The Confession of Sin 1 JOHN 1:5-7

John’s first epistle is not about salvation, even though it speaks of the need to confess sin. This letter is written to people who already have a relationship with God but need a reminder of how to remain in fellowship with Him. The Father intends for believers to enjoy His presence, but in order to do that, they must first deal with sin.

Although Christians have been made new in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), they are not yet perfect and therefore still transgress. We are humans in a physical body that retains all of its natural tendencies—yearning for food, sex, rest, and pleasure. When those desires are under the Holy Spirit’s control, we live joyful, God-honoring lives. However, should we give in to the temptation to appease the flesh, then we have invited darkness into our lives (1 John 1:6).

It is important to understand that “walk in darkness” does not mean a believer can lose his or her salvation—those who have received Jesus Christ as Savior can never be driven from the light of His love. But we can choose to get out of God’s will and veer off to a dark pathway of sin for a time. Since dark and light cannot exist together, doing so will fill our spirit with tension. Confessing our sin lifts the darkness and restores peace.

A believer in right fellowship radiates peace and joy. We are supposed to delight in the Lord (Ps. 37:4) by spending time in His presence, thinking about how to please Him, and sharing Him with those around us. Confessing our sin keeps our fellowship strong and glorifies the Lord.

Greater than Moses

The crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him.

Mark 9:15

How great the difference between Moses and Jesus! When Moses had been forty days upon the mountain, he underwent a kind of transfiguration, so that his face shone with exceeding brightness, and he put a veil over it because the people were not able to look upon his glory. Not so our Savior. He had been transfigured with a greater glory than that of Moses, and yet we do not read that the people were blinded by the blaze of His countenance, but rather they were amazed and ran to Him and greeted Him.

The glory of the law repels, but the greater glory of Jesus attracts. Though Jesus is holy and just, yet blended with His purity there is so much truth and grace that sinners run to Him amazed at His goodness, fascinated by His love; they greet Him, become His disciples, and take Him to be their Lord and Master. Reader, it may be that just now you are blinded by the dazzling brightness of the law of God. You feel its claims on your conscience, but you cannot keep it in your life. Not that you find fault with the law; on the contrary, it commands your profoundest esteem.

Still you are not drawn by it to God; you are rather hardened in heart and tending toward desperation. So turn your eye from Moses with all his repelling splendor, and look to Jesus, resplendent with milder glories. Look upon His flowing wounds and thorn-crowned head! He is the Son of God and greater than Moses, but He is the Lord of love and more tender than the lawgiver. He bore the wrath of God and in His death revealed more of God’s justice than Sinai displayed, but that justice is now vindicated, and it is the guardian of believers in Jesus. Look, sinner, to the bleeding Savior, and as you feel the attraction of His love, run to His arms, and you will be saved