1 John 1:6-8 says, "If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice 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 cleanses us from sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
Salvation means we not only acknowledge sin's sinfulness, that it is heinous to God who is defined by light (1 John 1:5), but that we ourselves are sinful. This means that we not only understand sin to know we need salvation (without understanding our sin, we DON'T KNOW WE NEED SALVATION), but we understand the ongoing affects and depth of our sin. Maturity in the Christian life means obedience grows, but our knowledge of the depth of our sin grows as well.
All of sin is built on a lie: when we say we have fellowship with God and yet walk in darkness, we lie to others (1:6); when we say we do not have any sin, we lie to ourselves (1:8); when we say we have not sinned at all, we call God a liar (1:10). A test of salvation, then, is to question whether we have a proper view of sin, which also necessitates a proper view of ourselves and God. This is the "proof-is-in-the-pudding" test, the "talk is cheap" test, the "therapeutic deism" test, to see what we truly believe about each of these. We live in an age where and in a culture where there is status quo upside to "say" you believe in God, but that begins to break-down once a life is examined.
God gives grace to us in this, to reveal the darkness in our hearts and draw us into greater light and life in Christ. May He continue to do this in our church family as we walk in the faith together.
