What About Sin?

Please remain standing and turn in your Bibles to the first epistle of John I'm going to read the entirety of chapter 1

This is God's holy and an infallible word first John 1

That which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of life for the life was

Manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you That eternal life which was with the father and was manifested unto us that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that you also may have fellowship with us and Truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son

Jesus Christ and These things we write unto you that your joy may be full

This then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and in him

Is no darkness at all if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness

We lie and do not the truth But if we walk in the light as he is in the light

We have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin

If we say that 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 that we have not sinned we make him a liar and his word is not in us and the

Lord be pleased with our Consideration of his most excellent word. Please pray with me

Lord we thank you for The salvation that you bring to us your people

We thank you for the victory we have in you. Oh We also give thanks today that that you give help to us not just in a categorical or conceptual way, but You help us with our sin even our sin today

The Lord I pray that we would be a confessing people That we might be cleansed and we asked all this in Jesus name.

Please be seated What happens when you begin to meditate on a certain passage of scripture over time a

Theme or an idea will emerge that is more prominent than you first expected

After reading the text dozens of times it occurred to me that sin is very prominent in our last section of chapter 1

And so the title of the message today is what about sin

What about sin we're gonna look at the last half of verse 7 through verse 10

Christianity is the religion for sinners

Christianity is the religion for sinners For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God The Christian as we've been learning recently in James and even in 1st

John must take ownership of his sin and He does this so that his sin might be purged

He must cut off the full extent of his disease

We often hear of oncology surgeons wanting clean margins

So to the Christian must accurately see the breadth and depth of his own sin

That the curing balm of Christ may be fully applied and that he might be cleansed and healed and and purged

It's not surprising that as the scripture interprets scripture There's similar language found in Paul and elsewhere in the scriptures that resonate with 1st

John It says in Ephesians 1 in Christ in whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace

We must rightly understand sin that we might apprehend the riches of his grace

I have a thesis statement which should be broken into an outline that you would be helpful for you if you need that It's this

Christ frees us from both the pollution and power of sin

Christ frees us from the pollution and power of sin

John has established you'll remember the the divine nature of the

Lord Jesus Christ and we should be struck again with the incredible power of the language that The one who was from the beginning has come in the flesh and he has revealed himself to disciples and to women and to the the early church the the creator of all things has come to rescue his creation from sin and death and to make it a new creation in him and he has built and formed a church a fellowship of believers and he is

Drawing men women and children Unto himself and bringing them and fixing them into this fellowship, which is a cause of great rejoicing and the fullness of joy and last week we learned about God is light and That there is no darkness at all in him and that we are

Obligated to walk in the light in order to have a proper fellowship with God and his people

And then our text today beginning in verse 7 the last half and oh, what a truth it is in the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin

Brethren, there is nothing more glorious than having your sins forgiven to be reconciled to God To have your guilt and your shame covered by the blood of Christ It's a very famous quote from Thomas Watson and he says until sin become bitter

Christ will not be sweet Until Sin becomes bitter to us then that's the time that Christ will be sweet So the first question

I have for you today is sin your sin odious to you

We find fault with the culture. We can tell you what's wrong with all the churches, but is your sin

Odious and bitter to you If it's not bitter to you, then

Christ will not be sweet If you are comfortable with your own sin

If you can tolerate it if you can swish it around in your mouth and you can stomach it

That bitterness you've been deceived into thinking maybe that's sweet Maybe that sinful tendency is sweet Maybe the sins that I cherish are sweet until those sins become odious and bitter to us

Christ Will not be sweet We have a

Savior who cleanses us from all sin it is Jesus Christ his son and This is a glorious truth

So, why do we need confession Look again at our order of worship today

On the left page on the inside. We have a corporate confession of sin

One of the things we sometimes get from people who are visitors

They wonder about this practice of confessing our sins Why do you confess your sins

Didn't Christ and his sacrifice you've just read it the blood of Jesus Christ his son

Cleanses us from all sin. It's done. It's covered. It's taken care of.

Why would you go back in there again? Are you denying the gospel of Christ?

Why are you confessing your sin again if Christ has forgiven you? and the very theological and sophisticated answer is

We confess our sin because we continue to sin. That's why we confess our sins our sins are forgiven in Christ, but Our doesn't our life show that we continue to sin

And so it follows then that being redeemed and saved in Christ and having your sins

Forgiven and to be cleansed and washed in this way Leads to a new kind of pattern a new way of living

We become confessors of sin And there's great hope for us in this let's consider verse 8 if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and The truth is not in us

Now you would say I understand total depravity. I understand radical corruption

I understand my own heart and I understand that I am a sinner

And today I want you to go Down deeper from that category that kind of blanket statement

I am a sinner and I want to ask the question. How are you a sinner? In what ways in particular are you a sinner?

Christ died on the cross to save me from my sins. He did which sins for you?

How are you a sinner? How does a sinful? Nature in your life.

What does it look like? What are the sins of pride and and haughtiness and bitterness and lust?

What is your sins? To say that you have no sin or to minimize

The extent of your sin is to be self -deceived sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God according to our

Shorter catechism, but it most definitely is guilt and failure a failure to hit the mark or the target

It's bad actions and evil deeds and evil thoughts and it is for this very

Reason that Christ has to come into the world and to take on flesh

That we might be cleansed Nothing could be more irreverent for the people of God than to take sin their sin lightly

We're so theologically sophisticated We understand homardiology

But here today pastorally, I'm urging you to identify your particular sins

How are you sinning today? You say why is this important?

Because if you do not confess it if you do not repent of it

You are effectively saying that you have no sin. That's what you're saying. If we say that we have no sin

We deceive ourselves We're led astray we go off course

We deviate from the correct path We cannot minimize sin downplay it

Or ignore it To diminish our sin is to diminish our need for Christ to diminish our need for Christ diminishes the glory and the

Significance of the salvation that is ours in Christ. I believe walking in the light

Serving a God who is the light and a Savior who is the light of the world and a

Holy Spirit who illumines our minds and our hearts Requires us to shine a bright light on our own hearts

That we might confess our own sins like you to turn to the book of Psalms and Psalm 32 one of the more

Familiar Texts to us on this subject. This is a popular message today.

I can tell we're rejoicing in it Psalm 32

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven Whose sin is covered

We need to uncover our sin That Christ might cover it and his righteousness if we hide it if we conceal it

We don't enjoy the benefits and blessings Practically that is there and reserved for the people of God who?

Are cleansed by Christ Verse 2 says blessed is the man unto whom the

Lord imputes not iniquity and in whose spirit

There is no guile We're self -deceived if we don't confess our sins, isn't this crazy?

We believe that Jesus Christ has atoned for our sin on the cross

And we believe also that we have a practical ongoing need as a work of our own

Sanctification to confess our sin to not be self -deceived so that we can be ones in whom there is no guile

What are the negative consequences of failing to confess

David says verse 3 When I kept silence my bones waxed old

Through my roaring all day For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me.

My moisture is turned into the drought of summer the

Christian not confessing his sin Wears a heavy burden on his back and it need not be so You and I all of it as David prayed is laid bare before him in his sight

And it is the highest form of folly for us to try to conceal it

We are burdening ourselves we are Filled with guile we are

Self -deceived if we don't speak the truth about our hearts before God And this may be the reason some of us aren't experiencing the joy of our salvation today

It's not that your salvation is in jeopardy You're not reaping the benefits of your salvation

There is cleansing and forgiveness there for you in Christ avail yourself of the cleansing and the freedom and the liberty that God has secured for us in Christ Listen what

David says about confessing his sin. I acknowledge my sin unto thee in Mine iniquity

I have not hid. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the

Lord and You O God forgave the iniquity of my sin

Hallelujah, what a Savior what a gospel Why would you deprive yourself of the joy and the blessing of being unburdened of your sin?

Why would you cling to it? Why would you hold it in? Why would you conceal it?

Bring your sin and the transgression of your heart the ugliness of it all and bring it to the

Lord Jesus Christ and find forgiveness and Salvation and hope and joy and Thanksgiving says for Everyone that is godly

Prays unto you in a time when they may be found Surely in the floods of great waters.

They shall not come nigh unto him. Isn't it nice how the Lord Puts the story of Noah together with Psalm 32 for us today.

Oh You are my hiding place You shall preserve me from trouble you shall compass me about with songs of deliverance

I Think that great idea of the Lord being the great liturgist singing over us

Christ singing songs of deliverance and salvation come to me all you who are burdened and heavy laden

Confess your sins to me and I will forgive you Bring your filthy bodies to me and I will wash you and make you whiter than snow

You're so foolish to deprive ourselves of these good gifts

There's another component in relation to the confession of sin certainly

Repentance is an element where we're really not Confessing if our hearts desire is not to repent and we we don't confess often because we don't want to repent

But if your desire is to confess your sin if your desire is to repent and to walk in his ways

You have assurances that God himself will instruct you and teach you in the way that you ought to go

He appeals to our

Pride a little bit and says be not as the horse or the mule which have no understanding

Whose mouth must be held in the bit and brittle? lest they come near unto thee

Verse 10 says many sorrows shall be to the wicked But he that trusteth in the

Lord mercy shall compass him About Be glad in the

Lord and rejoice you righteous and shout for joy All ye that are upright in heart

In order to be upright in heart we have to Confess our sins.

Let's go back to our text Proverbs 28 says

He that covers his sins Shall not prosper

But he who confesses and forsakes them Shall have mercy

Happy is the man that feareth always But he that hardens his heart shall fall into mischief.

Oh brethren. It is great mischief to not confess

Forsake repent and walk in newness of life in Christ We know better.

We need to be wiser as a result Let's look again at our text.

I Don't want to be self -deceived I want to be a man of the truth.

I have to think rightly about my sin. I have to be honest Told my boys growing up girls, too,

I'm sure Integrity is what you are in secret You can look good on the outside.

But who are you in secret? We don't want to be self -deceived.

We want to be the same in public as we are in secret We want to be cleansed we want to be washed but if you're feeling discouraged

I want to Bolster your spirits look at verse 9 if we confess our sins

He is faithful and Just to forgive us our sins

To cleanse us from all unrighteousness He doesn't give us a litany for penance

He doesn't call us to sing to pray a bunch of formulaic prayers

He doesn't say go out and do these a hundred deeds and maybe your sin could be atoned for He says to us as the people of God.

I have forgiven you you are my children I have cleansed you now

You have gone and and sullied yourself in the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the lust of the world

You have been haughty in heart and spirit Come unto me and confess your sins and I will wash you.

This is so glorious This is so much better than any human conception about what religion is

Your filthy sin brought to Christ confessed own taken responsibility for Repented of you can have full and complete assurance that Christ will cleanse you and wash you

And purify you again So why do we?

fail to confess our sins, I think there's a Discipline to this

I think our Daily pattern may be before we go to bed.

Maybe we should take a couple of moments and reflect upon the day and see if there be any sinful way in us and Ask the

Lord to forgive us How many months and years have we carried around a burden of sin shame and guilt and and weightiness and heaviness and Discouragement and a lack of joy when we can unburden ourselves

And be cleansed and be washed Simply by Bringing our

Sin to the Lord in this context the idea of cleansing is to be made clean obviously, but There's some language and some descriptors that I think are helping me to understand this better and that this idea is to be freed from the defilement of sin to be purified from wickedness to be freed from the guilt and Penalty of sin to be purified

All we have to do is confess Why do you not confess?

Why do you not confess your sins? I? Wonder what percentage of the sins we commit we confess

There is going to be no sinless perfection for us, but in our sanctification in this powerful

Operation of the Spirit and us this covering of Christ and his righteousness in us

Certainly we can sin less Not gonna be perfect.

Certainly we can sin less. Oh Today people of God Unburden yourselves

Confess your sins He's faithful and just to forgive you all of your sins to cleanse you from all unrighteousness

If someone comes to you confessing their sin against you be like Christ and forgive them

That's powerful Christianity when Christians act like their Savior and forgive those who have

Sinned against them. I like the idea of being

Cleaned I used to be a fanatical Shower taker

I take less showers now, but I used to take many showers. I hated the feeling of being dirty or sweaty

How much more so to be? filthy for Unrighteousness Oh Lord wash us and we'll be clean

Dab the hyssop on us and we'll be clean Pour out your blood upon us and make us white as snow.

Oh Lord Jesus There's another problem

Doctrinally and practically look at verse 10 if we say that we have not sinned

We make him a liar And his word

Is not in us You see going back to the beginning of the chapter

The incarnation the saving work of Christ all of this is accomplished to free his people from their sins when we minimize

Sin, we minimize Christ When we minimize our guilt we minimize his grace

We have thought too little of Christ in his Salvation and his grace and his redemption if we've said sin is no big deal

Can you imagine calling the way the truth and the life a liar?

Saying that his salvation is of no consequences To trample the blood of the covenant under our feet

We could never do that As the people of God we could never ever

Diminish our view of sin because if we did we would diminish our view of Christ and that would be

Blasphemous Well Have a couple of ideas for us today to improve our

Confession When you're feeling a bit dirty from your sin you ask your question

How are we cleansed and the answer is we are cleansed by the blood of Christ And I think we have got the idea of the decree of salvation this

Monumental justification work of Christ on the cross, but we have to now import it into our daily living

Our sanctification is Dependent upon us believing the gospel of Christ again and again and again

Confessing our sins as the people of God who have the assurance of pardon

How can you be deceived? If you're minimizing your sin

You're saying that you have no sin in you and I mean this by degrees you say oh, I am a sinner

The catalog of sins is what we have to address If you don't address the catalog of sins, we're in some measure self -deceived

But when we bring these things into the light as he is in the light We find that he doesn't throw us away and reject us

We would reject one another in our sin, wouldn't we? But he doesn't do that We come with all of that unpleasantness and we unburden ourselves and we lay it all down And he restores us and he washes us.

He cleans us. What a great Savior. What a gospel

What a salvation we enjoy In Christ are you properly acknowledging your sin

Are you being honest with yourself about your condition If you are when you confess those sins, he is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness couple words now of application will close today

I Want you to really rejoice in the forgiveness that is yours in Christ The blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin

Rejoice in the forgiveness that Christ gives to us in his gospel second

You may need to restore the joy of your salvation Because you haven't been asking the question

What about my sin and you're carrying around as a child of God the guilt and the shame of sin

Restore the joy of your salvation confess it So we've said several times now he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins

To cleanse us from all unrighteousness Thirdly confession

Necessitates both a forsaking of sin and a repenting of sin coupled with a new and fresh walk in The new life we have in Christ That cherished sin must be repented of and forsaken and now you have to walk in newness of life

What about in your family life and your own personal personal devotion? Have you said that sin is no big deal?

We minimize sin. Oh the terrible thought

To minimize my sin is to minimize the great work of Christ in my life

To save me from that sin and finally children.

I Think that you're capable of very great things in the area of obedience. I Think you guys can do much more than you think

If you're sinning You're disobeying your parents or not caring about the things of God or being mean to your siblings

You need to repent of those to turn from them to confess your sins

One of the greatest Pieces of advice I ever received I don't know who the original source of this very simple statement is but what an impact it would have on the church

Fellowship and marriages and families and work relationships If we kept short accounts with God and kept short accounts with one another

Maybe we need to have a daily confession of our sin to our spouse and say I have not loved you as I ought

Please forgive me I'm going to vow to labor to do better tomorrow You don't see how

The grace of Christ would work and something like that so ask the question again

What about sin The blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin.

Amen What about our? Continual practice daily of breaking

God's commands and failing to love each other What about those sins?

He is faithful and just to forgive us all of those sins to cleanse us from all unrighteousness

If we just confess them to him Hallelujah, what a

Savior. Let's rejoice as we come now and approach the table. Let's pray together Oh Lord, we are a stubborn and foolish people

But you love us and in this we rejoice Oh Lord a basic truth a

Simple fact of our faith. Oh Lord. I pray that you would enable us to perform it that we would be a confessing forsaking repenting and walking a new