EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/2/2024 11:16 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
“Those Who Defame God”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1 John 1:10
Message of the verses: “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”
I have been writing about those who deny the
certainty of sin, and this verse culminates with a third group, those who not
only claim not to sin now, but who say that they have never sinned. I suppose that there are people who say that
they have never sinned, but the truth of Scripture is that every person that
has been born is born with a sin nature, and since you have a sin nature then
you sin. These people are making a ridiculous
assertion they blasphemously make God a liar (cf. Titus 1:2; 1 John 5:10-11) in
two ways. The first way is that they explicitly
deny His teaching that all have sinned, and second, they implicitly deny the
need for a Savior. Here is a list of
verses that go along with that statement we can compare with: Isa. 53:10-11;
Zech. 9:9; Matt. 1:21; Luke 2:11; 10:10; Acts 5:31; 13:38-39; Rom. 6:23; 1 Tim.
1:15; Heb. 5:9. Now after all, why would
they need a Substitute to take their punishment for something that they claim
to have never committed?
MacArthur writes: “All three categories of false
claimants to fellowship with God fail John’s second doctrinal test by denying
sin’s certainty. Thus they prove that His
word [truth] is not in them. Anyone,
even a professed believer seeking to cover up his or her sin, is in the depths
of spiritual darkness and deception, and blasphemes God. Conversely, when those truly in the
fellowship fall into sin, they do not deny sin’s presence or their propensity
toward it (Rom. 7:14-25; 1 Tim. 1:12-15; cf. Pss. 32:5; 51:1, 3; Prov.
28:13). Instead they openly and honestly
confess their sins before the Lord and repent of them.
“Scripture corroborates the validity and necessity of
John’s first two doctrinal tests of salvation—belief in God and belief in the
certainty of sin. Concerning essential
faith, the author of Hebrews declares,
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen…And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. (11:1, 6; cf. John 6:47; 20:31; Rom. 1:17; 3:21-22, 28; 1 John 5:1)
Jesus spoke a parable about the Pharisee and the publican
(tax collector) and this makes clear that one cannot be justified apart from an
honest confession of His or her sinfulness:
But the tax collector [in contrast to the self-righteous Pharisee], standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 18:13-14; cf. Prov. 26:12; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:5).
Now Lord willing we will began looking at 1 John
1:7, 9; 2:1a in the next SD. John
MacArthur entitles this 3rd chapter in his commentary on 1 John “Tests
of Salvation—Part 2: Belief in the
Forgiveness of Sins and Confession.”
9/2/2024 11:41 PM
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