Joe was overcome by emotion as he sorted through his father’s belongings. After a long battle with cancer it was hard to believe that his father was gone. Reflecting on the past decade, Joe had plenty of regrets. He had a rebellious streak and lived a very indulgent life. As a result of his sinful life style, Joe’s life was now in shambles. He could not help but to wonder if his outrageous escapades had been too much for his father, hastening his death. However even at the end; Joe’s father reaffirmed his love for him. He seemed thrilled every time Joe walked into the room. Now he would never be able to visit or talk to him again. Joe knew he had turned his back on all the values he had been raised with. Feeling very alone, tears began to stream down Joe’s face. Just before he died, Joe’s father asked him to start attending church again. Joe agreed but wondered if there was any point. He had serious doubts if God would ever forgive all that he had done in his life. If we are really honest with ourselves we would discover that we have probably struggled just like Joe. Are there some sins that are so big and so bad that God will just not forgive them? Are there sins that we commit so often that God comes to the point where He says enough is enough and refuses to forgive them any more? Many a Christian life has been severely impaired by the guilt associated with past sin. The truth is we all need to gain a correct understanding of forgiveness. A faulty understanding of forgiveness can be one of Satan’s most powerful tools in slowing down our spiritual growth. Regardless of how long we have been a Christian we have experienced that nagging doubt in the back of our minds, as we wonder has God really forgiven all my sins? Today, let’s gain some insight about forgiveness from John’s answer to this question.
I. We must always remember the nature of God Himself, and the truth that God is light.
A. The message that John declares to all of us is: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
1. The Greek literally means, “Darkness is not in Him ever.” God is untainted by sin or evil.
2. The concept of light versus darkness in a religious sense is not new to the Christian era. The prophets of old recognized that God is light.
3. The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? (Psalm 27:1—NIV)
4. Light produces growth in crops, enables people to do their work; it reveals beauty and provides safety.
B. God is perfectly holy and true and He alone can guide people out of the darkness of sin.
1. In this sense light relates to the truth because light exposes whatever exists, whether it is good or bad.
2. Light produces life and growth and beauty, but sin is darkness; and darkness and light cannot exist in the same place.
3. If we are walking in the light, the darkness has to go. If we are holding to sin, then the light goes. There is no middle ground, no vague “gray” area, where sin is concerned.
4. Now it follows that in order for a person to be in fellowship with God, there can be no hiding of sin.
5. Light and darkness cannot exist in a person’s life at the same time.
II. We must gain an understanding of the effect sin has upon our lives.
A. Sin destroys our fellowship with God and severs our relationship with Him.
1. As far as John is concerned in this passage, a man is either in the light or in the darkness.
2. If he is in the light, he is a member of God’s family. If he is in the darkness, he does not have anything in common with God because there is no darkness in God at all.
3. Our individual goal needs to be to take on the qualities and characteristics of God, but as long as sin exists this goal is unreachable,
B. Sin often causes individuals to desire to cover it up.
1. We want our Christian friends to think we are “spiritual,” so we lie about our lives and try to make a favorable impression on them.
2. When we work hard to lie to others about the way we live our life, sooner or later it leads to us beginning to lie to ourselves.
3. It is quite possible for a believer to live in sin yet convince himself that everything is fine in his relationship to the Lord.
4. This will more often than not send our life into a downward spiral leading us to the point where we actually try to lie to God.
C. We contradict His Word, which says that “all have sinned,” and we maintain that we are exceptions to the rule.
1. We apply God’s Word to others but not to ourselves.
2. We sit through church services or Bible studies and are not touched by the Bible’s teachings.
3. Believers who have reached this low level are usually highly critical of other Christians, but they strongly resist applying the Word to their own lives.
4. The Holy Spirit’s inspired picture of the human heart is devastating indeed! A believer lies about his fellowship (1 John 1:6); about his nature—“I could never do a thing like that!” (1 John 1:8) and about his actions (1 John 1:10).
5. Sin has a very deadly way of spreading.
6. Sin by its very nature, brings death, that fact is as certain as the law of gravity.
III. We must gain a better understanding of God’s forgiveness.
A. Jesus did not die for His own sins, He had none. In a transaction that humans will never fully understand, He died for the sins of all who believe.
1. How, then, can a holy God uphold His own justice and still forgive sinners? The answer is in the sacrifice of Christ.
2. At the cross, God in His holiness judged sin. God in His love offers Jesus Christ to the world as Savior.
3. God was just in that He punished sin, but He is also loving in that He offers free forgiveness through what Jesus did at Calvary.
4. This provision allows us to continue to walk in the light and to enjoy unhindered fellowship with God.
B. The truth is that even as Christians, sin is going to exist in our lives and will need to be dealt with.
1. We need to realize that even as Christians, sin is a matter that we need to take seriously.
2. When we are tempted to believe in the possibility of human sinlessness, we are only fooling ourselves by not accepting the truth.
3. Jesus’ death broke the power of sin but in no way did it abolish sin or do away with our ability to sin.
4. The fact is that when we sin God has already made a provision to deal with these sins.
5. Christ not only died for all our past sins, He also died for all those that would be committed until He returns.
C. So the only question that is left is, “What exactly does God do with our sins?
1. Sin causes us to be guilty in the sight of God, therefore in need of forgiveness.
2. John is writing to those who have been born again, or have been baptized.
3. The requirement of confessing our sins does not invalidate other requirements that God has given for receiving forgiveness of sins.
4. All God’s forgiveness is based on the blood of His Son that was shed at Calvary. That blood provided God with a righteous basis on which He can forgive sins, and, as we sing, “the blood will never lose its power.” It has lasting ability to cleanse us.
5. Forgiveness is the result of God’s unlimited love for us.
6. The sin that makes us guilty in God’s sight also makes us unclean, for sin not only defiles the body but also the spirit.
7. So, when we are forgiven, we are also purified from all of the iniquities which stain the soul and spirit. There is a wonderful power in the blood of Jesus Christ.
8. “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” (Romans 4:7-8—NIV)
9. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:11-12—NIV)
10. God forgives and forgets our sin.
Two men who had been friends and companions in their youth met in the police court, the one on the magistrate’s bench, the other in the prisoner’s dock. The case was tried and the prisoner was found guilty. Would the judge, in consideration of their friendship years before, forbear to pass judgment? No, he must fulfill his duty, justice must be done, the law of the land obeyed. He gave out the sentence--fourteen days’ hard labor or a fine of $500. The condemned man had nothing to pay, so the prison cell was before him. But as soon as he had pronounced the sentence the judge rose from the bench, threw aside his magistrate’s robes, and stepping down to the dock, stood beside the prisoner, paid his fine for him, and then said, "Now, John, you are coming home with me to supper." It is just so with the sinner. God cannot overlook sin. Justice must be done, and the sentence pronounced, but Christ Himself pays the debt and the sinner is free.
