A few days ago someone shared that she is unable to conduct her business without resorting to bribery, something she knows is wrong. The teaching in church makes her uncomfortable as this makes feel her unworthy. She at times stay away from church but returns because she finds comfort there, although she feels “thick-skinned”, hypocritical, because at this point she knows that if Jesus makes it a choice between her business or the church she would choose to keep her business. How could Jesus forgive her in these circumstances?
I pointed out that as Jesus teaches us to forgive “seventy times seven times”, meaning without limit, so surely he does the same. It would seem that coming to church having faith that Jesus would forgive “seventy times seven” is more acceptable than staying away believing that he is hypocritical. I pointed out that God’s love was extended to us while we were sinners and Christ died for us before we even responded to him. And I suggested that being “thick-skinned” to continue to come to church to find comfort and forgiveness is an expression of faith in the God of the Gospel.
“Do you mean to say that her position to continue to run her business unethically and unlawfully is acceptable to Christ?” someone in the discussion asked (sorry, paraphrasing here as I cannot remember the exact words; it was more general than that)?
To his surprise, I said yes. It is not a position he is happy about and he will certainly want to change it, but Jesus’ offer is unconditional. There is no “business or chuch” condition in his Gospel. Jesus is willing to bet that the power of his love is able to transform us and he paid the price in full without requiring anything of us except that we trust him.
Today I was meditating on 1 John 1:5-10 and worked through an understanding of “walking in the light”. These were some of my thoughts:
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
The “we” tells us that John is speaking from the perspective of the proclaimer and proclaimed. Fellowship is only possible if all parties are walking in the light. What does it mean to be walking in the light?
The next paragraph tells us that this is not about being without sin because that is not possible. So we should not take it to mean walking in righteousness. It is, as hinted by the word “purified”, about being covered and cleansed by the blood of Jesus. It is to walk in Christ’s forgiveness, living as the forgiven, purified by the blood of his sacrifice. This then is what it means to be walking in the light.
There are those of us who are aware of our sinful state while others of us live in blissful ignorance. 1 John 1:8-10 tells us that all of us, those aware and those ignorant, are not without sin:
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
Would that open the door to exploitation, in that we use it to give us carte blanche to sin with impunity?
Paul, in dealing with this issue in Romans 6 tells us 3 things: 1) The goal of Christ’s sacrifice is not for man to sin without consequence but to be free of it; 2) The resurrection of Christ means that the power of sin over us is now broken and we should take advantage of it; 3) Whom you embrace, sin or God, makes it/him your master.
To exploit the sacrifice of Jesus to sin with impunity is to expose your true master.
Walking in the light, I believe, is not about being sinless. It is about being forgiven, cleansed and purified by the blood of Jesus.
Walking in the light of our state as a forgiven people however, lets the power of the resurrection flow, so that more and more we become light. This though is the journey of a lifetime. As Paul writes, “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”
Having come to this point, I was challenged to revisit my thoughts about my friend who is pursuing a relationship with a non-Christian (see this reflection) and I have to accept that this matter too is between my friend and her Lord. There are consequences in all our choices but the eternal ones are between us and our Lord.
At the end of the discussion, the elder shared from Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” To those of us who are his disciples, his promise is that when we heed his call and open the door, he will come in to fellowship with us.
Amen!
(I am reminded that I wrote this article and it was interesting to see that I have been (thankfully) consistent in my view.)