5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. 2 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. 1 John 1:5 – 2:2

The Bible tells us “that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God” (John 3:19-21).

Many who heard the teaching of Jesus sought to discredit Him and silence Him because His words, His teaching, revealed their sinfulness and failures to live up to all that God requires of us in His Word. Today, too, when the light of God’s Word shines upon us, it reveals to us our sinfulness and our failures to live in accord with God’s Word. But it also reveals to us Christ Jesus and all He has done for us to atone for our sins and redeem us from sin and death and give to us forgiveness for all our sins and eternal life.

The Apostle John, in his first epistle, speaking about what it is to walk in the light, says, “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” (1 John 1:8-9).

To walk in the light is not to deceive ourselves and imagine we are without sin. Rather, it is to let the light of God’s Word shine upon our lives and reveal our sins and then to agree with God’s verdict about our sins – to confess our sins – and to trust in Christ Jesus and His cross for pardon and forgiveness.

And how can God be both just and yet forgive our sins? It is because God’s Son, “Jesus Christ the righteous … is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” Jesus, by His holy life in our stead and by his innocent sufferings and death upon the cross for the sins of the world, propitiated and satisfied the just demands of God’s Law against our sins, making full atonement for the sins of all.

Therefore, when we confess our sins and look in faith to Christ Jesus and His cross for pardon and forgiveness, God is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

And so, I ask you, do you let the light of God’s Word shine upon your life? Do you permit God to reveal to you your sins and sinfulness?

Do you agree with God and say the same thing with God in regard to your own sins? Do you confess to God your sins and sinfulness?

And, do you look in faith to Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world for pardon, forgiveness and life everlasting?

As the Scripture says, “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 … If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”

For the sake of Christ and His atoning sacrifice, I announce the grace of God unto you and forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]