I want to spend some time in the next few weeks talking about the surety of things. Can we really be sure of anything? Someone once said, “The only things we can be sure of are taxes and the rent going up.” Some philosophers will tell you that we can't be sure of anything. After Covid-19 arrived and shook up our everyday routine, nothing seemed certain anymore.
Even now we are not sure that a restaurant will be open to be able to go in and eat inside. There is just no surety of that until you get there.
Well, all of this got me to thinking about what can we really be sure of. We do have assurance. God wants every believer to have assurance of salvation. Sadly, many Christians struggle daily with doubt as it pertains to their eternal destiny. They are just not positive they would go to heaven when they pass away.
Some even believe it's impossible to know with certainty that a person is eternally saved. At other times, believers aren't sure of their salvation and they find themselves in the midst of doubt and despair, uncertain of whether or not God has truly forgiven them. How many times have you heard someone say, “Where is God in all of this?” Others allow their own self-condemnation to smother that assurance that God wants for them to have.
But you know what? We can be assured of assurance. The apostle John stated it very clearly.
1 John 5:13 - "I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” If we can't be sure of anything else, we can know that we are forgiven. That is where we're going today as we talk about the surety of forgiveness.
Prayer
I am going to be using the book of 1 John for today's passage. A few years ago, we went through all of the writings of John including the Book of John, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, as well as the book of Revelation. John's writings offer us a number of assurances, beginning with the forgiveness of our sins.
Surely, we will have good days when we seem to sin less, so God's word explains that every person sins. Actually, we are unable to live completely obedient to God. That's why Paul wrote in
Romans 3:23 – “ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;”
Sin comes with a heavy load of shame and guilt, which is what makes Jesus's forgiveness so wonderful. 1 John 1 assures us of this undeserved gift of forgiveness.
1 John 1:5-7 – “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him. 6 If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. 7 If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
The gospel, as a whole, has the power to change a person's life. Paul wrote
Romans 1:16 – “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.”
If we embrace the gospel and believe what it tells us, God's power leads to transformation.
2 Corinthians 5:17- “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!”
The gospel tells me that it's powerful work in our lives is what moves us from darkness, which is sin, to light, which is salvation.
Colossians 1:13 - 14 – “He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. 14 In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Do you hear what that is telling us? In Christ, we can be forgiven!
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Think of it this way - every week, people take their clothes to wash them because they have become dirty. The job of the washing machine is to clean and to freshen them up and get them smelling good again. Well, Jesus has a pickup cleaning service. He picks up dirty people - people who have allowed their lives to sink into the mud for one reason or another - and cleanses them. Jesus is the one who cleanses us from all sin. This is the beautiful message of the gospel.
Jesus gave his life to save sinners like you and me. If your life pattern is turning from darkness to pursuing holiness, then never doubt God's forgiveness for you. We are forgiven when we confess our sins and walk with Christ. It really is as simple as that. Each time that you recognize you have sinned, stop and immediately confess it to God. Ask for His forgiveness. Sounds too good to be true, right? But this time it really is true.
So in all of this we see that the character of God is the foundation for our forgiveness. When John wrote, “God is light,” he described the very nature of God. To describe God as light refers not only to his Holiness but also to his moral goodness. Since He is light, there is absolutely no darkness in Him. Where there is light, there is no darkness.
Here’s a little experiment for you. Take a candle and light it. Hold it up to a white background. Light the candle. Shine a flashlight on the candle and observe the shadow. You will see the shadow of the candle. But you will not see reflection of the flame. The flame is light. There is no darkness in the light. Because of His perfect righteousness and goodness, God alone can determine the terms for our forgiveness. We are forgiven when we confess our sins and commit to walk with Christ.
John highlights God's perfect holiness by looking at this truth from two sides.
1. The term darkness is used to represent sin. If anyone continually sins and claims to be forgiven or to have fellowship with God, they are tragically mistaken. The way that person lives - continuously choosing to sin-- points to the reality that they are not in fellowship with God. That is why John writes, “If we have fellowship with Him, and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth.”
2. The term light is used to represent righteousness. To walk in the light is to live a life consistent with the will of God. Of course, this doesn't mean we are perfect, but that the purpose of our lives has become the pursuit of God. So, John writes, “If we walk in the light as He himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 1:8-10 – “If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
Have you sinned? Are you a sinner? Now don’t you go calling God a liar. Every single one of us is a sinner. But that doesn’t mean we can continue to wallow in and nurture that sin. We are to confess it, ask God’s forgiveness, and then go on from there walking as closely to God as we can.
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Many of you may remember Air Florida flight 90 when it crashed into the Potomac River on January 13, 1982, killing 78 people. The conditions that day were snowy and icy. Even though they knew better, the pilots convinced themselves that further de-icing of the plane was unnecessary. Of course, they were tragically wrong.
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In much the same way, we can convince ourselves that our sins are no big deal, but we would be just as wrong. We deceive ourselves when we try to justify and make excuses for our sins. Worst of all, to deny our sin is to call God a liar.
We call that a self-righteous attitude. That attitude says, “I'm not that bad. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty good compared to some people. So, I have nothing to confess.” But when we recognize our sin as disobedience toward God, we are promised something for sure - forgiveness. When we pray, it would be good to ask God to help you recognize the seriousness of your sin. That is where forgiveness begins.
So in 1 John 1:5-7, John used the imagery of darkness and light to highlight our need to turn from sin and to pursue a right relationship with God. Now, in verses 8-10, the apostle used a similar pattern with the ideas of deception and confession. In verse 8 he says, “If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” That failure to admit sin is a huge mistake. We are deceiving ourselves. But then the opposite of deception is confession. John says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” That humble confession leads to forgiveness.
Jesus told a parable in the Book of Luke that shows us the contrast between self-righteousness and humble confession. You probably remember the story.
Luke 18:10-13- ““Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people-- greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’”
Jesus's next words about the second man reveal our need for humility. In verse 14 he says:
Luke 18:14 – “14 I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
I use this passage to tell you that you have no reason to doubt God's forgiveness when you confess your sin and walk with Christ. I'm sure you have heard it said that “A promise is only as good as the person giving it.” If that's the case then consider who is making this promise? We were just told in 1 John 1:9 that God is faithful and righteous. His promises are true. Let’s turn now to 1 John 2.
1 John 2:1 – “My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one.”
John assured his readers, if anyone does sin, (AND WE DO), we have an Advocate with the father - Jesus Christ the righteous one. That word advocate literally means one who is called to come alongside another. It's the counselor of one's defense in a court of law, a person who intercedes for someone else.
Jesus is the one who stands up on our behalf. Jesus is our Advocate. Imagine that you're being tried before a judge. Your lawyer stands and pleads your case to the judge, and then, amazingly, you discover your defense attorney is also the judge. This scene portrays the reality of our relationship in Christ. You can be assured of forgiveness when Christ is your Advocate.
So, when we sin, Christ pleads our defense based on His finished work upon the cross, which the Father lovingly gave and received. That truth is why we say Christ died for the sins of the world. That sacrifice extends to everyone who believes - regardless of skin color, ethnicity, or economic status. He died so that people from every tongue, tribe, and nation could know Him and praise Him.
1 John 2:2 – “He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.”
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Let me try to explain that. Patients often need blood transfusions after severe accidents or during surgery. But that patient must be given a blood type that is compatible with their own. Mismatched blood can cause life threatening complications.
Researchers in Japan have developed artificial blood that possibly can be transfused into any patient regardless of blood type without that complication. One of the scientists involved in this study says, “It is difficult to stock a sufficient amount of blood for transfusions in such regions as remote islands. The artificial blood will be able to save the lives of people who otherwise could not be saved.”
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Jesus's blood is better than any artificial blood. His blood saves everyone who receives it. Those who come to Christ face no issues as far as blood type, and they will find a generous supply. When you find yourself in doubt, depend on Jesus as your Advocate and your atoning sacrifice, the one who shed His own blood for you.
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I hope that you can see from the Bible passages today the surety of forgiveness. No matter how bad you have been, or how bad you think you are, turning from darkness, confessing sin, and having Jesus as our Advocate and the One who shed His blood to atone, to pay for our sins leaves absolutely no room for doubt. If you know Jesus in a personal way, you can be certain of forgiveness because we confess sin and walk with Christ.
Be sure that forgiveness is there for the asking. If you don't know Christ as your personal Savior, we offer the opportunity for you to accept him right now. Let's stand as we pray.
