Don’t deceive yourself.

1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. Can you imagine saying that you have no sin? At the time that John wrote this letter, there was a group of people who were called gnostics. They made a distinction between the material and the spiritual. They believed the material was evil, so they considered their bodies as part of this evil material world. However, they considered their spiritual selves, their minds and the knowledge they possessed to be free from sin and the corruption that is in the world. So they thought that what they did in their bodies did not matter. Of course, the material body was corrupt and full of sin, but it would pass away. As long as they professed the truth and possessed the knowledge of God their true spiritual selves were sinless. Today, in the 21st-century, there is another group of people who say they have no sin. They deny original sin and do not believe they have sin. Therefore they don’t believe there is any need for atonement. They don’t believe Jesus died for sins but believe that He was killed because He spoke truth to power. They believe that Adam didn’t sin—he took on shame from God that he shouldn’t have. They don’t redefine sin, they deny its existence and power. From this verse, we learn that both groups do not have the truth in them. He didn’t say they were deceived by someone else, he said they deceived themselves by thinking the way they do. When someone walks in darkness they can’t see the truth. The truth is evident: We all have sin because we are sinners. Everything we do apart from the life of Jesus falls short of the glory of God. If our actions flow out of the life of God in us, then He gets the glory. If our actions flow out of our own efforts or flesh, then God doesn’t get the glory and we fall short of the glory of God. That’s why Paul wrote in Romans that no flesh will be justified before God because we all sin and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). The truth is that without the life of God living in us, we have nothing but sin. For anyone (even those who believe in Jesus) to say they have no sin reveals self-deception. We cannot be the source of life. Only Jesus is life, and as John wrote in 1 Jo. 5:12, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” In the name of Jesus, I’m calling you to live to love with Jesus. That doesn’t mean that we won’t sin. We will. We learn later from 1 John that it does mean that when we abide in Jesus and His life and love flow through us to others, that we won’t sin. But what happens when we don’t abide in Him and we try to do life in our own strength and wisdom? We sin. The liberating encouragement today is that we are sinners. Apart from Jesus, living in the light is impossible. God isn’t asking us to try hard to love and walk in the light so He can get the glory. The good news is that’s not what God expects. He has promised to love through us for His glory as we live to love depending upon Him for everything in life.