Dear Christian,

Are you living in fellowship with God? Does your sin seem to take you
out of fellowship with Him on a daily basis? Is there a longing in your
heart to live in continual communion with the Lord?

For years my Christian life was adversely affected by a popular
misconception concerning fellowship with God. I was taught that every
time I sinned it put me out of fellowship with the Lord. This belief
brought tremendous uncertainty into my life. It caused me to doubt from
day to day, even hour to hour, whether I was in fellowship or out of
fellowship with the Saviour. Eventually, I began to ask questions such
as: If sin puts me out of fellowship with God, what happens when I am
unaware of my transgressions? Am I doomed to remain out of fellowship
with the Lord until the time I discover and confess my sin?

Also, it seemed as if there was never a moment in my life when I could
look into my heart and not find sin. There always seemed to be in me
some thought, motive, attitude, or action that was displeasing to God.
The apostle Paul confirmed this in Romans 7:18, when he wrote, "For I
know that nothing good dwells in me." God commands us to love Him, not
with most of our heart, mind, soul, and body, or with the overwhelming
majority of our heart, mind, soul, and body, but with all of our heart,
mind, soul, and body. Can anyone love God that way? Well, if we are not
obeying the command to love God with all our being, all the time, that
is sin. And if sin takes us out of fellowship, then are we not always
out of fellowship with God?

There is no end to the sin within us simply because we are not perfect.
We are either lazy, or impatient, or proud, or lustful, or
self-centered. At any moment in our lives, if we look into our hearts we
will find sin. So, trace it out logically, dear believer, since we can
always find sin in our hearts, and if sin always takes us out of
fellowship, than we are always out of fellowship with God. And if we
need to confess every time we sin in order to get back into fellowship,
then all we would be doing in our lives is confessing sin. There would
never be a time when we could enjoy fellowship with our God.
Many of God's dear children are living before the Lord as if they are
walking on eggshells, fearful that if they do not remember a sin and
fail to confess it, they could be living in broken fellowship with God
and not even be aware of it. Their union with God is in constant
suspect. They sin and go out of fellowship, they confess and get back in
fellowship. They sin again and get out, they confess again and get back
in. Is this the life for which God has saved us, continually going in
and out of fellowship with Him? The Bible must teach something else,
dear Christian, and I believe it does.

As I understand God's Word, it is not sin, but rebellion that takes us
out of fellowship with Him. I am not playing with words. The difference
between sin and rebellion is clearly marked in the Bible. In the Book of
First John, the Holy Spirit explains the difference with the
expressions, "walking in the light" and "walking in the darkness." It is
in these truths that we find the answers to the questions I have raised.
I John 1:6&7 states, "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet |
walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we
walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." I
once thought that walking in the light meant we do not sin, but it can
not mean that. If walking in the light meant to walk perfectly, then we
would not need the cleansing verse 7 mentions. God is saying, "Walk in
the light, dear Christian, and you will have fellowship with Me. And as
you walk in the light, the blood of My Son will cleanse you from your
sin; that is, the sin you commit as you walk in the light." Walking in
the light does not mean living a sinless life. It actually means to walk
imperfectly in the light. Walking imperfectly in the light is the best
any Christian can experience this side of heaven.

Now, what does it mean to walk in the light as Jesus is in the light?
Based on the entire first chapter of I John, it simply means to live
according to the personal knowledge of the Saviour we have been given.
For example: When, from the Scriptures, and based upon the wisdom of God
according to our need, the Holy Spirit illumines our hearts to the
revelation of Jesus as the Faithful Guide, and we see Jesus in that
light, we will be free to fully trust Him as our guide, casting down all
fear regarding our future path. Or, when, from the Bible, and based on
the wisdom of God according to our need, the Spirit reveals Jesus to our
hearts as the Shepherd, we will be free to live in the confidence that
Jesus will provide for all of our needs, setting us free from worry and
anxiety. This is walking in the light as Jesus is in the light. It
simply means to grow in the transforming Spirit-revelation of Christ
through our study of the Bible.

I am not implying that we receive Jesus little by little. When we
receive Jesus we receive all of Him. But because Jesus is so glorious
and our capacities are limited, the Holy Spirit must progressively open
our heart-eyes to the fullness of our Saviour. And as He does, and we
walk according to our knowledge of Him, the blood of Jesus cleanses us
from all sin. And this cleansing is automatic! We do not have to confess
our sin to enjoy this cleansing. I John 1:7 does not say, "If we
confess, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin." It says, "If we
walk in the light as He is in the light, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin."

When do we need to confess our sin as pointed out in I John 1:9? We need
to confess when we rebel against the light, that is, when we say, "no"
to what we have been shown of Jesus. We enter darkness and lose
fellowship with God when we deliberately turn our backs on His clear
will, as revealed in the Scriptures. This is when we need to confess our
sin, so that we may again walk in the light where our sin is dealt with
automatically. Now how often in our lives will we leave the light, walk
in darkness, and need to confess our sin? I hope not too often. I pray
you do not make a habit of deliberately rejecting what you clearly know
about Jesus and His revealed will in the Bible.

In II Samuel, when Nathan the prophet spoke to King David in regard to
his sin with Bathsheba, Nathan said, "You have despised the word of the
Lord." This is walking in darkness, and it is not characteristic of
Christian behavior. It may happen if we take our eyes off the Saviour,
but it is not the norm for the Christian. The Christian norm is desiring
God's will, not despising it. Today, if the main direction of your life
is toward the Lord, and to the best of your understanding and knowledge
of the Saviour, you are saying, "yes" to God's will, you are walking in
the light as Jesus is in the light.

Rejoice, dear Christian, for it is the Lord, in grace, who has brought
you to such a glorious condition! And in that condition rejoice that the
blood of Jesus is continually cleansing you from all sin, even apart
from your awareness, enabling you to enjoy life-sustaining fellowship
with Him, every moment of every day. I am not making light of sin. I am
making much of the blood of Jesus! Though we deserve to spend eternity
in hell because of our sin, through the Lord's sacrifice at Calvary, we
may enjoy a cleansed life, removed from all condemnation in unbroken
union with Jesus, separated from our sins even as far as the east is from the west.

May I encourage you, dear Christian, to be Christ-centered, not
sin-centered. If it were up to us to find and confess our sin in order
to stay in fellowship with God, we would never live a moment in
fellowship with Him. What keeps us in fellowship is not our
up-to-the-moment confession, but the precious blood of Jesus Christ!
Hebrews 10:19 says, "We have confidence to enter the holy place by the
blood of Jesus." Place your confidence, fellow believer, in Christ's
blood, not your confession of sin.

You do not need to confess every time you sin, fearful that with each
sin you will go out of fellowship with God. But you do need the blood of
Jesus every time you sin. And if you should sin while walking in the
light, bow your heart in boundless thanksgiving for the deliverance from
sin that God has granted you remembering that you have, "an Advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the satisfaction for
our sins." (I John 2:1&2)

In His Amazing Love,
Your Brother In Christ

The value of His Blood cannot be counted;
The praises for His Blood, can but begin;
Eternity alone, will be the measure;
Of what it cost to cleanse the stain of sin!

- Ed Miller