“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 we say 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 we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
1 John 1:7-10
I am always a bit mystified with confessing Christians who are discovered in sin and search for every excuse to disregard it, while ignoring God’s offer of living free. We are indeed free when no one can hold us guilty, because God does not hold us guilty. That freedom comes from taking God’s pathway to the forgiveness and guiltlessness we regularly need.
There is free access to daily cleansing through the word of God in the hands of the Spirit of God. This is why the writer of Hebrews challenges us to, exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
Sin is deceitful. It comes at us daily, too often blinding us as to its presence, and it’s false promises. “The man who commits sin is always under a delusion; and sin, if he indulges it, will lead him on from one step to another until the heart becomes entirely hardened. Sin puts on plausible appearances and preferences; it assumes the name of virtue; it offers excuses and palliations, until the victim is snared, and then spell-bound he is hurried on to every excess. If sin was always seen in its true aspect when man is tempted to commit it, it would be so hateful that he would flee from it with the utmost abhorrence.” (https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/bnb/hebrews-3.html)
We can learn to walk in the light of the word of God, the conviction of the Spirit of God and a “short account” of our sin. The process outlined by the apostle John is so “easy.” Easy for the submissive heart.
Walk in the light. Stay connected daily to God and His word, ready always to respond to the Holy Spirit.
Don’t fool yourself and others. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,”
Be careful that the tendency to fool self and others does not lead to a pattern of lying; “the truth is not in us.”
Confess the sin as it is…..sin. God forgives the repentant heart!!!! Always!
The pathway of repentance and forgiveness births a harvest of ongoing maturity in righteousness. “he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
The opposite pathway of self deception and lying reveals our true, at times unregenerate, nature. God is made a liar and we demonstrate that His word is not really in us.
How much more joyful is God’s pathway of freedom!
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