Vol 2 No 45 THEO'S DEVOS 110608
1 John 1:8-10 If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. 9But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.
Sin is a difficult concept is a few ways. Someone has said that sin is simply stupid. If we sin it is almost always to get what we want without God. To do that is to act in a way that is just plain stupid. God wants what is best for us and is in position to give it to us but we, like many characters in the Bible, try to take shortcuts to the goal and often end up short. We may then start to justify our actions by stating that what we did was really not a sin at all. It just didn't work and we have learned from it. However to try and dodge the obvious, John tells us, is to fool ourselves. Confessing our sin brings about cleansing and that heals a broken relationship with God. It frees Him to open blessings to us.
Note that verse nine says that He can cleanse us “from every wrong.” This cannot mean that we become sinless because right after saying those words he goes on to say that claiming to have not sinned calls God a liar. So what are we to do? It is clear that we are not supposed to sin. And yet it is apparent that we cannot avoid it. This is the great dilemma of human existence that can only be rectified by the entrance into heaven at the end of life. Until then we struggle with the sin problem and must be sure to heed the guidance of 1:9. We must be quick to confess our sin, or sins, to God so that he can cleanse us. The forgiveness has already occurred. “To forgive” is an aorist verb and indicates that upon confession of sin, they are forgiven; once for all. We do not confess to get forgiven over and over again. We confess because the words “to cleanse” is a present perfect and indicates that we must confess over and over in order to keep up to date and so the cleansing continues.
Note that, in these verses we are not told to confess to some person granted the power to forgive. We confess directly to God. None of the gifts of the spirit are given to grant forgiveness of sin. That lies in the hands of God. Asking forgiveness of a person when you have harmed them may be necessary and, in that case, it is in the hands of the person wronged to forgive but that is so human relationships can be healed. In those circumstances it is best if we offer forgiveness whether or not it is asked. To not forgive someone is to allow the lack of forgiveness to dwell in our hearts and minds like a social cancer, eating away at us and causing us to harbor sin in our hearts.
To try and justify what is sin is to call God a liar and that, my friend, is a dangerous thing to do. It certainly does not endear us to Him nor does it make the thing done anything less than sin. It falls into the 'lipstick and pigs' realm. Listen, God knows your actions and your thoughts. There is no advantage to pretend that something you have done was not a sin when you know that it was. Live your life open before your God. Talk to Him and confess those things that you know are sin. The fact is that you will do things that are sin and you may not even realize that you have done them. In those cases the Holy Spirit will talk to God on your behalf. Jesus will defend your case and you will stand 'in Christ.'
Sin is an important thing to avoid but since it cannot be totally avoided, be sure to keep in touch with God and confess those things that you know He wants you to. You may not be perfect but you can be heading in that direction. Please remember something we noted a while ago and will mention again. God loves you just the way you are but He loves you too much to let you stay that way. Confessing your sins to Him allows Him to help you progress along the path of Christian growth.
I am praying for you and asking God to fulfill your hopes and dreams. May you place a blessing in your life today.
Theo
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