Forgiven Forever

“Free at last!  Free at last!  Thank God Almighty, we’re free at last!”  Those immortal words were made famous by Martin Luther King, Jr. at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s.  I would like to borrow that phrase but under a different context, a spiritual context.  If you are in Christ, you are indeed free at last and that’s because of the grace of God.

As we saw in the previous post, God in His infinite love freed us from the bondage of law through his grace.  Christians are not under the law.  We are in Christ.  His life, truth, and grace pulsates through our newly born spirit.  We need to let this truth sink deep within us so that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.  (Romans 12:2)  We are free from the severe and exacting requirements of the law, which demands no less than perfection.  Thank God Almighty that we have been set free.

Unfortunately, in some Christian circles, a mixed message is presented.  There are some who teach that an unbeliever comes to salvation by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone.  In other words, there is nothing you can do to earn God’s love and acceptance.  You could never be good enough to be saved apart from faith in Christ.  Christ died so that your sins would be forgiven and that you could have his life in you.  That’s good news!  (And biblical too.)

Sadly, though, that’s where the good news ends in this mixed message of grace and law.  Once you’re saved, so this message goes, it now suddenly becomes imperative that you live right or else.  Now that God’s Spirit lives in you, there are things you must do and things you must not do or your salvation could be in jeopardy.  To translate, now that you are a believer, you are suddenly back under law.

Given all the verses and passage we’ve examined over the last couple weeks that clearly state that believers are not under the law, it’s hard to imagine that we somehow miss the truth.  But being human, we often do.  I know I thought this way for years.  I just knew in my mind that if I sinned too much or committed certain types of sins that God may not forgive me.  I mean, it has to be true, right?  Wrong!  Try as hard as you might, you will find nothing in the New Testament that supports such thinking.  Nowhere does it say, or even hint for that matter, that we can cross a line that would cost us our salvation.  

“Hold on just a minute,” you might be thinking.  “Doesn’t 1 John 1:9 say that we have to confess our sins in order to be forgiven and cleansed?”  Yes, but that’s not the right question.  The right question is, “Who was John writing to?”  The most common thought is that he wrote that to Christians.  Wrong again.  Let’s dive into this and see who his audience is in chapter 1.

Let’s first read how John starts his letter.  “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.  The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  We write this to make our joy complete.”  (1 John 1:1-4)

The first thing to take note of is that John is clearly testifying about Jesus Christ.  His reference to the “Word of life” is very similar to is his description of Jesus at the beginning of his gospel.  And further note who he is proclaiming Christ to – those with whom he wants to have fellowship, a fellowship that is with the Father and the Son (see the underlined portion).  That can’t be a reference to Christians; they already have that fellowship.  So he must be writing this part of his letter to unbelievers.

“That doesn’t make sense Steve,” you may be thinking.  “Isn’t he writing a letter to believers in a church?”  That seems to often be the common thinking.  But he doesn’t say that he is writing only to believers or even to a particular church.  I think that we often have the misconception that because a letter such as this appears in the bible, it must be for Christians only.  Not necessarily true.  Even if he did intend this letter for a church (or churches), that certainly doesn’t mean that there are only Christians there.  Think about it.  Have you ever been in a church where not everyone was a Christian?

But even if that doesn’t convince you, there’s more.  “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”  (1 John 1:5-7)

Notice that he’s talking about people who walk in darkness yet they claim to have fellowship with God.  As a result, they are living a lie and not living in truth.  Is he describing a Christian?  I don’t think so.  Instead, he encourages these people to walk in the light as he (God) is in the light.  How do we do that?  We have faith in Jesus, the one who described himself as the light of the world.  (John 8:12 and 9:5)  Now at the risk of sounding like one of those TV infomercials, but wait, there’s more!

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”  (1 John 1:8-10)

Who claims to be without sin or to have not sinned?  A Christian?  That really makes no sense.  By definition, a Christian is one who acknowledged their sinful state.  That’s what brought them to Christ.  So when we read the famous 1 John 1:9, it’s critical that we read the two verses that sandwich it.  In its full context, I believe that it becomes clear that 1 John 1 was addressed to unbelievers, not Christians.  

Still unconvinced?  Still thinking that verse 9 is meant for Christians because we still continue to sin even after being saved?  Still thinking that we could sin our way out of fellowship with God or lose our salvation if we’re bad enough or commit really awful sins?  Then John has a message for you.  “I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.”  (1 John 2:12)  Rejoice, Christian, because your sins have been forgiven!  That’s past tense.  Forgiveness has been accomplished.  It’s done.  Or as Jesus said, “It is finished.”  (John 19:30)  There is no line you can cross.  There is no such thing as sinning to a point of no return.  Jesus has already taken care of it.

I also ask you to notice that in verses 7 and 9, John goes out of his way to state that if we walk in the light (have faith in Jesus) and confess our sins (an acknowledgement of an unbeliever), he purifies us from all sin and unrighteousness.  ALL!  Not some.  Not only the ones we’ve committed until now.  ALL!  Jesus died for all our sins – past, present, and future.  

So if you struggle with the thought that you can lose your salvation if you don’t live right and stop sinning, I encourage you to leave that thinking behind.  As long as our sins continue to be in the forefront of our thinking, it will get in the way of our relationship with God blossoming as it should.  We have wallowed too long in our sin.  Through Jesus’ death, God’s grace has freed us from the guilt and shame that stood between us and our loving Father.  Through his life, we can go forward in confidence knowing that there is no one who loves us and accepts us as God does.  Now that’s a gift worth enjoying in this Christmas season.  Accept it.  Unwrap it.  Live in it everyday.