1 John 1:5-6 ESV
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”
God is light. He is righteousness, holiness, purity,
faithfulness, honesty, and uprightness, etc. And he is truth. Darkness is sin,
evil, lies and wickedness. So, if we claim that we are in fellowship with God,
that we are in partnership with him, participating with him in his
righteousness and holiness, but while we deliberately and habitually are
sinning against him, then we are liars who do not practice the truth. So, you
can’t be “in Christ” and walk in sin and not walk in righteousness in obedience
to our Lord’s commands.
1 John 1:7 ESV
“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.”
Now please note here what this is teaching, for this is the
truth of the gospel. We are not “saved” once and then we are good to go
regardless of how we live on this earth. Our salvation is progressive sanctification.
We are saved (past), we are being saved (present active), and we will be saved
(future) when Jesus returns and he takes his bride to be with him, which is
when our salvation will be complete. But his bride are those who love and obey
him and who continue in him steadfast to the end.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 8:31-32; Jn 15:1-12; Rom 8:24; Rom 11:17-24; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; Gal 5:16-21; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 2 Tim
1:8-9; 2 Tim 2:10-13; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb
9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; 2 Pet 1:5-11;
2 Pet 2:20-22; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6;24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
So, instead of walking in sin, we walk in the light (in
truth, righteousness and holiness), by the grace of God, in his power and
strength. Then we are in true fellowship with the Lord (understood), which is
why we are able then to enjoy true Christian fellowship with other Christians
who are also walking in the light and not in sin. And the blood of Jesus
cleanses us from all sin. So you can’t just make a profession of faith in
Christ and then all is clear. You must walk in righteousness in obedience to
the Lord and not in sin.
1 John 1:8-10 ESV
“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.”
Now we have to read this section of Scripture in the context
of the previous verses, and it also helps to know what this word “confess”
really means. For it means to speak the same as God about our sin, to agree
with him, to speak to the same conclusion as him. So this is not saying you can
just make a verbal confession of sin and your sins are forgiven, but this is
how many people are misinterpreting it. It means you need to align with God by
repenting of your sins and by now walking in obedience to the Lord’s commands.
For there are many professing Christians who are on a sin,
confess, sin, confess pattern of behavior, but their confessions are not
genuine repentance for they keep going back to the same sins. And just claiming
you have sinned doesn’t mean at all that you are agreeing with God and that you
are aligning with him. For if you walk in darkness, you do not have eternal
life with God. And this is why we must walk in the light as God as in the
light, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin.
Have
Thine Own Way, Lord
Words
by Adelaide A. Pollard, 1907
Music
by George C. Stebbins, 1907
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just
now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway.
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!
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