In 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 thesis declaring salvation by grace through faith. Today the church desperately needs a second reformation of sanctification by grace. Christians are chained to a treadmill of trying to please God by their behavior, of trying harder and sinning less. If they can just discipline themselves enough and be determined enough, they are deceived into thinking they can become righteous and holy and be close to God and He will be pleased. Grace tells us that our relationship and intimacy with our Father in heaven is no longer dependent upon our behavior...or lack there of. Grace tells us we no longer have to strive to become righteous, because He has given us a new nature that is righteous. Grace tells us that it is the only thing powerful enough to deal with our sin. Grace tells us that God is already head-over-heels in love with us and nothing we do can change that. Welcome to "Formed by Grace."

Monday, June 14, 2010

So What About I John 1:9?

So - if my sin doesn't come between me and God any more - what about I John 1:9, "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Doesn't confession get the sins our from between us so we can be close again? This is what I believed for years. But once I began to grasp the truth of the previous blog, I found I had to rethink this verse.

What if when I sin, God doesn't move away. And what if I can't move away because he has me in His grasp? What if nothing in all of creation can separate me from the love of God...not even my sin? But what if in that grasp I feel uncomfortable and dirty and it makes me squirm in His grasp of me? That's where I John 1:9 comes in - when I confess He is faithful to cleanse me and I can stop squirming and enjoy this beautiful relationship of grace that I have with Him.
Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. UnknownJuly 25, 2010 at 3:12 PM

    We may no longer be alienated from God, but there remains some real-time effect of sin in a believer's life. What is that or what metaphors does God use to tell us about this? Here in 1Jn1 I see 'forgive', a sort of legal or relational term, and 'cleanse', a physical term. Similarly, Heb 9.14 speaks of being cleansed in order to serve, like the metaphor in 2Ti 2.20,21. So perhaps it could be said that my sin makes me offensive, dirty, and useless, like a kid that comes in after playing, for some unknown reason, in a manure pile. He's still Dad's son, but needs to clean himself up through confession and washing in Christ's blood.

    I can't stop squirming until I clean myself via the means God provides in relationship with himself. It would be wrong, presumptuous and arrogant to just ignore my sin on the basis of grace. (??)

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)