You Are Not A “Sinner”

May 5

Read: 1 John 2:1-5

You Are Not A “Sinner”

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.”

IN CHRIST, our sin is no longer our defining feature. As we read the last two days, Jesus is the “light and life” of mankind and he “cleanses us from all sin” and “from all unrighteousness”. (cf. 1 John 1:7,9) WE ARE NOT CALLED “SINNERS” ANYMORE IN CHRIST. As a result, to “sin” is not our normal mode of living as the people of God. Out of a fear of “legalism” we must never lose sight of this basic teaching and biblical truth: Christ’s work in us should lead us into sinning LESS and LOVING MORE. Do you see that? - “but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.” (v.5) This may seem basic for some of us, but we need to be reminded of this daily.

If we still see ourselves as “sinners”, then we will live that way and when we sin we will simply say to ourselves, “well - that is my nature so what should I expect!?!” This is not so. We have been “cleansed” by Christ, set free from being slaves to sin, and are new creations. (cf. 1 John 1:7,9, Romans 6, Gal. 2:20, 2 Cor 5:17) So how do we tell if we have come to know Jesus and are in him? :

“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments…(and) By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” (v.3,5)

So we as the people of God are marked by these two things: the avoidance of sinning and the active carrying out of loving others. We are now defined by our fellowship with Christ - as those who walk in the light - the “love of God” being perfected in us. If we think that obedience doesn’t matter, well - “Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him…” (v.4) We are just lying to ourselves if we pretend that obedience doesn’t matter. This leaves us with an “elephant in the room”… so how should we feel when we DO mess up… when we DO SIN?

“But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (v.2)

In our moments of sin… of failure… of INTENTIONAL rebellion… we need to turn to Christ and rest in the truth that he has PAID THE PRICE (“propitiation”) for our sins. He is our “advocate” and “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We need not wallow in guilt. We must not let the enemy nor the patterns of thinking that war against the Lord convince us that Christ is too weak to change us. We should not revert back to our “old selves”… or reclaiming our old identity. Yet, to walk with Christ is to be made more and more into his likeness. In short - don’t sin.

For some of you today - you are all too aware of the ways you still stumble and feel tremendous guilt. For you - I want you to experience the freedom and joy that comes in Christ and realize that he has forgiven you, cleansed you, loves you, is willing to fellowship with you, and his love is being “perfected” in you… yes YOU. For some of you this morning, you have become too familiar with the ways you stumble and sin. Maybe you have even given up and just embraced these areas of “darkness”. If that is you, I want you to wake up and move forward… stop deceiving yourself. For some of you, you may feel like you have it pretty well “locked in”… as if your days of “sining” are behind you. For you, be reminded of these two things: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” And keeping Christ’s commandments involves both “not sinning” as well as loving. This is the beautiful balance of life in Christ - a life of both avoiding sin as well as actively obeying what he tells us to say and do. You are no longer “sinners”… your are Christ followers! Love you guys. - JDP