MONDAY – 1 John 1:8-10, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 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.” The matter of human depravity is a topic that is not very popular to speak about in our culture today but it is one that the Scriptures make very clear. In our text this week, John is going to speak to us concerning our view of sin and shew that many people do not see themselves as sinners and are actually self-deceived and defame God with such thinking. Two attitudes are seen in verses 8 and 10 and then we see the beautiful truth that those who will own their sin through confession toward God will find mercy and forgiveness in Christ Jesus (verse 9). If you remember John has spoken to us who claim a relationship with God, pointing to our walk whether it is in the light of obedience or the darkness of disobedience to God’s commands. Many in John’s day and ours claim with groundless pretense, relationship with God and John sets out to expose the false claims and bring certainty and surety to genuine believers. He points out the self-deception of saying, “I’m not a sinner”, a denial of the sinful nature (verse 8) and then saying, “I haven’t sinned”, a denial of sinful actions (verse 10).
(Meditate, Apply & Pray) What is my understanding of sin and my own sinfulness? Do I think that deep down I’m a pretty good person? Father, teach me to see my sin as You do and to confess it to You and in that honest agreement to find the forgiveness offered me through Your Son Jesus.
TUESDAY – 1 John 1:8: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Right away John addresses those who would claim to be without sin thus denying their sinful nature. They say that we have no sin. This denial is found both in those who do not think they are sinners and would despise being called one as well as those who think they have somehow made it to a point of sinless perfectionism. John uses sin in the noun form which describes the root or cause of the act as opposed to the verb form which describes the act itself. There are people who think that they are born good and are not in fact sinners and therefore show that they are actually deceived. Psalm 51:5 says, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Here David is saying that from his conception onward he was in fact a sinner due to what we refer to as “original sin” passed on to us all from Adam (Romans 5:12). Scripture is clear in many places including Romans 3 that mankind is depraved and there is no one that is righteous but that we are inherently sinful. The truth is that “We sin because we are sinners” rather than “We are sinners because we sin”. John says that if we deny original sin and that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Interesting is the fact that if we deny that we have sin in us we actually in fact do not have the truth in us. The Greek word here is al?theia (truth) which can be defined as “the content of that which is true and thus in accordance with what actually happened—‘truth.’” Deceiving ourselves, the truth of God’s Word is not in us and in our spiritual blindness; we deny the plain teaching of Scripture.
(Meditate, Apply & Pray) Meditate on how “naturally” sin comes forth from your hear and see yourself in Ecclesiastes 7:20, “For there is not a just man on Earth who does good and does not sin”. Father, thank You for the 2nd Adam who lived in perfect obedience that I may be credited His righteousness by faith.
WEDNESDAY – 1 John 1:10: “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” We skip down to verse 10 now as we want to see the second denial that John confronts in our text. We saw first that there are those who deny original sin and that they even have a sinful nature but now as move forward we read of people who deny the sinful actions in their lives by saying that we have not sinned. There are individuals who say they really don’t do anything sinful. They may even profess to be a Christian and speak to the fact that they have reached a point in their maturity where they have attained sinless perfection in this life. This is obviously a complete lie. God says otherwise and when we claim this we make Him a liar. Truth be told, we all know we are sinners and deep down these who deny their sin and sinfulness are really saying that they take and have no responsibility for their sin. It is easy enough to find excuses to hide behind when it comes to justifying in our minds at least any sinful action we may do. We may blame our sins on our upbringing, our parents or on our genes, on our environment, on our temperament or on our physical condition. We blame and may claim that someone tricked us and that we were led astray as Eve was and did in the Garden. It is a passed down human characteristic that we seek to pass off the responsibility for sin. It is John’s conclusion that, when people have sinned, excuses and self-justifications are irrelevant. Some people go so far to although admitting they may “sin” depending on your definition, they claim that they can sin and no harm will come from it. The statement we have not sinned reveals the blatant attitude of the unrepentant, unregenerate pagan. In both verse 8 and here in 10, and unbeliever is saying that he has no sin and that he is not a sinner. He therefore in claiming sinlessness makes himself equal to God, the sinless One. Through His Word God convicts men of sin but in refusing to hear the Word and evidence God presents, we accuse God of lying and His word is not in us.
(Meditate, Apply & Pray) Do I ever compare myself to others in the matter of “how sinful I am” as compared to them? Do I try to find excuses or shift the blame away from myself concerning my sin? Father, help me to see what You have said in Your Word concerning my sinful state and sin. Help me to not accuse You of lying but rather own my sin and then turn to You for mercy.
THURSDAY – 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” After seeing what John has said concerning the denial of sin in a life we see the thing we need to do is humbly and penitently confess to God and, then if need be, to others as well. The answer to denial is confession. If we confess our sins… Many times I have spoken to this phrase and specifically the word confess used here by John. The Greek word is homologeo which literally means “to say the same thing”. It is a word which comes from two Greek words Homou (together, same) and logos (speech). I have told you in the past we get our word “homogenized”milk from this. When milk is homogenized, the water, cream, milkfat and solids go through a process where these different elements are “brought together as one” if you will and then the cream won’t separate and the milk becomes one smooth same texture. When we confess our sin we say the same thing that God says about it. We own it and admit we have done it and are responsible for breaking the law of God just as He said. All the views, excuses, and justifications end up agreeing with God and His Word. We come and admit we sinned; we recognize it was wrong and confess that we are guilty. We ask for His forgiveness and power from The Holy Spirit to keep me us from repeating it. We are actually demonstrating repentance in this behavior in that we identified what is wrong (sin) and who is responsible (us) and ask God in His mercy and grace to forgive us through the work of Christ. We see in this that because of what Jesus has done God deals with our sin and its punishment in Christ and is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(Meditate, Apply & Pray) Do I take responsibility for my sin and turn to The Lord as illustrated here in this verse? Father, thank You for forgiveness of sins made possible because of Jesus perfect life and work for me in my place.
FRIDAY– 1 John 1:5-10: “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 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”. Let’s review/summarize 5-10 for context. Bumper stickers scream “God is love” but not many say God is light (4:16). John does both. Light comes before love because it uncovers what’s hidden. To have fellowship with God sin must be removed for it has no place in His light. God’s light reveals our sin and darkness but If we confess our sins; He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins… The blood of Jesus is sufficient to cleanse us from sin, but we must be willing to confess our sins. God’s provision and man’s responsibility go hand in hand. God’s law says, “You are the sinner” and like the publican in the temple court we pray, “God, have mercy on me, the sinner” (Luke 18:13). When we “say the same thing” about our sin with God, the blood of Jesus washes away the stain. God will remember our sin no more (Hebrews 8:12) as He forgives and forgets. Indeed, God is love.
(Meditate, Apply & Pray) Thank The Father for His love and forgiveness.
