"Walking in the Light proves it"

Introduction

The subject of sin is a much maligned or criticized subject matter in our culture today. People will go to great lengths to either rationalize their sinful behavior, or deny it all together. It is much the same way an addict will go to great lengths to deny that they have an addiction problem.

A true addict will go to great lengths to either cover up their addiction or portray themselves as normal in our society today.

The other pervasive thing today is to marginalize or categorize our sin into the really bad sins and those that in our eyes God turns a blind eye to and doesn’t see as sinful.

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Danger of Liberal Theology

Liberal theology mimics much of the language of orthodox Christianity however, falls painfully short of maintaining the integrity of scripture.

For centuries, liberal theologians have believed it their task to make Christianity palatable to “modern man.” In most cases, the modern man in question is anyone who shares the liberal theologian’s heritage and social status. The liberal theologian’s goal is to rescue Christianity by excising the elements that seem most offensive in that day.

In one era, the doctrine of sin is unacceptable; in another, it’s miracles; in another, it’s the virgin birth, the substitutionary atonement, or biblical sex ethics. But the theme is the same: In order to make Christianity believable, certain doctrines must be abandoned.

There are 2 types of liberal theology out there today:

1ST KIND: is the hostile liberal, who seeks to do away with traditional Christianity all together and replace it with a better religion. This one is not the one I am most worried about.

2nd kind: of liberal theology and in my opinion far more dangerous is the “friendly liberal,” which seeks to rescue the faith. Unfortunately friendly liberals attempt to save Christianity by destroying it, their first allegiance is to culture, not scripture.

Albert Moller proclaims that it all starts with the ultimate authority of scripture.

The issue spurring this on is the LGBTQ revolution. If you change the line of morality then you must ultimately change your theology.

Discovery + new line up includes: “The book of Queer;” “teens exploring their transgender nature.” We must wake up to the reality that is continuing to move us to blur the lines of sin as defined in scripture.

GOD’S LIGHT AND HUMAN LIGHT

v.5-7

v.5 “God is Light”

The writer is referring to the content of the revelation that was expressed in verses 1-4 as those things that he has seen, heard, and experienced.

We have a Gospel message to announce to the world. What was from the beginning was the “word of life”(1:1); “the eternal life” (1:2); “the source of fellowship” (1:3); and “the source of joy” (1:4).

Now in verse 5 John reveals the message as “light,” the light of the world. Light occurs 275 times in scripture and 95 times in the N.T. alone.

So, is the writer referring to the inner quality of God or how God is expressed through His actions toward humans. The first of many “if/then” sentences occur in vs. 6.

“If we say we have fellowship with him, while walking in darkness, the light is not in us.”

You may recall at Christmas the reference to those walking in darkness have seen a great light.

Isaiah 9:2 ESV

2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

Now we have the second if in verse 7

“if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.”

PROMISE: God is light and in Him is no Darkness, if we walk in him we are in the light.

BIG IDEA: We must not forget who we are and who He is.

Why must we confess our sins if Jesus has already forgiven us of all our sin’s at the cross?

Note: This is the difference between positional forgiveness and relational forgiveness. Our position has changed from darkness to light when we submit our lives to Christ and receive His eternal forgiveness for our sins. However, when we sin as believers it hinders our relationship with God, much they way disobedient children hinder the relationship between their earthly parents. Regular confession of sin helps restore our fellowship with the father.

To make sure that we truly know him John give us over and over to a 4 fold test. This test is intended to assure us of whether we are truly followers of Christ, or are followers by name only deceiving ourselves.

THE THEOLOGY TEST

1. Do I believe the right things about Sin?

Here is the major problem: we want to establish the rules and set the playing field ourselves. We want to define the light on our own.

John establishes that divine revelation is what defines and sets the truth that stands alone as truth.

Now John unveils the 3rd “if we statements.”

“If we say we have no sin, we make God out to be a liar.”

Quit Lying to Yourself

No one wants to be seen as a liar. Liars are considered untrustworthy. And yet, we are perfectly content to lie to ourselves all the time. “I’ll enjoy this sleeve of Oreos today because my diet starts tomorrow,” I might tell myself. Or, “I love my job; who cares that I complain about it constantly?” Or even—ironically— “I am always honest with myself.”

Deceiving yourself doesn’t make logical sense. After all, lying involves telling someone something you know to be untrue. When you are both the liar and one lied to, this means you have to both know the truth and not know the truth. To be really happy, we must learn to be completely honest with ourselves.

Relatively few people are completely honest with others. In one study, researchers found that 60 percent of people lied at least once during a 10-minute conversation, and many lied multiple times. Distorting reality inside your own head might be even more common. No one is completely honest with themselves, because the truth hurts. Life is simply full of harsh realities. All that self-deception takes a lot of work to maintain. Consider procrastination, a form of self-deception that can be trivial (“I’ll unload the dishwasher later”) or catastrophic (“I’ll call the doctor next week about that chest pain”). This form of self-deception is costly not only because avoiding problems can make them worse but also because the procrastinator must do the mental work of a task over and over, without reaping the rewards of actually getting it done.

If you are willfully oblivious to your flaws, you can’t correct them. In the end, each of us has to decide: Do I want the full truth, no matter where it leads? The honest path isn’t easy, but you can be sure that day by day, you will be proud to say that the person in the mirror is not a liar. And that will be the truth.

The verb “walk” is in the present tense indicating a continual consistent pattern of life. In essence we say we know God, but then our words and actions give a different story.

DECEPTION & LIES: Thinking that we have no sin - TRUTH does not lie. (Jesus came to testify to the truth)

CONFESSION: We must confess our sins and trust in His faithfulness and justice to forgive our sins and wipe our slate clean.

8- if we say: A then a and b.

9- if we confess: +A then c and d

10- if we say: A then e and f

Note: we see what happens as a result of human depravity, however, we see that God’s actions are implicitly at the center of everything and all of this hinges either on the aspect of whether we downplay and deny sin, or accept and confess our sin for what it really is.

RADICAL TREATMENT FOR SIN

“I’m not a sinner” - the denial of sinful nature v.8

“I haven’t sinned” - the denial of sinful action v.10

2 DEAD ENDS

1)The Denial of our Human Nature

v.8

Ephesians 2:3 ESV

3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

We are all by nature children of wrath.

The Humanistic Approach see’s people as intrinsically and basically good people.

Self-concept is how we perceive our behaviors, abilities, and unique characteristics. For example, beliefs such as "I am a good friend" or "I am a kind person" are part of an overall self-concept.

Our self-perception is important because it affects our motivations, attitudes, and behaviors. It also affects how we feel about the person we think we are, including whether we are competent or if we have self-worth.

Self-concept tends to be more malleable when we're younger and still going through the process of self-discovery and identity formation. As we age and learn who we are and what's important to us, these self-perceptions become much more detailed and organized.

The Bible painfully points out that even our most righteous deeds (on our best day) they are like polluted garments before the throne of God. (Isaiah 64:6).

Walking in the light means that our lives are continually be searched by the truth of His light, which in turn continually brings us to the realization of how far we fall short of His righteousness.

We cannot be in need of forgiveness unless we understand how we have transgressed the moral law. If we do not see our need for forgiveness then the gospel is emptied of it’s power and truth in our lives.

No moral law, no sin problem; no sin problem, no gospel.

The Message of John’s Letters (a. Denial of the Sinful Nature (Verse 8))

It is said that Spurgeon was once confronted by a man who claimed to be ‘without sin’. Intrigued, the preacher invited him home to dinner. After hearing the claims through, he picked up his glass of water and threw it in the man’s face. Understandably, the visitor was highly indignant and expressed himself very forcefully to the preacher about his lack of courtesy.

To which the wise man replied, ‘Ah, you see, the old man within you is not dead. He had simply fainted and could be revived with a glass of water

2) The Denial of Sinful Action

v.10

This is the slow progression of sin from verse 8-10 we move from an inward principle of sin to an outward symptom of sin.

The outward action of our sin now confirms the disease that has now infected our whole way of thinking. This is the point where we no longer call sin “sin.” Adultery becomes ‘having an affair.’ Theft becomes ‘helping myself to the perks.’ Selfishness is ‘standing up for my rights.’ Homosexuality becomes a ‘freedom of choice.’

The last thing as humans we will admit is that we are sinners.

For over a century now the humanistic movement has convinced generations that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the human nature or with you and me in general.

This proves that man is in the darkness, there is no true light in him apart from the revelation that the light of Christ brings to humanity. We are incapable of truly seeing ourselves as we truly are which is sinners.

We should not be surprised when the chickens from these atheist philosophers come home to roost on this generation.

This is seen in terms of multiplying lawlessness and a society which will prove increasingly difficult to govern.

But we must resist that drift with all our energy, in our own lives, in our churches and in our community.

In order for us to have any meaningful concept of sin and it’s consequences we must embrace that moral standards do exist that define absolute right and wrong. (50 shades of grey do not exist in the economy of God)

As Nietzsche proclaimed nearly a hundred years ago, ‘If God is dead, everything is permitted.’ But God’s righteous character remains absolute in his world, and deviation from that character, as revealed in God’s law, remains sin.

That law is not an arbitrary set of rules designed to restrict and inhibit human life, but the expression of God’s will for human relationships in accordance with his own nature of light and love.

That is why adultery, theft, lying, murder and all the other sins remain sin, whatever people may call them. The other sins include those commonly tolerated among Christians too—the favourite sins of greed, jealousy, envy, malice, bitterness and a critical or unforgiving spirit.

They are all equally attacks on the character of God to whom we are all finally responsible. Before him, we all stand guilty. If we deny that these things are sin, we are actually calling God a liar. That is meant to shock us. We deny his Word.

We say His revelations are not true.... we embrace the darkness.

If we never see the desperate need for God’s forgiveness than we can never be a Christian.

THE CHRISTOLOGY TEST

2. Do I believe the right things about Jesus?

The answer to denial is confession. Confession recognizes that a particular course of action is wrong and needs to be corrected in order for us to walk in the light as He is in the light.

We have learned from the first eight verses of this Chapter that Jesus is the revelation of God’s light to the world. Jesus is the answer to the problem of the world so desperately needs to know. He is the answer for the very nature and action of mankind against a Holy God.

* Confession Shows what we believe about Jesus.

The Difference between an Apology and a Confession In the wake of numerous public confessions by fallen politicians, sports figures, and business executives, in her book The Art of the Public Grovel, Susan Wise Bauer offers a helpful distinction:

"An apology is an expression of regret: I am sorry. A confession is an admission of fault: I am sorry because I did wrong. I sinned."

Apology addresses an audience. Confession implies an inner change … that will be manifested in outward action.

The Power of a Reboot We have all found ourselves stuck and trying to troubleshoot a problem on our computers, smartphone, or other electronic devices. According to multiple studies, one of the biggest time-wasters in the workplace are computer-related malfunctions.

One study found that the average person spends 22-25 minutes a day trying to fix a computer-related issue. The estimated cost to larger companies in the US is somewhere in the ballpark of $4000.00 a minute. One easy solution for many of these issues could be as simple as turning off your device.

Over half of computer problems technicians deal with can be fixed with a simple reboot. The reason that computers often fail is that they have systems processes continually running behind the scenes. These processes leave behind an electronic footprint that takes up memory (RAM). When you turn off a computer or smartphone, these programs and processes end, allowing you to start on a clean slate with a faster and more efficient working device. The same principle can apply to the Christian life. Through confession and forgiveness, God’s grace allows us to “reboot” our lives and begin “new every morning” (Lam. 3:22-23).

“If we Confess”

CONFESSION UNPACKED

(1) Confession is Specific

Notice the plural form of sin is used here, “sins.” This should indicate to us that we be specific about our sin’s before God. Specifics of our wrong thoughts, attitudes, and actions before the face of God. It is rather easy for one to admit that he or she is a sinner in a general way by saying, “no one is perfect.”

This may lead to the false sense of righteousness in verse 8, however, to avoid verse 10 we must be specific about our failings before God and need for Forgiveness. This type of confession also implies repentance. 1) we are identifying what went wrong (sin), and 2) who is responsible (us), and 3) we are given the grace to deal with both through Christ alone.

(2) Confession is Direct

This verse assumes that our confession is directly to God and not to a priest or fellow Christian.

Make no mistake there is a place for confessing our sins to one another as mentioned in James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another that you may be healed, the prayer of a righteous person has great power.”

This appears to be where some breach in a relationship has been made, if we have offended that person we have a responsibility to go to them and confess the sin we have committed against them.

However the type of forgiveness we experience in verse 9 is the confession of sin that asks for and anticipates a response. For true forgiveness to take place, forgiveness must be asked for, given, and received for it to be complete Forgiveness.

verse 9 God’s way through

a. He is faithful and just—the confirmation of the divine nature.

b. He will forgive … and purify us—the confirmation of the divine actions.

The two assurances we have from God’s Character is that “he is faithful,” and that “he will forgive us.” However, God’s faithfulness to us is contingent on our faithfulness to Him.

2 Timothy 2:13 ESV

13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

So when God promises to forgive all those who truly repent and put their faith in Christ, we can rely on him to keep his word. This was the foundation confidence of all the apostolic preaching. But he is equally just.

This expresses his inflexible righteousness.

1 John 2:1 ESV

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.

*Perfection shows what we believe about Jesus.

“I write these things so that you will not sin.”

(1) Christians know who Christ is.

God is light, his perfect righteousness is undeniable. If someone claims to be in fellowship with God then there must be some way to verify whether someone is truly in fellowship with God.

Many an agnostic or atheist for that matter have written off Christianity as untrue because of a believers propensity to sin. Nothing is a greater hindrance for someone coming to Christ than a believers propensity to sin. Anything short of perfection is viewed as a failure.

We have already learned that no one can claim to be without sin.

That sort of perfection is reserved for heaven. But, we all have a goal which is to not sin.

This is the direction that all of our lives are heading and the marker of whether someone is a genuine follower of Christ or a fake.

Matthew 5:48 ESV

48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

This verse shows us that the quality of perfection is found in Christ alone.

We are being made perfect through the perfect sacrifice as our substitute on the cross.

John, knowing his children knows that there will be moments of weakness for every follower of Christ.

The question then becomes not if we will sin, but what do we do about the sin nature that so easily entangles all of us.

What we believe about Christ is always the foundational test of our Faith.

Note: A true Christian does not make false claims when it comes to his sin nature. We freely confess that we are all sinners. However, we do not speak of sin as an afterthought or something that does not matter now that we have the atonement for our sins.

Remember: Paul answers the rhetorical question in Romans 6“Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

(2) A True Christian knows what Christ did.

Christ is our atoning sacrifice

The Reason for Christ’s Anguish in the Garden

How are we to understand Jesus’ cry of dereliction, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” along with his desperate prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, pleading with God “if possible, let this cup pass from me?

Here’s the (question): Many mere mortals have managed to face death with more (composure) than Jesus did—Stephen, for example, just months later. Jesus knew he would rise from the dead, so why all the anguish?

In his ordeal on the cross … Christ mind-reads the mental states found in all the evil human acts human beings have ever committed. Every vile, shocking, disgusting, repulsive psychic state accompanying every human evil act will miraculously, be at once, in the human psyche of Christ … without yielding an evil configuration in either Christ’s intellect or will.

Such psychic agony “would greatly eclipse all other human psychological su­ffering … Flooded with such horror, Christ might well lose entirely his ability to find the mind of God the Father.” This drives home the suffering of Christ, a suffering so comprehensively horrible that it surpasses even the physical abuse of crucifixion.

Difficult Text:

The Text indicates that atonement has been made for the whole world. Some would use this to say that John is contradicting himself, by now indicating that all are saved therefore, it negates the need for evangelizing but only stating the fact that all are saved under the atoning sacrifice.

The word world has 2 different meanings in the Greek - kosmos - meaning the physical earth or human race - and world to mean all those outside of Christ, unbelievers. Before we come to Christ all of us are outside of the atonement of God’s grace.

Therefore, the atonement of Christ is sufficient for all sins, however, it is not efficient for all people. There will be those who still reject the idea that they are sinners in need of God’s grace and mercy on their lives. Every Christian was once apart of the world that Jesus came to earth over 2,000 years ago to save.

THE MORALITY TEST

3. Do I believe the right things about His commands?

Note: Is it possible to know God and live like the devil? Is it possible to truly know God and have no real life change?

Adrian Rodgers

“Study the Bible know about God, Obey the bible to really know God.”

Jesus tells us in John 14:15 that if we love Him we will keep his commands.

Is this not the unwritten theme of humanity is how we prove that we truly love someone. Jesus say’s if you truly love me you will prove it by your obedience to my commands.

All through the Old Testament God’s favor on the nation of Israel was contingent on their obedience.

All talk of obedience to God’s word in our culture is paired with the idea of legalism. This is not a popular subject almost equal with the idea of sin.

How does faith express itself in moral living. We read in chapter 2 with John’s prayer that we would not sin, and now the claim to Christianity must come full circle with our obedience.

Marks of Christian Reality

Note: Many professing Christians live in a fantasy world where they assume they can claim the title of Christian, however, fail to do even the most fundamental things that would prove they are truly followers of Christ.

The Marine Test

I could tell people that I am a United States Marine but, how would anyone believe that I truly am a Marine. There would have to be some evidence that I went through Marine Basic Training for 13 weeks plus another 29 days of combat training. I could tell you allot of things about the Marine Corps but, until I pulled out my DD214 and showed you my years of service and completed training to claim the title of a United States Marine it would only be a bunch of talk.

After 9/11 and the glory of war was on the forefront of many people mind, you had people who would dress up as soldiers or marines, purchase some combat ribbons to display on their chest and pretend they were truly war heroes. Why would anyone do this if they were not actually what they claimed to be. Do people not do the same in their lives everyday, profess to be one thing, however, their actions betray what they are professing with their mouths.

John is now indicating that whoever claims to know Christ but fails to keep his commands are liars and the truth of God is not in their lives.

The New Testament speaks quiet a bit about enduring to the end, which means that we take hold of the faith that Christ took hold of for us when He died on the cross fro our sins.

*The test for Morality is growing in obedience to His Word.

John Reminds us in the great abiding chapter in John 15:10 “If we keep his commandments we abide in His love, just as I have kept the Fathers commandments and abide in His love.”

When God saved us He did not save us simply to take us to heaven. He saved us that we might be conformed to His perfect image.

Grace does not do away with the law He writes it on our hearts.

Actions speak louder than words.

verse 6 is the second “the one who says” statement in this section. This one is in reference to remaining in or abiding in Him.

In John 15 Jesus uses the word to abide or remain in Him 23 times.

Every time we refuse to obey God, we accept the slander against his character which lies at the root of all temptation. We are saying that we know better than God. We are thumbing our own self-righteousness in the face of the blood soaked lamb of God, and that simply means that we do not know him.

I had young couple years ago come to me with their decision to just live together instead of getting married.

They told me that they had prayed about it and felt like God was telling them it was all right because they loved each other.

Now, here is the self-deceiving error in what they were saying and doing.

1st they were clearly lying to themselves for saying something was alright that clearly contradicted the fact that God had already said in Scripture that it was not all right.

2nd either they did not know God’s character or they did not love and desire to honor him enough to live in obedience and not live together out of wedlock.

Here is the problem in our Christian culture today. We have normalized sin. What happens when we normalize sin? We stop calling sin for what it is.

*The test for Morality is growing in Love for God.

One of the best questions Jesus was asked that has incredible implications for us today was, “What is the greatest Commandment.” In essence Jesus indicated that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength. Love God with every part of your being.

5 Evidences of a growing Love for God:

(1) An increasing desire to spend time with God

Spending time getting to know and hear from God helps us love him more. WE can do that by reading his Word. The Bible allows us to hear from God, know his character, and see his promises.

(2) An increasing desire to depend on God.

Trust is a critical component in growing in any relationship. We grow in our trust of God as we pray and acknowledge that we are not in control, that where we are weak He is strong. Proverbs 3:5-6 (trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.) We know that God is sovereign, faithful, and good, so we can trust that he is working all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

(3) An increasing desire to please God.

We are created in His image to bring Him Glory. All of this life is all for him. the way we live, the way we work, and the way we play all reflects back on him. Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do work at it heartily as for the Lord.” Romans 12:1-2 “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, do not be conformed to the world but be transformed.”

HOW ARE YOU CURRENTLY GROWING IN YOUR LOVE AND AFFECTION FOR GOD?

Those who abide in the love of God cannot help but display the fruit of the spirit in their lives.

*The test for Morality is Growing in love for others.

Love one another and walk in the Light of Salvation

Note: Remember the second greatest commandment was how we love people.

John simplifies the Christian life down into 3 main categories:

(1) To know Jesus

(2) To Obey God

(3) To Love People

v.7 Notice that John is indicating that He is not giving them anything that they have not already been provided from the very beginning of their Salvation.

John 13:34–35 ESV

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Light and Love go together. If we love people, we take care to avoid sinning against them, or doing anything that would cause them to stumble into sin.

We want to encourage them and build them up. But lack of love distorts our perspective and blinds our vision. We begin to feel at home in the darkness. We become used to groping our way through life, constantly stumbling and being ensnared by all kinds of problems.

Such people are often unaware of how dark it is and how short-sighted they have become. Animals such as pit ponies, which are kept underground, eventually lose their sight. The light that is ignored soon ceases to strike us. The conscience that is habitually silenced soon ceases to speak. If we lack love, we are in the darkness.

If we say we have the love of Christ, but prefer to let our friends and family members grope around in the darkness can we truly say that the light of Christ is in our lives?

We avoid being drawn in by the culture if we live our lives in total obedience.

1 Peter 1:14–15 ESV

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,

The Holiness of Jesus

Consider the difference between Jesus’ holiness ethic and that of the Pharisees is this: the Pharisees refuse to touch any unclean thing. Jesus aims to make the unclean holy.

CONCLUSION

In an adapted excerpt from his book, Yawning at Tigers: You Can’t Tame God So Stop Trying, Drew Dyck writes,

“The cruel irony of choosing God’s love over his holiness is that we end up losing both. The affection of a familiar, buddy deity isn’t worth much. Only the love of the Lord of heaven and earth, who dwells in unapproachable light, is truly awe-inspiring.

When we lose sight of God’s greatness, his love loses meaning. Perhaps this is why we write more saccharine love songs about God’s affection or make bizarre speculations that Jesus would have died ‘just for me.’ Are we trying to convince ourselves, through repetition and superlatives, that his love still has meaning? 

Only when we rediscover the holiness of God will we be overwhelmed by his love. Only then will we realize how truly good the news of the gospel is—that this holy God turns out to be a lover, that the temple curtain designed to protect us is now torn to let us in.”

GOD’S OVERWHELMING LOVE

How do we loose the overwhelming splendor of God’s love?

When we make sin common place in our lives.

When we fail to daily humble ourselves before the throne of Grace and Confess.

When we claim the title of Christian when it is convenient but have little desire to live in obedience.

When we fail to Love as Jesus Loves.

This point is worth thinking about if you have not yet submitted your life to Christ. If you ask someone who came to Christ later in life they will all tell you that they wish they had come to faith sooner.

Take heart! There is hope, because God is in the business of restoring our lost, locust years.

Write this down:

How am I daily acknowledging my sinfulness and Embracing Christs Holiness?