Are We Denying Our Sins?

Text: 1 John 1:7-2:2

Introduction:

Have you ever felt the need for a fresh start with the Lord? Perhaps you hunger for true intimacy with the Lord, but your sins seem too dominating and enslaving to hope for this.  Maybe you have doubts about your salvation or are unsure about what God requires of believers desiring genuine fellowship with Himself. Have your failures placed a cloud of despair and discouragement over your life?

In our text, John discusses the basics of fellowship with God and demonstrates their immense practical value in the believer’s everyday conflict with sin.  Accordingly, we can know how to confront and confess sin and have victory over it. We can enjoy communion with the Lord free of confusions and misconceptions about God, sin, salvation, and forgiveness. Dr. W. Wiersbe said, in an insightful explanation of the Christian experience,

The New Testament calls the Christian life a “walk.” This walk begins with a step of faith when we trust Christ as our Saviour. But salvation is not the end—it’s only the beginning—of spiritual life. “Walking” involves progress, and Christians are supposed to advance in the spiritual life. Just as a child must learn to walk and must overcome many difficulties in doing so, a Christian must learn to “walk in the light.” And the fundamental difficulty involved here is this matter of sin. –Wiersbe, W. The Bible Expositor’s Commentary

Thesis Statement:

Though some people deny their sinfulness, believers who confess their sins enjoy victory over them and continuous fellowship with our loving Heavenly Father. Honest and sincere believers come regularly and boldly into the presence of God and they sense in their spirits God’s forgiveness.  Such Christians enjoy life with their heavenly Father. Let us consider how we can fellowship with God by noting four attitudes toward sin:

1. Denying It
2. Confessing It
3. Victory Over It
4. Repeating It or Falling Into It

I.                   DENYING IT (1:8-10)   

A.                 Nature of the denial:

1.      As to the possession of a sinful nature (v. 8)

a.       John distinguishes between sin (v. 8) and sins (v. 9).

                                                                                       i.      Sin refers to our corrupt, fallen, Adamic-evil nature—indwelling sin.

1.      Sins refer to evils that we have done or things we failed to do.  But, praise God, Christ died for our sin and our sins.

2.      But, still our fallen sinful nature has not been eliminated!

                                                                                     ii.      Conversion does not mean the eradication of the sin nature. Rather it means the implanting of the new, divine nature, with power to live victoriously over indwelling sin. –MacDonald, W. Believer's Bible Commentary

b.      A believer may be tempted to think or say that he is free from sin. 

                                                                                       i.      But, we must understand the truth about the depravity of the human heart; just because we are not conscious of failure does not mean that we are free from it.

                                                                                     ii.      Whether someone claims to be “without sin” for a brief period of time or claims sinless perfection, the claim is false (Isa. 53:6; 64:6; Rom. 3:10-12, 23).

c.       We must be honest with ourselves, honest with others, and honest with God. Our passage describes a believer who is living a dishonest life: he is a phony. He is playing a role and acting a part, but is not living a genuine life. He is insincere. –Wiersbe, W. W. 1996, c1989. The Bible Exposition Commentary

2.      As to the committal of sinful acts (v. 10)

a.       After a believer sins, he should not deny that sin. This is not the denial of the indwelling sinful nature, but the denial of specific acts of sin.

                                                                                       i.      This person denies any acts of sin committed in the past and implies they are not capable of committing any sins presently. They are claiming sinless perfection!  

                                                                                     ii.      Perhaps they failed to understand what sin is from God’s perspective.

                                                                                    iii.      Of course, sin is not simply outward disobedience; sin is also inner rebellion or desire. For example, we are warned about the desires of the flesh and of the eyes and about the pride of life (1 John 2:16), all of which are sinful. Sin is also transgression of the Law (1 John 3:4), or literally, “lawlessness.” Sin is refusal to submit to the Law of God. Lawlessness, or independence of the Law, is the very essence of sin. If a believer decides to live an independent life, how can he possibly walk in fellowship with God? “Can two walk together except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3) –Wiersbe, W. The Bible Expositor’s Commentary

b.      Our defensive instincts often keep us from seeing how our behaviors impact our fellowship with God and with other people. We do something hurtful and then we try to deny it or even minimize it, adding a second injury to the first, and further damaging our relationships.

                                                                                       i.       Instead of denying and minimizing our sins, we are invited to promptly admit them. We can clear the air. We can say the truth to God, ourselves, and to others.

                                                                                     ii.      As long as you refuse to admit that you have done wrong, you can’t be forgiven. Oh, God is willing to forgive you. But if you refuse to admit you have done wrong, you won’t turn to Him and receive His forgiveness.

B.                 What is involved in such denial

1.                  Self-deception (v. 8)

a.                  To deny that we have a sinful nature means self-deception and dishonesty. Those who believe their evil nature has been completely eradicated are living in deception. Everyone else can see glaring sin in their daily behavior, and such sin must come from the indwelling sinful nature.

b.                  By taking  “inventory” we can avoid self-deception and seek restoration. When we become aware of our own nature and character defects we can work on them We must take time every day to reflect on our feelings, our thoughts, our behaviors, our desires.

2.                  Challenging God’s statement (v. 7)

a.                   Fellowship with God is based on a walk in the light of God’s Word.  Sin results in broken fellowship. God will not fellowship with people who persist in sin no matter how much they claim to have fellowship with Him.

b.                  But, multitudes of folk are sitting in churches every Sunday morning but are not hearing the Word of God. As a result, they are in darkness, hearing some dissertation on economics or politics or the “good life” or an exhortation on doing the best they can. And they are comfortable!  But if they would get into the light of the Word of God, they would see that they are sinners and that they cannot bring God down to their level. John has said that if a person says he is having fellowship with God but is living in sin, he is lying.

c.                   If you are living in sin, God will not have fellowship with you. If you think otherwise, you are fooling yourself or using a psychological ploy to put up a good front. And many of our psychological hang-ups today center around this very point. As someone commented, after hearing me speak on this subject, “What you mean, Dr. McGee, is that there are hypocrites in the church.” And when you come right down to the nitty-gritty, that’s what we are talking about. Hypocrites. They profess one thing, “I’m having fellowship with God,” and all the while they are walking in darkness. John says they are lying.  –McGee, J. V. Thru the Bible Commentary

3.                  Making God a liar (v. 10)

a.                   God has said that every person is a sinner (Ps. 14:3; 51:5; Is. 53:6; Jer. 17:5,6; Rom. 3:10–19,23; 6:23). To deny one’s personal sin in the face of God’s testimony to the contrary, is to “make” God out to be a liar. 

b.                  They blaspheme God with slander and defame His holy reputation.

c.                   This claim went beyond telling a lie (1:6) or merely fooling themselves (1:8); this claim was calling God a liar. God says that all have sinned -- otherwise he would not have needed to send his Son. To claim sinlessness treats the Cross with contempt and Christ’s suffering as worthless. –The Life Application Commentary Series

d.                  We have made ourselves liars; now we try to make God a liar! We contradict His Word, which says that, “all have sinned,” and we maintain that we are exceptions to the rule. We apply God’s Word to others but not to ourselves. We sit through church services or Bible studies and are not touched by the Bible’s teachings. Believers who have reached this low level are usually highly critical of other Christians, but they strongly resist applying the Word to their own lives. –The Bible Exposition Commentary

4.                  The Word of God, as a norm, having no abiding place in the heart (v. 10)

John warned against this possibility.

a.                   By contradicting God’s Word, a person rejects it and refuses to give it the proper place in his life. If we claim to be totally sin free, we deceive ourselves and God’s truth is not in our hearts (1Jn. 1: 6; 2:4). If the truth is “in” us as a controlling, motivating influence, this kind of self-deception will not take place (Col 3:16; 1 John 1:8; 2:4). The Word of God should be permeating and changing our lives because the Scriptures clearly state throughout that all people sin and all need a Savior (1 Kings 8:46; Ps 14:3; Isa 53:6; 64:6; Rom 3:23; 6:23). People cannot be forgiven if they do not recognize their sin.

b.                  Thus fellowship depends on responding to the standard of light and realizing our sinful state. The victorious Christian life is a life of no unconfessed sins; and genuine confession includes forsaking, and thus produces growth. We must intentionally decide to give up living in the darkness of denial and ask God to illuminate our lives with truth. 

c.                   This practice allows us to grow in spiritual power. For the believer, it is helpful to make room in our lives for times of meditation on the Word, prayer and reflection.  Also, many people find that keeping a journal is a helpful part of this process. When we rise in the morning, as we move through the day and as we lie in bed at night, we can ask God to show us what we need to know about ourselves in order to grow in our experience of God’s truth, peace and joy.