Christian Confirmations (1 John 1:8-2:1)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:05.440 Please remain standing, and let's turn our attention to God's Word in First John 2 00:00:05.559 --> 00:00:23.940 Chapter One. First John One. I'll begin at verse eight and end in 3 00:00:24.140 --> 00:00:29.059 the first verse of the next Chapter. First John Chapter One, Verse Eight. 4 00:00:31.500 --> 00:00:35.700 Grass withers in the flower fades, but the word of our Lord stands 5 00:00:35.770 --> 00:00:42.130 forever. So give your attention to it. Here it with faith. First 6 00:00:42.130 --> 00:00:48.450 John One. Eight. If we say we have no sin, we deceive 7 00:00:48.570 --> 00:00:53.799 ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, 8 00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:58.399 he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from 9 00:00:58.439 --> 00:01:03.719 all in righteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him 10 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:08.670 a liar and his word is not in us. My little children, I 11 00:01:08.790 --> 00:01:14.310 am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if 12 00:01:14.390 --> 00:01:18.579 anyone does sin, we have an advocate. With the father, Jesus Christ, 13 00:01:19.180 --> 00:01:52.319 the righteous, he may be seated. John writes to these Christians in 14 00:01:52.560 --> 00:02:00.920 the first century, here as as an elderly man, the near the end 15 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:06.269 of his life, having served in the churches for a long time, having 16 00:02:06.349 --> 00:02:10.430 known Jesus many, many decades before, and he writes to them out of 17 00:02:10.629 --> 00:02:16.259 love and concern. My little children, he says you hear compassion in those 18 00:02:16.379 --> 00:02:23.740 words, a tenderness in the way that he writes. He wants something for 19 00:02:23.020 --> 00:02:28.860 them. He says, I'm writing these things to you so that you may 20 00:02:29.020 --> 00:02:35.490 not sin. He wants them to head a particular direction, he wants them 21 00:02:35.569 --> 00:02:39.689 to be living a particular kind of life. And of course John isn't just 22 00:02:40.050 --> 00:02:45.680 saying these things because it's what he wants. No, he's an ambassador for 23 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:50.520 the Kingdom of God. He says these things because they're what God wants. 24 00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:58.669 God wants his little children not to sin, to live their lives in obedience 25 00:02:59.270 --> 00:03:05.870 to him. But even though we are not to sin and we should strive 26 00:03:06.030 --> 00:03:09.870 not to sin and we ought not sin, we do sin, and that's 27 00:03:09.909 --> 00:03:15.699 a point John Wants to make sure that we all remember and we understand. 28 00:03:16.020 --> 00:03:23.699 It seems that there were people claiming adjust the opposite of that, claiming that 29 00:03:24.099 --> 00:03:29.650 they have no sin. It might sound a little ridiculous, but we'll come 30 00:03:29.689 --> 00:03:32.250 to that in a minute. The point he is here is. John is 31 00:03:32.330 --> 00:03:38.810 saying there's a way in which people say these things, a way in which 32 00:03:38.849 --> 00:03:44.360 people, in their hearts, just quietly and privately or sometimes publicly, think 33 00:03:44.439 --> 00:03:53.280 of themselves not as sinners think of themselves as either having no sin or having 34 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:58.669 not the guilt of sin, or both. If we say we have no 35 00:03:58.830 --> 00:04:01.590 sin, though, we deceive ourselves, he says. Instead of denying that 36 00:04:01.789 --> 00:04:06.669 truth, he wants us to recognize it so that we might avoided, so 37 00:04:06.830 --> 00:04:11.340 that we might not walk in it. And of course, when we do 38 00:04:11.580 --> 00:04:16.899 sin, he says, there is something that we have an advocate with the 39 00:04:17.100 --> 00:04:23.939 father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Paul is rot or sorry, John, 40 00:04:24.100 --> 00:04:30.610 is riding there for to Christians to help them clarify some things, to 41 00:04:30.769 --> 00:04:39.480 help understand some things, to cut through false claims and miss conceptions or perhaps 42 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:45.240 even outright lies about what it means to be a Christian. And this is 43 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:48.560 very helpful for us, because we need this as well. We need clarity 44 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:53.430 in our lives about who we are, how we ought to be walking and 45 00:04:54.069 --> 00:05:00.790 what our relationship is and what it shouldn't be to sin. Paul or, 46 00:05:00.870 --> 00:05:06.500 I'm sorry, John, says. John said earlier that if we say we 47 00:05:06.620 --> 00:05:10.540 have fellowship, this is verse six. If we say we have fellowship with 48 00:05:10.620 --> 00:05:15.379 him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth 49 00:05:15.620 --> 00:05:17.939 for seven. But if we walk in the light, as he is in 50 00:05:18.019 --> 00:05:21.529 the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses 51 00:05:21.610 --> 00:05:30.410 us from all sins. John sets up a very strong duality, a binary 52 00:05:31.170 --> 00:05:39.399 two sides, light and dark. These are opposites, he says. The 53 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:44.680 Christian is the one that walks in light. If a Christian walks in darkness, 54 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:46.639 he doesn't have fellowship in the light, he doesn't walk in the light 55 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:51.230 because, well, darkness is not light. He sets up, he exp 56 00:05:51.470 --> 00:05:57.990 doesn't set up, but he describes our life as Christians and as people in 57 00:05:58.110 --> 00:06:01.350 this world in this way. But you can see how someone might conclude, 58 00:06:01.470 --> 00:06:06.220 wrongly, that if we are to be walking in the light, well, 59 00:06:06.259 --> 00:06:10.620 then perhaps the one who walks in the light is one who does not sin. 60 00:06:12.500 --> 00:06:15.500 Well, if I am not to walk in the darkness and I know 61 00:06:15.579 --> 00:06:18.170 I belong to Jesus, well, perhaps there is no darkness in me. 62 00:06:19.769 --> 00:06:24.370 It looks sort of difficult problem. You see, how is it that we 63 00:06:24.449 --> 00:06:27.329 are children of the light? How is it that we walk in the light 64 00:06:27.490 --> 00:06:31.810 and yet walk in the darkness? This is a truth that is very plain. 65 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.240 We know it from the scriptures, we know it from the experience of 66 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:42.639 ourselves, of our brothers and sisters of the apostles themselves. Paul describes it 67 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:46.470 in Romans seven when he says I do the things I ought know I ought 68 00:06:46.509 --> 00:06:51.670 not to do. He Paul says I am the chief of sinners, and 69 00:06:51.829 --> 00:06:57.389 yet you never see him doubting that he is a child of the light himself. 70 00:06:59.230 --> 00:07:02.100 How do we understand these things? Well, let's start by how we 71 00:07:02.300 --> 00:07:06.540 ought not to understand them, and that is by saying that we have no 72 00:07:06.779 --> 00:07:13.860 sin. This is the wrong solution to this paradox and this is what people 73 00:07:13.860 --> 00:07:18.089 were claiming. Now, for me and perhaps some of you, when you 74 00:07:18.250 --> 00:07:21.250 hear this verse, Verse Eight, if we say we have no sin, 75 00:07:23.170 --> 00:07:27.089 we deceive ourselves. When you hear that, you kind of sort of put 76 00:07:27.129 --> 00:07:31.120 your head to the side and go who says that? That's a crazy thing 77 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:35.680 to say. What kind of arrogant person would say they have no sin? 78 00:07:36.920 --> 00:07:44.589 It's a little unimaginable. Now we might be able to point to particular people 79 00:07:44.709 --> 00:07:50.949 in history, particular heretics like Pollagius, even people today alive that claim these 80 00:07:51.230 --> 00:07:56.949 very bold things, that they do not sin or that they have reached a 81 00:07:56.990 --> 00:08:01.459 level of perfection. But for I think many of us here, perhaps not. 82 00:08:01.699 --> 00:08:05.939 But my guess is that for many of us here it seems like just 83 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:11.579 a outright clazy, crazy thing to say. There's nothing tempting about saying I 84 00:08:11.699 --> 00:08:16.889 have no sin. There's no temptation that you might fall into claiming this kind 85 00:08:16.970 --> 00:08:26.410 of thing. Or is there? There are a lot of reasons people might 86 00:08:26.449 --> 00:08:30.399 say this. One reason is that people might claim this is a way to 87 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:35.279 sound more religious. Right, this is sort of the idea of you've sort 88 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:39.799 of reached a higher level, a higher plane of morality, of walking in 89 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:45.549 the light. Perhaps there was a time you, this person might say, 90 00:08:45.669 --> 00:08:48.950 when I live down here, but once I came to a certain knowledge or 91 00:08:48.990 --> 00:08:54.029 I understood something better, or or God did something miraculous in my life, 92 00:08:54.029 --> 00:08:58.700 or I received a sacrament or something, it sort of bumped you up. 93 00:08:58.820 --> 00:09:01.980 You leveled up and do a new level where now I have no sin. 94 00:09:03.539 --> 00:09:07.700 Imagine if somebody told you that who actually lived in a very moral way, 95 00:09:09.980 --> 00:09:15.889 somebody. Imagine somebody telling you that who was a very religious person who strived 96 00:09:15.970 --> 00:09:20.809 and obedience after the Lord, regularly attended church, read their Bible and focused 97 00:09:20.850 --> 00:09:26.159 on good theology and all these kinds of things, and you admired them. 98 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:31.480 And what if not some hypocrite who is always sinning, but somebody who you 99 00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:35.519 respected came to you and say, you know, ever since x happened, 100 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:39.870 I haven't sinned. You can see why it might be a little more tempting 101 00:09:39.909 --> 00:09:46.190 to believe they are really holy. They seem like really good people. Perhaps 102 00:09:46.309 --> 00:09:50.470 there is something that they have that I don't. A spiritual discipline, maybe, 103 00:09:52.830 --> 00:09:58.659 attendance at a particular church, knowledge or of some special thing or doctrine. 104 00:09:58.419 --> 00:10:03.620 What is it? What's their secret? Some people say they have no 105 00:10:03.779 --> 00:10:11.450 sin as a way to perceive themselves as of a higher religious or spiritual level 106 00:10:11.490 --> 00:10:16.450 or order. Some people do it. Some people say I have no sin 107 00:10:16.570 --> 00:10:22.759 as a way to elevate themselves into a higher or social order. This is 108 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:28.519 what I mean. We have lots of people today who don't raise themselves above 109 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:33.840 others by saying they have no sin, but sort of level the playing field 110 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:39.950 by saying no one really has sin. I don't have sin, because come 111 00:10:39.029 --> 00:10:43.870 on, none of us do. Sure, we make mistakes and we have 112 00:10:43.950 --> 00:10:52.340 imperfections and we're limited in various ways, but sin. When's the last time 113 00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:58.299 you heard the words sin outside of Church or outside of the conversations of your 114 00:10:58.340 --> 00:11:01.659 family? Well, the last time you read the words sin in a newspaper 115 00:11:01.740 --> 00:11:09.370 or in a magazine, it's I pointed out just to say that it's not 116 00:11:09.450 --> 00:11:13.809 a part of our social lexicon. It's not a part of how we think 117 00:11:13.970 --> 00:11:18.250 in our culture anymore. Not I mean it is in some ways, but 118 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:24.559 it's not in another really big ways. Lots and lots and lots of people 119 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:28.720 say they have no sin, not because they think themselves that they're perfect, 120 00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:33.710 but but just because it's a not a category that we think in. And 121 00:11:33.870 --> 00:11:39.950 it seems that people who push this the most in our time. This isn't 122 00:11:39.990 --> 00:11:43.470 always been true and every time, but in our time these people have a 123 00:11:43.509 --> 00:11:48.659 kind of higher social standing. You get to sort of elevate yourself, I 124 00:11:48.940 --> 00:11:54.059 ronically, in this way by saying you accept everyone, you're not judgmental, 125 00:11:54.340 --> 00:11:58.580 it's sin isn't something that is you're thinking in a category for you that you 126 00:11:58.740 --> 00:12:03.850 just live your life freely in, according to your own inner light, or 127 00:12:03.970 --> 00:12:11.929 however people might put it. It's a social plus these days to downplay, 128 00:12:13.129 --> 00:12:20.399 ignore or to deny sin. And increasingly when our own laws, and this 129 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:24.519 isn't just been in our time, but whenever the laws don't line up with 130 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:28.960 morality itself. It's a lot easier for people to say, well, I 131 00:12:30.470 --> 00:12:35.070 obey the law, not thinking about things in relationship to God, as John 132 00:12:35.309 --> 00:12:43.029 Clearly wants us to be doing. There's a third reason. People sometimes say 133 00:12:43.149 --> 00:12:48.539 I have no sin, and it's, of course, to ease their conscience. 134 00:12:48.860 --> 00:12:54.980 They want to calm things down. Their conscience stings them, hurts them, 135 00:12:56.139 --> 00:13:03.009 it makes them feel the weight of the things they've done, but unwilling 136 00:13:03.090 --> 00:13:09.490 or unknowing or not knowing how to come to Christ, they push it aside. 137 00:13:09.769 --> 00:13:15.080 They say they have no sin as a way to make themselves feel better. 138 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:22.440 Now, when you hear these various reasons, as you think about them, 139 00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:28.190 as I think about them, these are patterns and things that I see 140 00:13:28.230 --> 00:13:33.070 in myself as well. This is not just other people out there who do 141 00:13:33.309 --> 00:13:37.269 these kinds of things. The truth is that most of us aren't nearly as 142 00:13:37.309 --> 00:13:43.379 aware of our sin as we could be. We don't recognize it or think 143 00:13:43.460 --> 00:13:48.220 about it as we ought. Let me ask you this sort of test question 144 00:13:48.460 --> 00:13:54.299 for your heart. Do you think that you spend more of your time repenting 145 00:13:54.460 --> 00:14:01.250 of your sin or ignoring, excusing and, under the rug, sweeping it 146 00:14:03.809 --> 00:14:07.129 if you just sort of put them on a balance. Which one is more 147 00:14:09.169 --> 00:14:13.679 if you think that it's the latter, if you think you spend more time 148 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:18.480 ignoring, excusing and sweeping it under the rug than you do repenting of it, 149 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:24.950 well they maybe these excuses aren't just for other people out there, but 150 00:14:24.070 --> 00:14:28.029 they're in your heart as well, and maybe even other things I haven't mentioned. 151 00:14:30.509 --> 00:14:35.389 The flash is what says I have no sin. The flash is what 152 00:14:35.950 --> 00:14:43.700 tries to work it sway out of a situation through this false claim. Another 153 00:14:43.740 --> 00:14:46.500 way you might think of this is a another way you might test your own 154 00:14:46.620 --> 00:14:52.809 heart in this matter is this way. If someone came to you and said, 155 00:14:56.889 --> 00:15:03.889 brother, sister, you sinned against me and it really hurt, would 156 00:15:03.889 --> 00:15:09.840 your first reaction be, what are you talking about? I can't believe you 157 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:16.039 would accuse me of sin. Or would your first reaction be? Well, 158 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:22.509 probably, what did I do? If it's the first, well then you 159 00:15:22.710 --> 00:15:28.990 probably have a regular operating procedure in your heart of excusing and ignoring and saying 160 00:15:28.029 --> 00:15:31.750 I have no sin, I'm not a sinner, I don't do those things. 161 00:15:33.149 --> 00:15:37.220 So if somebody comes to you and says hey, I you sinned against 162 00:15:37.220 --> 00:15:39.580 me, our first, our first, our first reaction, are sort of 163 00:15:39.620 --> 00:15:45.179 knee jerk reaction, will be to say I can't believe anybody could ever think 164 00:15:45.220 --> 00:15:52.649 that. I certainly don't think that. But if we're regularly recognizing our sin, 165 00:15:52.769 --> 00:15:56.090 if we regularly think of ourselves as sinners in need of grace, and 166 00:15:56.250 --> 00:16:02.129 somebody comes to us, either rightly or wrongly, and says I think you've 167 00:16:02.169 --> 00:16:07.039 sinned against me and it really hurt, our reaction won't be quite so defensive. 168 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:10.279 It'll be well, yeah, I send all the time, brother, 169 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:15.519 and I'm sorry. Can you tell me what I did again, not saying 170 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:18.830 anything about whether that person is right or wrong, and you have to sort 171 00:16:18.909 --> 00:16:22.029 all of that out. That's another discussion, but my question is just focusing 172 00:16:22.070 --> 00:16:27.990 on what's your kneejerk spiritual reaction when it comes to thinking about sin in your 173 00:16:29.029 --> 00:16:34.139 own life? Do you say I have no sin? Maybe not outwardly and 174 00:16:34.259 --> 00:16:40.299 publicly in writing it in a book, but in your own heart. Are 175 00:16:40.379 --> 00:16:45.940 there ways that you do that? Well, there are ways that we do 176 00:16:45.139 --> 00:16:48.370 that. We all do it and we ought to fight against it. It 177 00:16:49.169 --> 00:16:53.889 is, after all, us in to say we have no sin, and 178 00:16:55.129 --> 00:16:59.490 this is what John Points out for us. So if that's the deception of 179 00:16:59.529 --> 00:17:06.400 it all. What's the truth of the matter? Three things. First, 180 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:11.559 John says that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. 181 00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:18.309 This false claim, either whether it's when US or outside of us, is 182 00:17:18.589 --> 00:17:22.910 just a lie. It's a deception, it's it's a blindness. End Of 183 00:17:22.990 --> 00:17:27.549 course, as we know, when we are deceived or when we are self 184 00:17:27.750 --> 00:17:33.339 deceiving, there's all kinds of bad things that are attached to this, negative 185 00:17:33.380 --> 00:17:38.579 consequences. Being self deceived is not a good thing. Let's say you're driving 186 00:17:38.619 --> 00:17:42.980 down a one way road in the wrong direction and you keep telling yourself, 187 00:17:44.019 --> 00:17:47.450 as you see sign after sign that says wrong way, wrong ways, oh 188 00:17:47.529 --> 00:17:51.809 no, it's good, I know what I'm doing right. It's dangerous. 189 00:17:51.809 --> 00:17:53.289 I used to live on a street that was a one way street and every 190 00:17:53.289 --> 00:17:56.809 now and then I was right on the corner and people would come down that 191 00:17:56.890 --> 00:17:59.640 street and we'd see them and then come down about a block and then they 192 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:02.200 usually there be people yelling and wave and I'm going to going back, and 193 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:04.200 then they'd try and turn around and go back. And every now and then 194 00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:07.960 you'd see someone whould kind of like figure it out and just be like just 195 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:10.960 gut it. You know, it's like, let's just just go through it. 196 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:15.230 Fortunately, never sawny accidents, but they could likely happen. Right when 197 00:18:15.269 --> 00:18:22.190 we are selfdeceived, it's a dangerous situation. It's the fool that is selfdeceived. 198 00:18:22.589 --> 00:18:30.339 It is a person that will bring harm to themselves and others, not 199 00:18:30.539 --> 00:18:36.660 to mention, as I said before, it is a sin. Selfdeception isn't 200 00:18:36.660 --> 00:18:40.579 just a problem in its consequences, it's a problem in and of itself. 201 00:18:41.849 --> 00:18:44.769 God is a god of truth and we ought to seek the truth. We 202 00:18:44.849 --> 00:18:48.210 ought to want to know the truth and not live in darkness and lies. 203 00:18:49.329 --> 00:18:52.490 That brings us to the second thing about this kind of thinking. When we 204 00:18:52.569 --> 00:18:56.960 say we have no sin, it's not only a selfdeceiving thing, but it's 205 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:00.880 also an accusing thing. Notice what it says in verse ten. If we 206 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:04.200 say we have not sinned, we make him, that is God, a 207 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:08.880 liar. Right, if God is a god of truth, is, if 208 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:14.349 God is the one who has establish things between right and wrong and good and 209 00:19:14.509 --> 00:19:18.109 evil, and we say I have not sinned when God has said you have 210 00:19:18.470 --> 00:19:26.819 sinned, then we accuse God, the one who is sinless, the one 211 00:19:26.940 --> 00:19:33.019 who is perfect, the one who is entirely good of lying and we had 212 00:19:33.180 --> 00:19:40.289 yet another sin to ourselves. Who's the liar, the selfdeceived, one that 213 00:19:40.490 --> 00:19:44.569 sins all the time, that was born into sin and is constantly falling into 214 00:19:44.609 --> 00:19:51.170 sin? Or God, who made the World Perfect and goodness and righteousness and 215 00:19:51.289 --> 00:19:56.680 holiness? Jesus Christ, the son of God, is called in verse one, 216 00:19:56.400 --> 00:20:03.359 the Righteous, the righteous God is righteous. We are not. The 217 00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:11.990 third thing it does is it makes the atonement meaningless. The atonement is the 218 00:20:11.430 --> 00:20:17.230 thing that Jesus did on the Cross. When he died, we say he 219 00:20:17.430 --> 00:20:22.619 atoned for our sins. One way of describing that is using the words of 220 00:20:22.819 --> 00:20:27.539 verse nine. He says if we confess our sins, he is faithful and 221 00:20:27.660 --> 00:20:33.859 just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When Jesus 222 00:20:33.980 --> 00:20:40.890 died on the cross, he did it because of sin. So what does 223 00:20:40.930 --> 00:20:45.490 it mean, and especially as a Christian, if you're thinking I have no 224 00:20:45.690 --> 00:20:49.960 sin, what does that make of the cross? What does that make of 225 00:20:51.079 --> 00:20:57.799 the work of Jesus? If Jesus died to forgive sins and you say you 226 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:04.910 have no sin, it's to separate yourself from him. It's to stand apart 227 00:21:04.950 --> 00:21:10.309 from him and say I'm not going to trust him in the things that he's 228 00:21:10.430 --> 00:21:15.109 done because I don't need to, I don't want I have not sinned. 229 00:21:17.150 --> 00:21:21.619 You remember Jesus saying said he came like a physician to heal the sick. 230 00:21:22.140 --> 00:21:27.180 Well, if you're not sick, you don't go to the doctor. Christians 231 00:21:27.299 --> 00:21:33.130 don't think this way. Christians don't feel this way because they're attached to Christ, 232 00:21:33.009 --> 00:21:38.250 because he is their physician, their healer. Remember David's words and Psalm 233 00:21:38.450 --> 00:21:45.569 thirty two about blessed is the one whose trespasses as are forgiven. We find 234 00:21:45.690 --> 00:21:49.240 ourselves in a state of blessedness, in fellowship with God, walking in the 235 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:57.759 light all of these wonderful things because God has responded to our sin, so 236 00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:03.069 to say or to think. And even the smallest way. I have no 237 00:22:03.349 --> 00:22:08.309 sin, is to is to separate, it's to put, to put what 238 00:22:08.509 --> 00:22:17.420 space between you and your union with God. Of course, as a Christian, 239 00:22:17.579 --> 00:22:22.019 nothing can ultimately separate you from the love of God in Christ, Jesus, 240 00:22:22.099 --> 00:22:27.900 Our Lord. He holds US close even when we push away. But 241 00:22:29.019 --> 00:22:33.170 does that mean we should keep pushing away if our father's holding as close and 242 00:22:33.210 --> 00:22:37.049 a big bear hug and saying you're not going anywhere, I love you, 243 00:22:37.210 --> 00:22:41.690 I'm going to keep you. Does that? Is that a good reason to 244 00:22:41.769 --> 00:22:55.200 push harder or to relax and let go to say we have no sin. 245 00:22:55.440 --> 00:23:03.589 To say we have not sinned is a anti Christ anti Christian thing to say, 246 00:23:04.470 --> 00:23:11.670 because as Christians we recognize what Christ has done to come into this world 247 00:23:12.980 --> 00:23:25.220 to forgive us our sins, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, from defilement, 248 00:23:25.460 --> 00:23:30.450 from impurity. Jesus Christ didn't come into the world to give us a 249 00:23:30.569 --> 00:23:33.849 pat on the back, to say had a boy, you're such a good 250 00:23:34.009 --> 00:23:41.440 guy. Keep doing a great job, you're so nice. Jesus came to 251 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:51.920 forgive our sins, so don't be afraid to admit them, to confess them. 252 00:23:52.400 --> 00:24:00.230 Martin Luther says that a truth theologian is the one who says who the 253 00:24:00.430 --> 00:24:04.230 truth theologian is, the one who says it like it is, who's honest 254 00:24:04.309 --> 00:24:11.059 about our situation. That's what we do when we say I have sinned. 255 00:24:14.380 --> 00:24:18.420 Our response, though, as John gives it here, is not merely to 256 00:24:18.539 --> 00:24:26.130 say I have sin what's the verb that he uses in verse nine? If 257 00:24:26.210 --> 00:24:30.849 we confess our sins, of course they're related. We're not going to make 258 00:24:30.890 --> 00:24:36.730 a overly big deal about this, but there is a point here when John 259 00:24:36.809 --> 00:24:41.559 says if we confess our sins, he wants us to relate ourselves to God 260 00:24:41.880 --> 00:24:47.640 in this way. In other words, it's not enough to merely, in 261 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:51.519 an intellectual way, say, okay, I agree, this is something that 262 00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:56.670 I have, I agree, this is something that exists within me. No, 263 00:24:56.829 --> 00:25:00.750 the response is not just recognizing, but it's confessing, and that means 264 00:25:00.910 --> 00:25:07.579 going to God in repentance and trust that what he says is true so that 265 00:25:07.779 --> 00:25:14.140 we can be forgiven. There are lots of people in this world who will 266 00:25:14.140 --> 00:25:22.849 go farther than saying I make mistakes and will actually say I do bad things, 267 00:25:23.250 --> 00:25:29.049 I even sin, if I have to use that word. People will 268 00:25:29.089 --> 00:25:33.210 say that, will admit that. But it's one thing to feel the way 269 00:25:33.410 --> 00:25:37.920 of sin on your conscience and to recognize it for what it is. It's 270 00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:42.000 another thing to take to then take that and go to God and lay it 271 00:25:42.119 --> 00:25:51.990 before his feet and say I trust you to forgive me my sins. That, 272 00:25:52.150 --> 00:25:56.109 of course, is a very bold thing to do, because ultimately our 273 00:25:56.230 --> 00:26:00.109 sin is not against one another. Of course, it's against God. So 274 00:26:00.349 --> 00:26:03.420 to go before the perfect and Holy God of the world, of all of 275 00:26:03.539 --> 00:26:10.180 the universe, and to say I have sinned and I have sinned against you 276 00:26:11.779 --> 00:26:15.140 is in some ways a dangerous thing, because not only have we sinned against 277 00:26:15.180 --> 00:26:22.970 him, but he's also the great judge. We read in proverbs earlier that 278 00:26:23.049 --> 00:26:30.089 it's the wicked person, the wicked person, who looks at and guilty person 279 00:26:30.170 --> 00:26:40.240 and says you're good to go, you're justified, innocent. Right. Imagine 280 00:26:40.319 --> 00:26:44.119 that somebody did something very terrible to you. They're caught by the police, 281 00:26:44.440 --> 00:26:48.950 they went to the court, they were obviously guilty, obviously guilty, maybe 282 00:26:48.990 --> 00:26:53.829 they even were confessing their own guilt. Witnesses were piling up blood on their 283 00:26:53.910 --> 00:27:00.990 hands, and the judge says, let him go. In fact, not 284 00:27:00.109 --> 00:27:06.819 just let him go, but you're innocent. It would be shocking, right, 285 00:27:06.940 --> 00:27:11.220 it would be in the papers, there would be recalls, it would 286 00:27:11.220 --> 00:27:14.859 be a terrible thing. So how is it then, that the God, 287 00:27:15.059 --> 00:27:21.769 who is perfect judge over all things, says to sinners like us, innocent, 288 00:27:22.970 --> 00:27:27.049 you're free to go? Well, I said earlier, it's not because 289 00:27:27.369 --> 00:27:33.319 God overlooks our sin or God is somehow fails in a moment of justice, 290 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:38.960 but it's because the judge steps out from behind the bench and says you are 291 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:48.910 guilty as sin, you're guilty as hell, but I will take all of 292 00:27:48.069 --> 00:27:55.950 that on myself and I will die in your place and I will forgive all 293 00:27:56.069 --> 00:28:03.660 your sins and I will cleanse you of all your sins. That's why John 294 00:28:03.700 --> 00:28:12.769 later in this book describes this as love. God is just, but is 295 00:28:12.849 --> 00:28:19.089 also loving and he's also very, very gracious. When God steps out from 296 00:28:19.089 --> 00:28:27.160 behind the judgment bench after declaring his judgment on the cross in Jesus dying there 297 00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:33.599 because of the sins that we committed, and lifts us up in the resurrection 298 00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:38.799 and the newness of life. He does it because of his great grace towards 299 00:28:38.839 --> 00:28:45.109 us. It's not something you and I deserve, but it is something he 300 00:28:45.349 --> 00:28:51.269 gives. That means that in our lives, because of what he is already 301 00:28:51.309 --> 00:28:56.099 accomplished on the cross, because of that justification, that we can stand before 302 00:28:56.140 --> 00:29:03.500 the righteous God and confess our sins on the basis of this promise in verse 303 00:29:03.579 --> 00:29:10.329 nine. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse 304 00:29:10.369 --> 00:29:18.130 us from all in righteousness. God is faithful to this promise and he has 305 00:29:18.210 --> 00:29:22.130 been over and over and over again in the lives of the saints. Even 306 00:29:22.329 --> 00:29:27.880 now, there are people dwelling with him a waiting for the resurrection of their 307 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:36.480 bodies, who no longer sin, who will enjoy a sin free life. 308 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:45.230 People that you know, people that you have heard about. Why has that 309 00:29:45.470 --> 00:29:53.019 happened? Because God is faithful and when he says he will offer mercy and 310 00:29:53.220 --> 00:30:00.819 forgiveness and cleansing to all who believe and trust in Jesus, he will and 311 00:30:00.940 --> 00:30:07.769 he does, fulfill that promise. So open up your chests and lay your 312 00:30:07.089 --> 00:30:15.849 sins out before the Lord. Do not hesitate and hold back, because when 313 00:30:15.890 --> 00:30:22.519 you are doing that, you are trusting on the perfectly faithful and perfectly just 314 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:32.359 God to cleanse you and to forgive you. God is not a liar, 315 00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:41.309 he's full of truth. Trust in him. If you've heard this word this 316 00:30:41.509 --> 00:30:48.349 morning and you've sensed a certain blindness in yourself, a sense of self deception, 317 00:30:51.220 --> 00:30:56.619 I hope you now know the response to confess and trust in Him who 318 00:30:56.660 --> 00:31:00.380 is faithful. Let us pray