Young People's Group

PURSUING CLEANSING

by Pastor Mitch
July 22, 2012

The Problem Of Deceiving Ourselves About Sin

Deception can be a self-created thing. We can deceive ourselves into thinking that we are spiritually in good shape when in reality we are living a sinful life. The apostle John was dealing with a problem in his first epistle concerning those who did not live out what they claimed to have. Some said that they had faith in God but their lives did not show for it (1 John 1:6). They were still walking in darkness and sin. Others deceive themselves into thinking that they do not sin anymore and thus, there is no need to deal with their sins (1 John 1:8). Today, there are such erroneous teachings being spread in Christian circles that we do not sin anymore because we have been justified by faith. This is a fallacious belief. Young people, if God is light and there is no darkness in Him, then we must do all we can to cleanse ourselves from sin.

The Work Of Cleansing

The apostle John in his gospel had dealt with the need for cleansing. The Lord Jesus taught the disciples that they were already clean through the word He had preached to them (John 15:3). The word of God has tremendous power to cleanse us. Our Saviour also spoke of the need for our lives to be pruned in order to be fruitful (John 15:2). The Greek word for “prune” has the idea of cleansing too. God’s part as vinedresser is to prune our lives. The work of cleansing was something the Lord Jesus specially taught.

The Challenge To Be Cleansed From Sins

The apostle John also challenges us to be cleansed.

1. Through Walking In The Light

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 
1 John 1:7

If we walk in the light of God and His word, the life blood of the Lord Jesus would cleanse us from our sins. The challenge for us is to practise constantly walking in the light. This should be our way of life. Our living in the light would bring about daily cleansing of our life. Our Lord Jesus had also taught His disciples how they should wash each other’s feet (John 13:14). Our feet pick up the dust of the world as we walk in it daily. We are affected by the influence of the world. Even as the Lord is in the light of truth, we are to also walk in it on a daily basis. The Lord Jesus would do this work of cleansing in our life as we practise living in His truth day by day. We would reflect the Lord bit by bit in all that we do. We would be truly in fellowship with the Lord and with each other.

2. Through Daily Humble Prayer

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 
1 John 1:9

The Lord God would also bring about cleansing as we confess our sins to Him. It is through daily humble prayers that we can bring our unrighteousness to God and He would hear our prayers. He is trustworthy and fair in forgiving us of our sins and in cleansing us. The “if” in the above verses depict that the related sentences are conditional statements. We have to do our part in order for the cleansing to happen. Let’s be humble enough to confess our sins daily.

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