There are those who would use darkness to hide evil.”
–Lou Bradshaw (Hickory Jack)
“And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
–John 1:5 (NKJV)
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How to Live in a Pagan, Apostate, and Foolish World
Key Verse: “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” –1 John 5:19 (NKJV)
Before continuing, we need to take a brief look at this doctrine of sin. To walk in fellowship with Christ there must be some knowledge of what it meant to walk in darkness. From the time of Adam’s fall in the Garden unto the present man has chosen to walk in darkness, under the power and dominion of sin. There was no way to walk in real fellowship with God until Jesus provided the way to reconciliation on the cross.
As Christians, we no longer walk in darkness! It is important that we understand that. We cannot walk in darkness and have fellowship with Christ. There are two kingdoms and the believer cannot/does not walk in the realm of sin. We live in one or the other. We are no longer blinded by the God of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4). Paul wrote in Ephesians,
“in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” (2:2)
Once we walked in darkness, following the whims and commands of the devil, but that has now been put aside. To walk in darkness is to oppose God–there is no fellowship. People who dwell in the darkness are oblivious to the light of God (John 1:1-9).
An old heresy is raising its ugly head again. It is popping up in churches and in the minds of, I will say pseudo-believers. It is the heresy of antinomianism: as long as you are a Christian and claim you know God in Christ, it is immaterial what you do, because you do not sin, it is the flesh or body that sins. Oh, such a dangerous thought. Man begins to rationalize sin and categorize it. If sin is pointed out there comes the cry of “do not judge” or “legalism.”
Do not try and rationalize it away. We are sinful and need forgiveness. Lloyd-Jones states, “If we say I have no sin, I am denying the incarnation, the death and the resurrection–I am making God a liar.” By doing this, not only are we calling God a liar, we are proving that the Word is not in us and that the world is. “Not to be right about sin means we are still walking in darkness, that our whole attitude is a lie.” (Lloyd-Jones)
We are sinners, pure and simple, and even after salvation we still, hopefully not often, sin. I have been using 1 John for much of this discussion; remember, that the epistles were written to the Church, to believers. Do not live the lie, do not succumb to the idea that “I am saved, therefore…” No, that is laughing in the face of eternal love. “A lie cannot live in the presence of God; it is an utter contradiction of everything God is, and it just means that I am not a Christian at all.” (Lloyd-Jones)
Paul tells us in the Book of Romans we do not sin that we can have more grace. No, grace is given because we do sin. I can understand Paul’s frustration. What do we do when we sin? What steps should be taken when the sin nature rises up and we fall prey to it again? Remember, we are no longer children of darkness.