I Have Sin!

I Have Sin!

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 1. John 1:8. It is absolutely necessary to have this acknowledgment deeply rooted in my consciousness while I’m serving and doing good. Then I’m not so surprised or shocked that the things I say and do don’t always have a good effect like I had intended.

It is written about Jesus that “being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Phil. 2:7-8. It is only those who are humble who find this way in the many situations of life.

Jesus was obedient to God’s light, which revealed God’s will, when He was found as a man. When God’s light comes to me, judgment follows. When I agree with the judgment, I am set free from the sin that is still there. In many court cases, the opposing party appeals the verdict immediately. This often leads to significant additional costs, effort and delays. It is the same with God’s judgment—it is crucial to agree with it immediately! This is the fastest way to transformation and liberation from sin.

In WotL no. 377, verse 3, we sing: “The light brings our foolishness clearly to view, in things that we say and in things that we do; but if in the light we acknowledge our sin, then wisdom, by faith, comes where folly has been.” All truth-loving disciples will experience that folly is gradually replaced by wisdom. Jesus says that “you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32.

Think that God is so good to us that He gives us His light so that we can see sin, hate it, judge it, put it to death and finally be finished with it! In 1 John 1:7 it is written so clearly that “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.” Paul came to this profound realization in Rom. 7:21, “I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.” Because I have sin in my flesh, evil is present, it is close at hand, even though I want to do good. Paul concludes in verse 25, “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”

Let us be upright in our lives so that we hate the sin which dwells in us and which can so easily come out when we are serving. This is a conscious, interesting and wonderful life to live. Then I experience what is written further in the song, “The upright can always rejoice in the light; they hate all the evil within brought to sight. They’re purged in the ‘ocean of light’ all their days. The Giver of light, their Creator, they praise.” V. 4.