Agreeing With God Series

Agreeing With God - 1 John 1:8-10

INTRODUCTION: In chapter 1 we have the elder statesman of the church, the last living apostle, writing to a church that, since the death of Paul 30 yrs earlier, has fallen into various forms of heresy. John the mender of nets writes at the age of 90 to fix what has fallen in disarray in the church.

(1) The missing ingredient: TRUE FELLOWSHIP

(a) Founded upon a person: Jesus Christ - 1:1-2

(b) Enjoyed with others including the Father & the Son - 1:3

(c) The basis by which we enjoy true fulfilling Joy in the body - 1:4

(2) True fellowship means having the right understanding of:

(a) God - 1:5 He is light

(b) Ourselves - 1:6 We are to walk in the light

(c) Jesus - 1:7 He makes the light a possibility

(1:8) If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1:9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1:10) If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

 One of the great mysteries of the Christian faith is that although Christians are cleansed from sin, they still sin. These verse deal with the fact that believers sin and that to deny sin is to deceive yourself.

1) The great need of every believer is to have the power that God provides when we walk in fellowship with Him by dealing immediately with sin in our lives. Because we have our old fleshly nature we still are vulnerable to sin but because of Jesus Christ we have a new power to say no to tempation

2) True Fellowship: Koinonia literally means to ’hold things in common with one another’. All my resources are at the disposal of Jesus Christ but also all His resources are at my disposal: To learn what this means is to discover genuine Christianity.

 Becoming a Christian comes down to one single issue: SIN. I hope that you are not here to have a better life, to escape eternal judgment, or to have a better reputation in the community. The only valid reason for you to be where you are is that at a point in time you recognized SIN in your life and that you were led to the only hope of forgiveness and mercy which was found in a person named Jesus.

This morning I want to look at three issues with regard to sin and it’s impact in our lives.

THE ROOT OF ORIGINAL SIN: If we say there is no sin problem between ourselves and God we are living a lie. (8) If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

1. John uses three examples where we might say one thing and yet the truth is another. 1) 1:6 Someone might say that they have fellowship with God and yet their life demonstrates the opposite to be true. 2) Someone might claim to have no original sin in their lives and are only fooling themselves.

It is NERVES that cause us to speak impatiently - it is tiredness and fatigue that makes us speak sharp words - it is pressure at work that makes us lose our peace and become worried and troubled - it is our difficult neighbors that make us resentful and bitter - WE SAY THE PROBLEM IS NOT SIN BUT CIRCUMSTANCES

a. Anyone who claims that they have no sin will have almost every person they have ever know to disagree with them.

2. Notice the difference between the word sin in verse 8 and the word sins in verse 9. One is singular with the other is plural. One is the root while the other is the fruit.

a. Sin - is the fallen twist in man that dates back to our original parents. It makes us want the world to revolve around us, it promotes self-centeredness, pride and independence.

3. Various religions today: hinduism, buddism, Religious science (Travolta, Michael Jackson…etc) Sin is ’an error of mortal mind’ and that all that is necessary to deal with sin is to correct your thinking.

a. Popular today to discount sin as an issue, other’s morality

THE FRUIT OF ORIGINAL SIN: If we say that sin has never been a condemning agent in our lives we are calling God a liar. (10) If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

1. RICH YOUNG RULER - Agreed that sin is a reality but argued that it had never born fruit in his own life. Jesus, the Great Physician, did some spiritual surgery and identified the sin in the man’s life.