1 John 1:8-10 - True Faithfulness & Justice
- Chad Werkhoven
- Oct 1
- 4 min read
You may lose more battles with sin than you win. But there's good news!
1 John 1–2:2 (NIV)
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Canons of Dordt
Point 5 - Perseverance of the Saints
Article 1: The Regenerate Not Entirely Free from Sin
Those people whom God according to his purpose
calls into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord
and regenerates by the Holy Spirit,
God also sets free from
the dominion and slavery of sin,
though not entirely from the flesh and from the body of sin as long as they are in this life.
Summary
Today we're considering the second of two contrasting false claims people often make about themselves. Yesterday we were reminded of the first lie: that people claim to have fellowship with the Light but are actually walking in the darkness. Now John jumps to the other end of the spectrum: those who claim to be without sin. Ironically, although these claims seem like polar opposites, they're really not all that different from one another.
First of all, both extremes are the result of a complete lack of self-awareness. On the one hand you have people who either don't care at all about the sin in their life, or who ignorantly don't recognize it. On the other hand are people who've somehow rationalized all of their deviant behaviors to the point they've convinced themselves that they're without sin.
Secondly, both claims, as different as they appear, stem from the same exact source. When we hypocritically claim fellowship but yet walk in the dark we lie and do not live out the truth. When we deny our sinfulness, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Both of these claims come as the result of rejecting the truth. When you hold on to these falsehoods, not only are you lying to yourself and others, but even worse, you make Jesus out to be a liar, and His Word is not in you.
Dig Deeper
In theology, just as in so many other aspects of life, words matter. Oftentimes, it seems like more words get used than are necessary to clearly articulate a matter, so we get in the habit of shaving off the seemingly extraneous verbiage to make things easier to understand. We might be tempted to reduce this first article of the Canon's fifth point to the phrase God sets us free from... sin... .
But it's critically important to include all of the words in that statement, for the abbreviated version isn't at all what God has done for us (yet, at least). God has thus far set us free from the dominion and slavery of sin, though not entirely from the flesh and from the body of sin as long as they are in this life.
Until Christ returns or calls us home, you'll struggle with sin and temptation every moment of our lives, and to think you won't is to, as John put it, deceive yourself. But - and this is important - sin no longer has dominion over you, and you're no longer enslaved to it. By God's grace you can now win many of your daily battles against it!
But you won't win every battle. In fact, you may lose more than you win. The good news is that when you fail, you can be assured that your salvation doesn't depend upon your faithfulness and justice, because when you confess your sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive you your sins and purify you from all unrighteousness.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is faithful and just;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will remain in the truth as you battle sin and temptation every moment;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: 1 John 3
Comments