5 Here is the message we have heard from him and announce to you. God is light. There is no darkness in him at all. 6 Suppose we say that we share life with God but still walk in the darkness. Then we are lying. We are not living out the truth. 7 But suppose we walk in the light, just as he is in the light. Then we share life with one another. And the blood of Jesus, his Son, makes us pure from all sin.
8 Suppose we claim we are without sin. Then we are fooling ourselves. The truth is not in us. 9 But God is faithful and fair. If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins. He will forgive every wrong thing we have done. He will make us pure. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar. His word is not in us.
1 John 1:5-10
I was leading a Bible study for new Christians a while ago and we were reading 2 Corinthians 5:17, where it says ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!’ I told them that Jesus had taken their sin on the cross and that they were made new. They looked at me like I was a crazy man.
“I can’t believe that,” one of them said. “There are so many people, like Jimmy Saville, who say they are Christians and are evil. Just believing in God can not make you a saint.”
She was right, of course. Jesus said that even the demons believe in God; belief alone doesn’t lead you to holiness. However, that does not mean that we accept sin in our lives. John says that we walk in light. As a Christian, your relationship with sin changes. You can not share life with God and live in darkness. This doesn’t mean that you will never sin but that your posture towards sin has changed. My dad used to say that it was like sheep and pigs, both live in the mud but sheep will avoid getting dirty, while pigs will roll in the filth. The more that we spend time in encounter with God, our hearts grow into alignment with his and our posture towards sin shifts.
John also says that forgiveness is linked to confession but perhaps not in the way you might think. This does not mean that if you have not confessed your sin then you are unforgiven and in danger of hell. The word “confess” in 1 John 1:9 is the Greek homologeo, which means “to say the same thing as” or “to agree with.” To confess our sins, therefore, is to say the same things about our sins as God does. It is to recognise what is darkness and what is light and to choose to walk in the ways of God.
I love Mike Breen’s picture of how this works. First, there is a moment of recognition that something is wrong. We observe what it is, reflect on where this activity will lead us and discuss it with someone. This helps us to have clarity and to not be controlled by our fears or shame surrounding it. Then, we plan how we will change, find some accountability and start to live in a new direction.
This may all sound like a long process to go through but how often do we find ourselves stuck in cycles of behaviour for years and years. Small significant steps will lead you to a life of freedom, growth and life. You do not have to be stuck in cycles of sin and you can grow more Christlike every day.
Respond
Is there something in your life that needs to change? Take some time to observe, reflect and discuss it with someone you trust today. Then create a plan as to how you will act in future and start living more in the light.
