Within this book, John lays out for us two types of sin:
- The sin of ignorance.
- The willful sin of disobedience.
The willful sin is when we come to a fork in the road and we know very clearly what is right and what is in fact wrong, and we choose the wrong. This would result in quenching the Holy Spirit and causing Him to grieve. This type of sin places a hindrance and a separation upon our fellowship with God.
The sin of ignorance, however, is a type of sin in which I don't know that I have. One of my teachers here at Bible School uses the analogy of him walking with God and also pulling a wagon behind him full of poop. As he walks with God, the Holy Spirit will continue to shine light upon the different areas of poop in that wagon. As soon as the Lord illuminates his understanding and reveals those areas to him, he is now responsible to yield himself to God by agreeing that that which is in the wagon is poop and doesn't belong there. Immediately he will begin, by God's grace, shoveling out the poop and thus he will continue to walk with God.
- (Analogy by Thomas Freeman, read more at http://tfreeman.org/blog/).
The unknown sin does not damage or hinder any part of our fellowship with God unless we refuse to confess and turn from it when we are made aware. However, in chapter two verse one of John's letter, he is writing concerning willful sin. He tells us as believers' in Jesus Christ that we are to walk in such a way as to never again in all of this life set ourselves in sin.
I must admit, this is a convicting verse for me. It pierces my heart as I read it and meditate upon it and pray for it to be true concerning my life. For how often do I find myself in a state of rebellion merely because I like it? I won't try to make excuses nor will I attempt to place the blame upon anyone or anything else. When I sin it is because I made the willful choice and thus I am held responsible.
As a human being with a sin cursed nature I am prone to go my own way. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus that He has saved me and has made me a new man in His righteous image making it possible to walk in the light as He has given me everything I need pertaining to life and godliness. So now that you have the background information of what I have been thinking of lately, below is my dream that I awoke from on November 6, 2013.
My Dream
It was bright and early. The sun was rising and I was consciously looking for Christ's tomb. I had a desire to see His resurrection take place and as I was wandering around in a field for awhile I eventually found myself come upon a farm. I knew I had to be close so I made my way up to the farm house and found the farmer walking down to meet me.
I asked the farmer where I could find this tomb in which I had heard so much about. He gave me no answer, yet only lifted up his finger and pointed me in the right direction. I followed the path that he set me on and made my way just over the hill. The sun had not quite made over the slope yet, thus still making the light very dim.
As I came to the tomb, I noticed that the rock had been moved away from the entrance. Immediately I saw this beaming ray of glorious light piercing through the dawn. My Savior walked out in unfathomable light, yet when He did I wasn't allowed to see Him yet in all of His splendor. Thus at the moment that He came forth, the camera view of my dream quickly turned to me looking at Him.
However, interestingly I noticed that there was another light coming out of the tomb. As I fixed my eyes on the individual to see whom it could be I was left in confusion. That second light that rose from that tomb after my Savior was me. I watched this new me come forth in the light and immediately the old me was thrown into the tomb and left there to rot.
In the perspective of my old self, I was fully conscious yet I was unable to move. I could see, think and talk yet I was inactive and immobile. As I could feel my flesh rotting away, I knew that there was coming a day in which me (my old self) would no longer be in existence. The last thing me as the old man saw was my new man walking with Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
Read Romans chapter six. For us who are in Christ, we have died with Christ. Literally died! Our old man has been crucified and is hanging on the cross in complete immobilization. Sin has absolutely no power over us and not only have we died with Christ, but we were also buried with Him. And not only that, but we were raised to life with Him. As believers' we are alive to God and we are commanded in this chapter to consider this an absolute fact of God's word and to live now in light of this truth.
Let us not harden our hearts this day, but let us walk in victory. Christ is already victorious in all things past, present and future, therefore, I pray that God will teach us to live in light of that victory that He has already accomplished on our behalf and that we will learn to appropriate all that we have in Christ. Thanks be to God through Christ Jesus our Lord.
