WALKING IN LIGHT
1 John 1:5-2:6
It has often been said that the Christian life would be simple to live out if it wasn’t for sin. How true this is. It is easy to talk about being a Christian, but living that way is completely different. God is Light and Satan is darkness. How does a person walk in the light? It is how we deal with sin. In our text we find three ways of dealing with sin.
Cover Them Up
1 John 1:5-6, 8, 10; 2:4
When a person is saved they are called out of the darkness. They were children of the darkness, but are now children of the Light. Those who do wrong hate the Light and when Light shines in on our lives, it reveals everything.
Light produces life, growth, and beauty; but sin is dark. Darkness and light cannot exist in the same place. If you are walking in light, the darkness is gone and if you hold onto sin the light is gone. I am not saying you lose your salvation. What you have lost is how you spiritually appear to the “lost”. There is no gray area when you are discussing sin.
How do Christians cover up their sins? By lying. We began by lying to other Christians because we want them to think that we are spiritual and then we begin to lie to ourselves so we think that we are not the problem. Once you have convinced yourself, then you begin to lie to God. How do you lie to God? You act like your perfect and when God tries to correct you through the Word, a sermon, study, etc… you act as if that was not for you. If you find yourself criticizing instead of being convicted you are probably being controlled by sin.
The result of covering up your sins is that the Word no longer helps you grow, therefore your relationship with God is damaged; which results in a loss of Christian character. Another words that Christian looks, talks, and acts like a lost person.
We can try to cover up our sins but we know that God knows every move we make. What should we do with our sins?
Confess Them
1 John 1:7, 9; 2:1-2
John tells us that Jesus Christ is our Mediator and the One that has died for our sins. We must look at these two things that Christ does.
God is holy and just and must punish sin; but through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice we can be justified. Jesus Christ is our Advocate if we allow Him first to be our Savior.
Jesus also represents us from Heaven. When we sin Jesus is our Mediator. Because He paid the ultimate price for us, He has become the bridge to God the Father. This is why we can go into God’s Holy presence. Zechariah 3:1-7 is a great picture of mediation and what happens when we sin.
Zechariah 3:1-7
Joshua, the high priest, was standing before God wearing filthy garments to symbolize that the Nation of Israel had sinned and was dirty. At the right hand side of Joshua was Satan standing to accuse the Nation of Israel of its sins. Satan had the “goods” on Israel and yet Jesus became Joshua’s advocate. He had his dirty clothes removed and given new, “rich” garments. Notice this happened after his sins were taken away. You are probably thinking, “The NIV says that this was an angel, not Jesus”. That is true, but can an angel forgive sins? No, Jesus is pictured here as an angel because He had not yet come to this earth in the form of a man.
Since Jesus is in Heaven as our Advocate, there is only one thing we are asked to do with our sins. That is to confess them. What does it mean to confess your sins? It literally means to say the same thing about that sin as God does. See, your not just admitting sin, you are judging that sin. If you do that, then God forgives it and forgets it.
This does not mean that God condones sin. This brings us to the third way to deal with sin.
Conquer Them
1 John 2:1-3, 5-6
It is clear that we do not have to sin. The secret of victory over sin is found in the phrase, “Walk in the light”. To walk in the light means to be honest with God, ourselves, and others. It means that when the Light reveals our sins to us that we immediately confess it to God and claim His forgiveness.
Walking in Light also means we must obey God’s Word. We learn how to live through the Word. We see how Christ lived on this earth and we are to follow in His steps.
Are you walking in the Light or the darkness?
Series: Light In The Darkness [#2]
Sunday Evening Bible Study July 20, 2003
Bel Aire Baptist Church
