Lies About Sin

This is the message we heard from Jesus¹ and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.                                                                                1 John. 1:5-6 NLT

There are three lies about sin that everyone, and especially every Christian, should know.

Lie # 1: Since you have been a good person from the time you were born you do not need forgiveness or for Christ to come into your life (1 John 1:10).

Lie # 2: You can be in a relationship with God who is light and go on sinning, which is darkness (1 John 1:6).

Lie # 3: You can come to the place where you cannot sin (1 John 1:8).

The point John is trying to make is this: sin is a reality that separates us from God; it is moral darkness. Furthermore, it is a moral darkness that infects every person who has ever lived. The only source of light is Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity. You need him and I need him if we are to exist in God’s presence.

That means that if we have come into the light through Christ, we simply cannot make a place in our lives where darkness is still reigning.

Clearly, John is trying to convince us, his readers, that a Christian cannot sin (1 John 3:9). We cannot bring the light into our lives and then expect a little darkness to coexist with it. Can you imagine a lighted room where there is blob of darkness floating around?!

But “cannot” is not talking about impossibility. It is talking about permission or expectation. Christian, you cannot expect to sin any more than I can expect to commit adultery against my wife. I cannot! Ah, but we never come to the place where sin is not a possibility. If we allow ourselves to drift away from the light, darkness is inevitable. We, like the moon, do not produce the light, we reflect it. So, stay in the light!

So, does a Christian need to sin? Absolutely not. Can they sin? Oh, yes. But the good news is that if they confess and repent the LIGHT will come back into their lives and they can shine without a speck of darkness.