Bible Discussion Thread

I take the 20th verse of 1 John Ch. 3 to mean that, even when we feel guilt over past sin, God looks into our heart and sees our desire to repent. Any thoughts from others?

This chapter is talking about Christians (sons of God) as mentioned in verses 1-2 and it underscores how important it is to keep God's commandments and abide in Him. It's conditional, abiding is a verb, which is something we must do. Grace isn't a free pass to live in the world and enjoy unlimited sin and some twist it to mean that so they can feel better about sinning, but it doesn't say that. If we are obedient and keep God's commandments then we dwell in Him (verse 24). If our heart doesn't condemns us (v21) then we can have confidence of our standing with God, but verse 20 suggests if our hearts condemn us then we shouldn't have confidence in our standing with God. So, God knows our heart and knows if our hearts condemn us and this isn't God saying its totally fine to keep sinning. Not by any means. Satan is working overtime to get people to keep twisting this as long as the end result is you keep sinning and turning your back on God- that's satan's goal and unfortunately it works sometimes. verses 5-9 don't mean it's impossible for Christians to sin, because all sin and fall short, no one is perfect, only Jesus is, but it means God takes away our sin IF... we abide in Him. A Christian is a Christ-follower which is a verb- an action. We must follow his commandments verse 24. So, it underscores how being saved is not a hall pass for unlimited sin and to turn your back on God, unlike the fake news we hear people say these days. It spells it out right here in the Bible.

Just to add to Anthony's good comments, I see in these verses (19-21), the word, 'confidence' as the key. Verse 19: we can be confident before God because it rests on God's Truth. Verse 20: but if for some reason, we sense guilt & condemnation that may come from being 'overly sensitive' to committing some sin, we can rely on God knowing about it & sees/judges our action differently. And verse 21: but if we don't sense that unwarranted condemnation then it shows a true confidence in how God looks at us. Even though John writes here about a believer shutting his heart to those in need, I see the application to any other sin.

This is particularly relevant to many believers, as we so desire to please the Lord in all of our lives, that anything we suspect to have done that is contrary to His Word & His requirements of us, severely disturbs our consciences & spirits. So we can have over-sensitive Christians who actually lead very rigid, sometimes miserable lives, as they constantly assess their spiritual condition before God.

I knew one brother in Christ who maintained this condition & always wondered how he actually coped with living. E.g. time & energy were valuable to him & both were accountable before God: he chastised himself if he made two trips to the fridge to put something in it, when one trip would've sufficed. Another e.g.: he knew his weakness in the sexual realm; if seeing a potentially sin-causing female approaching him, he would immediately cross the road & turn his face away from her, so as to not sin. It was difficult walking alongside him on a sidewalk as this act would occur frequently & I inevitably found myself talking to myself. Now this is a severe & strange behaviour, but akin to how some react to anything that they deem as sinful, but in fact is the result of over-sensitivity. The answer to this, is not to pursue such behaviour, but to trust in God's understanding & judgement. Where clearly sin has been committed, then speedy confession made.

I believe this is our warring of the Spirit. We may feel guilt even after we have asked for true repentance. We ofter find it hard to forgive ourselves, even though we have attained forgiveness. The devil throws up past sins to defeat us, but by the grace and mercy of God they will be remembered no more. John is reminding us that we are free from the bondage of sin, but that our past reminds us of a truly sinful nature.