President Calvin Coolidge went to church, and afterwards was asked by a friend what the minister spoke on. “He preached on sin.” The friend asked what the preacher had to say about sin, and was told, “He’s against it.”...
That’s sort of the bottom line of today’s message—that sin has no place in the life of the believer. John tells us that if we are followers of Jesus we will walk in the light.
This morning I’d like us to consider what it means to walk in the light.
1. If You’re Saved and You Know It then your Life will surely show it…
a)In Obedience
1:5-7 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.
2: 3-5 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
Here are two strong declarations, back to back that genuine Christianity is marked by a life of obedience to God’s commands. We should not kid ourselves that because our sins are paid for our sins don’t matter. While it’s true that our sins are covered by the blood Jesus shed on the cross, it is also true that those who have genuinely trusted in Jesus and received forgiveness will respond to that forgiveness with a changed life. That we will walk as Jesus walked, or in other words, If you are in step with God you will desire to be obedient to Him.
Illustration: someone once told Mark Twain, “Before I die I mean to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I will climb Mount Sinai and read the Ten Commandments aloud at the top.” Mark Twain said, “I have a better idea. You could stay in Boston and keep them.” (Illustration 105 in Something to Think About)
Walking in the light means taking not only the ten commandments but all of our Lord’s commands seriously in a life of obedience, and obedience as an instinctive way of life.
Thomas a Kempis wrote, "Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience. Whoever strives to withdraw from obedience, withdraws from Grace."
In other words, God’s grace to us is dependent upon our willingness to be obedient—that is intentionally living contrary to God’s commands is incompatible with the life of faith.
If we are walking in the light our life will also show it…
b)In Love
2:9-11 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him[c] to make him stumble. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
Illustration: When Jesus shared the story of the Good Samaritan it was in reference to this principle. Jesus raised the question of brotherhood. (Lk. 10:27-37) Jesus raised the question of authenticity. Legitimate faith reflects legitimate love.
This love is a challenging love. Jesus loved the lepers. Jesus loved the immoral. Jesus loved people of different cultural backgrounds.
- He taught us to love those who mistreat us.
- He taught us to love our enemies.
- He taught us to love people who are a different ethnicity.
- He taught us to love people of differing moral values.
- He taught us to love the un-loveable.
But of course the term “brother” here refers primarily to those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ—those who are part of the church. Maybe this is the most difficult of all—don’t laugh, I’m serious. It’s easy to love theoretically the cannibal in South America and more difficult to love those who sit across the sanctuary from you and actually think the carpet in the new fellowship hall should be pink.
To dwell above with the saints we love
Oh that will be glory
To live below with the saints we know
That’s another story! (Source Unknown)
This love is a supernatural love. It is reflected in a person who is sold out and submitted to God. When Jesus faced the cross he prayed an unbelievable prayer, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” When God indwells your heart you will find yourself loving in a supernatural way.
Still we should not make the mistoke of believing that we must feel warm and fuzzy toward others to love them. Love is not a feeling but action.
In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, "Do not waste your time bothering whether you ’love’ your neighbor act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less."
This is why those subtle sins of Gossip, strife, envy & divisions are so destructive, they separate us not only from our brothers and sisters but from God.
John is clearly saying here if you talk about other Christians behind their backs you’re not saved. If you try to damage their reputation, you’re not saved, if you harbor ill will or unforgiveness in your heart toward them, you’re not saved.
1 Cor. 13:4-5 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
If you don’t live up to that standard you’re not saved!
Feeling Guilty enough yet? I think that’s the point, but we are not without help. The second part of walking in the light is to understand…
2. Sin Happens
a)Admit It
8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
First, we should agree with God that we are sinners. The Bible says “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23) The word "confess" in I John 1:9 basically means to agree. We agree with God about sin. This refers to all people. Even believers struggle against sin. John confronted this subject because there were false teachers spreading false teaching about sin. Some claimed to have no sin. Another group claimed that sin was of no consequence. Either group had a bad attitude about sin. John’s premise is that the beginning place of being in step with God is to agree with God that we are sinners.
I think at least one implication here is that we need to recognize and confess the sin of our lack of love. I think the HS is telling us through John, that to act is if our unloving attitudes are not sin is to separate ourselves from God and from forgiveness and salvation. If I am in sin by not loving my brothers and sisters but say, "well I have a right to feel that way," and think that I’m still a Christian, I’m deceiving myself.
That’s the direct context, but I think the larger application is about sin in general. If I act as if my sin is unimportant, or worse that it isn’t sin, then I block the provision of grace, because to receive forgiveness I must admit my sin. Both to receive salvation for the first time and to “stay saved.”
There’s an interesting juxtaposition here of a strong declaration that If you’re really a Christian you won’t sin and a promise that when you do, you can receive forgiveness. I think the point is that we need to recognize God’s seriousness about sin, that there is a real expectation that our lives as followers of Christ should be markedly different and sin should be losing it’s hold. Also that in recognizing the seriousness of sin we need to be anxious to confess before the Lord how we are failing to meet the standard and humbly plead for forgiveness and strength to do better.
Illustration: A pastor wanted to check his congregation’s understanding of his sermon, so he asked, "Can anyone tell me what you must do before you can obtain forgiveness of sin?"
There was a short pause and then, from the back of the room, a small boy spoke up, "You have to sin." (Contributed to Sermon Central by Dana Chau) All people, even believers, must confront their sin.
The difference between a believer and an un-believer is attitude. The believer understands that sin is a problem. The believer understands that sin separates and breaks our fellowship with God. The believer understands that sin leads to hurt and pain. (thanks for portions of this section to Leland Patrick on sermoncentral.com)
But understanding our sin isn’t enough. To walk in the light I must…
b)Bring it to Jesus
1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for[a] the sins of the whole world.
Confession of sin allows us to receive forgiveness and fellowship with God, through the atoning work of Christ on the cross. It is only because the price of sin has been paid that we can receive forgiveness.
The picture here is of Jesus as our defense lawyer, our plea is guilty but Jesus declares, “I have paid the price.”
Conclusion
In Ernest Gordon’s Miracle on the River Kwai. The Scottish soldiers, forced by their Japanese captors to labor on a jungle railroad, had degenerated to barbarous behavior, but one afternoon something happened. A shovel was missing. The officer in charge became enraged. He demanded that the missing shovel be produced, or else. When nobody in the squadron budged, the officer got his gun and threatened to kill them all on the spot . . . It was obvious the officer meant what he had said. Then, finally, one man stepped forward. The officer put away his gun, picked up a shovel, and beat the man to death. When it was over, the survivors picked up the bloody corpse and carried it with them to the second tool check. This time, no shovel was missing. Indeed, there had been a miscount at the first check point. The word spread like wildfire through the whole camp. An innocent man had been willing to die to save the others! . . . The incident had a profound effect. . . The men began to treat each other like brothers. When the victorious Allies swept in, the survivors, human skeletons, lined up in front of their captors (and instead of attacking their captors) insisted: "No more hatred. No more killing. Now what we need is forgiveness." Sacrificial love has transforming power.(Don Ratzlaff, "The Christian Leader")
