would proclaim, “I am just and old sinner saved by grace.” That is not true. You are either a sinner or saved by grace. You cannot be both.
When you were born again, your sins, up to that point, were forgiven you. The forgiving of our sin, however is not what saves us. It is the change of our nature. 2 Corinthians 5 makes it clear that born again people are new creatures in Christ and that all things are made new. What is made new? Our spirit or our inner man is made new. The sinner is made new. He is changed from a sinner to a saint or a sanctified one.
Does that mean we don’t ever sin after we are born again. Obviously not. However when a sinner sins it is his nature to do so. It is what is natural to him. If he is going to keep from sinning he must control his inner nature with outward discipline. If I am a Christian that nature has changed. I still must exercise discipline, but I am not fighting against what I really am. I am instead disciplining myself to release my inner nature which is not in the image of God. I am not a sinner by nature so sin is not natural me, or I should say to my spirit.
Of course my flesh is another matter. My flesh has been trained by that old nature. It has been trained to sin and tends to do what it likes. There are things about sin that are pleasant for a season. The end of sin is always death, but the flesh doesn’t think that far ahead. It wants what it wants and it does not regard the circumstances.
However I am a Christian. I am supposed to walk in the light. As a matter of fact I have the light in me. When I sin my inner and outer man are in discord. When a sinner sins he is just coming into agreement with his inner man. He is often in discord with society, but not with his inner man. In the scripture above, verse 6 is talking about sinners by nature. The rest of this section of the bible is talking about those who sin, but they are not by nature sinners. That’s us.
There is so much more to this than I cannot get into in this space, but let me leave you for today with this thought. If I am not saved I must conquer sin from the outside in. I know that certain things are wrong. I know that certain things are harmful to me or others. I learn by my culture and by the rule of law, not to do those things. Depending on the strength of my education, upbringing and character I will either be disciplined in my resistance to temptation and keep societies laws and standards or I will be a problem to society, myself and those around me. In either case I am fighting against and inward nature.
If I am a Christian I have the law of God written on my heart. (Jer. 31:31) I am no longer a child of wrath by nature. (Eph. 2:3) I now control my behavior by releasing who I really am, not by keeping who I really am bound inside me. This is a totally different thing. We conquer sin from the inside out not the outside in. How do we do that?
Join me tomorrow and we will discuss it together.
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