"If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." (1 John 1:10)
This verse is one that used to really bother me a lot. It seemed to me so stupid! Who on earth would ever dream of saying that they had not sinned? Then one day as I was reading the familiar words, I realized that we have to put the emphasis where I am sure John meant it. If we put the emphasis on the word "sinned" we get the meaning. "If we say we have not sinned we make God a liar, and His word is not in us."
John is not so concerned with people who actually deny that they ever sin, but with those who claim that the sin they do commit is not sin at all, and therefore deny that they are guilty. John means that there are times when we are not prepared to admit anything wrong about what we are doing.
Today, more than ever we find those in this precise position and maintaining it. I read somewhere that we call this age the age of permissiveness, and what permissiveness has at its very core is the denial of guilt. Men change the labels and say things that God's law condemns are not sin. Labels can be changed, but that doesn't change what is inside and sin in the sight of God is still sin. Those to whom John is referring rejected the condemnation and judgment of God upon the sins whey were committing.
We are told that "God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” If it is true that those whom John refers to, as well as for us today, have a guilt that is denied,… then that leads to a grace that has been discarded.
If there is no guilt there is no sin;... if there is no sin, there is no need for a Savior. That adopts a position which simply makes God a liar, and says that God's whole plan of salvation is irrelevant and meaningless, and that the Gospel of God's saving grace in Jesus Christ is nothing but a quack remedy for an illness (sin) that never existed. What a sad and tragic destination for those who walk in the darkness!
No comments:
Post a Comment