Assurance: From God Or Man?

For many years I labored under the impression that salvation in Christ required sinless perfection on my part. I suspect many brethren continue to limp under the same misunderstanding. Certainly we have always rightly preached that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), and that God’s grace has come to us in his son who died for our sins and now offers forgiveness and fellowship through his blood. We rightly accept and emphasize human failure prior to salvation, but then, however, we can unfortunately leave the impression that in order to remain in Christ we must practice sinless perfection in our daily lives.

A real problem arises from this misunderstanding of faithfulness that I believe the Bible seeks to address. We know that we all sin from time to time and if any momentary failure on our part immediately removes us from fellowship with God and places us under the sentence of hell there can be no real or lasting comfort and assurance in our eternal salvation. Our confidence depends on our own ability to live sinless lives. There’s no comfort in that.

Thankfully, the Bible addresses this error and offers faithful Christians assurance and confidence despite our propensity to fail. John wrote, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). This beautiful verse, rightly understood and applied, rescues us from a life of uncertainty stifled by fear of judgment. Notice four truths that unlock the comfort of this verse.

1. To walk in the light is to determine to live a faithful lifestyle of loving the Lord by determined submission to the truth (2:3), respectful imitation of Jesus (2:6), and humble service to the brethren (2:9-10). At our confession and baptism we make that determination. But just as surely as we commit to God we know we do not fulfill that commitment perfectly. Thus, the beauty of the gospel! The next verse cautions us against thinking that sinless perfection is achieved by anyone in this life (1:8). Thankfully, God doesn’t require perfection. He does require faithfulness, and that is within the reach of us all.

2. The verse implies that a Christian might sin while walking in the light. If every single act of sin immediately removes a Christian from the light, then this verse is meaningless. The verse asserts that while walking in the light the blood is continuously cleansing from all sin. This can only plausibly be understood to refer to sin committed while a person is walking in the light of truth. Thus, sin might be committed by a faithful Christian that does not instantly remove him from the light, but is instead instantly cleansed by the blood of Christ.

3. The cleansing potential is continuous, our practice of sin is not. Importantly, the verse is promising the continuous presence of the cleansing blood without allowing for the continual practice of sin. John later explains that “whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin...” (3:9). This does not contradict the earlier stated truth that no Christian is perfectly sinless (1:8). The thrust of the verbs John uses says that a Christian does not continually practice sin. He cannot do so and continue to be a son (have the seed of God in him). To a Christian determined to walk in the light any sin that he commits is like an unwelcomed guest in his life. He does all he can to evict the intruder. Like a rock in his shoe, sin committed in a Christian’s life is a source of discomfort, discontentment, and shame.

4. Christians sin occasionally, but confess consistently. Part of walking in the light is the habitual practice of confessing sins before God. John says, “If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us...” (1:9). When a sensitive child of God sins he is willing and able to make honest confession and trust in the promised forgiveness of God. Importantly, it is not implied that the sin isn’t forgiven until confession is made but that the consistently confessing Christian is actually one who walks in the light and enjoys the continual and immediate cleansing implied by the previous verse!

Because the Bible describes any sin as utterly abominable and displeasing to God, we are tempted to say that every instance of sin in the life of a Christian is immediate cause for him to be removed from fellowship with God until proper confession and fruits of repentance are produced. While I respect a healthy understanding of the seriousness of all sin, I must also respect anything the Bible says about how God deals with sin in the life of a faithful Christian.

God offers us comfort beyond measure to know that our momentary act of sin, whether through weakness (James 3:2) or ignorance (Psa. 19:12) does not immediately remove us from his grace but is instead immediately cleansed by the blood of our Savior. The faithful child of God will not use this grace as a license to sin because, as John says, he cannot do this as a faithful son of God (3:9). Instead, the truth concerning a fallible Christian’s unbroken fellowship with God restores his humanity and frees him to grow in a personal relationship with Jesus where “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John. 4:18).

Conclusion

The assertion that every sin committed by a faithful Christian immediately removes him from the light is an oppressive and anti-scriptural position. It robs us of assurance and paralyzes our service. It is simply a misunderstanding of the nature of the gospel. It relegates life to the bondage of law rather than offering God’s gift of freedom to serve him in grace.

Thankfully, John has given us these gracious verses that our confidence may not be in the power of men, but of God. And that, therefore, you may know you have eternal life (1 John 5:13).