Living in the Light

Transcript

GRM 514
1/19/1997
Living in the Light
I John 1
Gil Rugh

I want to direct your attention to the book of I John this evening, I John. Not too long ago we did a study of the gospel of John on Sunday morning. Paige Patterson took us to chapter 1 of John’s gospel as well this morning. When we did our study of the gospel of John, chapter 1, I thought that without too much time passing I wanted to direct our attention to the first chapter of I John because of the similarities there are in these two portions of scripture, a similarity in emphasis even though it is expressed differently. But you’ll recognize some of the same concepts. Jesus Christ will be identified as the Word. We’ll see light and darkness and life brought to form. We’ll see the wonder of God’s salvation that is talked about in John’s gospel in chapter 1 as well. We’re just going to really highlight the whole first chapter but focus in particularly on the last part of the chapter.

Note how he begins. “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life.” You know what we have, what was from the beginning, what we have seen, what we have heard, what we have looked at” put there as “what”. You might think it would be “who” since the person in view is Christ, but it is put in what we would call the neuter because he is talking about the message that he is proclaiming which is a message about the person of Christ, that One who was from the beginning. And in his gospel John began, “In the beginning was the word.” Here he puts it a little differently. “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at.” There that word looked at is the same basic word that Paige elaborated picturesquely today that we get out of the word theater. From that we have intently looked at, gazed at, examined carefully, “our hands have touched.” Like a person who does not have physical sight, and with the touch they become familiar. Here, Jesus Christ we are reminded, the word became flesh. They could actually touch Him. They had personal, physical contact with Him. The message I am sharing with you, John says is one that I have experienced firsthand about a person that I knew well and know well. That I examined carefully when He walked this earth and was physically in contact with during the time of His ministry. He is the One called the Word of Life, the Word of Life.

And John’s gospel, “in the beginning was the Word.” Here the emphasis on the word of life because the Word, that One who will reveal and make known the Father in the greatest possible way is the One who brings life, the One in whom was life John’s gospel says. He is the Word of life and there is life in no one else. The life was manifested. “We have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal Life which was with the Father and which was manifested to us. What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also so that you too may have fellowship with us and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” This is a book about fellowship, fellowship with God and fellowship with other believers.


I think we often error here. This is going to come out as we proceed in our study in identifying fellowship in the sense that we often use the word today where it is speaking of a harmony in a relationship. We would say the men at the retreat had fellowship. And we might mean that on a superficial level or on a more in-depth level. John is talking about here the basic relationship that we have with God and with one another by virtue of our salvation. The word fellowship means to share in common. We have fellowship with God because in Christ we have been brought into a relationship with God. By His grace we were brought into a relationship also with the other members of the family of God, fellow believers. So, in that sense we are not talking about what we often use of being in fellowship and out of fellowship. As John talks about it a true believer is never out of fellowship because we always share in the light and life of God, and we are always part of one another in God’s family.

Turn back to I Corinthians chapter 1. I think you will see Paul gives this emphasis using the word fellowship. The word we have koinonia which has carried it over into English. We talk about koinonia groups, small groups that provide an opportunity for fellowship, involvement in one another’s lives. Well note I Corinthians chapter 1 verse 9. “God is faithful through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” What he is talking about there is the basic relationship we have been called into with Christ by the grace of God. We were called to share in common the life of our Savior Jesus Christ. We were brought into a permanent unending relationship with Him. In John’s writings the concept of abide is a key word. That is another word that is misunderstood and misused today in Christian circles. But in John’s writings God abides in us and we abide in Him. That is an unchanging relationship. So in the sense that John is using the word fellowship, we will use the word abide even though we won’t be talking about that particular word in our consideration together now. We are talking about a basic relationship that is established at salvation and never ends. We live moment and day by day in fellowship with Jesus Christ and the Father. He abides in us, and we abide in Him. It is a permanent, unending, unchanging relationship.


Come back to I John. I am not saying there aren’t times where the harmony in that relationship is affected by sin. I am saying that John’s concept of fellowship here is not talking about that aspect of the relationship but the basic relationship itself. “These things we write so that our joy may be made complete,” brought to fulfilment. Then we move into a consideration of the character of God and the character of the people of God. One of the prime purposes for the writing of this letter is given at the end of the letter. It is not necessarily the only purpose, but it is a prime purpose. 1 John chapter 5 verse 13, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” What John has given in the introductory verses, those first four verses has to do with having eternal life. It is about the word of life. It is about being brought into fellowship with God and the people of God through a relationship with the Son of God, the Savior of the world. John has written this letter so that believers might have the firm, confident assurance of their salvation. Back in chapter 1 verse 5 he begins by declaring the message. “This is the message we have heard from him and announce to you.” John said this message does not originate from him but originates with God and he is simply God’s spokesman, God’s mouth piece to announce to his readers what God has said.

“God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.” “God is light and in Him there is no darkness.” In the context of God being the light refers to His very character as holy, righteous, just. It has an ethical quality about it as well as the fact that it has an illumining quality because it is God who makes known His character. And in Him we come to know holiness and life and justice and righteousness and so on. So that “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.” It is that ethical quality here of light contrasted with darkness. God’s character, God’s holiness, His very person, He is light. There is no darkness in Him. There is no sin in him. There is nothing inconsistent in any way, in the smallest way but perfect holiness, the beauty of perfect righteousness, that is God’s character. And we say well I wouldn’t have any problem with that. That is who God is. But if we are firmly fixed in understanding that, that lays the foundation that John is now going to build upon. You understand something of the character of God, what God has declared about Himself. He is light. There is no darkness in Him. What we have talked about fellowship and sharing in common in the life of God and the light of God, then you must understand that anyone who truly has a relationship with Him will manifest His character. That’s one of the ways that we know that we have eternal life. It gives us that confidence and assurance.


Jump back to John’s gospel chapter 3. You might leave a marker in John’s gospel. We will jump back here a couple of times. In John chapter 3 verse 19 just to see this concept of light and darkness. “This is the judgement that Light has come into the world.” You see Jesus Christ is God and God is light. The light has come into the world in the second person of the triune God. “And men loved the darkness rather than the light and their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” This will come out where John is going in chapter 1. That’s one thing that happens. That is the initial thing that happens in our salvation. The light of the gospel is turned on us and we are revealed for what we are, sinners, depraved, defiled. That is why there is such antagonism toward the word of God, toward the gospel. Why? We can talk about so many subjects, so many books, so many teachings, but you bring up the gospel, the truth of God and there is a tension. There is an antagonism. There is a resentment that is there. The light reveals me for what I am, and it is not a pretty sight. I am a wretched sinner, vile a depraved. They want the light turned off so they wouldn’t come to the light. Further than that, verse 20, “everyone who does evil hates the light, hates the light and does not want to come to the light for fear their deeds will be exposed.”

Come back to 1 John than. “God is light. In Him there is not darkness.” With that as the clear contrast, the simplicity of this focus on the character of God, there is a series of “ifs.” You will note verse 6, “If we say,” verse 7, “If we walk,” verse 8, “If we say,” verse 9, “If we confess,” verse 10, “If we say.” These conditions flow out of the character of God. Those whose life does not manifest agreement with the character of God do not belong to God no matter what they say. That will be verse 6, verse 8 and verse 10. Simple. Every other verse will describe those whose life does not conform to the character of God. Verse 7 and verse 9 will show those who do manifest the character of God and so are shown to be the people of God.

Look at verse 6, “If you say...[Here it the claim we are making.] we have fellowship with Him.” We have come to share in common in the life and light of God. We have been born into God’s family. We are partakers of the divine nature as Peter wrote about it, that fellowship that we saw in verse 3. Okay if we make the claim we have fellowship with God. We have a relationship with Him. We belong to Him. I have been born into this family. “And yet walk in the darkness...” we are walking in the darkness. Present tense denotes this is our habitual action. Our conduct is we are living our lives in the darkness, in sin, not in holiness and righteousness. John very simply says we are liars. “We lie and do not practice the truth.” We are not really in fellowship with Him. We say this and do this. We are liars. That’s what he says. No making an elaborate scheme to unfold here. What about all the possible ways we could qualify this? What about exceptions?


But remember John is proclaiming the message that he heard from God. Verse 5, “God is light. There is no darkness in Him.” If you say, if we say we have a relationship with God, we share in common the life of God, His life, yet we live our lives in the darkness, very simple, what we say is a lie if we don’t practice the truth. We are not doing the truth. This person is not a child of God regardless of what they say. The simplicity of this and the overlooking of it has caused great problems in the church today. And we think everybody who says, oh, I trusted Christ, we have to accept that statement. But we ought to measure that statement in light of the word of God. You say you have a relationship with God. Let me say to you, you are a liar. Is it any wonder Christianity causes tension? You know John doesn’t say, I beg to disagree with you. He simply says, we lie, we don’t practice the truth.

Look at a couple of passages. Just move in. We will stay in I John for time. Chapter 2 verse 3. “By this we know that we have come to know Him.” How do you know you have come to know God? “If we keep His commandments.” “The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.” That expression will be used later in chapter 1 as well. “The truth is not in him.” He is a liar. You don’t keep His commandments. He is not talking about the Mosaic commandments. He is talking about the commandment we have from Christ given in the New Testament. In fact in John’s writings when he refers to the Mosaic commandments, he uses a different word. So he is talking about here the commandments we have from God through Christ in our New Testament.

Look down at verse 9. “The one who says he is in the light” [This is a person who claims he is in the light. He has a relationship with God. He now dwells in the light as one who is in a relationship with God] “and yet hates his brother, is in the darkness until now.” You note that. He is in the darkness until now. He never left the darkness. He has claimed to be in the light but he hates fellow believers. There are people who say, oh, I have trusted Christ but I don’t need to go to church and I don’t like to be around Christians. And that doesn’t mean I am not a Christian. Yes it does because God said so. If you claim to be in the light and you hate your brother, fellow Christian, you are in the darkness until now. You have deceived yourself. You never left the darkness. You have continued it.


Chapter 3 verse 6. I picked this because it uses the word abide. “No one who abides in Him sins.” And in spite of the footnote in some study Bibles, abide refers to a relationship that every believer has all the time. You never cease to abide in Christ, and He never ceases to abide in you. This is one of the reasons sin is so ugly in the life of a Christian. Remember Paul’s argument with the Corinthians about morality and immorality. Should I take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot. You know I just cannot say, well, I am going to cease to abide in Christ for a while and sin. I have been brought into a permanent relationship with Him, the One who said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” But would you wait outside. No. That makes sin is very ugly in the life of a believer, does it not? I like to think I run and hide in the dark with no one. But I never leave the light as a child of God. And that One who indwells me never departs. “No one who abides in Him sins. No one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.” That gets pretty blunt. Does it not? I take it he is not saying here, you never committed an act of sin. The present tense here denotes that habitual characteristic of life, that John used the word walk in chapter 1 to talk about. Walking in the darkness. This is your life, that is where you live. “No one who abides in Him sins, [no one who sins, lives a life of sin,] has seen him or knows Him.”

So much for the present concept of carnal Christianity. Not the biblical concept, but the present concept. Oh yes I trusted Christ when I was 11, but I haven’t lived for him for the last 30 years, I’ve lived in sin. Well, let me tell you, no one who lives in sin has seen Him or knows Him. You realize you’ve never come into a relationship with Him. Little children make sure that no one deceives you. Do You have that underlined in your Bibles? We as believers ought not to be diluted or deceived.

“The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.” Positional righteousness in Christ manifests itself in practical righteousness. I realize my positional righteousness is perfect, my practical righteousness is not yet perfect. But even at that the general character of my life is seen to be righteous. “The one who practices sin is of the devil.” You see the connection at the end of verse 7, “just as He is righteous.” You see we are partaking of the one who is light; we are partaking of His character. Those who practice sin are partaking of the character of their true spiritual father. “You are of your father the devil,” Jesus said to the self-righteous religious leaders of His day in John’s gospel chapter 8. “And you always do the works of your father,” Jesus told them. So, John is simply reiterating that for us. “The devil has sinned from the beginning. The son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God practices sin because His seeds, [God’s seed] abides in Him.”

He cannot sin because he is born of God. Again, it doesn’t mean I can’t commit acts of sin, but I can’t live there. You know I go swimming, (or I did at one time in the distant past) but you know I can’t go live in the ocean. I don’t belong there. I can’t survive there. I need the air. So it is, I have partaken of the very nature of God, His seed abides in me, I have been born into His family, He is my father, I have partaken now of His character. I just can’t live in sin. The ugliness of it all is that I do sin. You know I am no longer comfortable there like I once was. That’s what he is talking about. So, “by this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious.” This is a verse that we struggle with. Like how do you discern? The children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. I take this verse at face value, I hate to use this word, but multitudes within the professing church are swept away with the excuses and the reasons why. “Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.”


Well, come back to I John chapter 1. That is what he is talking about. Verse 7, the contrast, “but if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.” Now again this concept has been misused by the church today. They say well to walk in the light means you are in fellowship and the way we use the fellowship today-things are right between you and God. You’re a Christian who is doing what he should, verses a Christian who is doing what he shouldn’t. That’s what it means to walk in the light. No it isn’t. To walk in the light, means to live in the light. We just looked at verses that would impact this. “You walk in the light as He himself is in the light.” In other words you walk in the light that you have been brought to by virtue of that salvation you have in Christ. You now fellowship with Him as well as with others, as John wrote in verse 3, who have this relationship with God. But it doesn’t mean you don’t sin. You know what happens as you walk in the light? “The blood of His son, Jesus Christ, keeps on cleansing us, [present tense] from all sin.” So walking in the light doesn’t mean you’re a Christian who’s not sinning, verses a Christian who is not sinning, sinning and not sinning, I’ve got those all twisted up. Straightened them out. Because that continual cleansing is going on even as I walk in the light, but I live in a new realm.

That is why I said earlier, the Christian does not leave the light even when he sins. You know it is like a child, there are time when our grandchildren are over that my granddaughter likes to hide. All she’s got to do to hide so I don’t know where she is, is go like this. Doesn’t change the spot, doesn’t leave the room, just goes ‘let’s hide.’ You know I think that is the way we are as Christians sometimes. I’m going to say it, let’s hide. You know I stop and think, the full light of the glorious presence of God is there. I mean I’m in the light, the angels of glory I take it. Behold in full, nothing has changed, unlike a little kid. I’m in the darkness, then move. We walk in the light; we live in the light. I have not left the light for one second, not one fraction of a second, in all the years that I have been a child of God. No child of God does. Sometimes we sin in the light, grievously which is motivation for me not to want to sin. “And if anyone does sin we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous; and He himself is the propitiation, the satisfaction for our sins. Not for ours only, but for those of the whole world.”


The initial satisfaction and cleansing and the ongoing cleansing are part of the work of Christ. Remember the foot washing? The last night Christ had with His disciples and the conversation with Peter? You’ve had a bath, but your feet need washed, they get defiled. That is the picture we have here. But that provision for ongoing cleansing comes in the package of my salvation or I’d be lost hundreds of times a day, perhaps, with passing thoughts and on we go. No, it’s keep on cleansing. So that’s the contrast between verse 6 and verse 7, those who live in the darkness, those who live in the light. Even though those in the darkness say they ?re in the light, they’re just lying, because if they were really in the light, you could see the light in their character. When they did sin, you’d say, that’s out of character for them. And we’ve had that experience, all of us. And with fellow believers, and you become aware of sin that they’ve indulged in you say, that’s so out of character for them; I can’t believe it! You say, I won’t believe it until it’s clearly demonstrated, until I have them tell me, yes, it’s true. What? It’s out of character! But there’s other people, they sit and say it doesn’t surprise me a bit. In fact, we get so tired of it in the public figures we say, you know, you get tired of reading it. Why do we read it? Well, I don’t know. I expect it anymore. But it’s different with God’s people.

Pick up verse 8, verse 8 and verse 10 we’ll take together and then we jump back to verse 9. “If we say we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves the truth is not in us.” Verse 10, “If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, His word is not in us.” I take it verse 8 is dealing with the principle of sin. “If we say we have no sin,” we are without sin. I’m not a sinful being is the idea. I’m not a sinful being; I deny the reality of my sinfulness, my character as a fallen being and a descendant of Adam. “If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, the truth is not in us.” “The truth is not in us.” If you left your marker in John’s gospel go to chapter 8 you’ll note the end of verse 31 on abide. “If you abide in my word then you are truly disciples of mine.” Verse 34, “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”” Verse 36, “If the Son makes you free, you are free indeed.” Verse 42, “Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you would love Me for I precede forth and have come from God.”” Verse 44, “You are of your father the devil; you want to do the desires of your father.” You see the connection to the spiritual headship, spiritual fatherhood. “He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth,” note this, “because there is no truth in him.”

I John 1:8 says, the truth is not in us if we deny we’re sinners. We are showing the character of our true father. Now keep in mind these religious leaders, Pharisees and so on, were greatly offended. Their hatred and animosity is so stirred, it will climax at the crucifixion. But the reality is the same. They manifest their father’s character. So that’s what we’re talking about here. When it says the truth is not in us, well, that reveals us, we’re not God’s children. The Devil is our father if we say we have no sin. You note in that verse as well, “If we say we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves.” Again, we’re like children and oh how we like to pretend. But you know the only one who is deceived in that that really matters is me, because the only other person that matters in this is God Himself and He’s not deceived. So we have no sin. Who’s deceived by that? We are. So the world today runs around and we’ve decided sex outside of marriage is not sin, homosexuality is not sin, and on we go, is not sin. Well, the world likes to deceive itself likes to pretend, but they’re pretending in a very serious way, area, one with eternal consequences.


Look at verse 10, “If we say we have not sinned,” a little different emphasis here. It’s not just denying my very sinful character, but it’s denying the guilt of my actions. No this is not sin. Well, why are there people who don’t hear it? You know, it’s sin. No it’s not sin. “If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar. His word is not in us.” Again, clearly describing the unregenerate, unredeemed person. I mean, to declare God a liar? Look over in chapter 5 verse 10, “The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself, the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.” When you don’t believe what God has said, what you’re really saying is, God is a liar. There is no neutral ground here. You either agree with God or you oppose God. So here if you say, no we haven’t sinned. Nope I not only am not a sinner in character, I’m not guilty before God. Well, you’re saying God’s a liar because He said all have sinned. You say, not me. Then you’re saying God’s a liar. That means His word is not in us. His word is not in us.

If you have your marker in John, jump back to chapter 5. Look at verse 37. “And the Father who sent Me [Jesus speaking] He has born witness of Me.” Note what He says about those who aren’t believing in Him. “You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor have you seen His form. You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He says.” See not having His word abiding in you is describing an unbeliever. I am emphasizing this because there are many who interpret 1 John chapter 1 as these verses we are talking about as believers. It is not so. All we have to do is compare with the writings of John who he is talking about. He is talking about unbelievers. Unbelievers are those who do not have God’s word abiding in them. They are those who do not have God’s truth in them.

Let’s look at verse 9 of I John 5. This is a verse that probably is bantered about, sometimes called the Christian bar of soap because what is a Christian to do when he sins? Well, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” So, I want to ask you. I am a child of God. If I don’t confess the sin I committed this morning, is it forgiven or isn’t it? If it isn’t, you know where I am going - to hell. I mean, we make nonsense of the verse. He is describing a believer. It certainly talks in the present sense. “If we are confessing our sins.” You know it is just like walking in the light. You know I first came into agreement with God about my sin in an understanding way at my salvation when the light of the gospel was turned on me and I saw myself as I was truly. And I really came to grips, oh, I might have joked before said before as many do, oh, yeah, I’m a sinner. Oh, yeah, I’m going to hell; all my friends are. Well, a person who talks like that really has no comprehension what the scripture’s talking about here and the seriousness of sin, the consequences of sin.


So, we are confessing. The word to “confess” means to agree with, compound word means to say the same thing, so you acknowledge something, you confess, you agree. Somebody says, will you confess to this? You say, yes. In other words, I’m agreeing to it, it’s true. “If we are confessing our sins, in contrast to verse 8, saying we have no sin, in contrast to verse 10, to saying we have not sinned. The true believer is characterized by, yes, I agree with God about my sins. That hasn’t changed. That began at my salvation; I agree with God today, by nature I am a fallen being. By conduct I have sinned against a holy God. I’m doubly condemned both by very nature and by my personal actions. I agree with God. That’s a characteristic of a believer.

One of the ways you start a conversation isn’t it, with the gospel? And you start to share the gospel with someone, you say, do you know that you’re really a sinner? And they say, yes, I do. I am guilty and defiled before a holy God. You say, Humph. Good chance I’m talking to someone here who knows the gospel because he’s believed it. He agrees! “If we confess our sins,” incidentally, this is where people get offended. One of you shared with me, some people where here with the Christmas concert sitting near you at a concert. I brought up about sin and they turned to one turned to the other and said, oh, here we go! Offended we would talk about sin. Well, that’s a mark of an unbeliever. But a believer agrees, I mean you as believers... What happens? You are glad; the gospel is coming. I brought unsaved friends and family here, this is what I want them to hear, even though they don’t want to hear it. Why? Believers agree with God about sin. “If we confess our sin,” if we agree with God about sin.

He uses this expression we must also confess, here it is in chapter 4. Verse 3, 1 John 4:3. “Every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God.” “Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” You have to agree with God about Jesus Christ. Back in verse 22 of chapter 2, “Who is the liar, but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?” You have to agree with God, say the same thing as God about His Son. So, in salvation, what are the two basic ingredients? You must agree with God about sin, you must agree with God about Jesus Christ. Those are two essentials. Until you come into agreement with God, say the same thing as God about your sin, say the same thing as God about His Son, Jesus Christ the only Savior, you can’t be saved. Like we were talking about here, confess, we are talking about the salvation that a believer experiences.


Come back to chapter 1 verse 9. “If we confess our sins,” [If we are in agreeing with God about our sins] “He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Again, that is a work that began at salvation and that cleansing. They are stated as facts here, using the “eros” tense, stated as facts. Faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse. That’s what God does for those who are agreeing with Him about sin, forgiving our sins, cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And again verses 1 and 2 of chapter 2 unfold how that happens. Jesus Christ is our Advocate with the Father. Remember in the book of Hebrews? “He is able to save to the uttermost, because He ever lives to make intercession for us at the right hand of the Father.” He is the Advocate of 1 John 2. That goes on.

I’m glad. Because what if I had a greedy thought? And here goes this Mercedes Benz driving past me and I look and I lust and covet that car for myself and as I’m doing it I smash head on into a concrete abutment and get killed. Heaven or Hell? I didn’t get a chance to confess it, I was in the midst of lusting after it. Praise God, heaven. But I’m a child of God. I agree with God about my sin even in my lapses. You know I have to be honest. Even when I sin as a believer I know what I’m doing. I’m sinning. But I’m doing it because it is giving me a certain amount of pleasure at the time. So this verse to condition the forgiveness of a believer. So what we usually try to do is say, well this is talking about the harmony of our fellowship. You have to confess your sin in order to have experiential forgiveness. I think we ought to let the scripture speak for itself instead of trying to redo it. We’re talking about cleansing and forgiveness. Forgiving us our sins, cleansing us from all unrighteousness. That comes to those that agree with God about sin.

You know its? a marvelous salvation we have. It is a life transforming salvation that we have. And we little children ought not to be deceived. We trash the salvation that we proclaim when we break it into pieces and offer it out peace meal as though there is forgiveness without any transformation. You know if you do not offer the gospel in the package that God offers it, you do not offer the gospel. Can a person be saved who says, well, I’ll agree with Him, I’ll confess Jesus Christ, but I’ll not agree with Him about my sin? I say, I’m sorry, you cannot bargain and barter. I can’t break it up for you, I can’t say fine. You will be saved today if you will confess Jesus Christ and agree with God about Jesus Christ, but you won’t agree with Him about your sin. I’ll say, I’m sorry, there is no salvation in that. You must agree with God about His son; you must agree with God about your sin because in the reality of it you don’t even really understand the truth concerning His son if you don’t understand something of you sin. Because His Son is the Savior and if you’re not a sinner then in what sense do you see Him as a Savior?


I know multitudes of people have made such a decision. So, it is in the work of God. His forgiving and His cleansing is marvelous, but you understand, that forgiveness and that cleansing radically changes me, the very center of my being. So now the very seed of God dwells in me. I’m not the man I used to be. Would we want any other kind of salvation? Would any other salvation be of any good? Could any other kind of salvation bring glory to the God who is Holy? Oh yes, he is saved, there is no change in their life, but their saved. I mean, God has given us the picture as we mentioned before in the human realm. We’re born of human parents and we partake of their character, we partake of their traits. And yet God supposedly has children that look nothing like Him, who partake of nothing of His being or character, but it sure is a good fire escape from hell. What an awful thing to be self-deceived and self-diluted on such an important point.

So praise God for the message and the portion of His word that is repeated over and over again. “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.” Those who are brought into fellowship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior from sin, now “walk in the light as He is in the light.” “And the blood of His son, Jesus Christ keeps on cleansing them.” These are those who keep on agreeing with God about sin, and their own sinfulness and He cleanses them. He forgives them. The work of our salvation is a mighty, powerful work. “It is the power of God for salvation, [this message] to all who believe.” May the beauty of His character be increasingly evident in every nook and cranny of our lives to His glory. Let’s pray together.

Thank you Lord for the richness of Your salvation. Lord, we are in awe of the beauty of Your person, the magnificence of your holiness. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. And Lord, we are called to partake of that holiness. God forbid that we should be satisfied with a lower standard, that we should accept the counterfeit. What a privilege has been bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. That we are called to walk in the light as You are in the light. Thank You for the work of our savior, at Your right hand even today, who is our advocate, the satisfaction for our sins, undeserving as we continue to be. But You have forgiven, You have cleansed and You keep on cleansing us. Lord, we desire that our lives in the most private recesses become testimonies to the life changing powers of the gospel. We pray in Christ’s name, amen.

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