1 John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
Either these verses counter one another or else they are directed at two different kinds of people.
Verse 7 pertains to those who walk in the light, and verse 8 pertains to those who walk in darkness.
Why can't we say we have no sin after having been cleansed of all sin?
Just because a verse does not fit your personal theology you can't throw it away and pretend it does not exist!! You can't change the meaning in the verse by saying something like 'that used to be true', when there is not reason. It is it written 'I do the things', you can't say it means 'he did the things' because you don't like it.
So 1 Jn 1:7 reads : "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
The verse stand as is but your theology has to adjust!!
John wrote "If
we say" so he did not say "If
they say" - Was John not a Christian? Did he not know the Lord, and better than you or I? And he wrote "If we say" So it applies to Christians who know the Lord!! But some throw out that verse and say it does not apply to them. Are they then not Christians, like John? Perhaps - that is not for me to say, but it is for them to examine. And how would that verse help a person examine themselves?
Well, obviously they could read the verse and consider if they are saying they have no sin. If that was the case then they are deceiving themselves and the truth is not in them. They need to adjust their theology. Yet they are confused. They read another verse which reads "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
Then they think, 'If the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us from sin then we must not have sin." OH - but it does say that, it says it cleanse us not that we don't have sin but that that we have been cleansed of it. But they can't understand how a person can be cleansed from something and still have it.
If you don't understand something should you not take it to the Lord - because you still can't throw out verses because you don't understand how the two go together, and these 2 especially go together. The are right nest to each other.
The answer is in the forgiveness, not the removal! But if you don't talk to the Lord perhaps you still don't understand. The Lord shines light on a subject!! Or what did you think " walk in the light, as he is in the light" meant?? It means the Jesus Christ has the words of God and those words from His mouth give you knowledge and understanding!
John and Paul, and those who wrote the Scriptures listened to the Lord and had understanding and a knowledge of the Lord. They understood that we have sin - not had sin but have sin. They understood the principle that sin dwells in us. They also understood the forgiving power of the blood of Christ. He doesn't remove our sin, He takes our sin and makes it right by His blood. His blood was the sacrifice for our sin, past and present!! Have we not read about the cross? Have we not read the Bible?
Is 1: 18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
It is not written that He removes our sin, it is written that He changes the color of our sin from red to white!!!!
The cleansing then is the removing of death from our sins!!!!!
Yet some still think that the cleansing meant removing, why? Are they not listening to Him? Perhaps they are thinking that their mind instead of His voice will provide the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge they need? That is not what is written!
Prov 2:6
For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
We have to seek the Lord and listen to Him if we are to get understanding. It is written that they will all be taught of God, but does not the "all" there mean 'all His sheep'? So then not all, but all His sheep. His sheep hear His voice. They take their questions to the Lord and He explains them. Yet if they take them to Him and they explain they are still learning then. So perhaps there are Christians who have not gone over the forgiving power of the blood of Christ yet. Of course if they have been in a discussion for days on end and still have not taken the question to the Lord, when are they going to listen to Him. Do they even believe He is there for them?
We have people being drawn to our churches. Those people are people like us, with problems, issues, desires, and the sinful nature that has been passed down from Adam and Eve. We have that. So we all need the Lord Jesus Christ, His wisdom, teachings, counsel, instruction, and more. A Christian is a person who realizes that, so they seek Him and His voice which comes to us via the Holy Spirit. He then forgives us our sins (past, present, future) and cleans us from them, not by removing them but by forgiving them and not remembering them. In His mind He removes them from us as far as the east is from the west, so that He can not see them because they are over the horizon and no long in His view, but we still have sin! To God they now look white like snow instead of red like death.
If you have a student who is learning, does it not please you that they are learning??
So then the mistakes someone makes while learning is not wrong but is the part of the process of learning!
So if you are learning from the Teacher, your mistakes are not wrong but are part of the process of learning!
It doesn't mean you don't make mistakes it only means God views you as His student/disciple and not the criminal He must judge. Christian are supposed to be His students/disciples, and that because they hear His voice. He does not condemn His students, but as for those who do not believe in Him and thus listen to Him, their sin and judgement is on their own heads. They don't ask for Him to forgive them, they don't even think they have sin.
They don't see the light, they don't have the truth in them! They have deceived themselves! Thus all the verses go together as written. So Paul wrote to lead them to Jesus. So John wrote to lead them to Jesus. So I write to lead them to Jesus, that they might realize their problem, repent for not seeking Him, listen to Him, be reproves by Him, and turn and be taught by Him. If they go and reason with Him He will change the color of their sins from the red of death to the white of life, and that by the forgiving power of His blood.
