The way you deal with your sins is the key to the kind of live you live. Every form of life has its enemies. Insects have to watch out for hungry birds. Birds must keep an eye on hungry cats. Human beings have to dodge autos and germs. And every Christian has an enemy he must deal with. That enemy is sin.
Illus.: An angry church member said to her pastor, “Why do you keep preaching to us Christians about sin. After all, sin is different in the life of a Christian from the sin in the life of an unsaved person.” “Yes,” replied the pastor. It is different. It’s much worse.”
Therefore, every Christian must deal with his sins if he is to enjoy a victorious life. John explains the four approaches to sin:
- We can try to COVER our sins. Christians try to cover their sins:
- By telling lies to others. 1 John 1:6, “If we say we have fellowship with God and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.” We lie to our friends because we want to appear spiritual.
- By lying to ourselves. John 1:8, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Did you know it is possible for you to live in sin and yet convince yourself that all is fine. : King David.
- Once we begin to lie to others and ourselves, we then try to lie to God. 1 John 1:10, “If we say we have no sin, we make Him a liar and His Word is not in us.” We must be honest with others, ourselves and with God. Otherwise we are living a lie. We are playing a role- we are a plain phony.
And when this happens that person loses four vital necessities for the Christian life:
- He loses the Word – We may read our Bible, sit through sermons, etc, but the Bible means nothing because we refuse to believe and do what it says.
- He loses his fellowship with God – 1 John 1:6.
- He loses his fellowship with God’s people – 1 John 1:7.
- He loses his character – 1 John 2:4. He begins by telling a lie and he ends up becoming a liar.
Is it any wonder that God warns in Proverbs 28:13, “He that covers his sins shall not prosper.” Are you covering your sins?
We can CONFESS our sin. 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” What does it mean to confess? Well, to confess means more than simply to “admit” them. Millions admit their sin who never “confess” them in a biblical sense. The Word “confess” actually means “to say the same thing about.” That is, to say the same thing about it that God says. That means that true confession must be personal and specific and penitent.
True confession means naming sin – calling it by name as God calls it – lust, deceit, lying, unforgiveness, rebellion, holding grudges, etc. It is more than admitting our sins. It means judging it and facing it squarely and turning from it by the power of God. When you do, he will not only forgive but cleanse you, that is, make it possible for you not to keep doing it.
Illus.: A man came forward in an evangelism service and said to the counselor, “I’m a Christian but there is sin in my life. I need help.” The counselor read 1 John 1:9 and asked him to confess his sins. He began, “O Father, if we have done anything wrong…” The counselor interrupted, “Just a minute. Don’t drag me into your sin and don’t say “if.” You’d better get down to business with God now.”
This promise is not a “magic rabbits foot” that makes it easy to disobey God. Illus.: A student said to campus chaplain, “I went out and sinned because I knew I could come back and ask God to forgive me, because He is faithful and just.” The chaplain said, “These two words should have kept you out of sin. Do you know what it cost God to forgive you?” The boy hung his head, “Jesus had to die for me.” The chaplain zeroed in on him, “that’s right. Forgiveness is not some cheap sideshow trick that God performs. Now the next time you sin, remember that you are sinning against a faithful and loving God.”
We can CONQUER our sin. Praise the Lord, we can do more than confess. John makes it clear that Christians do not have to sin. 1 John 2:1, “I write unto you that you may not sin.”
The secret to victory over sin is to “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7). To walk in the light means to be sincere (from 2 Latin words, meaning without wax) and to be honest with God, ourselves and others. But it means something else. It means obeying His Word. “If you continue in my Word, you are my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32).
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism unto death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also shall walk in newness of life. Likewise you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:1-4, 11).
There are three motives for obeying the Word: Because
- we have to be,
- we need to be,
- we want to.
To want to is the Christian motive. And what would make us want to? Love for Jesus. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” When you do, the Holy Spirit will empower you to overcome sin and live a holy life, well pleasing in His sight (Romans 8:2-4).
We cannot CONTINUE in sin if truly born again (1 John 3:9).
“No one who is born of God makes a practice of sinning, because the God-given life principle continues to live in him and so he cannot practice sinning because he is born of God.” (Williams)
“No one who is born of God practices sin because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin because he is born of God.” (NASB)
“No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s sin remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.” (NIV)
How can this be? Because Jesus in His death and resurrection not only paid the Penalty for our sins but broke its Power. The believer is united with Christ at his new birth by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, thus enabling him to have victory over sin.
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism unto death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also shall walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:1-4)
“For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit, you put to death, the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13).
Thus the true Christian can live a holy life. John gives us three reasons:
- God the Father loves us (1 John 3:1)
- God the son died for us (1 John 3:4-8)
- God the Holy Spirit lives in us (1 John 3:9-10).