Mensa Otabil - Live for the Lord (11/01/2025)
Today we conclude our teaching on First John, chapter 1. I trust that it has been useful to you, and we conclude with verse number 10: «If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.» I want you to pay attention to the number of times that John repeats this assertion about those who deny the reality of sin, and he condemns this attitude many times in 1 John, chapter 1. He repeats, «If you say you have no sin, if you say you have no sin, if we say we have no sin.»
Why is he making the same assertion over and over again? Because it is very important, and he doesn’t want us to reach that point, as it is heresy and against the truth of God. Anyone in our modern times who says they are so perfect in their Christian life that they have no sin is living a self-deluded life. John actually says that if you do that, then you are trying to make God a liar because you are going contrary to the revealed truth of God. He then states that if you have that belief system, then the word of God doesn’t live in you. In essence, he is saying that if you have this point of view, then you are not a Christian, because the word of God is not in you. If the word of God is not in you, then you don’t belong to Him.
So please, this is something very critical that John wants Christians of his time and our time to pay attention to. Nobody should go about saying, «Ah, sin has no power over me. I am so righteous, I’m so perfect that I can’t sin.» Yes, it’s good to aim at living righteously before God and living a holy life, but the more we see the holiness of God, the more we also see our need for Him. That is the fundamental of our faith. God has called us to a life of holiness, but not to self-righteousness or self- delusion. We cannot presume that simply by repeating to ourselves that we are holy, and we are righteous, and we are doing well, we are free from the responsibility of guarding against sin, guarding our hearts from temptation, and seeking to daily trust in the sufficiency of God’s grace to help us live the righteous Christian life.
So we have learned from John that the Christian life is built on the foundation of the reality of Christ-the Christ who came, who was heard, who was seen, who was examined, and who was touched. Our faith is an examined faith; it is a faith that has come because people inquired and came to a conclusion about who Jesus Christ is. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came in the flesh. He died in the flesh, He resurrected in the flesh, and He is seated at the right hand of the Father. That is the foundation of our faith, and we must hold on to that foundation throughout our Christian life. When we come before the Lord, this same Jesus receives us. It is His sacrifice that makes it possible for God to forgive us of our sins, the sins of our old nature which are forgiven us in salvation, and the sins we commit after we have come to know Christ. In both cases, Christ is our advocate; in both cases, Christ’s sacrifice takes care of us.
I trust that you commit to the Christian life, to know Jesus Christ, to love Him, to serve Him, to make Him the center of your life, and that you live your Christian life relying on Him every day, every moment, every step to guide you, to lead you, and to help you live for Him in a way that affirms the truth of God, so that His word continues to grow in us.
Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, you know me through and through. I come before you just as I am. Help me to live for You. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»