August 16, 2023
Author: Pastor Bernard Ibrahim
August 16, 2023
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you,
that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have
fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not
practice the truth. 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
cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and
his word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to
you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the
propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins
of the whole world."
1 John 1:5-2:2
In this passage I find it interesting to see how John opens up his
first letter to the churches by discussing first in the first few verses
who is Christ and who is God. Then he gets very, very quickly pointing
at what are the basics of this life we call the Christian life. Notice
he starts with two analogies actually, light and darkness—you see it
there--this is the message we have heard and proclaim to you, that God
is light, and in him is no darkness--this analogy of it. Righteousness
and holiness contrasted with unrighteousness and ungodliness. The 2nd
analogy which we have throughout the New Testament is walking. You can
see it there in verse 6, verse 7 and it continues on. If you say we
have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness and this idea of
walking is simply the practice of our lives, the thoughts, the words,
the actions while we are here on this earth. Of course it points to
another analogy or metaphor which is we are sojourners or we are
pilgrims. While we are here we are headed towards our home but we’re
just temporarily passing through or walking through. The first
direction he gives us that I would like us to focus on is in verse 8.
In our walk in life and avoiding walking in darkness, fellowship with
God, we are not to deceive ourselves. We are sinners walking in light.
Walking in light does not mean we are perfect like God. Walking in
light means that we are walking living out those commands, those
actions, those thoughts that are in alignment with God’s word and God
helping us. But, it does not mean we are perfect—not while we are
walking here on earth. In fact, if we are somehow thinking of ourselves
that we are without sin or sometimes we deceive ourselves into thinking
our sins are not significant sins. Confession of sin is a normative
part of the Christian life or the Christian walk. It’s normative as we
walk in light to acknowledge our sin and ask for forgiveness. Ps.
32:5,”I acknowledged my sin to you and I did not cover my iniquity; I
said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave
the iniquity of my sin. A complete summary hundreds of years before the
Holy Spirit inspired John to write this. It’s normative for a
believer to ask for forgiveness, to recognize their sin in their
Christian walk and it is consistent with walking in the light. In fact
deceiving yourself is consistent with walking in darkness like James
5:16 says confess our sin and ask for forgiveness from God and from one
another. James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and
pray for one another…” So, then the question might be to John, I want
to walk in light, I strive to walk in light, I sin every day, I need not
to deceive myself, I need to confess my sin every day. How do I do
that? Well let’s go to 1 John 2:1. He points us to go to the Father
through the Son who is our advocate and not only our righteousness but
is righteous. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is our propitiation (verse 2)
meaning that very long and sometimes complicated word is really saying
to us that we have a way, there is a means by which God’s wrath for our
sin is appeased every day. It is the application of Jesus Christ’s
blood and work on the cross. That is the propitiation of God’s wrath
that is rightfully due for our daily sins. So, it is my encouragement
to you brothers and sisters and to me to not fall into a pattern of
self-deception. We walk in the light and it is normative that we sin
every day. We need to aggressively go to the Father through our
advocate Jesus Christ and apply the gospel to ourselves each day. We
have an advocate, he’s our righteousness, and he propitiates the wrath
of God for our sins. That’s my encouragement to you as we all strive to
walk this Christian pilgrimage together in the light.
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