Jesus Christ is the Eternal One “from the beginning”, and it is impossible for us finite human beings to know him unless He actively reveals himself to us. The Incarnate Jesus Christ lived for some time among his disciples. Jesus’ disciples were able to understand and accept the Christian “way of life” by actually “hearing, seeing, and touching” Jesus, thus transforming abstract concepts into realities. Their experiences help believers to have fellowship with the Father and his son Jesus Christ, as well as fellowship between believers and believers. Once we leave the Christian “way of life”, we lose the foundation of our faith and the opportunity for spiritual growth. It is easy to abandon the true way by following heresy. In other words, when we believers maintain communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, it becomes a manifestation of our “spiritual life.” If believers cannot communicate with each other, it means that there is a problem with their “spiritual life”, and its existence and the experience of rebirth in Christ become questionable.
The Apostle John saw this and says in 1 John 1:6 (NIV84), “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.” John rebukes the first type of heresy of people claiming to be “in fellowship with God” while their lives are “still walking in darkness”. A life that is inconsistent outwardly and inwardly represents a big lie.
There are people today who “tell lies” and do not have the truth in their hearts. In 1 John 1:8 it says, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” This is the second kind of heresy that the Apostle John would admonish people of deceiving themselves and others when they do not admit their sin. 1 John 1:9, says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Only after we confess our sins, will God’s forgiveness come to us.
Brothers, sisters, and friends, if we want to receive the forgiveness of sin that God has prepared for us, our proper attitude toward sin is not to deny it but to admit our unrighteousness and iniquities. Jeremiah 31:34, says, “For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.” May God have mercy on us, Amen!
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