MONDAY
This week we are continuing on in our campaign called The Things We Say. In this campaign we are exploring some of the phrases that should season the vocabulary of Christians. This week we come to what I would argue is one of the most difficult phrases to articulate in our human experience. This isn’t difficult to articulate in the sense of a complicated word like Antetokounmpo or Weyauwega (a small city in Waupaca County, WI). It’s actually quite a simple phrase, we just hate to say it.
“I’m sorry.”
This phrase implies that we did something wrong, which we so often struggle to admit to ourselves. Despite our innate pride that lends this phrase so difficult to say, Christians should be better than anyone at saying this phrase. Christianity, as Lewis says in Mere Christianity, only begins to talk when we say this phrase to God:
"Christianity tells people to repent and promises them forgiveness. It therefore has nothing (as far as I know) to say to people who do not know they have done anything to repent of and who do not feel that they need any forgiveness. It is after you have realized that there is a real Moral Law, and a Power behind the law, and that you have broken that law and put yourself wrong with that Power—it is after all this, and not a moment sooner, that Christianity begins to talk.”
John says as much in his first epistle:
1 John 1:5–2:2 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 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. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. 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.
John uses light here to refer to God’s truth, His holiness, His moral perfection and purity. Claiming to have fellowship with God while living a life steeped in sin is like claiming to be in the light while being in darkness. It doesn’t happen. Light always overcomes darkness. On this text Karen Jobes writes:
“The primary implication of John’s introductory statement about God is that, if God is light, then God himself by virtue of his being and character defines the moral standard of human life.” - Karen H. Jobes, 1, 2, & 3 John, ed. Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014), 65.
In verse 7 John seems to make a significant logical leap. He says “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 sin.” One would expect him to say that we have fellowship with God. Instead, he says we have fellowship with one another. A life lived in the light will lead us to be open with one another. So we see that fellowship with God and fellowship with the community of faith are not really all that disconnected. Genuine fellowship with Christ leads to fellowship with Christ’s body—the church.
After this strong statement that genuine Christians will walk in the light and not in darkness some Christians may be led to believe that they will never sin. John corrects this immediately. John is here addressing Christians. To be so self-deceived that we claim to have no sin is itself a sin, ie. walking in darkness, not the light of truth.
The truthful alternative to denying our sin is to confess it—to declare “I’m sorry” (v. 9). Again, he is writing this to Christians who have already professed faith in Jesus and trust in his blood that purifies them from sin. They have already entered into this covenant fellowship with God. So they can have assurance that God will be faithful and just in regards to his covenant relationship with them. He will forgive them. Therefore, we don’t have to fear that if we confess sin God will deny us forgiveness. Our forgiveness has already been granted in Jesus.
In verse 7 and 2:1-2 John is sure to remind us that our righteousness is not in our own moral behavior. It is the blood of Jesus that purifies us from all sin. Jesus is our advocate when we sin. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. We don’t just need more good ethical teaching. We need atonement. It is only through the blood of Jesus that our sins are atoned for. Whereas we are called to confess our sin, we must do so while also recognizing that our righteousness and our forgiveness is in the blood of Christ shed for us. He has paid the ransom for our sin. We attain this ransom only through faith and by the grace of God given to us as a gift.
The tense of the verb in the phrase “If we claim we have not sinned” suggests a persistent state of denial of sin in the past that has led to the present state. It is not referring to an individual instance. Those who claim to have never sinned and do not sin currently are not in Christ.
Bringing this back around to the main point, John calls us to recognize that we are sinners and confess it. Of course, this is how we begin our Christian life, but it is also to be a regular part of discipleship in the Christian life. This confession is not out of obligation or fear of not being forgiven. We don’t need to obsess over remembering every individual sin we have committed. They are all covered by the blood of Christ. God is faithful and just to the covenant relationship he has established with us. We confess our sin to walk in freedom. This is a part of walking in the light. This is where we will pick up tomorrow.
Additional Content
Confession and RepentanceReflection
“When sin becomes passé, atonement is unnecessary.” Karen H. Jobes
In order to recognize the magnitude of God’s grace displayed on the cross, we must understand the weight of our sin. With platitudes like “Well, I’m not perfect” in the church’s vocabulary, we can easily dismiss sin in our lives and allow it to become passé, thereby diminishing the grace of God in atoning for our sins. A regular practice of confession helps prevent this slide into diminishing our sin and therefore diminishing the great grace of God.
Have you been viewing your sin as passé?