UNCONFESSED SIN
1 John 1:5-10
5 “This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7 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 all sin.
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
Imagine yourself in elementary school science class. A beautiful white carnation is placed in a tall thin vase with water and put on your desk. Each one of your classmates is given their own flower to gaze upon independently. Your teacher tells you to admire its pure beauty. You look at the delicate petals and intricacies of its shape. You see its radiance. Just as you are smiling in your childlike wonder, your teacher walks up to your desk and squeezes several drops of blue food coloring in the vase. She explains part of your classwork for the next several days will include recording observations of your flower. The next day as you arrive to class, you notice your flower has maintained its healthy stance, but the color is no longer white, but blue! All your classmates cannot believe it! Just a day ago your flower was natural in color and a few drops was all it took to alter the edges of the flower, dramatically changing its appearance.
Think of your heart as the beautiful white carnation and your sin as the food coloring. Sin originates inside us and seeps outward, much like the discolored edges in the flower. Sometimes the appearance of sin is dramatic, while other times it’s so slight we nearly deceive ourselves.
Sin taints our human shade much like food coloring drops alter a flowers pigment. You see, the colored drops absorb into the stem of the flower and transform the outer flower shell into something different. When we sin, we are transformed from looking like Christ, to looking like the world.
James 1:15
“Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
Sin can lead us to have various responses, depending on our level of denial. On one hand, we immediately recognize our need for repentance. On the other hand, we deny any trace of dirt. Leaving it unconfessed is dangerous.
ADAM & EVE
When God created Adam and Eve, they were undefiled. Sin had not yet entered the world so they lived in harmony with the blessings God gave them, unaware of the dangers of temptation lurking in the garden. God gave them only one rule; eat anything you want from anywhere in the garden you want, except that tree in the middle of the garden. God named that tree the “tree of knowledge of good and evil.”
Well one perfect day in Genesis 3:1-2, Eve is doing her thing, minding her own business, when she comes face to face with the tempter, Satan. “Did God actually say, you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?” Satan uses God’s own words against Eve in hopes to confuse her and make her question what she really remembered hearing. Satan’s words crumbled in Eve’s response, “We may eat of the fruit of the garden, but God said, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.”
Satan goes for shot number two, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5). After Eve listens to Satan’s pitch, she gazes at the tree and suddenly sees the fruit’s lush appeal. So she eats, gives some to Adam and he eats, then like the flip of a switch, it occurs to them they are naked and need clothes.
Sin was born.
It is of course sin which causes division between us and God, but God willingly forgives if we seek it mercifully. Worse can befall us when we live in denial to our sin, not making much of it.
Remember 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” Even when it is hard to admit, we MUST confess our sins. This is a stark contrast to verse 10, “If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” By living in arrogance we deny sin and therefore miss out on the opportunity for the cleansing and wisdom that would follow if we seek after His purity.
Living in denial and letting sin remain unconfessed only hurts you. The process of renewal in Christ can be challenging, but if you let Him, He can wipe your slate clean and create peace and joy within your soul.