If We Confess Our Sins_God Is Light (5)
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November 25, 2018 |
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Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
"God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness if we confess our sins. Moreover, when we go into Light, He will give us more blessings."
Since God is Light, we cannot hide any darkness before Him however tiny it may seem. At the same time, He is faithful and righteous, so He forgives us our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness if we confess our sins. But the problem is that some people may walk in darkness but not realize it.
It is because each person has different standards regarding transgression and sin. Because you have different consciences, idiosyncratic growth backgrounds and different educations, you may have different value criterion and standards. Now then let's delve into why we cannot say we have no sin before God, what sins are specifically, and what it means to confess our sins.
1. The Reason We Cannot Say We Have No Sin before God
1 John 1:8 says, "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us." First, what does God mean to say in this Scripture?
According to the Bible, sin came into the world for the first time when the first man Adam and his wife Eve disobeyed God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All his descendants inherited his sinful nature, and accordingly, no one can say they have no sin. It is what 'original sin' means. There is another kind of sin that people themselves commit, which is called 'self-committed sin.'
If people do not solve the problem of sin, there is no other choice but eternal death in hell and receiving horrible eternal punishment. It is as written in the Bible that tells us that sinners cannot inherit the kingdom of God nor see God (Romans 3:23, 5:12).
In order to redeem people who became sinners from their sin, the God of love sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to this earth two thousand years ago. And as His appointed time came, Jesus took the cross with all our sins on His shoulders and died on the wooden cross. But He overcame death and resurrected, which widely opened the way to salvation for all mankind. By this, anyone who accepts Jesus as their Savior can be justified by faith (Romans 3:24, 5:1), and gain the right to become God's children (John 1:12).
However, though you were forgiven of all sins by faith in Jesus Christ, you may have sinful natures in your origin until you become sanctified and act perfectly by the law of God. The forms of evil that remain in you may cause you to commit sin impulsively. You may commit sins sometimes since you do not know the truth, or even if you know the truth, because your faith is weak, you may commit sins. Thus, until you achieve the perfect sanctification recognized by God, none of you can say you have no sin, and if you say you have no sin, you are deceiving yourselves.
Next, 1 John 1:8 continues to say that if we say we have no sin, the truth is not in us. What does it mean?
The truth is the Word of God. Those who have the truth in them can realize it when they do or have something against the Word of God because the Holy Spirit reflects their hearts in the Word of God. So, if the truth is in them, they cannot say they have no sin until they become perfectly sanctified and get rid of every kind of darkness.
How then can we solve the problem of sin? We need to confess our sins before God who is faithful and righteous. Only then can God forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). When it comes to sins that we confess, He will not say we have the sins.
2. What Sins Refer to Specifically in the Law of God
A 'crime' or 'offense' generally means transgression of the law set by a nation, a society, or a group, and it serves as the ground for punishment of those who violate the law. The same definition applies to sin in Christianity. We must keep the spiritual law which is the law of God's kingdom as we are God's children and hold the citizenship of heaven after receiving salvation (Philippians 3:20). If we do not observe the law, it is sin.
The spiritual law was set by God who owns the spiritual world, and it was the Word of God written in the 66 books of the Bible. As 1 John 3:4 reads, "Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness," everything that is against the Bible is lawlessness and sin. Of course, unbelievers already have sin in the first place because not believing in Jesus Christ itself is sin (John 16:9). Now, let's look more into what sins refer to specifically according to the law of God.
The first kind of sin is committed in action; the works of the flesh.
Those who commit the works of the flesh will surely receive punishment after the judgment and they can never inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21). Of course, it may be impossible for you to immediately cease committing the works of the flesh right after you accept Jesus Christ and receive the Holy Spirit. But, when you try to live a holy life by the Holy Spirit's help and diligently pray, you can cast works of the flesh away one by one. The act of casting away the works of the flesh comes from faith, and it is how we should lead our believing lives.
Thus, if you still have something that you have not cast away, you need to repent, pray with tears, and turn back by the help of the Holy Spirit. When you confess your sins and try hard to cast them off this way, you will definitely be able to get rid of all of them. That is why God does not call believers people of the flesh, but He allows them to be justified by faith. If they confess their sin and turn back from the sin, it will be regarded as faith and they will receive the forgiveness of God who is faithful and righteous.
The second kind of sin is not revealed in action but committed in mind; the things of the flesh.
In the sight of God who is Light, all evil elements that you have in your heart are darkness and sin (Romans 14:10; James 4:11-12). In the Old Testament time, only acts of lawlessness that came out outwardly in action were looked upon as sin, but in the New Testament time, all things of lawlessness including those even in your hearts are considered as sin.
It is because people in the New Testament time can circumcise their hearts and root out even sinful natures in hearts by relying on the Holy Spirit. When they are renewed through the circumcision of hearts, the Light of Jesus Christ will dwell in them and they can show the perfect deeds of Light from their hearts.
Light refers to forgiveness, love, and mercy. It is to seek others' benefits and see, hear, speak, and think in goodness all the time. If you have opposite things such as judgment, condemnation, hatred, and jealousy in your heart, even if they are not shown outwardly, you cannot say you have no sin. Moreover, if you think of the love of the Lord who was crucified for sinners, you must keep the commandments of God (1 John 5:3) and bear the fruit that belongs to Light.
3. Things of Darkness in the Sight of God That Do Not Seem Like Darkness in the Sight of Men
Some attributes of darkness are easily found when you reflect your heart with the Word of God, but some other attributes do not seem to belong to darkness, but their origin is darkness.
For example, you may not feel jealous when others do well on something, but instead you may feel disheartened about yourselves.
Then, you may think it is not darkness because you do not do evil to them or do not have jealousy towards them. However, spiritual love that belongs to Light rejoices with the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6). When you see others receive more love and recognition than you do, you have to rejoice together with them without feeling disheartened.
Let me give you another example. You may have broken peace even though you think you followed the truth. Let's say you gave your opinion in a meeting and persuaded the people to follow your idea because you thought it was the best for the kingdom of God. Although you knew some of them did not like your idea and felt uncomfortable, you did not care about them. But we must remember when we follow the Light, peace will naturally follow. Peace is the kind of heart to follow others' opinions as long as they are not untruthful although we think our own ideas are better. It is the heart that does not reveal oneself and does not break peace with anybody.
Besides, there are many other cases that you reveal darkness although you think you are righteous. Suppose a leader asked a member of a group to do something. Depending on the end result, their reactions will be different.
If the work was done well, the leader may say, "I am the one who asked him to do it so credit for the work is my accomplishment." On the other hand, the member who did it may say, "It is I who actually got the work done. It is to my credit." But if things went wrong, they may shift the blame on each other without thinking deeply of their own mistakes and they think they are right. Only when you cast away the heart to blame others can you achieve the heart that belongs to Light that conceals others' transgressions even if they commit grave sins.
We must not shift the blame onto others or avoid our responsibility. God will be pleased with us if we feel a sense of responsibility and blame ourselves just because we are involved in the work, or if we endure even when we are persecuted for no reason or wrongfully accused. If then, God will not say we have sin. If we are willing to confess our sin however small, He will forgive us of our sins, deem us righteous, and then protect and lead us so that we will not face with difficulties in our work.
4. You Should Confess Your Sin and Turn Away.
Confessing sin does not just mean confessing your sin with lips but it also means turning back from the sin perfectly. Only then can the precious blood of the Lord cleanse you from the sin. But if you still have hatred in your heart but you just ask God to forgive you of the sin, God will say you are telling a lie (1 John 1:6).
King David walked in Light and was recognized by God as the one who was after His heart, but he was not perfect from the beginning. He once took Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. When she was pregnant with the king's baby, he tried to cover up his sin in many ways. As he continued to fail, he had her husband Uriah killed by gentile people. It was a grave sin. It was because he still had the things of darkness in his heart such as the lust of the flesh, which is a desire to take whatever one wants, and the lust of the eyes. But when God pointed out his sin through the prophet Nathan, he immediately repented and turned back.
But David underwent severe trials as the punishment for his sin. The child between him and Bathsheba died, and he had to flee from his son Absalom who rebelled against him. But he did not grudge against nor complain about anything or anyone. Even when a person of his nation threw stones to him and cursed at him, he endured it without swaying, accepted it, and committed everything to God.
When David heartily repented and turned back from his sin, God forgave him and made him a perfect vessel through trials who could walk in Light without blame.
1 John 1:9 reads, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Here, His faithfulness means that God sees our good points, not shortcomings and forgives us of all our transgressions. His righteousness means that He will raise up those who are in difficulties when they confess their sin and turn back and will give them blessing to the extent that they renew themselves.
Some people in darkness do not want to come into Light, but we need to believe boundless blessing will await us once we come into Light.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if you confess your sin to God who is faithful and righteous and walk in Light, God will give answers to your prayer. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will reflect yourselves in God who is the Light, become children of Light, and thereby receive whatever you ask for.
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