“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
~ 1 John 1:9
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you know what sin is? You have sin in your lives. Do you think that it is good to have sin in your lives? All guys, gals and kids have sin in their lives. Do you know if sin can be seen? God sees all sin. Sin is not good to have in your lives. Sinning is doing evil. Why do you think that doing evil is sin? God calls sin evil. Do you know what has brought about sin to be in your lives? Your lives have a sin DNA. Your grandpaa’s life has a sin DNA. The life of every guy, gal and kid is sin filled. Adam and Eve began the sin cycle on planet Earth. Sin haunts every guy, gal and kid. Sin brings unhappiness. Sin brings emptiness. Sin is colored black. Sin causes guilt. Sin destroys. Sin does not bring joy. What is joy to you? Do you have joy in your lives? Do you think that joy is a good thing to have in your lives? Do you want to have joy in your lives? Experiencing joy is good. Do you know how a guy, gal or kid can find joy? Every guy, gal and kid is born with a sin DNA. Every guy, gal or kid is born with a joy DNA. Sin will though always override joy unless . . . joy is the sense of knowing that everything is at a singular moment alright. Joy is colored yellow. Black is symbolic of hell. Yellow is symbolic of heaven. Black is symbolic of fire and a bottomless hole. Yellow is symbolic of golden streets and eternal light. Joy is happiness. An apostle knew sin. The apostle’s name was John. John also knew joy. Do you know how John knew sin? Do you know how John also knew joy? John knew Jesus. John wrote letters and books that became included in the canon of the Bible. John wrote the John and Revelation Books. John wrote three short letters that were circulated by Christ-follower guys and gals with other Christ-follower guys and gals. Do you know who was a Christ-follower when John was alive? When John was alive, a Christ-follower was a guy, gal or kid who had accepted his teachings about Christ as being true. Do you know how John taught? John taught very simply. John compared life aspects such as life with death, truth with lies and love with hate. John’s testimony is found in I John 1. John was a fisherman. Jesus randomly picked John and eleven other guys to disciple. John spent three or so years with Jesus. John was taught by Jesus. John got to know Jesus intimately. John – the humble fisherman, got to know Jesus as being the incarnate God the Son. God the Son became a man. God the Son – as a man, was different from any other man. God the Son – as an incarnate man, did not have it in Him to ever sin. John looked at Jesus, touched Jesus, heard Jesus speak, watched Jesus heal guys and gals and gained a heart knowledge of why God the Son became incarnated as a guy named Jesus.
The sins of some guys, gals and kids have been washed away. Jesus’ shed blood washed away the sins of His specially elected guys, gals and kids. John saw Jesus bleeding. John witnessed Jesus dying on a crude cross. Jesus taught John about His Father. Jesus’ Father is light. Jesus’ Father does not know darkness. Light is good. Darkness is evil. Jesus’ Father is good. Not knowing Who Jesus’ Father is is not good. If a guy or gal intellectually claims to know Jesus’ Father but has never made a decision of faith to believe in Who Jesus is, that is not good. That guy or gal is lying. That guy or gal is not living out the real truth. If a guy or gal claims Jesus to be his or her Lord and Savior by making a profession of faith, that is good. A guy or gal who knows real truth will have an honest, open fellowship with other Christ-followers who know real truth. A guy or gal who knows real truth will be purified of his or her sins. Jesus is the fellowship bond that Christ-follower guys and gals have with each other. Jesus’ shed blood did the sin cleansing. A guy or gal confessing his or her sins leads to him or her receiving the eternal life gift. Repentance is the result of making a sin confession to God. God hears a sin confession. God proactively rewards a sin confession. Verse 9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” A guy or gal who dies with a sin filled life has never made a decision of faith to believe in what Jesus did for him or her on a crude cross. A guy or gal who dies with a sin filled life is actually saying that he or she thinks that it is really okay to have a sin filled life. God is considered a liar by a guy or gal who dies with a sin filled life – as he or she has told God that the blood that His Son Jesus shed does not actually cover sins. God’s Word of life – Jesus, is not able to live in the heart of a guy or gal who refuses to admit his or her sins before God.
Sin motivates God’s specially elected guys and gals to find an answer that they do not have if they have not yet made a decision of faith. After showing a film one evening in an open air setting on a soccer field in a village near Concepción, Ñuflo de Chávez – in Bolivia, your grandpaa read through a user friendly tract with a young Bolivian guy. The tract is called Cinco Pasos Hacia La Vida (Five Steps to Life). When your grandpaa got to the place in the tract where there is prayer of confession and where a guy or gal can make a decision of faith, your grandpaa asked the young guy if he wanted to pray the prayer of confession and make a decision of faith in Jesus. The young guy shook his head no. Your grandpaa was sitting on a downed tree trunk with this young guy when he read through Cinco Pasos Hacia La Vida tract with him. On the other end of the downed tree trunk that your grandpaa was sitting on with the young Bolivian guy was another young Bolivian guy. Your grandpaa had not noticed that this young Bolivian guy had been listening to him read through the tract. When the first young Bolivian guy said no to . . . this young Bolivian guy asked your grandpaa if he could pray the prayer of confession. The moment that one of God’s specially elected guys, gals and kids acknowledges that he or she has a sin filled life, God will forgive him or her.
1 John 1 (428)