1Jn 1: 7-10
(1 John 1:7 KJV)
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
(1 John 1:8 KJV)
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
(1 John 1:9 KJV)
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(1 John 1:10 KJV)
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
We bless God for the reading of His Holy word!
What actually is the Apostle John talking of as he through the Holy Spirit writes to the church of Christ? What is this concept on sin he is talking about? The Blessed Lord open our eyes of understanding to it in Jesus name.
As we re-quote verse 7, "but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." We must not forget the premise from which he's talking here: "...we walk in the light...". It is a glorious work. It is an unashamed walk! "For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." (John 3:20-21). The men being talked about here must be men that doeth truth, who must have trusted in God because their deeds are wrought in God. This thus speaks of those who are in Christ Jesus in God through salvation. "...unto the church... [which is] in God the Father and [in] the Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 1:1 KJV). These are called the children of the Light, walking in light-ly paths. Taking the lighted road. "...if we walk in the light as he is in the light..."
We now have so far established that, contrary to the afar look-up of this scripture, it is referring to those who are in Christ, who are in similar walk with the Father. It is this category of people that have "fellowship" with God. It does refers to the saints and not "sinners". Established!
...and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Oops! This sounds contradictory to what has just been explained in the afore statement. Why should we after we walk in the light as God is in the light and have fellowship with the divine, require a cleansing by the blood of Jesus? The word "cleanseth" suggests a continual activity. Yes! the blood cleanseth us from all sin as we walk in the light and have fellowship with the Holy One. We must receive this to understand the subsequent verse.
(8) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
We must not throw away the understanding that we have built up from the previous verse if the true meaning of this verse must surface. We wrapped up verse 7 with the understanding that the verse isn't a "sinner's prayer" verse. Rather, it's for the saints who daily appreciate and cherish their divine fellowship; who walk in the light; whose deeds are wrought in God; who accept to be "found in Him" (Philippians 3:9); who glory in Christ: the saved ones. And we had to accept a humble truth that "the blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sin". And the apostle continues his writing by saying, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." This shall help us understand what it is that the Writer here calls sin which he says we must not deny.
First, let's see if we can name them, the sin(s) which the man who walks in the light commits. John quoted Jesus as saying "If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of the world." (John 11:9 MKJV). If he does not stumble, then what sin can be credited into his account then, which he must not deny? Yet "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
The answer? If we have not lost the lessons we learnt from the previous verse, it's the same sin it is referring to. So without blurring the message, we may rewrite verse 8 as
"If we say that we have no sin [as to rely on Jesus blood for cleansing], we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
No saint have ever had to at any stage of his walk with God deny or refuse or despise the blood of Jesus. Our reliance on Jesus and His blood is not at salvation point only. Faith and absolute reliance is not at the juncture of coming into Christ. It is the way of life that is called christianity. "we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement" (Romans 5:11). It hurts not to say we were cleansed from all sin or to say we are cleansed from all sin. In christianity, the strong owe their strength to His grace as much as the weak does rely.
If we say we have no sin as to despise the blood of the new testament, then even the benefits of the testament should be denied us. But these does not place us on the same level with those who are without Christ. This does not make us sinners: recall that we are dealing with them that walk in the light and in tune with God. Nevertheless, that we being cleansed, are without sin, guiltless as we stand before God in righteousness. It is plainly spelt out, John didn't have problems knowing our righteousness-without-the-law stand before the Holy One, and in not in anyway did the one who preferred to rest at Jesus breast at the Last supper contradict that in this writing. John writes that "he was manifested to take away our sins..." (1Joh 3:5), and Christ did a perfect work (Hebrews 10:14), so Christ completely/perfectly took away our sins. So we walk in the light of His eyes and never by self-righteousness deny the effectual and ever-relevant precious blood of the Lamb.
What then is verse 9 and 10 saying?
In the next write-up, we'll talk about it. Keep posted. Loves
IJohn 1:9
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