“If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9)
“So also you, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:11)
What does it mean to reckon ourselves to be “dead to sin” but “living to God in Christ Jesus”? As believers, a fundamental truth we all must know is that while sin is still in us as fallen human beings, we don’t need to be enslaved by it or let it lord over us any longer (Rom. 6:14) because we have been crucified with Christ, and He is faithful and righteous to forgive and cleanse us. When we have been crucified, our flesh is crossed out and sin no longer has any power over us. We can shout, “Lord, I’m dead!” with joy because the truth sets us free. This is reckoning ourselves dead to sin.
In 1 Corinthians 15:31b, Paul said, “I die daily.” But in the same way that Paul’s serving was not out of his own strength (1 Corinthians 15:10, Philippians 4:13), his daily dying was not of his own effort, either. By the spirit, we need to reckon ourselves dead (Rom. 6:6-11). We all want to be good people, but we have no way to be good. Even after we are reborn, the sinful nature is still in us; we are still easily entangled and deceived by the enemy’s lies. Once we recognize this, we often try to work harder to pray or confess our sins more. We like to stay in this “terrible pleasure,” wallowing in our sins and feeling poorly about ourselves, or even thinking we are more spiritual because we constantly confess and repent. But it’s damaging to pray, confess, and call on the Lord’s name with such desperacy, yet without fruit, without reality—without change. Confession is supposed to set us free, but why do we find ourselves bound even more when we do it? Why is there no fruit of the repentance—and, even more, why do we fall back into the same sin over and over again? Why can’t we be released? It is because our confession is of the wrong nature; we make the confession, or even the desire for spiritual perfection, more important—more central—than the Lord Himself. The more we confess in the wrong nature, the more we depart from God.
The root meaning of sin in its singular form, hamartanō, comes from “missing the mark.” Sin, by nature, is “missing the mark.” Whenever we touch something, think something, or do something that is off from the purpose of our existence—from the leading of the Lord—we are off the mark. This gives us a deeper understanding than sin just being outwardly dirty or “wrong” in morality. Actually, feeling dirty or unclean is just the end result of human life missing the mark of its original purpose and Creator. When we confess sin, we’re not confessing the feeling of sin, but confessing its nature, which is “off the mark,” or apart from God. If we confess religiously without coming back to God Himself, even our best confession or most elegant prayer will result in us missing the mark.
How, then, can we have a true confession? Confessing sin is fundamental for all regenerated believers—sin in us is an irrefutable fact. John says, “If we say we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves” (1 John 1:8). In our experience, we know this is true; we still have sin inwardly. But knowing this certainly doesn’t free us. So because of this fact, we must exercise to return to our spirit every day. John announces in 1:5: “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” Confession comes after we are in the light. The true purpose of confession is so that we can meet God. Whenever we feel the need to confess our sin, we first need to seek His presence—His light. In the light, we have the reality of our true condition; we see the truth of what we are. And so the realization of sin comes after light, not before. Only in the light can we have an authentic genuine turning and restoration in our confession. The order here is important: light first, then we can confess the truth, including our true sinful condition. For what? So that regeneration can lead to new creation. What we do, be it right or wrong, sinful or not sinful, is not the goal under the light. It is about coming back to the mark, to be restored back on the right track.
We have sin, so we must be brought back to the mark—a position, a realm in the light. Human beings were made with a specific mark in mind—under an original condition. The gospel of John speaks about the Light “in the beginning,” and in Genesis, God declared, “Let there be light” in the “generations of the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:3, 2:4). We are children of light (Eph. 5:8), and when we are saved, or recovered, we are brought into this mysterious sphere of light. We become restored to His generations—a new heaven and new earth—a new creation. In the light, there’s no sin—there are no sins. It’s a life as it was originally—in new creation—a life without sin that we’re brought back to after regeneration, in the light.
We all have sin. We are not perfect. But that doesn’t change what He has done or the life we have in the light. We don’t need to be bound, or to try to declare either our perfection or our failures. We need to confess. But when we confess, He is in control. God justifies! God redeems! God creates! God restores! Don’t self-pity or self-analyze. A perfect, saintly life is not the goal. An intelligent or beautiful appearance is not going to save you. You can’t save yourself. That’s not your business; that is His business. What a freedom! A perfect freedom! A perfect salvation! This is not about dealing with your darkness or dealing with your sins. This is even more than restoration. This is all about the completion of this incarnation; God and man mingled, tabernacling. The church life is nothing but this tabernacling; the light is embodied among us and becomes the reality of truth, or realization of the truth. (John 1) We stay with the fellowship in the light. That is our churching in new creation that “came into being”—an enjoyment of reality only made possible in the light (1:3).
Perhaps many of us have been living in the church life and yet have been missing the mark. Missing the mark is like buying a train ticket to New York, but upon arrival, realizing you are actually in California. A long journey has passed, and all the while you were on the wrong train. If you have been on the wrong train, now is a good time to get off. Today, we cannot continue on the “off the mark” path, further delaying ourselves from reaching the true goal and destination. We simply need to change platforms and board the right train.
There is a way to get on the right train today; the way to be “on the mark” is simple. From now on, we can declare the truth that although sin is with us, it has no power to lord over us! We are not perfect—hallelujah! Knowing and proclaiming we are sinners is not painful; it is a power! Why? Because we have the light. We no longer need to constantly stay in our sin and sins, confessing without reality or change. We can reckon ourselves dead to sin today, confess in the light, and live in the new creation, “to God in Christ Jesus.”
(Above are notes of fellowship taken from a gathering on 1/17/2021, not reviewed by the speaker.)