Most Read Bible Verses---#15---I John 1:9

I John 1:9 (NLT)

But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 

There are several key words in this famous passage.

If

God’s forgiveness comes with a condition.  In fact, most of the promises in Scripture come with a condition using the qualifying word, ‘if”.  He will forgive if you confess.  You have to take the initiative to ask for His forgiveness.  This means that you have to admit that you have committed sins.  Pride often prevents humans from admitting that they commit sins. 

Confess

The word for confess here means “to agree with”.  Confessing sins mean that you agree with God that you have sinned.  How do you know that you have sinned?  By learning God’s Word and having the Holy Spirit in you who will convict you when you sin.  In the previous verse John refers to the truth.  John 17:17 says “Thy word is truth”.   

Sins

John is writing to believers.  So he is not talking about confessing your sin nature, but talking about individual sins committed as a Christian.  Your sin nature was who you were before believing in and accepting Christ as your Savior and Lord.  That is past.  What is present are the sins you commit as a Christian.  Again the previous verse says that if you say you do not sin, you are deceiving yourself and the truth is not in you, i.e. you refuse to accept the truth found in the word of God and in Christ Himself.

Faithful and just

The Bible contains many affirmations of the faithfulness of God (e.g. Lamentation 3:22-23, Psalm 36:5, 119:90, I Corinthians 10:13, II Timothy 2:13, many others).  You are always safe to believe that what God promises, He will remain true to that promise.  Indeed, He will forgive you when you confess your sins.  God is also just, meaning that He cannot let any sin go unpunished.  Yet, because He is also merciful, He sent Jesus to accept punishment and die for your sins.

Forgive

I cannot find a better description for forgiveness than what is written in the Life Application Study Bible.  At conversion all our sins are forgiven—past, present, and future.  Yet even after you become a Christian you still sin and need to confess.  This kind of confession is not offered to gain God’s acceptance, but to remove the barrier to fellowship that your sin has put between you and Him.  God is willing to forgive when you confess your sins.

Cleanse

To cleanse means to remove.  When you confess your sins, God not only forgives you, He also removes the sins you’ve committed from His remembrance.  It took the blood of Christ to cleanse God’s people from their sins.  Before Christ, it took animal sacrifices to cleanse people of their sins.  The shedding of blood, like it or not, is God’s way for Him to forgive sins.  Remember these two truths:  “All things are cleansed by blood; without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).  “For I will forgive their sins and remember them no more” (Jeremiah 31:34, Isaiah 34:25). 

What wonderful, indeed almost unbelievable promises in this verse.  All Christians can claim it.  Confess your sins every day and you will be viewed as righteous before almighty God.  That is what Jesus Christ did for you through His life and sacrificial death. 

And don’t forget, as you feel so good about being forgiven, you need to forgive others too.

Most Read Bible Verses---#16---Romans 3:23

Romans 3:23 (NLT)

For all have sinned, all fall short of God’s glorious standard

Some non-believers consider themselves “good people” and, as such, they believe that they are acceptable to God.  These folks are not aware of this verse (or simply don’t believe it).  The Bible is clear; every single person who ever has lived has sinned.  Even babies have sinned, not because of certain acts, but because of the sin nature of all humans.  The sin nature of humans is taught in Romans 5:12 and Romans 8:6-8.  Furthermore, Romans 6:23 states that sin leads to death (spiritual although could be physical).  The sinful nature of mankind is not something to joke about.

What is “sin nature”?  We can see sin nature evolve with our children from birth.  Has anyone ever had a child who never lied?  Has anyone ever seen a child who was not selfish?  These are just two examples of our sin nature.  Sin is described in the Bible as transgression of the law of God (I John 3:4) and rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 9:7; Joshua 1:18). 

What is God’s glorious standard?  The word “glory” means a display of God’s divine attributes and perfections.  God’s glorious standard is perfection.  Is any human being perfect?  Would any human really believe that he/she is perfect?  Delusional beings, perhaps, but no rational person would think of himself as perfect, yet that is the standard of God.  Jesus said in Matthew 5:48 that “you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”.  On your own, you cannot be perfect, but through Christ, you can and are made perfect in the eyes of God! 

Christmas reveals the heart of God.  God was willing to take the form of a man to die a substitutionary death on the cross so that sinful man could be reconciled with a glorious God.  Without Christmas we all would never make the goal, never have hope, never make it to heaven, never see the glory of God.

You’ve heard this before, but let’s say it again……..what would this world be like without Jesus?  What if Jesus had never come?  Think of what your life would be like without Jesus?  Give thanks that all these questions are rhetorical.

      

Most Read Bible Verses---#17---John 14:6

John 14:6 (NLT)

Jesus told him “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one can come to the Father except through Me.” 

Other than John 3:16, John 14:6 might be the most frequently quoted and used verse in the entire Bible.  These two verses are the cornerstones of the Christian faith as they both focus on Jesus being the Son of God and that He is the only way to the Father and the only One through whom humankind can have eternal life.  Of course, many religions dispute and refute these claims of Christ.  It is up to every individual soul to examine these claims of Christ and decide whether or not to believe them.

John 14 starts with Jesus telling His disciples about His departure from this life.  His statements in John 14:1-3 give great hope about heaven and eternal life.  Then in verse 4 He tells His disciples that they know where He is going.  Jesus made this statement as a reply to His disciple, Thomas (doubting Thomas), when Thomas said, “No, Lord, we don’t know where You are going, how do we know the way?”  Good ol’ “doubting Thomas”!  Without him, we would not have answers like John 14:6 (Thomas also doubted that Jesus was resurrected until He saw the wounds of Christ from the cross and then exclaimed “My Lord and My God”—John 20:25-28).

Jesus reply to Thomas makes three claims about Himself.  First, to answer Thomas’ specific question, He says “I am the way”.  He is the way to salvation that leads to the Father and the Father’s house (John 14:2).  Second, He is the truth that means not only that He does not ever lie, but also that He is The Word that John speaks about in John 1:1 and 1:14 and all His promises and all His statements are true.  Third, He is the life that is connected to His earlier statement in John 11:25 that He alone is the source of eternal life to all other human beings.

In Mere Christianity (HarperCollins, 1952) C.S. Lewis wrote on page 50: “A car is made to run on petrol (gasoline).  It would not run properly on anything else.  Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself.  He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on.  There is no other.  That is why it is just no good asking God to make you happy in your own way without bothering about religion.  God cannot give you happiness and peace apart from Himself because it is not there.  There is no such thing.”

Thousands of pages of books have explored the meaning of these three claims of Christ.  However, they boil down to you either believing Him and His claims or not.  What do you believe?  Is there any doubt in your mind and heart that Jesus is not who He claims to be?  He is the way to salvation, He is the truth of God, and He alone provides abundant life on earth and eternal life in heaven.  Reflect for the rest of the day on these great truths.