Excuses, Excuses!

If We Say We Have
1 John 1:5-6 ESV


God is light. He is truth. He is righteousness. He is holy, pure, good, virtuous, sinless, just, kind, loving, and forgiving, but he does not placate sin. He does not wink at sin. And he doesn’t look the other way when we sin against him, nor does his grace give us the freedom to continue living in sin without guilt and without punishment.

So, if we claim to be in Christ, by faith in him, and we claim we are in intimate relationship with him, and that we are in fellowship with him, but we continue in willful, defiant, deliberate, habitual, and premeditated sin against him, as a matter of practice, we lie and do not practice the truth.

But many people today are teaching a gospel which tells people that a mere confession or profession of him as Savior is enough to secure them heaven when they die but that they don’t have to submit to Christ as Lord or obey his commandments or leave their lifestyles of sin behind them.

But the Scriptures teach the opposite of that. The Scriptures teach that we must die with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, as a matter of practice, and that we must follow our Lord in obedience to his commands or we don’t have eternal life with God (Lu 9:23-26; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 2:3-6).

But if We Walk
1 John 1:7 ESV


Notice with me that we are being taught here a progressive salvation, not a one-time and you are in, and you can never be out salvation. We must walk in the light as Jesus/God is in the light. Righteousness must be what we practice. Sin cannot be what we practice. A walk is something that happens daily, not just once. It is how we conduct our lives day in, and day out.

For, Paul taught that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For, if we set our minds on the flesh, that ends in death, but if we set our minds on the Spirit, that results in life and peace with God. For, if we live according to the flesh we will die, but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we will live with Christ for eternity (Rom 8:1-17; cf. Rom 6:1-23).

For, when we believe in Jesus with genuine God-given faith, we are saved (past), we are being saved (present), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus Christ returns, and our salvation will then be complete. But it won’t be complete if we don’t stay the course, and if we don’t obey our Lord but if we continue walking in sin (Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Col 1:21-23; Jn 15:1-12).

If We Confess
1 John 1:8-10 ESV


We can’t read 1 John 1:9 about confessing our sins apart from this whole section of 1 John 1, or apart from 1 John as a whole, or apart from the New Testament as a whole. For, the Scriptures do not teach that a mere acknowledgment of sin or a verbal confession of sin is what is required for God to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

For, we just read that if we say we have fellowship with God, but if we walk (in conduct, in practice) in darkness (sin) that we are liars. And we just read that we must walk in the light, which means we live holy lives, pleasing to God, and we leave our sinful practices behind us, and we follow our Lord in obedience, and then the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

So, confession of sin is not a mere admittance that one has sinned, for there are many people who confess, sin, confess, sin, confess, sin, but they never change. They keep doing the same sins over and over and confessing them verbally, but they don’t turn away from them to follow the Lord in obedience.

So, confession has to fit with this context, and confession needs to be understood to mean that we are agreeing with God about our sin. And agreeing with God, again, is not a mere acknowledgment of sin, for if we agree with God, we not only call sin what it is, but we turn away from it to follow the Lord in obedience to his ways.

Also, there are many ways to say we have no sin. We can refuse to admit that what we did is sin, or we call it something less, like “I messed up,” instead of “I committed sin against God and against you.” Or we blame someone else for our sins or we minimize them to something much less than what they really are.

For example, if you are addicted to (enslaved to) sin, and you minimize that addiction to just one aspect of that sin, that is not owning up to the magnitude of the sin and calling it what it is. For, if you minimize it, then you end up not dealing with the sin, as a whole, and therefore you don’t really get victory over your sin.

For those who are addicted to sin, the problem isn’t just the acting out of a particular aspect of the sin, but it is the whole cycle surrounding the sin that is also the sin problem. It is the excusing away of the sin, and the blaming of others for your sin, and it is the attacking of those trying to help you out of your sin, and it is the lying to cover up your sin which are all sin.

So, if we are going to get victory over sin, we have to agree with God about the whole area of sin, such as the pride, idolatry, bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, blaming of others, attacking those trying to help us, lying to others about our sin, being a hypocrite, putting on a show of righteousness, and the continual act of excusing away and minimizing the sin.

So, we have to be fully honest about the whole thing, and we have to surrender our hearts to Jesus, and we have to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return, for this is what God’s grace trains us to do. And we have to not make sin our practice, or we won’t be forgiven our sins.

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

*Caution: This link may contain ads

Jesus is my Superhero said:

You'd probably have more readers if you shortened your posts. Break them apart into more posts. It makes it much easier in this cell phone age.

"For example, if you are addicted to (enslaved to) sin, and you minimize that addiction to just one aspect of that sin, that is not owning up to the magnitude of the sin and calling it what it is. For, if you minimize it, then you end up not dealing with the sin, as a whole, and therefore you don’t really get victory over your sin".

Edit: Sometimes sin is just a part of a bad habit. Break the habit!

Click to expand...

Habitual and deliberate sin is not just part of a bad habit. It is hate towards God. If it is sexual sin and you are married it is hate toward your spouse especially if you won't change and you lie, trick, manipulate, and excuse the sin repeatedly, etc. And if you continue in it, the Bible says you won't have eternal life with God.

biblelesson said:

Thank you for your post! As I read what you wrote, I noticed, or it feels like you are mixing grace with works. This is an absolute statement of works: "“No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives..."

Because the gospel teaches that our sins are covered in Christ, and we don't sin. The part about "we don't sin" is because it is the Holy Spirit that causes us not to sin by His Power.

1 John 3:9, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin: for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

Romans 6:22, "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."

Galatians 5:16, This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

If we are sinning, and having difficulties with sin, what we must do, is not try to stop the sin on our own, because that becomes works, Romans 7:21, "I find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me." Romans 7:24, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Romans 7:25, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord..."

We must subdue the fleshly man, our desires, by yielding to the Holy Spirit so that that sin be removed by Him. Not that we focus on the sin, and try and stop it on our own. We are to be living in the Power of the Holy Spirit so that by the Power of the Holy Spirit, our sins are subdued, and we won't be able to sin.

So our struggle is to put off the Old Man (the flesh), and Put on the New Man, walk by the Spirit. To do this is to realize the truth, and believe God's truth, that we have been crucified with Christ, and we have been freed from sin by His death. When we as Christians have the true revelation of our crucification with Christ, we can then truly look to Christ for His strength (Power) to overcome our sin, by His Spirit. It's Christ that gives us the victory over sin.

Click to expand...

Read Titus 2:11-14. I was saying what it says. So you are disagreeing with Scripture, not me.

biblelesson said:

KJV Titus 2:11-14, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. 12, Teaching us that denying the ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world. 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

"God that bringeth salvation - for the grace of God." It is God who bringeth salvation by His grace. All things pertaining to salvation is by God's grace. A free gift. This includes our ability to stop sinning. It is by His grace that we are given the ability to stop sinning. His grace is the Power of the Holy Spirit given to us to empower us by His might in the inner man to stop sinning. We take no credit for it.

We recognize sin in our life, and we cry out to God to help us. God answers our prayer by empowering us by His Spirit to stop sinning, and enables us to" live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." When the Spirit comes, in power, the Spirit subdues all of our sin, not just one! We take no credit for God's Power and what God is able to do in our lives as Christians.

Click to expand...

I said it was God's grace training (teaching) us to do that. Just quoted from NIV but the message is still the same.

biblelesson said:

Thank you for your post! As I read what you wrote, I noticed, or it feels like you are mixing grace with works. This is an absolute statement of works: "“No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives..."

Because the gospel teaches that our sins are covered in Christ, and we don't sin. The part about "we don't sin" is because it is the Holy Spirit that causes us not to sin by His Power.

1 John 3:9, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin: for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

Romans 6:22, "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."

Galatians 5:16, This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

If we are sinning, and having difficulties with sin, what we must do, is not try to stop the sin on our own, because that becomes works, Romans 7:21, "I find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me." Romans 7:24, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Romans 7:25, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord..."

We must subdue the fleshly man, our desires, by yielding to the Holy Spirit so that that sin be removed by Him. Not that we focus on the sin, and try and stop it on our own. We are to be living in the Power of the Holy Spirit so that by the Power of the Holy Spirit, our sins are subdued, and we won't be able to sin.

So our struggle is to put off the Old Man (the flesh), and Put on the New Man, walk by the Spirit. To do this is to realize the truth, and believe God's truth, that we have been crucified with Christ, and we have been freed from sin by His death. When we as Christians have the true revelation of our crucification with Christ, we can then truly look to Christ for His strength (Power) to overcome our sin, by His Spirit. It's Christ that gives us the victory over sin.

Click to expand...

Yes, Jesus is the one who gives the victory. Yes, only by God's grace are we able to walk in freedom from sin. But if we claim to have fellowship with God and we walk in sin, i.e., we are addicted to sin, we are liars. For, if we walk by the flesh and we make sin our practice we will die in our sins. We will not have eternal life with God. So confessing our sins is not just admitting we sinned but it is agreeing with God about our sin, meaning we surrender our lives to Jesus, by God’s grace, and we turn away from our sins, in his strength and power, and we now walk by the Spirit so that we don't fulfill the passions of the flesh. This is a summary of the teaching.

biblelesson said:

I love your posts, so don't get me wrong. I just want to share what God has revealed to me. We suffer with our sins until God builds us up by His Spirit, so that His Holy Spirit can remove them.

It is by His grace that our sins are removed. This way, it is God who gets the glory. "Where is boasting then," Romans 3:27. If we are able to live a controlled sinful life, then why did Jesus die? We have no control to stop our sin no matter how we try. We can't do it, and will never be able to do it. But, only by the Power of the Holy Spirit can all of our sins be removed out of the way.

Click to expand...

Not sure your first paragraph is biblical, but I agree with your second paragraph. When we believe in Jesus with God-given faith, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and we are given new lives in Christ, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. But then the Scriptures teach we must walk according to the Spirit, which is done in the Spirit, and we must not walk according to the flesh or we will die in our sins. For we died to sin so how can we live in it any longer? For when we believed in Jesus we were delivered from our slavery to sin that we might now become slaves of God and of his righteousness. Rom 6 & 8