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NASB | 1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 John 1:8 If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude ourselves and the truth is not in us. [His word does not live in our hearts.] |
Subject: Is sinless perfection possible on earth? |
Bible Note: What Does It Mean To Be Dead To Sin? Having established the need for, and method of achieving, the accounting righteous of the sinner, Paul is now minded to refer to what it will achieve. It has brought us within the sphere of the unmerited favour of God as a result of which we are in hope of the glory of God. And he then describes the experiences of life which the sinner must go through, tribulation, etc. on the way to that goal, something which will be successful as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit as He floods our hearts with the love of God (5.1-5). Up to this point the cross, and even the resurrection (4.25), have been seen as achieving man’s acceptance with God. But now the emphasis changes. We are not only to be saved by our being accounted as righteous through Christ, but we are also to experience the power of His resurrection. ‘Much more, being now reconciled, we will be saved by His life’ (5.10). There is still a strong emphasis on being accounted as righteous through the gift of the righteousness of Christ, but there is now also an emphasis on the fact that as a consequence we will reign in life through Christ (5.17). For grace will reign through righteousness unto eternal life (5.21). So we have now seen two prongs to salvation, justification through His death (3.24-4.25), justification and salvation through His life (4.25; 5.10). We thus approach chapter 6 with the recognition that whereas sin previously reigned unto death, grace is now to reign through righteousness unto eternal life (5.21). Because we have been accounted as righteous through Christ’s death, the reign of sin has ended. Because God’s grace is now at work upon us we will, through the righteousness that God has imputed to us (compare 5.17), reign unto eternal life. The Christian life is intended to be one of victory. This now raises the question as to whether, being freely accounted as righteous by faith, we can therefore sin without restraint. Indeed, would this not result in God showing even more grace resulting in glory being given to Him (compare 3.5, 7)? Paul immediately seeks to discount this argument by demonstrating that the very method of our justification which we have enjoyed demonstrates that we are dead to sin because we died with Christ on the cross. We should note that this is not spoken to people who have a background of Paul’s teaching, but to those to whom he is as yet a stranger. Why then should he expect them to understand it? The answer can only be that it is as a result of what he has already said, that is that we are justified through faith in His blood (3.24), and that Christ was delivered for our offences (4.25). Our offences have been forgiven because He died for us. And in consequence in Him we have died, and especially have died to sin, otherwise we would still be subject to the penalty of death. Thus this is not talking about some spiritual experience that we undergo, for that has not yet been spoken of. It is not that something has happened within us that has caused us to die to sin. It is that we have died along with Christ. Thus apart from Christ we ourselves have not really died. It can only refer to the position that we find ourselves in because of His death for us. In that He died, we died. Thus in Him we have died to sin. Sin can no longer accuse us. And He will now explain that this is because we are one with Him. This is what makes His death, our death. We should note that this is not just a legal fiction. There is a real sense in which we have died, for we are one with Him. And this is true even though there is nothing in ourselves that has died. The death was His, in which we share. The experiential change comes about because we have been saved by His life (5.10). Thus our death arises from the way in which we have been justified by faith in His blood. Our ensuing life results from the fact that we have been raised with Him. Thus victory is now available because we can reckon on our death with Him, and can reckon on the life which has been given to us by God, through Jesus Christ our Lord (6.11). Thus we now know that our old man, the will to live the life that we once lived, has been crucified with Christ. And this was so that the body of sin might be done away, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin (6.6). But in what way is the body of sin done away? How could our being crucified with Christ result in the doing away of the body of sin? The answer lies in the fact that previously our bodies had been under the slavery of sin. We lived in a ‘body of sin’. But as a result of the fact that we have died with Christ on the cross, the body of sin has been done away. We have rejected that part of ourselves which served sin, so that we should no longer be in bondage to sin. Now we are living in a body which repudiates sin. Of course, it is the same body. But now it has a different direction. |