810. 1JN 1:8. SINLESSNESS, SELF-DECEPTION.

1Jn_1:8. Sinlessness, Self-Deception.

"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."’971Jn_1:8.

Sin is the transgression of the law. To constitute sin there must therefore be a law,’97a law with which we may be acquainted, and that, with the knowledge of its requirements, we wilfully violate its enactments. Now, with sin all men are chargeable. God has pronounced the whole world guilty, "There is none righteous, no, not one." To know and feel this is one important step towards salvation. A knowledge of the disease of our hearts is nearly half the cure. Ignorance or unbelief of this must necessarily preclude the possibility of cure. On this the text is explicit, "If we say that we have no sin," &c. Now, the text is not only true of unregenerated persons, but even of the children of God. For in these the body of sin is mortified, but not exterminated; and there is a severe conflict between the flesh and the spirit,’97between the remains of the carnal mind and the new man. We lay down two propositions:

I. All men are chargeable with sin.

II. A denial of this is manifest self-deception.

I. We are all chargeable with sin. "If we say," &c.

1. We have all sinned against God.

Against his holy laws; against his government; against his goodness, mercy, and longsuffering.

2. Our sins have been both of commission and omission.

Omitted to perform divinely instituted duties. Take one case, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," &c. Who is not guilty? Committed positive transgression. Take the first commandment, or the second, or the last. Have we not served other Lords? Have we not taken his name in vain? Have we never been guilty of covetousness?

3. We have all sinned against our fellowmen.

"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." As parents, and children; servants, and masters. Against the law of goodness and mercy to all men. Who has not transgressed?

4. We have all sinned against our own souls.

Have we improved our faculties, attended to self-cultivation, self-government, &c.? Have not our sins withholden good things from us?

5. We have all sinned, both in thought, expression, and practice.

Remember your imaginations, your desires, your resolvings; and then say, has not your heart sinned? Remember your conversation,’97what has been the fruit of your lips? Your communications, have they not been vain, and foolish, and often extremely wicked? Remember your lives,’97review all your conduct, and see if it has been wise and upright, holy and good.

6. We have all sinned in numberless instances.

I mean, beyond our computation. Count the drops of the dew,’97count the falling leaves of autumn, or the stars of heaven.

7. Our sins have justly exposed us to God’s displeasure.

. "The soul that sinneth shall die." Every sin is against his purity, his authority, his government, his throne. Every sin gives power to Satan, and upholds the kingdom of darkness.

8. Our sins must be forgiven or punished. God will not be, cannot be indifferent.

The divine veracity and holiness demand it. To each one, then, this is a matter of the deepest moment,’97of eternal consequence.

II. A denial of our sinfulness is manifest self-deception.

"If we say we have no sin, we deceive," &c.

1. Some deny their sinfulness by excluding the existence or government of God from the world.

Some men reject the first great truth of religion, and say there is no God. Others say, that he takes no concern in human actions; and, therefore, that our conduct only affects our circumstances in this life. Need I attempt to show the wickedness and infatuation of such reasoning? Do not your consciences speak, and rebuke such infidelity and madness? Have you not an internal impression that you are responsible to the Great Being who made you, and whose power and glory is displayed through all the works of nature around us? The effects of those views were fearfully felt in Fiance.

2. Others deny their sinfulness by contrasting themselves with the more debased of mankind around them.

Hence they refer to some of the monsters of cruelty, or to some of those abandoned to viciousness. They have not moved in the preeminent rank of transgressors; and, withal, they may be considered respectable members of society. Now, all this may be true; but this does not meet the claims of Deity, the demands of Jehovah. It is true there are degrees of guilt, but because men are not thousand pence debtors, it does not prove that they are not hundred, or fifty pence debtors. Instead of contrasting ourselves with the worst, let us compare ourselves with the best and holiest. Do we walk with God as Enoch did? Fear and obey him with Noah; honor and trust in him as Abraham did; love and delight in him as David; or with Paul count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord?

3. Some again deny their sinfulness by evincing a self-righteous spirit.

They have exalted views of their own goodness. Full of self-love and complacency, they rejoice in their own superiority over the rest of mankind. "I fast twice in the week, I pay tithes," &c. "I thank thee I am no extortioner," &c. With these the external is every thing. Religious show and parade, a name for sanctity. How ignorant they mist be of their own hearts; what strangers to the extensive purity of God’s law. Many, we notice,

4. Deny their sinfulness through a persuasion that they have attained absolute perfection.

That we are called and exhorted to perfection, is clear from the divine word. But the attainment of this is never given in the history of even the most illustrious saints. Look at Job; and yet in his generation he was a perfect man. Let us look at the great apostle of the Gentiles, Php_3:12. There may and ought to be sincerity and decision; and it is desirable to aim at elevated holiness; "but if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves." We fear that those who lay claim to entire perfection are peculiarly deficient in one of the most essential graces, viz., humility, and are not really and spiritually in the most prosperous and safe condition. Oh, let us beware of pride, especially that which has to do with religion. Let us rather be clothed with humility, knowing that "all who exalt themselves," &c.

Application

1. Aim at a true knowledge of your state. Prove yourselves, &c.

2. Having obtained it, be abased. What need of daily contrition and prayer before God. Seek the sanctifying influences of the Spirit. "Grow in grace," &c.

3. For all sin, and every sinner, there is salvation. Contemplate the latter part of the text.

Autor: JABEZ BURNS