SIN IN THE LIFE OF THE SAINTS
1 John 1:9-10
Morning Meditation 10/23/2012
John said: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
When John said “If we confess our sins” he didn’t leave any room for interpreting this as speaking to the unsaved world. Jesus came to save sinners. We saved people have faced that issue in our lives. We have been forgiven. We have been made saints. We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and have experienced the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus. Yet John says, “If WE confess our sins.” John had to include himself! Salvation frees us from sin’s condemnation. But it does not free us from being re-invaded by sin. John is telling us how to stay up to date in our fellowship with Christ. He is telling us how to keep sin which is an ever present possibility from neutralizing us as Christians.
One of the great truths I learned many years ago as a young preacher was the two fold nature of the believer. There are two natures in the child of God. One is the new nature that has been born from above. That part of the believer is holy because it is created holy: Eph. 4:24: “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” We have an inner man that was created when we were saved that has been sealed and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13-14). It is holy by creation and is not subject to the possibility of sin. Rom. 4:8: “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”
There is also an old sin nature that is called by several different names one of which is flesh. We will be plagued by this nature until we graduate into God’s presence whether by physical death or the rapture. To have God identify the source of the conflict in my life was a great relief. It is not uncommon for a young Christian to lose the assurance of salvation over the manifestation of the flesh, i.e., the sinful thoughts and the relapse into some of the sins one practiced before salvation. John is dealing with the reality of sins re-invasion into the life of the believer in this text: “If we confess our sins...” We will have them. But John says there is a way to deal with sin as a Christian. The same blood that set us free from the possibility of sin in our new nature also cleanses from sin as it crops up in our lives daily.
There is an awesome lack of power in our lives as Christians today. I do not think anyone will disagree with that. We all recognize that the salt has lost its savor. The Church is making very little difference in the world. We are big. We are vocal. We are theologically correct. We have a trained ministry and magnificent places of worship. Yet when people come to hear the message they leave unchanged. Godly preachers and laymen are disturbed over this. Those of us who have studied history know that we are on a downward spiral that is leading to severe judgment. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God,” (Heb. 10:31). I believe only a revival of gigantic proportions will make any real change. When revival came to Wales in 1904-1905 they didn’t have to circulate petitions against alcoholism.
When the Welsh revival spread, the Cardiff Police reported a 60% decrease in drunkenness and 40% fewer people in jail a year later. A great wave of sobriety broke out. Gambling virtually ended. People became honest in their public and private dealings. Liquor trade nearly went under. Pit ponies in the coal mines quit working because the men had given up cursing and the ponies were trained only to respond to profanity. Public meetings, such as in court houses, often broke out in the singing of hymns. Long standing debts were paid, stolen goods returned, and whole villages were converted.”
This kind of revival would literally change our country. I have prayed for this kind of revival all my ministry. Multitudes of Christians have also prayed for this kind of revival. God is sovereign in giving revivals like this. Those who prayed for revivals in the past have waited for years before they saw them. Many died and never saw the revival for which they prayed come.
I do not have the answer as to why God has not sent a mighty wide spread revival in our day. I do know this. If you wait on this kind of revival you may completely miss personal revival. And I believe the big revival always begins through the prayers of those who discover personal revival which can be experienced by all of us on a daily basis.
Personal revival always comes when we as God’s children are willing to deal with sin in our own personal lives. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Do I have sin in my life? “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us,” (!John 1:8). I’m going to make a statement. I won’t get through a day without needing to confess sin. Will you?
I am afraid that many have settled down and accepted the old sin nature as something that they can’t change (and this is true) and are learning to coexist. It is a kind of “if you don’t bother me I won’t bother you” type life. When I do this, I cease to take responsibility for the sins I commit or allow and at that point I cease to confess them and receive forgiveness. Now, the sin that could have been forgiven is there to neutralize my effectiveness as a Christian and hinder my prayers. Remember this. What God hates and judges as sin in the unsaved world, He will not look lightly upon in the lives of his children. He has given us a way to deal with sin. It is “to confess” which means to agree with him about it and admit it, and to “be cleansed.” I cannot be more right with God than the blood of Christ makes me when I get honest with him.
Evan Roberts, the man most used in the Welsh revival, had four points that he gave for getting right with God:
1.You must put away any unconfessed sin.
2.You must put away any doubtful habit.
3.You must obey the Spirit promptly.
4.You must confess Christ publicly.
I must not allow sin in my life. The way to holiness is not overcoming sin by human effort. It is coming as a broken sinner to be forgiven by grace and cleansed in the precious blood of Christ. It is the blood that makes us holy.
