1 John 1: 5-10
5This then is the message which we
have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no
darkness at all.
6If we say that we have fellowship
with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7But 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.
8If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
10If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
The new age
movement is many things but new is not one of them. The packaging is often
redone and stated in various ways but the basic precepts are as old as the
tower babel. Oprah speaks of the many ways to god but the truth is that scientology,
Native American spiritualism, Buddhism, universalism, psychology, self-help
teachings, humanism, false christianity and a thousand variations are at their
core the same teaching and all will bring you directly to the door step of the
god of this world. We see Christ and anti-Christ in that as Jesus is the door
that brings us to the light of becoming one with God so there is a door that brings
us to the darkness of Adams iniquity to make himself as god. This door is the
self.
The religion
of man, for they are in truth all the same, states that at the core of a man is
either god, the universal spirit, a clear consciousness, goodness, or whatever
description and that by enlightenment or removal of wrong emotions, desires,
thinking and understandings man can become what he is intended to be. When the
bells and whistles are removed it believes in short that the knowledge of good
and evil is sustenance to become as god is.
Though the scripture
is often used by those who hold such beliefs to validate their teaching it
pieced, parted and modified scripture pulled out as if it can stand on its own
without relationship to all else in the scripture.
John tells
us God is light and has no darkness in him at all. Not only does this statement
of truth stand against the religion of self-improvement but it raises the
question of how can the darkness of this world exist and at the same time God
be omnipresent. The answer to this is by a covering or a veil.
What happens
to darkness when it is exposed to light? It ceases to exist. For this very
reason when Adam choice to be his own illuminating force God enveloped this
world with His mercy to prevent men from ceasing to exist. This is the positive
of a covering but there is also a negative; if something is covered it is separated
from our presence.
So it was
that Adams choice to be self-generated caused us to be separated; God calls
this separation death and darkness. Our God added to His mercy the gift of redemption.
The effective working of this redemption is that Gods life becomes once more
the source of life for those who place their trust and dependence on Him. We
call this process of His life being restored in us grace.
This grace
is the means by which the dependence on the life generated by the flesh is
removed. It has its basic principle shown to us in the token of circumcision. Once
the carnal thinking of man could take hold of the precept of a covering of
flesh needing to be removed in order to be in the covenant of God with man then
God would build on this teaching.
The teaching
of a veil, both over Moses face as the glory of God emanated from him and by
the veil in both tabernacle and temple separating even the ministers of God
from His presence in the most holy place, shows us our separation.
In genesis God has said “And the LORD said, My
spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh”. The
prophets expand the teaching of circumcision by showing the separation of our
flesh with uncircumcised lips, ears, eyes, and heart. Until we are brought to
Messiah and how He has carried us into the removing of the flesh by His death,
which is true circumcision and removing of the veil, on the cross making us
dead to the life generated by our self but living to His generation of life in
us by His Spirit.
If we say that we have fellowship with him,
and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
So John
tells us if we are still in the darkness of trying to generate our own life but
claiming we are sharing in His life and light we lie. Our being is not as His
being
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.
However if
we rely, depend, and expect that our life is Him living in us then we are one
in His life and thereby one with the Father and also one another. In this
fellowship we are not merely covered by mercy and forgiveness but rather we are
cleansed. For sin is when we do that which is in opposition to the law but the
law is a description of the life of God. When we trust Him to share His life in
us and live through us our old sin is crucified in Messiah and we are cleansed
of our old bondage to that sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
If we allow
ourselves to believe that we can produce actions and desires that are pleasing
to God from the flesh of the self which we received from Adam then we deceive ourselves
and the truth of who we are and our separation from Him is not in our mind and
heart.
If we will
believe and confess not only the uselessness of ourselves to produce life but
also that the very attempt to do such is a result of the prideful sin that
brings only death. Then we find His forgiveness and that he cleanses from all
unrighteousness; for His life shared in us is the same life described as righteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we
make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
How often
have we heard others or ourselves say “I am a good person” or claim compared to
the next guy their wrong is a little thing. To say such a thing is to call God
a liar. Do not think within yourself that such a thing only applies to the lost;
our churches are filled with those who will say they need Jesus but then list
all the good things they do. Our Lord would not make such a confession despite
His perfect life but instead asked “why do you call me good there is none good
but the Father” for it was the Fathers life through Him not produced of or by
himself.
Is His word
in us?
