Sound The Trumpet

Sooner or later, every believer will sin. This is inevitable.

1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Everyone is a sinner. That is, everyone has sinned in the past. Moreover, it is likely that everyone will sin again in the future.

1 John 2:1 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:

Despite the likelihood that we will all sin again in the future, God does not want us to sin. God would prefer that we do not sin. But, we are assured that, if we do sin, we will have an advocate with the father. So, think about this. When a believer sins, Jesus will actually stand up for him. Jesus will intercede on my behalf when I sin. He will step in and speak for me. I imagine Jesus standing and pointing to the holes in his hand or perhaps showing his pierced side. In any case, Jesus reminds the Father of the blood he shed for my sins.

1 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.

From our point of view, when we sin, we must confess. Confession is simple: it is agreement with God that we were wrong. When we genuinely admit that we are wrong, we will also turn from our sin. This is the essence of repentance.

1 John 1:6-7 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: (7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

There is a contrast in this passage. On one side, we see that when we walk in darkness (sin), the truth is not in us.  But, on the other hand, when we when we walk in the light or truth, or not in sin, we have fellowship with Christ. It really is an either / or scenario. Either we are not sinning and we have fellowship with God or we are sinning and we do not have fellowship.

In any case, it is wonderful to know that when we sin, we have an advocate - Jesus Christ. We can take great comfort in knowing that Jesus is there to intercede for us when we sin and it is a comfort to know that when we confess, we will be cleansed.