If we sin, do we lose our salvation? If we are truly saved, will we ever sin? And if we do sin, what should we do to get rid of the guilt and the grief that hangs heavy in our heart?
If we confess our sins, he [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. —1 John 1:9–10;2:1–2
The word “advocate” means lawyer or one who pleads our cause or case. Jesus acts as our lawyer, pleading our case before the Father. When we are tempted, if we sin, we can claim the promise of First 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.”
After verse 10, the Apostle John went on to say, “My little children . . .” (1 John 2:1). Man put the divisions between these chapters; John did not write in chapter and verse like this. Therefore, reading the four verses of our text in sequence, we can see that John was not writing to sinners; he was writing to Christians.
First John 1:9 is often quoted to sinners, telling them to confess their sins. God didn’t tell them to. It would be impossible for a sinner to confess every wrong he had ever done, because his whole life is wrong! No, this verse was written to Christians.
John writes, “My little children [because they were saved under his ministry and were his spiritual children], these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
This brings us to a very sensitive subject in the Church world. When you teach about God’s grace and forgiveness, someone always believes you are giving people a license to sin. I always say, however, that people do enough sinning without a license!
It is quite obvious that God does not want us to sin: “. . . these things write I unto you, that ye SIN NOT” (1 John 2:1). It is quite obvious that if we walked completely in the Word and in love, we wouldn’t sin. But it is also obvious that none of us has achieved this yet.
Considering the other side of the issue, when people continually want to sin and choose to sin, I doubt that they ever were Christians to begin with. Why? When people live any way they want and do anything they want—cheat, lie, steal, and so forth—I doubt that a true Christian conversion ever took place.
Some have said to me, “It doesn’t make any difference what I do. Christ is my advocate.” One man said, “I might steal something next week. I’m not planning to do it, but if I do, Jesus already has forgiven me for it.” I doubt seriously if a man like that is even saved.
This scripture in First John never was intended to encourage people to sin. John is simply telling us about God’s provision for sin. The Spirit of God will help us overcome sin—not encourage us to practice it! After all, John said, “These things write I unto you, that you sin not.”
In the first place, if a person is born again—if he has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior—he doesn’t want to do wrong. But often the devil tempts him through his flesh and overcomes him because he is not strong spiritually.
Paul said, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a FAULT, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1).
If it were just a fault Paul was talking about, we all would need restoring, and there wouldn’t be any spiritual people left to do the restoring. We all have faults. The Greek actually says, “If any man among you be overtaken in an offense, or sin, you which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness.”
God wants His people to be restored to full fellowship with Him. It is a different matter, however, when people do not want to be restored. If they want to be restored, it is our obligation to restore them in a spirit of meekness, not arrogance. Why? “. . . considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1).
When it comes to healing, James 5:14–15 says, “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” We see here the possibility of sin in conjunction with sickness, and of forgiveness in connection with healing.
By way of illustration, if a man were to speak sharply to his wife, he is not eternally lost because of it. He is, however, out of fellowship with her! He needs to get back in fellowship with her by apologizing and asking her forgiveness.
Well, First John 2:1 says, “. . . if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” If we sin, we lose our sense of righteousness and cannot enter God’s Presence. Righteousness means right-standing with God. Righteousness means the ability to stand in the Presence of God without any inferiority complex, without a consciousness of sin.
If you have sinned or failed, you cannot stand in the Presence of God without a consciousness of sin. But there is One who can go in on your behalf — Jesus Christ, the Righteous. He is the propitiation—the substitute—for our sins; and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:1,2).
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