PERSONAL HINDRANCES TO FELLOWSHIP

Positional forgiveness is essential to fellowship with God and His family. Conditional forgiveness is necessary to maintain fellowship. The first possible mistake named by John was that of a Christian claiming fellowship while walking in darkness. He gave another warning of the possibility of Christians claiming to have no indwelling sin: “If we say [aorist active subjunctive of lego, to say] that we have no sin [hamartian with ouk and echomen, present active indicative of echo, sin we do not possess], we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (I John 1:8 NASB). Gnostic teachers in John’s day claimed to have no sin, and some people today make the same claim. They believe it is possible for Christians to live sinless lives. Persons who make such a claim are not only self-deceived, but they also willfully ignore history and the truth of Scripture concerning the presence of indwelling sin.

Scripture does not teach that man’s sinful nature is eradicated when he is regenerated. The principle of sin is unregenerable. It is condemned, but neither changed nor eradicated during the Christian’s physical life. The law of the Spirit of life governs the new life in Christ Jesus. Therefore, the law of sin in the believer is not as great as the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. God cannot “condemn” (katakrima, a condemnatory word that is used only in Romans 5:16, 18; 8:1) and love the elect, but He can “chasten” and love them: “FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES” (Heb. 12:6 NASB). “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline…” (Rev. 3:19 NASB). Children of God may be judged and chastened, but never condemned: “But when we are judged [present passive participle of krino, to form an opinion as to what is right or wrong], we are disciplined [present passive indicative of paideuo, to instruct, admonish, or chastise] by the Lord in order that we may not be condemned [aorist passive subjunctive of katakrino, to condemn] along with the world” (I Cor. 11:32 NASB).

Sin in the lives of Christians hides the Savior’s face in respect to fellowship, but it does not sever them from His grace. Although the principle of sin in them is the cause of sins, it does not reign in them. Sin reigns in the unregenerate (Rom. 5:21), signifying that they are ruled and controlled by sin. Being controlled by sin means the unsaved are slaves of sin, and this refutes neutrality. On the other hand, Christians do not habitually and customarily sin as they once did. Their sinning is out of weakness instead of wickedness. There is no sinning without the loss of fellowship with God and the joy of salvation.

The trite saying “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing” also applies to the knowledge of the Scriptures. Some do not go as far as the false teachers who twist the Scriptures to their own destruction (II Pet. 3:16), but their lack of knowledge leads them to draw false conclusions. The particle “If” in I John 1:8—“If we say that we have no sin”—is a third class condition, expressing the mood of possibility. Persons who would be led astray by a want of Biblical knowledge plus the misapplication of Scripture would be self-deceived. The most fertile soil for deception is Biblical ignorance. Persons would have to be deceived to say “we do not possess indwelling sin” because John showed how this second error could be corrected: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9 NASB). Therefore, the truth of Scripture would not be in persons who may say, “…we have no sin.” Paul confessed indwelling sin: “So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me…. But I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me” (Rom. 7:17, 20 NASB). John proved that indwelling sin produces the sins that must be confessed in order to maintain fellowship (I John 1:9).

Sinlessness in this life is impossible because the principle of sin dwelling in Christians produces some fruit. One must acknowledge that grace operating in saints renews their wills, cleanses their affections, and purifies their thoughts. However, he must not forget that the law of sin and the law of the Spirit of life coexist in Christians. Anyone who denies the coexistence of these two principles is self-deceived through Biblical ignorance.

Some think that attending “church” regularly, giving tithes, saying prayers, and reading the Bible daily keep them from having sin in their lives. An old Trick of Satan is to persuade novices to balance one thing against another thus excusing themselves. Too often Christians disguise their vices by giving them false names, such as recreation, diversion, and entertainment. They dress them up as virtues and call them such until they believe what they say. They change the form of their sin and think they are through with it. An infallible judgment is possible in only a perfect Person, Jesus Christ. Prejudice prejudges a question in accordance with its own bias. Personal feelings blind men to considerations that would otherwise be seen. Furthermore, attachment to either a personal theory or a denominational teaching causes people to do violence to the natural meaning of the original words of Scripture.

The Christian’s state before God is not what it is before men. Deceived persons do not have the proper concept of their condition. Motives that seem to them to be right before God may, when viewed through His prism, prove to be many-colored. Aims that men think are straight prove to be crooked when tested by God’s standard. Love is tainted with selfishness, and faith is poisoned with unbelief. “Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins” (Eccl. 7:20 NASB).

Confession is the condition for the cleansing of progressive sanctification. Positional cleansing, whether legal in justification or actual in regeneration, has no condition. Chosen sinners have nothing to do with either. They did not exist when the first was accomplished before God, and they were passive in the second, when the Holy Spirit wrought a work of grace in their hearts. On the other hand, the cleansing of sanctification does not take place until sinning Christians unveil and confess their sins. “If we confess our sins” of I John 1:9 is another third class condition of ean with the present active subjunctive of homologeo, which means, “If we keep on confessing our sins.”

Confession must be definite and precise. A child of God must not be content with a general survey of his sins. He must unmask the sin and call it by name. A general confession will get a saint no place when it comes to the cleansing of sanctification. Secret sins are not confessed in a general statement. Every problem in the assembly is a sin problem. In most cases, it is the problem of hidden and unconfessed sin. Concealed sin has the power of infecting one’s whole character and also the character of the assembly. David’s concealment of his sin for a time exemplifies the former (Ps. 32; 51), and the fornicator in the assembly at Corinth is an example of the latter (I Cor. 5).

An insincere confession will not result in conditional cleansing. For example, a dying man was confessing his sins to his pastor in such terms as “I am chief of sinners” and “my past life is filled with disobedience.” The pastor broke into the so-called confession and said, “Then it was true what I heard about you.” The dying man demanded to know what the pastor had heard and who said it. The pastor told him that he had not heard it from someone who was trying to malign his character, but from himself. The pastor then told him that he was grieved to learn that his confession was not sincere, but was mere words.

Confession is the confessor saying the same thing that the Advocate says to the Father. There is always harmony between what the sinning saint says and what Christ pleads. When the confessor identifies himself with what he confessed, he has a godly sorrow that results in repentance, a hatred for the sin he has committed, and a determination by God’s help to turn from it. Since confession is used more than one way in the Scriptures, the context must determine its use.

Unconfessed sin interrupts fellowship. There is no spiritual growth in a Christian as long as his sin remains unconfessed. Therefore, the absence of growth indicates unacknowledged sin. Hidden sin will grow until it is confessed. Although the unconfessing Christian goes through the forms of fellowship, prayer, and service, his fellowship is interrupted, his prayer is unheard, and his service is unfruitful. Walking in darkness suspends fellowship: “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (I John 1:6 NASB). Hidden sin makes prayer unanswerable: “If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear” (Ps. 66:18 NASB). Unconfessed sin causes all so-called service to be unfruitful: “For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer” (Ps. 32:4 NASB).

Three things must be done before lost fellowship can be restored (I John 1:9).

1. Saints must confess their sins. There will be no confession until sins are acknowledged and uncovered. Since sins are a personal matter against God, they must be personally confessed: “For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned, And done what is evil in Thy sight, So that Thou art justified when Thou doest speak, And blameless when Thou dost judge” (Ps. 51:3, 4 NASB). David did not blame heredity, society, or instinct, but himself. His sorrow was not for the consequences of his sins, but for the sins themselves.

2. Sinning Christians must be forgiven of their sins. Their forgiveness is conditioned on confession. Unconfessed sins will suspend fellowship with God, but relationship with Him remains unaffected. Loss of reward, not loss of life, is the concern of every child of God (II John 8).

3. Christians must be cleansed from their sins. Cleansing from the sin of “walking in darkness” (I John 1:6) is by “walking in the light.” This cleansing is explained in Ephesians 5:26—“that He might sanctify her [the assembly], having cleansed [aorist active participle of kathartidzo] her [the assembly] by the washing [dative of loutron, a bath, water for bathing, or washing—used here and Titus 3:5] of water with the word”  (NASB). The cleansing from sins is by confessing them (I John 1:9). A reversal of the order of confessing, forgiving, and cleansing presents another view of what restoration to fellowship requires. Sinning Christians cannot be cleansed until they are forgiven, and they cannot be forgiven until they confess. John was talking about condition, not position.

The two verbs “forgive” (aphiemi) and “cleanse” (katharidzo) in I John 1:9 are aorist active subjunctive. The aorist states the fact of the action (point action) without regard to its duration. This means the verbs are implemented definitely and decisively at a specific point in time. The necessity for any subsequent cleansing will emerge in I John 1:10-2:2. The voice represents the subject of the verbs acting. The subjunctive mood expresses probability based on the contingency of confession.

John pointed to the possibility of another error in verse 10. “If [third class condition of ean] we say [aorist active subjunctive of lego] that we have not sinned [perfect active indicative of hamartano, used with the negative ouch, which means not only have we not sinned, but we are in a state where we are no longer sinning], we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (I John 1:10 NASB). The assumption of not having sinned is worse than verse 8. Such persons would not only be self-deceived, but also go so far in falsehood as to make God a liar. Sinning Christians would not outrightly call God a liar, but those in whom the word of God does not abide often make God a liar by saying things contrary to truth.

The word of God cannot abide in a born-again believer who is either ignorant of Scripture or forgets what he has heard. Therefore, Christians must be not only taught, but also reminded of what they have been taught. (See John 15:7; II Pet. 3:1.) God is made a liar when opinion, tradition, or custom takes precedence over the word of God.

Christians cannot deny the presence of sin, but they can claim the provision that God has made for them. We have not only Christ’s death for us, but also His life in us: “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10 NASB). Christ died to put away sin from us before God, and He lives to put away sin in us. As His death destroyed sin’s penalty and guilt in us, His life destroys its dominion over us. Christ’s work as Redeemer is finished, but His work as Advocate is unfinished. Therefore, through the advocacy of Christ, we can be brought to maturity in Him.