Loving Confidence In Our Lord!

Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. ⁷ 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, purifies us from all^[a] sin.

⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness…

2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ² He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. ³ We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.

~1 John 1:5-9 – 2:1-3

Blessed is the Lord God of all heaven and earth! He spoke these words to the early church in about 85-95 AD through His apostle John, son of Zebedee. And He continues to encourage us today with these beautiful and inspiring thoughts.

At the time of this offering, the church was under persecution from several enemies which included the Empire of Rome, the Sadducees and Pharisees of the Jewish leadership, and several false teachers, just to name a few.

It seems the church was under attack from a form of  anti-Christian doctrine called Gnosticism. According to “The NIV Study Bible, copyright, 1995, Zondervan Publishing, pg. 1905” here are a few words about the detrimental tennents of this wicked belief…

“One of the most dangerous heresies of the first two centuries of the church was Gnosticism. Its central teaching was that the spirit is entirely good and matter is entirely evil…” This is a completely unbiblical point of view which sought to drive people to horrific acts of sinful desires.

In order to build up the gospel of Christ Jesus, John wanted to write to remind believers of the hope they, (and now we), have in the glories of heaven because of the cross of Christ which freed us from our sins. It gave us our only path to the gift of immense grace from God our Father, (John 14:6).

God is Light, there is no darkness in Him. If we walk in His Light as well, we have fellowship with Him, and all of our sins are continually forgiven us through the blood of the Savior, Christ the Lord!

Of course, in our weak human condition, we will always fall short of the glory of God. All of us will continue to sin and trespass the word and will of God. That’s why we need the surrender of life which Jesus gave out of His love for us! It is because of this that we can retain our hope of eternal life in the heavenly kingdom of Jehovah God.

Our blessed Lord Jesus Christ is the “Righteous One and the atoning sacrifice for sins, and not only for ours but for the sins of the whole world…” (2:1b-2). We know that as long as we have faith in Christ Jesus, and the promises made to us by the panoply of God, we have everlasting life!

This world can be a sad, miserable, and very harsh place to live. We can speak of this from a general standpoint, and sometimes from a very personal point of view. Our lives can be shaken to the very foundations, and yet, nothing can take away our prize of glory if we simply believe and remain faithful to the end, (Romans 8:38-39).

Therefore, let us read such scriptures as the text above and be refreshed in our faith! Let us be an encouragement to others and build up our brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us be the examples we should be to others so that they may ask us about the hope which lies within us.

May the Lord love and bless all who are with Him now and any who come to Him for His cleansing power. For He is the only true and living God!

ref

“biblegateway.com”

~Steve