Darkness & The Sinful Nature

“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭5‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There is no darkness in my Lord at all. He is all light and nothing else. We then, cannot walk in darkness and light at the same time or we are lying – to ourselves and to God. If we are walking in the light, we have fellowship with each other and are purified by Jesus. If I claim to have no sin, the truth isn’t in me, and I am deceived. (1 John 1:8) But if I acknowledge my sin, He is faithful and just to forgive.

I think some sins are obvious and blatant, while others are not. Some sins are unintentional (Psalm 19:12-14). In either case, I think we know when we have sinned, because we feel far from the Lord. AND we have the temptation to want to hold onto it and not confess it, which ultimately leads to spiritual death.

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.”
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Letting these old passions and parts of our fleshly nature die and submit our new nature to Christ, so we’re led by the Holy Spirit, is what it means to put to death what belongs to our earthly nature. I also think it means getting to a place where our flesh doesn’t even desire those old worldly pleasures anymore. We only desire things how God made them to be enjoyed. We desire HIS way and anything but that, we’re dead to.

Selah

xo, T