Walking in Light. Glorifying God.

Some time ago, I was confronted with a very unusual Scripture. In his first letter, the apostle John writes, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1:8). You may ask, What is so strange about this? Well, if you look at it, sin and truth dwell in the same vessel. And, in order to walk in the light, without deceiving ourselves [and others], we must confess [or "say"] that we have sin. In other words, if we are to be truthful in this life, we must say that we sin.

Has the irony hit you yet? If not, let's look at it more closely. Many look past the word "sin" without really understanding all of the word's implications. Sin is not merely something within us that is bad; but it is more importantly, something within us that is bad towards others. Sin always affects someone else.

So, imagine discussing the fact that you have the Truth with someone against whom you have sinned. Now do you see the irony?

In our moralistic society, we have made the Christian life into something that it was never intended to be. Because we are not overwhelmed by the gracious and total forgiveness of God in Christ, we go about life hiding our sins - wait! I should have said, "hiding our sins against others."

The conversation goes something like this: Someone says, "You have sinned against me." And we say, "No I haven't." There are a number of ways to say "No I haven't." We blame other people. We blame "uncontrollable circumstances." After all, it wasn't our fault! We are very crafty hiders. And because we are, people that we have hurt and abused are left feeling less-valued as humans and simply put, lied to. Christianity, they say, is a life of lies (or untruths). People know when they have been hurt. They also know who hurt them. We can say we are not guilty all day long. But the megaphone of life speaks louder than our whispering lies.

Moralism demands a perfect people - a sinless people. The Gospel, on the other hand demands a repentant people. Moralism holds itself far above the reach of every sinner in need. The Gospel, on the other hand, comes down to every sinner in need. Moralism says, If the truth is in you, sin cannot be in you. The Gospel says, If the truth is in you, untruth cannot be in you. Therefore, we tell the truth. What is the truth? We are sinners...saved by Grace...by the One who is sinless...Jesus Christ.

If we say we have no sin, not only do we deceive ourselves, but we lie to others. We give broken sinners a devastating lie - that, to be a Christian, you must be sinless. You must think of God every day, all day. You must read your Bible for hours, upon hours, upon hours. You must pray long prayers. You must share your faith with every person you see.

The truth is however, that you must do NONE of these things to be a Christian. You only need to feel your need of him; and, in repentance and faith - confess, that you are a sinner in need of the Savior. This is all. Christ alone. Faith alone.

And now, for you moralists out there (myself included) - once faith and repentance is granted, we CAN enjoy reading our Bible. We CAN think of God often. We CAN share this wonderful faith with others. We CAN pray simple, childlike prayers. We can do all of this without hiding the fact that we don't do these things as often as we should - or as often as we'd like. We don't have to hide anymore. We are forgiven. We are filled. It's okay to say that we are all jacked up. But it's only okay, while reflecting the only One who is not - The One who saves jacked up people like you and me.

Onward Christian soldiers. Tell the truth. Walk in light. Glorify your Maker.