“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8)

Can we talk about this verse today? It gets brought up regularly when some folks wade in to discussing with me this topic of ‘sinning no more’.

John could have written...”if we say – ‘I don’t sin anymore’...we deceive ourselves...”, but he didn’t write that. In fact, just two chapters later, he would make it very clear that ‘whoever abides in Jesus does not sin.’ (1 John 3:6). He doubles down three verses later stating: “Whoever is born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin , because he has been born of God.” (9). And just in case there was any lingering doubt, look what he writes in 5:18 – “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin...”

And let’s be clear here: ALL of us have ‘sinned and fallen short...’ (Rom. 3:23) To suggest otherwise would be deception. (1 John 1:10). But in no way is he suggesting that one who is born again can’t really ‘go and sin no more’. I think we have plenty of scripture to suggest otherwise; and I’ll even thrown in 1 Pet. 4:1-2 for good measure.

So what exactly did he mean to suggest saying one ‘has no sin’ is deceived? Hopefully this lesson will clear things up for some of you today. I’m guessing that we have all seen at some point in time one of those movies where a person was kidnapped and taken hostage by some psychopath who chained up their victim along with attaching multiple explosive devices to them. We used to call them ‘booby traps’ but I suppose IED’s would work here as well. At some point in the story, the good guys show up, take out the psycho villain and then a bomb expert comes in to ‘disarm’ those explosive devices. It might take a little time, but as long as the victim trusts the specialist and cooperates with them, they will be fine.

But...if they choose to run away, resist, or attempt to get out of their predicament by themselves, then things usually don’t end well for them.

So let me try and simplify in explaining what happens to us when we come to Jesus ...with our whole heart. He’s the ‘specialist’ who is going to be the one that removes all those potentially destructive ‘components’ that reside in us that defile us. (Mark 7:21-23). And I’m just going to call them what the Bible calls them- ‘spirits’.(Eph. 2:2). Keep in mind, we don’t even know what all deceptive and wicked things reside in us. (Jer. 17:9), but God does. He’ll even use ‘tests’ to expose or reveal those things to us, things like greed or anger or lust or impatience, etc. And here’s the best part: When He disarms them through repentance (1 John 1:7), you are no longer going to continue to ’practice those things’, provided you continue to abide in Him. (1 John 3:6)

Now, in the early stages of our new walk of faith, you will learn real quick not to do those things anymore because God will chasten us and let us know if/when we mess up. (John 5:14; Heb. 12:5-11). And yes, “IF...you sin (not when-1 John 2:1)...” you have a merciful Father to run to. But as long as your heart is totally surrendered to Him, all those other ‘spiritual IED’s’ are subject to His power and will not be in control of you causing you to continue sinning, frustrating God’s plans for you. You have no idea how great our lack of understanding has been in this area.(Hosea 4:6) This is the ONLY way we can ‘go and sin no more’- by being truly surrendered to Him and continue in the faith as we abide in Him.(Col. 1:22-23). But surrendering your whole heart...well, it really matters.

So in a sense, you can still “have potential sin-related issues, or ‘spiritual IED’s’ in you, while not acting out or yielding to them. It’s sort of like when God led the people into the promised land: there were still ‘enemies ON the land’ but posed no threat to them as long as they obeyed God because He was going to be the one to remove them ‘little by little’. As long as they followed and obeyed God, they walked in peace. How foolish they would have been to assume that the peace they were enjoying was evidence that all those enemies were gone. Hence, the reason we would be foolish...or ‘deceived’ to say we ‘have no sin’. (A little longer today but it was needed)