Shining Light on Sin

Psychology Today:

“Self-blame is one of the most toxic forms of emotional abuse. It amplifies our perceived inadequacies, whether real or imagined, and paralyzes us before we can even begin to move forward.”

1 John 1:5–2:2 ESV

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But 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 cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just 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. 1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Gospel Sandwich

God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all (v.5)

We are pausing here to address a burden of this letter

Huge truth of the Bible that I cannot let you miss

God is awesome!!

I have an important question for you:

What is the Bible all about? What is Christianity all about?

Here are some bad answers that most believe

Many

I can avoid hell

I can feel loved

I can have community

I can unlock my full potential

Wrong! If you look at verse 5, the good news of Jesus does not involve you

1 John 1:5 ESV

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Who is the message about? God!!

Light and in him is no darkness at all

What is this saying about God?

Holiness

Truth

Let’s talk about this big picture again

Question: Is the Bible about you?

Sin: What is wrong with it?

Ex. Why do you think that it is important for you to save yourself for marriage?

People will say: Well because if you don’t you will hurt yourself and another person emotionally and you will lose something special. You may struggle more when you actually get married. You may have a child before you are ready to be a good parent.

Wrong! Wrong! and Wrong!

Why should you save yourself for marriage?

Because by doing so you worship a Holy God.

Because God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.

The Bible is not about you. The Christian life does not revolve around you. It is about a morally perfect, awesome God.

So how do we know if we have a relationship with the most awesome being possible. We have six if statements: Look down v. 6.

Six Ifs

We say we have fellowship (v.6)

1 John 1:6 LSB

6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not do the truth;

My friends, do you think that having a relationship with God affects you? It should change you correct. There should be a life of holiness that is not normal. This is certainly not perfection as this entire section would show. But your life should look different. It is impossible to know God and not see any sort of difference in living.

Imagine if you told me recently that you became friends with Lebron James, you guys hang out all the time.

If you say that you have a relationship with God, and there is no life change, you are lying.

We walk in the light we have fellowship (v.7)

1 John 1:7 ESV

7 But 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 cleanses us from all sin.

If our lives change, God will continue to change us. We will not only just have relationship with God but with others as well.

We say we have not sinned (v.8)

1 John 1:8 ESV

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Why is this true? Why do people who actually have relationship with God talk about their sin all the time?

Bear Valley Baseball to Petaluma

When you go from not knowing God to knowing God, you realize that you are morally disgusting.

And if you do not understand that you are so sinful, then you do not have a relationship with God

I feel that God brought me into His family when I was very young, like 5 years old. Now if you were to ask me, don’t you feel so much closer to God after being saved for more than 20 years. It is because part of having a relationship with God is gaining self awareness.

We confess, He will forgive (v.9)

This is commonly misunderstood by the Catholic Church to mean that you go to a priest who is in the little box and you say: Hi, I’ve lied four times, and said the F word 5 times, and cheated on a test. And then magically forgiveness!

This is talking about a lifestyle of openness and honesty about sin in your life. People who know God know that there is a major moral difference between you and God.

Have you ever heard someone give their testimony about how the Lord has saved them. Have you ever heard a Christian speak on their life and they might say some wild stuff. They might say: “Hi, I used to be addicted to pornography for 10 years, I destroyed my marriage, I was an alcoholic, I hated God, etc.” And you are like: This guy needs to chill out. Why would you just expose all of your problems like that?

Maybe it is because the Christian understands that they have fallen so far short of the glory of God. Maybe it is because God forgives sin for those who are apart of his family.

We say we have not sinned (v.10)

1 John 1:10 ESV

10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

This is repitition of verse 8 with added emphasis

Noting that we don’t just lie to ourselves, but we disagree with God and His word

We sin (v.1)

Gospel

He is the propitiation (v.2)