Sin and Forgiveness

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     First John 1:6-9 says, “ If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:   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.  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

     I once heard a story about Martin Luther where he would go to confession and spend a large amount of time confessing each and every sin known to him since his last confession.  The priest upon hearing Luther’s long list of sins would soon grow weary  and just tell him to go on, and say so many “hail Mary’s”  and “Lord’s Prayes” and the “Apostles Creed.”  Luther took sinning seriously and wanted to make sure he had confessed each and every one of them.  The question often comes up in regard to the Christian and sin.

     How long does “eternal life” last and when does it begin?  John 3:16 says that if a person believes on the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, that person has eternal life.  John also said the same thing in  First John 5:11-13.  So, what does take place?  The above passage, also from First John says that if we say we have no sin, we lie and the truth is not in us.  We know tha we sin and probably do so in almost all of our waking moments.  There are those sins of commission, the  things you do that you shouldn’t do and the sins of omission, those things you are supposed to do, but fail to do.  The Apostle Paul also speaks about the same thing in Romans 7 and confesses that he does what he is not supposed to do and still fails to do what he is supposed to do.  If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you know when you sin because your joy is gone.  King David said in Psalm 51:12 that  he wanted to get the joy of God’s salvation back.  David knew he had sinned and that he had tried to cover it up but God spoke to David through Nathen the prophet.  In Genesis 5:24, we read about Enoch who was a man that walked with God.  It  portrays a very special and close “fellowship” between Enoch and God as there is no usual record of the death of Enoch, but that God just took him straight up into heaven.  First John describes our sin as “unrighteousness” and it must be confessed to God as David confessed that it was a sing against God and only against him did he sin and needed to confess it to restore the joy of “God’s salvation” to his life.  The believer knows when they sin and their life is miserable because of it  until confession is made.  Then, the fellowship with God returns and the Joy of His salvation with it.  Praise God today for His forgiveness.