The Message Loud and Clear

Text: 1 John 1:5–10 ESV

Define the Relationships (DTRs)

What are the hardest conversations to have? (i.e. evangelism, confronting/confessing sin, support, etc.). DTR’s (define the relationship) were always some of the hardest conversations I had to have growing up. I was having to have them regularly with females in my life usually because I had done a poor job setting boundaries, speeding up relationships well beyond a healthy point, being inconsistent with my walk/talk. Or leading girls on without stating my intentions, or flirting, or being noncommittal. Now usually, a man is doing a good job, if he’s not having to always have these big monumental DTR conversations because he’s being clear, forward-thinking, intentional, consistent, and pure in his leadership of the relationship. 

Now, while DTR’s can keep a relationship healthy, they are most often necessary because their relationship is unhealthy and in need of repair or re-orientation. It's because something has gone astray, it's off-kilter or out of place. And the conversation needs to reset the relationship. This is what John is doing for us in verses 5-10. Some deceivers and false teachers have come in and dislocated the early church’s understanding of sin and the Christian life. And they make these outlandish claims:

1. You can live like a pagan and still be Christian. 

2. You are new in Christ, surely your old sinful nature isn’t there anymore.

3. You really don’t even sin anymore. 

John is coming in and He’s saying I am not so sure things are healthy, and I want to help you have a DTR. Or things might be healthy, and I want to keep it that way, so I want you have a DTR. But either way, John is inviting you to have a sit down, face-to-face DTR with sin. And if you will, you do not have to sit in uncertainty with clammy hands, sweaty brow, and cracked voice over how your God will respond. If you commit your love to your Savior and confess your hatred of sin, He will take you sin and all. But if you fall in love with sin, and confess Him falsely, He won't’ take you at all. 

DTR with Sin

And this is what 1 John 1:5-10 is doing for us. It's setting up a DTR with sin for you. And he is doing that for his first century audience because some Gnostic-like false teachers have come in and made some false arguments. John says this in 2:26:

“I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.” (1 John 2:26 ESV)

Namely, you can be a Christian regardless of what you believe about sin, but the reason John has written verses 5-10 is because there is a relationship between how you relate with sin and your fellowship with the Father. He wants to define your relationship with God for you, but he cannot do it apart from a defining decision you will make about your relationship with sin. John is getting at our connection with God, but he’s going to do it via a conversation about sin. 

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1 ESV)

So, He is going to correct this false teaching in 2:1 straight up. He’s going to tell us, if you are saved, live a saved life. John wants us to live a saved life that sins less and less. The verse that immediately follows our passage says, “I am writing these things to you so you do not sin…”

You see, sinning and salvation are not compatible. They are at odds and opposed. They are not in sync but sin is out of place in the life of the saved. Then John continues, but if anyone does sin…

You see, you have sin, you have a sinful nature, yet you should stop it, but you can’t. So, what are you to do? That is precisely what 1 John 1:5-10 is all about. What are we going to do with sin? We must define, we must determine how we are going to relate with this virus of sin. If we don’t or if we choose foolishly it will sink us. But if we would choose the way that Jesus would have for us, sin is not the door that is slammed shut in the face of the sinner, but sin is the runway leading us to the heavens of repentance and redemption (it's not an end, but a means). You must choose your defense/your response to Satan’s sin campaign against your soul. 

2 ways to live!

John, in verses 5-10 is laying out two options that he is observing in the church. The way of the anti-Christ or against Christ teaching and the way of the for Christ teaching. This is why I am titling this sermon, “Two ways to live with sin.” It's not that you are going to live without sin, but how are you going to live with it? John is inviting us to have a DTR with sin. Have your DTR with sin here at the outset of 2022. And how will you know the type of relationship you have defined? Your definition/conversation will be marked by one of two phrases: “If we say” (v. 6, 8, 10) way or it will be marked by the “But if” way (verses 7 and 9). 

Let me say this, just as in relationships, DTR’s with sin are rare. The church has caved and colluded with sin and doesn’t know how to confront it. There is only one way to be beat a sin, you can’t hide from it, stop it, or get immune to it. You can only confess it! That is the only good-ole fashioned, biblical, traditional, war in the trenches measure to mortify your sin. 

If you want to kill sin on earth, confess it to Christians. If you want to kill sin eternally confess it to Christ. If you want to coddle sin and keep it close and as a comforting companion, keep it a secret. Silence gives air to its lungs, but sharing it chokes it out. You see, there are only two ways to live with sin, the “if we say” way and the “but if” way, but let’s pray before we unpack them further. 

Setting the Scene—How will John convince His audience that sin post-Christian is real and they have to deal with it? You want to convince the church it’s sinful, put it in the presence of the sinless. (I.e. Clean, organized…)

John sets the scene for us in verse 5 by telling us who God is so we can rightly understand ourselves. Before we can ever define sin, we have to define God. And this is exactly what John does for us:

“And this is the message that we have heard from Him and proclaim to you that God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5 ESV)

This is what I love about Christianity. It's first a message. The gospel is a message. God has something to say to you. He has something to say about Himself, about yourself, what you’ve done, what He’s done, and how you need to respond. Second, how has this message been communicated? Through Jesus! John got this message, not from an angel, not through a dream, not through some outer-body experience, but through a historical and verifiable and personal encounter with Jesus. 

And finally, it’s a proclamation. John starts his message with quite a proclamation: God is Light. Light is synonymous with Life, Truth, it's synonymous with all that is perfect, good, and beautiful. The text does not say, ``God gives off light.” He is light. Substantively He is right, perfect, good, beautiful!! God is an all-encompassing glory of Goodness and beauty! John goes on to say there is no hint, speck, tinge of wrong in his being, doing, thinking, feeling, and saying ever and forever. And you know what? The same cannot be said of us. In fact, we can be understood as the exact opposite: denial-ridden.

Man is darkness and in him is not light at all. But in Christ the darkness has been defeated and its passing away, but its not gone. Therefore, what do we do with sin? How will we define our relationship with darkness? Okay, there are two ways to live. Let’s start with verses 6, 8, and 10. 

Way #1 - “If we say” way. 

So, what does this way say? Verse 6: “If we say we have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth.” This way has two-faces. This way has lost guilt of sin, possibly has a tough or seared conscience, it's all talk, with very little walk. It lives a secret life and its conduct and character do not match its confession. 

The “if we say” way is a popular way, it’s a convenient and comfortable way, it's largely an acceptable way in today’s church just as it was in the first century. But at its heart is a deceptive heart. It lies, it pretends, and it manipulates. Maybe out of fear, maybe because of shame, maybe out of pride, or just maybe because of an addiction to poisonous pleasure. But today, the “if we say” life lies, it lies to us about a central truth of Christianity. John counters and says, And a life that does not practice truth is a life that does not know the truth.

Hypocrisy in today’s church and boil it down to its implications for us

While we don’t accept it theologically, we kind of accept it practically don’t we? You see this life speaks all day long about the light. It can quote verses, truths, speak of things it knows or heard others say, even befriends the light or shows up at events about the light. But it only knows darkness. Man, have its eyes been acclimated to Darkness. The “if we say” life sees so well at night that it can’t stay in the light too long because the eyes of its Heart can’t bear to squint any longer. You see the “if we say” way speaks the language of light, but it only knows the deeds of darkness. See John 3:19-20: 

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” (John 3:19-20 ESV)

So, let me say this…the “if you say” way is flat out disobedient and dishonest about true Christian living—that the gospel is powerless to change you. It’s a gospel that loves you, but leaves you as you are. Who wants to believe in that? 

Well, many of us do. And while in John’s day the church struggled with blatant paganism, today it struggles with more of a hidden paganism. Our darkness clothes itself in light. It hides its disobedience in dishonesty. That’s a key trait, disguise (Adam/Eve). Now, some of us deflect or blame shift, some of us downplay, some of us deny, but some of us disguise. And that is a scary and unsafe place to be. It's just you all alone with sin (i.e. relationships/No). If you are all alone with fire, you are bound to get burned. 

Now, we have already alluded to the dishonest trait of the disobedient. We keep our lusts close by lying to those around us (1 John 1:6). But let’s look at the other two angles of lying in verses 8 and 10. Not only do we lie to others about the gospel (John’s context), but in today’s context we lie to them about who we really are (1 John 1:6), and to ourselves (1 John 1:8), but we make God a lying God (1 John 1:10).,

Who do we lie to?

First, we lie to others. Do you know how much distance is created, how much comparison, how much inferiority we create when we don’t confess our sins to others. You know what we all think when you don’t share? Well, I guess he doesn’t struggle with that. But we all know we do and we live in embarrassment, shame, and guilt. Lack of confession to the body of Christ hurts us and brings distance into our perceptions of one another. Confession levels the playing field, but silence separates us! 

Two, we lie to ourselves. Don’t say we have no sin. Say, wretched man that I am, who will free me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24) In any and every circumstance we have sin (Romans 14:23). Big and great to small and subtle. Why, because in our flesh we are sinners. We are corrupted and polluted by the old man. This is the meaning of 1 John 1:8. When we say “we have no sin” we are denying our sinful nature and a capacity for the greatest of lewdness. God’s truth is clearly not in us when we say we don’t have this potential for impurity (King Saul, David, Judas). Let me put it to you this way, whatever Dave could share with me, I have thought it, done it, or done worse. We deceive ourselves when we deny indwelling sin and think what someone else has done, you could never do. Or what someone else has thought, you could never think! It's kind of like seeing sin and thinking, “At least I haven’t done that, or I can’t believe they did that.” The Christian thinks that could be me, that would be me apart from grace! 

Let me share a spiritual reality with you and why Christians should not be self-deceived, but more self-aware. For the growing Christian, truth doesn’t stay the same from the first time you hear it, it certainly doesn’t get less true, but it overwhelmingly gets more true. Truth gets truer. If the trajectory of your life is that I am a smaller sinner, then I am worried for you. I hope you sin less, but that you see your sin more. Truth gets truer for the growing Christian (Paul’s trajectory). “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” How foolish to deny your capacity for evil. Think about the opposite, “If we say we have sin, we are honest with ourselves and the truth is in us.” 

Three, God says you have sinned. Now, if  1 John 1:8 is referring to a sinful nature, 1 John 1:10 is most probably talking about actual sins we commit. And God says, “they are plentiful.” In fact, Jeremiah 17:9 says, our hearts are deceitful above all things, and desperately sick…” Romans 3:23, he says, “All of sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” You are woefully short.

Now, how is this verse going to help me move forward? When someone brings up sin or shortcomings in my life. I am going to try to remember, they are not the only ones calling me a sinner. God has called me a sinner and their testimony is just affirming his and while their evidence may or may not be right, their conclusion most definitely is. And I need to hear what they say through that lens!

So, the “if we say” way is disobedient, deceptive, and denial ridden way to live with sin. It deceives me and others about my sin, authentic Christian living, and the testimony of God. 

Way #2 -“But if” way 

So, if the first way is marked by disobedience, dishonesty, and denial, then the “But if” way is marked by holiness, honesty, and humility!

First, holiness. True Christian living is following after the way of Jesus. The clear cut gospel call to Levi and all sinners was “Follow Me.” In Luke chapter 5, Jesus came up to Levi in his booth and of all the things he could have said to Levi, “start reading the Torah,” “go to synagogue more often,” “stop stealing…” He simply said, “Follow Me.” And when Levi was called, He got up, left his tax booth, and underhanded ways and He checked them at the door never to return. Because when Jesus calls you leave and when you follow you never return. Did you really leave? Have you returned? That’s not the “But if” life of Holiness. 

If he has saved you from the world, He is definitely not going to share you with it. He is not into a spiritually open or polygamous relationship. A couple of verses to hammer this home:

“for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” (Ephesians 5:8-11 ESV)

Part of this exposure is self-exposure. If you want to be holy, you must expose yourself. There is no other way for the secret sins to be squashed unless you bring it up. We are not good enough at asking each other so we must volunteer it—you must initiate it. James 5:16 is God’s prescription of how the body’s fellowship and Christ's cleansing create holy living in the light. 

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. So you want to be pure? Confess to man and call out for cleansing and you will be healed. That is how the cleansing of Christ and the body of Christ merged to keep you walking in the light! Must be a Holy habit of yours for 2022. 

Second, honesty. Now, the “if we say” way was dishonest (v. 6 and 8), but this way is marked by honesty. But if we confess our sins… As a community we need to learn that true freedom comes via honesty, transparency, vulnerability, and admission. Romans 2 says our consciences can do 1 of two things: excuse our sin or accuse our sin. And you know what, whatever you share or confess with God and even with us we should respond with, “Is that it?” “Is that all?” 

Romans 7:13 says we are “sinful beyond measure…” and you could do far worse. So, this honesty section is more about you being honest with yourself because honestly, we all know you have hidden sin that we just don’t know what it is yet. But, God does. And He’s saying, “I know the guilt that you are feeling, the weight you are holding, and hole you feel in your heart and I want to fill that hole with grace and heal you! And He’s saying “Give it to Me”. I’ll break that curse in your life, but you have to give it to me. 

I think this image is carried out by C.S. Lewis in the Great Divorce. It’s a story about a bunch of ghost-like misfits on a bus trying to enter heaven and each one must overcome an obstacle to get there. And in his book, chapter 11 there is an exchange between a ghost, an angel, and a lizard (who embodies this sin addiction that this man thinks he can’t live without.) And you will see the stranglehold your God wants to have on your sin!

Thirdly, humility. Let me read the verses immediately following ours: 1 John 2:1, “my dear children, I am writing these things to you so you may not sin, but if anyone does sin (what the humble admit, but what do the humble get?), we have an Advocate, Jesus Christ the Righteous.” You can trade your unrighteousness for His righteousness. There is no better deal in the world. But your permission is confession!!