"Once For All" Cleansing Sermon by Andrew Farley, 1 John 1:8-10

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"Once For All" Cleansing

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"Once For All" Cleansing Series

Contributed by Andrew Farley on Sep 25, 2009 (message contributor)

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Scripture: 1 John 1:8-10

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Summary: The fourth in a series of messages about the complete sufficiency of the Gospel.

Let’s be honest about our struggles, but let’s also be clear about what the cross accomplished.

Protestants may claim they’re more biblical than their Catholic peers, since the epistles contain no grounds for confessing sins to a priest in order to be forgiven. Some Protestants may even laugh at the idea of a confession booth or the ritual of going to Mass in order to obtain forgiveness. But these same Protestants may ritualistically apply 1 John 1:9 as their spiritual bar of soap. Is one view of forgiveness really any better than the other?

The Catholic goes to a priest, and the Protestant thinks he does better by appealing directly to God. But any system that doesn’t factor in once-for-all forgiveness is intrinsically flawed.

God doesn’t want us to think that human priests apportion forgiveness to us. Nor does he want us to envision his doling out forgiveness from heaven on a "first come, first serve" basis! Instead, he wants us to ascribe real meaning to Jesus’ declaration, "It is finished."

Only then will we turn from sins for the right reason. Our motivation shouldn’t be to obtain forgiveness in return. We’re already forgiven and cleansed children of the living God. Our motivation should be the fulfillment that comes from truly being ourselves.

This sermon is from The Naked Gospel: The Truth You May Never Hear in Church (Zondervan, 2009). For more, visit www.TheNakedGospel.com

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Scriptures: 1 John 1:10, 1 John 1:8, 1 John 1:8-10, 1 John 1:9, 1 John 2:12, 1 John 4:3, 1 Peter 3:18, Hebrews 10:1, Hebrews 9:22, James 5:16, John 1:29, John 1:9

Sermon Topics: Grace, Atonement, Forgiveness, Cross, Righteousness, Jesus Christ

Talk about it...

James Banks

commented on Sep 23, 2011

-----1. Is the preacher a Calvinist ("complete, unconditional forgiveness")? That would be consistent. Is the preacher not? Then there must be a condition, at least once in time, where people do something to take part in saving themselves, that is exactly what Arminianism must affirm. Then, why be offended at people who feel like confession multiple times has something to do with cleansing, when the preacher believes that belief/repentance/perhaps-confession one time helps allow the blood of Christ to be applied to the converting sinner? The issue of God''s grace vs. man''s potential to boast is not the reason to be offended, it must be something else. ------ 2. Why are "forgiveness" and "cleansing" made equivalent? What is the preacher''s support for this equivalence? Is it not possible that forgiveness is one thing and cleansing another? To wit: we are forgiven once and for all, but the ridding of our sins (say, going from sinning every minute to sinning every other minute and so on) in intention, act, and external consequence is obviously not complete! Cleansing is removing all aspects of sin, so that at the end, we don''t sin any more, and in the middle of the process, we probably sin less than at the beginning! Is this not what is meant commonly by "sanctification"? ------ 3. "Do you know any true believers today who say they?ve never sinned?" The apostle John wasn''t necessarily talking about believers who "said they never sinned". "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8) is exactly how the preacher quotes it. Believers have a tendency of believing things explicitly and officially while acting otherwise. Perhaps you act as though you do not sin by removing the speck from your brother''s eye while ignoring the log in your own. Confession reminds you, as you cast about your mind for sins, that you really do have logs! Very practical for the process of not sinning as much or as badly any more. I agree with the preacher with all or at least the better part of my heart that ruminating over lists of sins is bad -- when fruitless -- particularly in that it distracts the believer from enjoying God and enjoying being God''s child and servant. However, if ruminating leads to godly sorrow, the kind that produces repentance, the more the merrier! Literally, merrier, both on earth and in heaven, because repentance makes you happier. ------ 4. Finally, the attitude of this sermon bothered me. It''s very much "us vs. them". I don''t know the circumstances in which it was originally preached, but if you were to use this sermon, or looking in your own similar sermon, consider that the people you are complaining about, saying that they are "no better than Catholics" (whatever that is supposed to imply), *aren''t there to defend themselves*. I think, odds are, they will never get a fair chance to present their views before your congregation, simply because most of your congregation takes your word for it and doesn''t care enough to investigate on their own, and because dissenters from your views probably don''t go to your church or have a chance to talk. So by your tone you are building up prejudices within the church of Christ, feeding division. Forgive me if I misunderstand, perhaps this sermon was and will be given immediately before or after a contrasting one by someone representing a different point of view. If I sound upset, it is not at the theology of this sermon, but my perception that it will be used to reinforce "us"ness by putting down and writing off "them"ness.

Vicky Mathis

commented on May 20, 2015

Mr. Banks, I am a little surprised you have taken this sermon so far out of context. where does it say any saved person does not sin any more, no we do sin and we are still righteous and forgiven with the sanctification, otherwise why did Christ die? Is your spirit alive and righteous with out salvation? when you believe in Christ your spirit becomes perfect and clean before God. The flesh still deals with the flesh and it sins. what is there to misunderstand?

Vicky Mathis

commented on May 20, 2015

well, I didn't read the whole sermon, now I am a bit confused. what I wrote above is what I believe, not sure I agree with what Mr Farley is saying. wow,

Bill Smith

commented on Nov 7, 2012

I''m sorry James, but it seems you have missed the entire point of what Farely is saying. I know these ideas are hard for people to take, and all kinds of defenses come raging up in our minds because centuries old theological ''norms'' are being rethought and corrected. And this should be a good thing, something we embrace, not attack and destroy. Ask God if it is God who is brininging these ideas to the fore through servants of his such as Farley. After all, if it is of God, it will last. If it is of Farely, it will eventually fade away.

Bill Smith

commented on Nov 7, 2012

Also James, you bring up, "what about the process of sanctification?" Well, you are assuming that the ''''process of sanctification'''' is solid unchanging theology, and judging what Farley is saying against that centuries held belief. But what Farley is saying is that if we understand the NT more correctly, then we will see that there is, in fact, no ''''process of sanctification'''' at all. So its a matter of which is more correct? Does it make logical sense, in light of what Farley says, to still hold to a ''''process of sanctification?'''' I agree with Farley that it does not make sense. That aspect of centuries old theology needs a massive overhaul, as does a lot of other theology. And thank God it''s coming.