SIN AND THE CHRISTIAN

1 JOHN 1:5-10, 2:1-2

      Joy in the Christian life (1 Jn. 1:4) is conditional upon a right fellowship with God. Sin breaks fellowship with God (Ps. 32:3, 51:12; Lk. 15:21).

      In this letter John wrote the truth about the sins of the saints. He wrote this message to keep believers from sin (1 Jn. 5:21).

2 Cor. 7:1. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

  I. God is Light (1:5)

      A. Announcement (this is–1 Jn. 1:5, 2:25, 3:11-23, 5:3-4-6-9-11-14-20; promise–1 Jn. 2:25)

2 Pet. 1:4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

          1. Disclosed by Jesus (Acts 1:4)

          2. Declared by John (Jn. 16:14; Acts 20:27)

      B. Attribute (Ex. 34:6-7; Dt. 4:24; 1 Cor. 1:9; Heb. 12:29; 1 Pet. 1:16; 1 Jn. 4:8; glorious, holiness)

          1. Antonym (Is. 5:20; Mt. 6:23; Jn. 3:19, 12:46; Acts 26:18; 2 Cor. 6:14; Eph. 5:8; 1 Th. 5:5; 1 Pet. 2:9; 1 Jn. 1:5, 2:8-9)

          2. Absolute (1 Tim. 6:16; Jas. 1:17)

 II. Sin is a lie (1:6-10)

1 Jn. 3:6. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

      A. Falsehood (6, 8, 10; Antinomians–license)

Rom. 6:15. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

          1. Discrepancy (permissive about sin, living a lie–lying to others, duplicity)

1 Jn. 2:4. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

              a. Profess fellowship with Jesus (1 Jn. 4:20; pretense)

2 Cor. 6:14. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

              b. Practice following after darkness (phony)

Eph. 5:8. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now [are ye] light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

          2. Deception (playing around with sin, telling a lie–lying to ourselves, defensive)

Acts 5:3. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back [part] of the price of the land?

Gal. 6:7. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

          3. Denial (perfect above sin, believing a lie–calling God a liar–Rom. 3:4, deluded)

Jn. 9:41. Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

      B. Forgiveness (7, 9; to send away)

Ps. 32:1. Blessed [is he whose] transgression [is] forgiven, [whose] sin [is] covered.

          1. Cleansing (principle of sin–indwelling sin nature; relationship with God)

Ps. 51:10. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Mt. 5:8. Blessed [are] the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

              a. Steps (Gen. 5:24; Amos 3:3; Jn. 12:35; transparency)

                  (1) Conviction (light accepted exposes darkness)

                  (2) Continuous (present tense, progress)

      David Smith wrote, “Our natures are poisoned, the taint is in our blood. Grace is the medicine, but recovery is a protracted process. It is begun the moment we submit ourselves to Christ, but all our lives we continue under treatment.”

                      (a) Obedience (light rejected dulls conscience)

                      (b) One another (vertical and horizontal fellowship; Mt. 5:23)

              b. Sacrifice (Rev. 1:5)

      Watchman Nee said, “The Blood deals with what we have done, whereas the Cross deals with what we are.”

          2. Confession (particular sins–individual sins named; fellowship with God)

Ps. 19:12. Who can understand [his] errors? cleanse thou me from secret [faults].

Heb. 12:1. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

              a. Acknowledge (conditional verb, immediately)

Mk. 1:5. And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

      J. Edwin Orr said, “Let the circle of the sin committed be the circle of the confession made.” Private sins call for private repentance, personal sins call for personal reconciliation, and public sins call for public restitution.

                  (1) Honest recognition (Jas. 5:16)

      In secular Greek the term confession meant “to say the same thing,” “to speak the same language,” “to agree to the statement of another,” “to admit a charge,” or “to make a confession of guilt.”

Ps. 51:3. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin [is] ever before me.

      David Smith said, “Peace is not gotten by denying our sinfulness and our sins, but by frankly confessing them and availing ourselves, continually and repeatedly of the gracious remedy.”

                      (a) Cover (rationalize)

Prov. 28:13. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh [them] shall have mercy.

                      (b) Chastisement

1 Cor. 11:31. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

                  (2) Humble repentance (Acts 19:18)

      Charles G. Finney said, “A revival of religion may be expected when Christians begin to confess their sins to one another.”

Jos. 7:19. And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide [it] not from me.

              b. Accept (completed verb, instantly)

Col. 2:13. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

                  (1) God’s faithfulness (1 Cor. 1:9)

                  (2) God’s justification (Rom. 3:26)

Ps. 103:12. As far as the east is from the west, [so] far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Mic. 7:19. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Heb. 10:17. And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

      Martin Luther once envisioned Satan approaching with a large book. Satan seemed to say, “This book contains the record of the sins in your life.” When Satan began to read the list, Luther said, “Stop! Here is another book–the Word of God. It says, ‘The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin’” (1 Jn. 1:7).

III. Jesus is our lawyer (2:1-2)

      Ten days before Pentecost, Jesus ascended to God’s right hand (Acts 2:33-34, 7:55; Rom. 8:34; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3, 10:12, 12:2; 1 Pet. 3:22) to continue the ministry He began. Jesus keeps the believer through His work of intercession (Heb. 4:14, 7:25, 9:24, 10:19; 1 Jn. 2:1).

      A. Power over sin (sin not–Jn. 5:14; grace abused)

Rom. 6:1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

      Tom Elliff told of a father in Chicago who recently experienced the ultimate tragedy. As the father traveled home, he discovered his own son, who while riding a bike on a Chicago street, became the victim of a motorist. Returning home from the hospital, the distraught father came to the street corner of his son’s death. He stopped the car and began to wave the traffic around the place of the fatality. The father cried, “Don’t run over my son’s blood!”

          1. Bible (Ps. 119:11; Jn. 15:3)

      The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.

          2. Believers (children)

      B. Provision for sin (but if–Lk. 17:3; grace available–Gal. 6:1)

          1. Advocate (Jn. 14:16-26, 15:26, 16:7; 1 Jn. 2:1; In secular Greek, a helper or representative in court )

      Jesus Himself is a believer’s victory over sin (Rom. 7:25). Watchman Nee wrote, “So life goes on in a vicious circle of sinning and being forgiven and then sinning again. I appreciate the blessed fact of God’s forgiveness, but I want something more than that: I want deliverance. I need forgiveness for what I have done, but I need also deliverance from what I am.”

              a. Accuser (Rev. 12:10; guilt)

                  (1) Self

      F. B. Meyer wrote, “The bitterest experience with most Believers is the Presence and Power of Sin. They long to walk through this grimy world with pure hearts and stainless garments. But when they would do good, evil is present with them.”

                  (2) Satan (Zech. 3:1)

      William R. Newell wrote, “Satan’s great device is to drive earnest souls back to beseeching God for what God says has already been done!”

      Watchman Nee wrote, “Thus accusation becomes one of the greatest and most effective of Satan’s weapons. He points to our sins and seeks to charge us with them before God, and if we accept his accusations we go down immediately.”

              b. Defender (Rom. 8:34; grace)

      David Smith wrote, “Our Advocate does not plead that we are innocent. . . . He acknowledges our guilt and presents His vicarious work as the ground of our acquittal.”

      Newell wrote, “Shall any stand before God’s High Court and condemn whom He has justified? Never! Satan may accuse us in our consciences; but the day of our condemnation was past forever–when Christ our Substitute ‘bore our sins in His body on the tree!’”

          2. Access (Eph. 2:18)

              a. His righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30; He Himself)

              b. His redemption (Rom. 3:25; 1 Jn. 4:10; mercy seat)

                  (1) Paid for our sins (Lk. 11:4)

                  (2) Paid for others’ sins (Jn. 3:16)

      Is there a sin that you need to confess? Lewis A. Drummond related, “Bertha Smith spoke in our church after returning home from her missionary service in China and Taiwan. Her challenge centered on confession. In the course of her message, she urged us to make out what she called a “sin account.” She instructed us to take some paper and in the left-hand column write several numbers. Then in the quiet of a secret place before God , we were to pray that the Holy Spirit would reveal every single act that was displeasing to him and was thus marring our fellowship with Jesus Christ. Then we were to write down every specific sin that we had never individually brought before him in prior confession.”

Ps. 139:23-24. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if [there be any] wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.