(4)
Scripture Reading: 1 John 1:8-10
In this message we shall consider further the conditions of the divine fellowship.
In 1:8 John says, “If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” To say that we do not have sin is to say that we do not have indwelling sin (Rom. 7:17) within our nature. This is what the Gnostic heresy teaches. The apostle is inoculating the believers against this false teaching. This section, 1 John 1:7-10; 2:1-2, deals with the believers’ sinning after regeneration, which interrupts their fellowship with God. If after regeneration the believers do not have sin in their nature, how could they sin in their conduct? Even though they sin only occasionally, not habitually, their sinning is an adequate proof that they still have sin working within them. Otherwise, there would be no interruption to their fellowship with God. The apostle’s teaching here also condemns today’s teaching of perfectionism, that a state of freedom from sin is attainable or has been attained in the earthly life, and it annuls today’s wrong teaching of the eradication of the sinful nature, which, by misinterpreting the word in 1 John 3:9 and 1 John 5:18, says that regenerated persons cannot sin because their sinful nature has been totally eradicated.
The Greek words rendered “we are deceiving ourselves” can also be translated “we are leading ourselves astray.” To say that we do not have sin, because we have been regenerated, is self-deceiving. This denies the actual fact of our experience and causes us to lead ourselves astray.
Truth in verse 8 denotes the revealed reality of God, the real facts, conveyed in the gospel, such as the reality of God and all the divine things, which are all Christ (John 1:14, 17; 14:6); the reality of Christ and all the spiritual things, which are all the Spirit (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1 John 5:6), and the reality of man’s condition (John 16:8-11). Here it denotes especially our sinful condition after regeneration under the enlightenment of the divine light in our fellowship with God. If we say we do not have sin after being regenerated, such a reality, the truth, does not remain in us; that is, we deny our true post-regeneration condition.
In verse 9 John goes on to say, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous that He may forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Confession here denotes the confession of our sins, our failures, after regeneration, not the confession of our sins before regeneration.
God is faithful in His word (v. 10) and righteous in the blood of Jesus His Son (v. 7). His word is the word of the truth of His gospel (Eph. 1:13), which tells us that He will forgive us our sins because of Christ (Acts 10:43), and the blood of Christ has fulfilled His righteous requirements that He may forgive us our sins (Matt. 26:28). If we confess our sins, He, according to His word and based upon the redemption through the blood of Jesus, forgives us, because He must be faithful in His word and righteous in the blood of Jesus. Otherwise, He would be unfaithful and unrighteous. Our confession is needed for His forgiveness. Such forgiveness of God for the restoration of our fellowship with Him is conditional and depends on our confession.
In verse 9 John speaks of both forgiveness and cleansing. For God to forgive us is for Him to release us from the offense of our sins. For Him to cleanse us is for Him to wash us from the stain of our unrighteousness.
“Unrighteousness” and “sins” are synonyms. All unrighteousness is sin (1 John 5:17). Both unrighteousness and sins refer to our wrongdoings. Sins indicate the offense of our wrongdoings against God and men; unrighteousness indicates the stain of our wrongdoings that we are not right either with God or with men. The offense needs God’s forgiveness, and the stain requires His cleansing. Both God’s forgiveness and His cleansing are needed for the restoration of our fellowship with Him that has been broken so that we may enjoy Him in uninterrupted fellowship with a good conscience void of offense (1 Tim. 1:5; Acts 24:16).
Verse 10 says, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” Verse 8 proves that after regeneration we still have sin inwardly. Verse 10 proves further that we even still sin outwardly, though not habitually. We still sin outwardly in our conduct because we still have sin inwardly in our nature. Both verses confirm our sinful condition after regeneration. In speaking of such a condition, the apostle uses the pronoun “we.” This indicates that he does not exclude himself.
The “word” in verse 10 is the word of God’s revelation, which is the word of reality (Eph. 1:13; John 17:17) and which conveys the contents of God’s New Testament economy. It is synonymous with truth in verse 8. In this word God exposes our true sinful condition both before and after regeneration. If we say that we have not sinned after regeneration, we make Him a liar and deny the word of His revelation.
We have pointed out that verse 8 refers to indwelling sin and that verse 10 refers to the act of sinning. Indwelling sin is the sin we inherited through our natural birth. This sin came into mankind through Adam, and now it dwells in our nature. Even after we have been saved and regenerated, sin remains in our fallen flesh. This is the reason our body needs to be redeemed at the time of the Lord’s coming back. When the Lord Jesus comes back, our body will be redeemed, transfigured, by the Lord’s power (Phil. 3:21). This means that the Lord’s power will change our body into a glorious body. Then indwelling sin will no longer be a part of us, for there will be no sin in our transfigured body. In verse 8 John says that if we say that, after we have been regenerated, we no longer have indwelling sin, we are deceived.
In verse 10 John tells us that if we say that, after we have been regenerated, we have not sinned, we make God a liar. The reason we make God a liar if we say that we have not sinned is that in His word of revelation, the Bible, He tells us clearly that we can still sin after we have been regenerated. But if we say that we have not sinned after we have been regenerated, we make God a liar. This means that the word of His revelation is not in us.
These verses indicate clearly that after regeneration we still have indwelling sin, and it is still possible for us to sin. We need to admit these facts. First, we must admit that, even though we have been regenerated, we still have sin dwelling in our flesh. If we neglect this fact, we shall be deceived and misled. As a result, we may indulge in sin.
In the past I heard of certain Christians who claimed that after they received the baptism in the Spirit and spoke in tongues, they no longer had sin within them. Yet in their experience they became involved in very sinful situations. They were deceived in thinking that because they had experienced the baptism of the Spirit they no longer had sin dwelling within them.
Even if you experience the baptism in the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues, the sinful nature is still within you. We should never believe that this nature has been eradicated. The sinful nature will remain in our flesh until the Lord Jesus comes back and by His divine power transfigures our fallen body.
We all need to admit that we have a sinful nature. I can testify that, as one who has been a Christian for more than fifty years, I have the deep conviction, the deep inner sense, that my sinful nature still remains. No matter how spiritual a believer may be, he still has indwelling sin in the flesh. We all need to realize this and admit it. This will keep us from being misled.
In the past certain Christians have taught that a believer can reach the state of sinless perfection. I would not say that this teaching is heretical; however, this teaching is surely mistaken. Some who teach perfectionism use the Lord’s word in Matt. 5:48 about being perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. They also may misapply such verses as Heb. 6:1 and 1 Cor. 2:6. In these two verses the word “perfect” actually means mature or full-grown.
It is not correct to teach that we Christians may have a so-called second blessing and thereafter become sinlessly perfect. If we ever reach such a condition, we can maintain it only temporarily. Suppose one day you have a rich experience of the Lord early in the morning. As a result, for a few hours you may be sinlessly perfect. But then you may become careless again and fail the Lord.
Certain verses in the New Testament indicate that we can be perfect. The Lord’s word in Matthew 5:48 about being perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect indicates that we can be perfect in this way. Otherwise, the Lord never would have spoken this word. However, it is a mistake to think that if we reach a state of perfection, we can remain in that state forever. Some believers have either exaggerated their experience of perfection or have gone too far in describing what they experienced. The point we are making here is that we should not think that we can reach a permanent state of perfection. We may be perfect today, but we may fall tomorrow. Before the Lord Jesus comes back to transfigure our body, we cannot be permanently in a condition of sinless perfection.
We need to admit that after regeneration we still have sin; that is, we still have indwelling sin in our sinful nature. Because we still have sin within us, there is the possibility that we may sin. Whenever we sin, we need to confess. Then God will be faithful in the word of His new covenant to forgive us our sins. In the gospel, which is the new covenant, God promises that He will forgive us our sins because of the redemption of Christ. Therefore, if we confess our sins, God must be faithful to keep His word. If God would not forgive us, this would mean that He contradicts His own word. In such a case, God would not be faithful. However, we may have the assurance that as long as we confess our sins through the redemption of Christ, God must forgive us, for He must be faithful in His word.
In verse 9 John also tells us that God is righteous to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Why must God be righteous to cleanse us in this way? God must be righteous to cleanse us from unrighteousness because He judged the Lord Jesus on the cross as our Substitute, putting all our sins upon Him. Because God has judged Christ for us, His blood is efficacious to cleanse us. Therefore, when we confess our sins through His blood, God has no choice but to forgive us. For example, suppose you owe an amount of money to a certain person. A friend of yours pays this debt for you, and the other party receives the payment. Now that party cannot righteously claim the payment from you, for the debt has already been paid. In a similar way, God has received payment for our sins through the death of Christ on the cross. Now whenever we confess our sins to God through the blood of the redemption of Christ on the cross, God must forgive us. In this matter He has no choice. He must be righteous.
God is faithful in His word, and He is righteous in His acts. In His word God must be faithful, and in His acts He must be righteous. Here we see the difference between faithfulness and righteousness.
What is the difference between forgiving and cleansing? In order to know this difference, we need to know the difference between sins and unrighteousness. Sins refer to offenses, and unrighteousness is the mark, the stain, on our behavior caused by the committing of an offense. Whenever we sin, we commit an offense. This offense then becomes a stain on our behavior, and this stain is unrighteousness. For instance, suppose you buy two items, but you are charged only for one. If you pay for just one item, that will be an act of sinning against the store. With respect to the person who sold you the items, that is an offense. But with respect to your character, that is a mark of unrighteousness. For this reason, others would not say that you are sinful, but would say that you are unrighteous.
In a similar way, when we commit sins before God, with respect to God those sins are offenses. But with respect to us, they are stains of unrighteousness. We need to confess our sins. Then, on the one hand, God forgives our sins, our offenses. On the other hand, God washes away the mark, the stain, of our unrighteousness. This is the reason John in 1:9 speaks both of the forgiveness of sins and the cleansing from unrighteousness. The forgiveness of sins is actually the cleansing, the washing away, of the stain of our unrighteousness.
The writing of the apostle John in these verses is tender and delicate. In verse 6 he says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and are not practicing the truth.” Then in verse 8 he goes on to say, “If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” In verse 10 he says, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” But in verse 9 John tells us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous that He may forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God is faithful in His word to forgive our offenses, and He is righteous in His acts to cleanse away the stain of unrighteousness. Through God’s forgiveness and cleansing, the offense is forgiven, and the mark is cleansed. The result is that our fellowship with God is fully recovered.
Fellowship with God is broken by sin and unrighteousness. But when sin is forgiven and the stain of unrighteousness is cleansed, our fellowship with God is restored. Once again we have the enjoyment of the divine life through our fellowship with the Father and the Son.
According to typology, the children of Israel had to offer the sin offering and the trespass offering. By presenting these offerings to God, they were actually making a confession to Him. The fact that they offered the trespass offering and the sin offering indicated that they realized they were sinful and that they had committed sins.
Some might argue that the types of the trespass offering and the sin offering in the Old Testament have nothing to do with us, since the Lord Jesus has come to be the fulfillment of all the offerings. Yes, the Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of the offerings. But what about your situation and condition as a believer in Christ? Do you not have sin within you? Do you not sometimes commit sin? What, then, should you do about indwelling sin and about the sins you commit occasionally? You need to confess that you still have indwelling sin and that you still commit sins, even though you do not sin habitually. To make such a confession to the Lord is to offer Christ to God as your sin offering and as your trespass offering.
Every day, and throughout the day, we need the Lord as our sin offering and trespass offering. I can testify that in my experience I need the Lord as my sin offering and trespass offering morning, noon, and night. I may have a pleasant time enjoying the Lord, but then a few minutes later I may be stumbled by something or someone.
Because we still have sin in us and because we still sin occasionally, we need to make confession to the Lord. We cannot say that we have no sin or that we have not sinned. Praise the Lord for the strong promise in verse 9 that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Therefore, we should not be bothered by indwelling sin, and, once we have made confession and received the Lord’s forgiveness and cleansing, we should not be bothered by the sins we have committed.
The promise in 1:9 should never be misused as an encouragement to sin. This means that we should not think that we may go out to commit sin and then confess and receive the Lord’s cleansing. This concept leads to Antinomianism, the concept that because we are under grace we are free from every regulation and can indulge in sin. As we shall see, in 2:1 John says, “These things I write to you that you may not sin.” John wrote with the expectation that we would not sin. Nevertheless, we have the promise in 1:9 that if we do sin, we may be forgiven and cleansed, provided we make confession of our sin to God.
I believe that we have seen a balanced view concerning the matter of sin after our regeneration. By now we all should be clear that after regeneration we still have sin in our nature and that it is still possible for us to commit sin. Do not believe that because you have been regenerated you no longer have sin in your nature or that you can no longer sin. This is a deception. Because we still have sin in our nature, it is always possible for us to sin. If you sin, you need to confess your sin to God. He has promised in His gospel to forgive us, and He will be faithful in His word. Furthermore, in redemption God judged Christ on our behalf. This means that He will not judge us for our sins if we confess them through the redemption of Christ. As the righteous God, He will surely cleanse us from our unrighteousness. In this way we may preserve our fellowship with Him and enjoy Him day by day.
We have pointed out that we should not believe that we can be forever perfect before the Lord comes to transfigure our body. This is the mistaken concept concerning perfectionism. We believe that by the Lord’s grace we can overcome and be perfect. However, this overcoming and perfection are not once for all. There is always a possibility that we may sin again. Therefore, we need to be in fear and trembling and on the alert lest we be damaged through the sin that dwells in our flesh. Day by day, we need to look to the Lord, pray, and be watchful. In case we fail and commit sin, we should make confession to the Lord. He will be faithful and righteous to forgive us and cleanse us by the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.
