1 John chapter 2 and verse 1. My little children, these things
write I unto you, that you sin not, and if any man sin, We have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous,
and he is the propitiation for our sins, and not ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world. Now, the title of
my message this morning is The Believer's Struggle and Christ's
Intercession. The believer's struggle and Christ's
intercession. Now, the Apostle John, here in
chapter 2, is really a continuation of what he begins in chapter
1. In chapter 1, he states his purpose. His purpose for writing
this letter. That he was a witness of Jesus
Christ. He was a witness of Christ who
was God manifest in the flesh, and that's what he tells us at
the very beginning, verse 1 of chapter 1, that which was from
the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with
our eyes, which we have looked on, and our hands have handled
the Word of life. Verse 3, that which we have seen
and heard declare we unto you, that you also may have fellowship
with us and truly Our fellowship is with the Father and with His
Son, Jesus Christ. He declares His fellowship with
God. He declares He is a witness of
Jesus Christ, who is the glory and the express image of God.
And He says, I have fellowship with the Father and with Christ.
I have fellowship with God through the Son. And this was His intent. He says in verse 4, And these
things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. Your joy. He is writing to believers
so that our joy might be full. Whose joy? Well, not the lost. This isn't written to the lost.
If you take every one of these epistles, you will read that
the apostle gives very specific instructions as to who he is
writing to. He is writing to believers. He
is writing to, in our text, little children. He's writing to those
who have been born again of the Spirit of God. And this is his
intent. And so as you read the book of
1 John, you will read his intent is that your joy, that your confidence,
that your affection, that your love should be set on God and
on each other. This is intent, that you should
know your fellowship with God. Now, isn't that something that's
a struggle with us who are believers? Oftentimes we struggle. Am I
in fellowship with God? I know religious people, they'll
say, well, if you want to be in fellowship with God, well,
here's the steps. One, two, three, and then you're in fellowship.
They're kind of like that lollipop commercial. A little owl licking
a lollipop, and he says, one, two, three. No, that's not how
it is. You are in fellowship, believer,
with God. If you are in Christ, you are
in union with Christ, and you have fellowship. And this fellowship
cannot be broken. It is a fellowship ordained of
God, redeemed and purchased by Christ, applied by the Holy Spirit,
kept by the Holy Spirit, and this fellowship cannot be interrupted. On our part it can, but on His,
He's never interrupted with our fellowship. He's always fellowshipping
with us. Our fellowship is with God in
Christ. John, he says, I write this so your joy will be full.
And by what means is this joy fulfilled in us? He says in verse
5, this then is the message which we have heard of Him and declare
unto you. This is the means by which this
joy is fulfilled, isn't it? Preaching, declaring the message. Simple declaration, not debate. Declaration. He said, I'm writing
this. I'm declaring this. I'm not debating
this or questioning this. This is fact, whether you receive
it or not. This is truth. We have fellowship
with God. That's true. If you're in Christ,
you have fellowship with God. And by this our joy is fulfilled
when we hear the message of Christ. Now then, in this message, John
first points out, he says this, this was the message, God is
light. And in Him is no darkness at
all. God is holy. That's our message. This is the message of John and
every preacher of the gospel. That God is pure. That God is
righteous. And if you are to have fellowship
with God, you must be as pure and as righteous as God is. There's
no half measures here. You're either righteous or you're
not. You're either holy or you're not. There's no such thing as
progressive holiness. No such thing. You're either
holy or you're not. And God requires holiness. But
we, Paul says in Ephesians 5, you who were sometimes, what?
Darkness. We're darkness. How can darkness
and light walk together? They can't. They can't. Surely
men say they have fellowship with God. Isn't that easy to
say? Isn't that easy to say? Anybody could say that. Look around this religious world
and try to find somebody who doesn't have fellowship with
God. They say, yeah, we always walking
with God. We're walking with God. I remember one preacher, he came
up and told me a story, he said, a guy come up and asked me, he
said, how's your walk with God? In other words, is it getting
any better? Is your walk getting any better
with God? Look, you're either holy or you're not. And if you're
holy, you walk with God. If you're not, you won't. And
so it's easy to say we walk with God, it's easy to claim these
things, But those who are in fellowship with God, John says,
if we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as
He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood
of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. Those who have
acceptance with God, peace with God, must be as righteous as
God. How? Not by works. Not by works. Not by merit. Not by ceremonies
or religious affiliations. But we have fellowship with God.
And those who have fellowship with God have fellowship with
one another even because the blood of Christ cleanses us from
all sin. This is how we have fellowship
with God. That's how I can say and declare I have fellowship
with God. That's how you can say and declare
the truth we have fellowship with God. Do you walk in light?
Well, of course I do. The blood of Christ cleanses
me from all sin. The blood of Christ has made me pure. The
blood of Christ has made me righteous before the sight of God. Therefore,
we have fellowship because the blood of Christ cleanses us from
all sin. In Hebrews 1 and verse 3 it says,
He hath purged our sins. Washed them. He said, Come, let
us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as wool. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as white as snow. This is the blood of Christ.
This is what it does. We have fellowship with God as
we walk by faith in Christ. We have fellowship with God by
faith in Christ. This is to us. This book is written
to you and to me. That our joy might be full by
this gospel message. That Christ has forever put away
our sin. He once paid for all our sin
debt to God. Go over to Hebrews. Look at this. Read this with
me. This is a blessing. Hebrews chapter 10, beginning
in verse 9. Hebrews 10 and verse 9, Lo, Jesus
said, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first,
that he may establish the second. By the which will? He said, I
come to do the will of God. And so by the will of God, Paul
says, we are sanctified wholly through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ. How often? How often did Christ
offer himself? Once for all. Once for all. Forever. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can
never take away sin. But this man, after he had offered
how many sacrifices? One sacrifice for sins forever
sat down at the right hand of God from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool. For by how many offerings? One offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. You that are sanctified, we have
been perfected forever by the one offering of Jesus Christ.
This is the glorious message. This is the gospel by which we
have fellowship with God, by which our joy is filled. This is what fills our joy, that
we have fellowship with God through His blood. Through the blood
of His one sacrifice for sins. This is to us. This is for us,
believer. In the eternal covenant of grace,
you remember God said, I will remember your sins and your iniquities
no more. This is a conscious will and
decision. Decision of God. That's all I
can say. It's His will. It's His purpose. I will not
remember your sins and iniquities anymore. This is a covenant.
You remember in Jeremiah 50, He says in that day and at that
time, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for. What does
God find when He searches for the iniquity of Israel? He said,
and they shall not be found. The sin of Judah. And there shall
be how many? How many sins shall be left for
Judah? There shall be none. Zero. For He has removed our sins from
us. That's something, isn't it? If
you can lay hold of anything, you should lay hold of this,
that Christ has removed your sins from you. He has paid the debt, and now
no more sin remains on you. He says, I have removed them
as far as the east is from the west. So far hath He removed
our sins from us. Therefore, we We who have fellowship
with God, the saints, our sins are cleansed, cleansed, cleansed
by the blood of Christ forever. Once for all. Oh, sinner, receive
it. Once for all. Oh, brother, believe
it. Cling to the cross, thy burdens
will fall. Christ hath redeemed us once
for all. And so this then begins, John
begins to put this into perspective. And he says this, and this is
my first point, the believer's struggle. He begins to deal with
our struggle. Now that he's already declared
our fellowship by the blood of Christ, now that he's going to
bring it down to a real Experience he says in verse 8
if we say we have no sin We deceive ourselves and the truth is not
in us. I Just told you that all our
sins have been removed from us that they're gone and God's Word
declares that to be true Yet is this your experience? Is this your experience in the
body? Does it seem to match the truth
by which we hold? By the truth of the Word of God?
No, it does not appear to match. Why? Because if we say we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. You see, John says this because
it is the experience of every believer that the old flesh still
abides. The old man still abides in us. Now I'll tell you this, it is
truly the heart of everyone who believes in Christ to desire
to live righteous in this world. That is, that's just so. We desire. Spurgeon was asked if he could
be given one thing of God, what would it be? And he said, to
walk without sin. To be without sin. What a glorious
thing that would be. Can you imagine the beauty of
that? Not being tempted or tried. When sin comes in, that it would
just not even be a thought with us to embrace it or to care about
it. That's our desire. Our desire
is to be like Christ, to be righteous. But I tell you, this is not our
experience. Though in the eyes of God we
are without sin. Yet we know this, in our own
eyes, sin is not God. in our own actions and experiences,
sin truly remains. In this same covenant of grace,
go over to Ezekiel, God's covenant, Ezekiel chapter 36. God, after
He has promised This covenant. He says, I'll take you from among
the heathen. I'll cleanse you. I'll sprinkle
clean water on you. I'll give you a new heart and
take out the old heart of stone. I'll put my Spirit within you.
You'll multiply and bear fruit, which are the promises of the
new man. But verse 31 of chapter 36 of
Ezekiel, look what God says. He says, when I do this, when
I give you the new birth, this is what's going to happen. Then
shall you remember your evil ways and your doings which were
not good and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities
and for your abominations. God testifies. He testifies that
we shall loathe our own selves because of our sin. We, like
David, say, my sin is ever before me. You see now the struggle,
the desire to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world.
Yet sin is mixed with everything we do. It is a struggle. It is
a constant battle within our own heart, within our own body. Paul, we like Paul in Romans
7. He testifies of the warfare within
Himself. He said, there is now a new nature
within me. And so then, I desire to do that
which is good. I love the law of God, but yet
I find no ability. I find no ability to do what
I want. I want to serve Him. But yet
I find another principle pulling me into captivity again. O wretched
man that I am, is this not your struggle? Believers, is this
your struggle? Is this your daily conflict?
Is your struggle in the flesh with the old man and the new
man? If it is, good. That's good. See, if there's
no struggle, there's no life. If there's no struggle with sin,
if sin If there's no struggle against sin, there's no new principle
of life in you. This is what God creates in us,
a new nature, and He sets that new nature up, enthrones Him
upon our hearts, and casts down the old man from His throne. He creates in us a new nature.
after God in true holiness robed in the righteousness of Christ.
And that old man, he is set down, he is cast down, and I tell you,
he will not go quietly into the night. But every day, every breath we
take is kicking and spitting and struggling to maintain control. This morning, have you not experienced
it even sitting where you are? Even trying to enter in to the
things of God. Is it not so with you? It is
with me. It is with every believer, the
struggle in our own breast. But as darkness cannot abide
the light, even cannot the old man resist the reign of the new. Praise God for that. Now we look to Christ. We who
are born again look to Christ. We have the mind of Christ. And
in our hearts are set on those things that bring honor and glory
to His name. We now seek to bring every thought
into the captivity and subject it to Christ. That's our desire
now. But the fleshly nature is not
destroyed. Even though it is cast down,
it is not destroyed. It's not cast out completely. That's why Paul gives us the
exhortation, put off the old man. If we didn't have the old
man, how would Paul say put it off? I know some people believe
that that nature is eradicated. I'll tell you, they're deceived
and they know not the truth. They know nothing of the experience
of a true believer in Christ. The true believer must put off
the old man because he still exists. And put on the new man
daily. Paul said that old man, he said
the carnal mind is enmity against God. For it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. That was true before
we were saved, and that's true after we're saved. The old man
is still not subject to God. Therefore, Paul says, the raging
warfare, the flesh lusted against the spirit and the spirit against
the flesh. These two are contrary one to
another. They cannot be mixed. There can be no treaty. Let a believer live ever so close
to God as he can. Let him feel so close to Christ. And yet one thought of sin when
it crosses our minds. And though we may have resisted
the sin, we may have thrown off the old serpent. But do you not
still feel the slime of sin on your conscience? Is not sin mixed with everything
we do? It is. It is. In our purest form of worship,
I tell you, sin was always present with us. Therefore, we daily Daily. And more so as we grow in the
grace and knowledge of Christ, the more we will see and feel
the greatness of our sins. Don't be... When younger believers,
they often suppose they're going to get better. This is just the
way it is. When you have a young believer,
young convert, that's what we think. We think that this glorious
thing is salvation. Yes, we were sinners, but Christ
is glorious, and that just overshadows everything. But as we grow, it
seems to be opposite of what we thought it would be. We only
seem to grow worse and worse. No, you were always worse and
worse. Now you just know you're worse
and worse. The light exposes the darkness,
exposes what was always there. We think sin comes on us all
at once. No, it was always there. It was
dormant, but I tell you, it was always there. Nothing. Nothing
of that's new. But I want you to have some comfort
in this, because the reverse is true. Isn't it? The more and
more we see of our sin, the greater and more glorious the death of
Christ appears. What does it say? Where sin abounded,
grace did what? Much more abound. You see what God is doing? He's
exposing your sin so that you would give more glory to Christ. Because He's worthy. He's worthy
of it. Yes, it is our desire to be without
sin, even though it is not possible. And I tell you, because it's
not possible, does that give us any excuse? The Scripture gives us no excuse
for sin. None whatsoever. And we say, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? So John says to those who have
no such conflict, you are deceived and the truth is not in you.
If you profess faith but have no sin, have no conflict in the
flesh, then you are deceived and Christ the truth is not in
you. There is no warfare even because Satan and the flesh still
reign in you. Many people like the idea of
pardon. Why do lost men like the idea of forgiveness and pardon? So that they can go back and
do more sin. Isn't that it? So their conscience will be clear
for the moment so that they can go and make and defile it again. They're like the dog that vomits
and then goes away and returns to his vomit. That's what a lost
man does. But see, no, not the believer,
because we despise sin, loathe sin. We do battle with sin, and often
we fail. Even when we seem to succeed
in thwarting fleshly lust, we must confess that we're sinners
for even being tempted by it. Isn't that right? You're tempted
by a sin, and yet you overcome. You don't give in. The sweat
pouring down your face, you resist with everything in you. And then
when you're done resisting, you know what you should do? You
should confess your sin because you were tempted. Isn't that so? If you weren't
a sinner, you certainly wouldn't have been tempted by it. Yet
we are. We are. Struggle. Believers struggle. And so then,
in your struggle, what should we be about, believer? This struggle
exists. It's real. What then is the remedy? Oh, do you want relief? Here it is. Look at what John
says. Verse 9. Yeah, he says, if we say we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us all our sins and cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. Believer, what should we be doing
in our struggle? Confessing. Confessing. The natural man would hide our
sin. Cover it. Cover it up. Isn't that what the natural reasoning
is? You get caught and what's the
first thing you want to do? Run, hide, flee, cover. That's a natural man. But what
does a new man do? A new man must in righteousness
confess, confess his sin. To who? Not to men. Not to men. Not to the little so-called priest
who cannot forgive. Confess not to men who cannot
intercede or mediate. There's only one mediator between
God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. Confess to him. Confess
to him. Why is it that you should confess
to Him? Is not all sin against Him? You bet it is. You remember David
committed adultery with Uriah's wife. David killed Uriah. And yet we read nowhere in Scripture
he went to the families of Bathsheba or Uriah and asked for forgiveness. Isn't that the common thing though?
We go to men asking for their forgiveness. No, you should go
to God because you sinned against Him. David said, Against thee
and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Have we sinned? Have we been brought into captivity
by our flesh? Have we been pierced through
with the many sorrows of our sins against God? I tell you, we do hurt others
when we sin, don't we? You can't help it. Sin has a
ripple effect. You throw a pebble in a pond,
it ripples throughout. I tell you, every sin, it has
a ripple. It affects everyone around you. It affects your friends, your
family, your church. It may ruin your name. But if we do not see that sin
is against God alone, Yeah, we'll confess it to men, but not to
God. But I tell you, men cannot forgive you of sin. Only God can. Believer, have
you sinned? Behold, God is the offended party. Thy father has been mocked. What
then is the remedy? Only the blood of thy brother.
Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Confess thy sin to God
and come to the throne of grace. Pour out your soul. When you
come to the throne of grace, do you hide anything? How foolish
is that for us to hide anything? Why would we hide anything? If we come to confess Knowing
that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, why would
we not pour it out and lay it at His feet? Is that not a struggle? Even in prayer to confess your
sins to God, who knows them all already? Yes. We struggle. But as you struggle,
consider God's faithfulness. The faithfulness of God. He who
is eternal and changes not. You see, isn't this why we're
not consumed? God says, behold, I am God and
I change not. Therefore, therefore, you sons
of Jacob are not consumed. Why are we not consumed by all
this sin that we commit daily? Because God's love does not change. God's immutable purpose and will
to save you is not changed. It's not changed. It's eternal. And He who purposed to forgive
us will faithfully forgive you. Isn't that what He said? I will
remember your sins and iniquities no more. Now if He said that
to us, why should we not believe Him? It is true we are unfaithful,
but He's not. Why would you impose your unfaithfulness
on Him? He's faithful. Confess. And surely He will be faithful
to forgive. But His forgiveness is not like
ours. You see, we being evil may forgive
others their evil because we understand what it is to be evil. Somebody offend us, and we say,
okay, well, we can have forgiveness without payment, can't we? We can do that. God cannot do
that. God's mercy and God's love cannot
conflict with one another. In other words, to God to be
faithful to forgive you, He must also be just to forgive you.
And that's why John includes that word. He is not only faithful,
He is right. He has a right to forgive you.
Why does He have a right to forgive you? Based on your merit? Based
on your confessing? I know that's the mind. When
we come confessing, a lot of times we think we'll be forgiven
because we confess. No! No, our confession breeds
no merit. What's the merit? The blood of
Christ cleanses you. That's why He is just to forgive
you and faithful to forgive you. Because the blood of Christ Most surely, Jesus paid for all our sins. This was done upon the cross
and not merited by us. Listen, on the cross, when Christ
was dying, listen what the psalmist said. Mercy and truth have met
together. What's a truth? Truth is you
and I deserve hell. That's a truth. Well, how can
mercy meet that? Well, only at the cross, where
justice was satisfied for your sin. Where payment was rendered,
was on the cross of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we gladly confess
our sin. Do you gladly confess them? I
do. I most gladly confess before
the throne of grace. We gladly bow down and lay them
at the feet of Christ, even because of His blood. God is faithful
to cleanse us, cleanse us, cleanse us. Daily cleanse us, daily wash
us, daily revive us. Isn't that awesome that, yes,
our sins were put away 2,000 years ago, but I tell you, they're
being put away right now. They're being cleansed. They're cleansed. So how often may we come with
this struggle with sin? Seven times? No, seventy times seven. You
see, there is an infinite supply of forgiveness. Infinite supply. How foolish
it is for us then to hide our sins He that covereth his sins
shall not prosper, but whosoever confesseth and forsaketh them
shall have mercy." Here and now is John's exhortation. Now consider
this. You have sin. You struggle with
sin. The remedy is confession of sin. And you know what the exhortation
is? Sin not. John says, My little children,
These things write unto you that you sin not. This is a word to Christ's people,
to Christ's children. It is directed to us who are
adopted by eternal adoption. Those of us who are born by the
new birth of the Spirit, we who confess and know the experience
of our wicked, carnal nature, and know our need of this daily
exhortation. Is that not true? Do you need
this exhortation? Well, how dare you tell me? Well, I'm saved by grace. How dare you tell me I should
not sin? Well, preacher, you're just asking
too much from us. No, I'm not. God is. Sin not. Isn't that what He told the woman
that committed adultery? He said, go and sin no more. This is His Word. It's His exhortation. Believer, let us be very aware
that we are prone to every sin. Doesn't this awaken the... When
I say, Believer, little children, sin not, does this not awaken
you to all of the sin that's in you? It does. It stirs it
up. Sin not. Oh, the sin just pours over us
when that comes in. But this is not a law that brings
curse. This is to little children. This is not to the lost. This is to you that are saved.
Sin not. And I tell you, we know we are
capable of the most grievous and wicked acts of sin. You know,
the only sin a believer is not going to be capable of is leaving
the faith. John said, they went from us
because they were not of us. If they were of us, they would
have no doubt continued with us. See, faith is the only thing
that will not be extinguished in a true believer. But I tell
you, he is prone to every sin imaginable. And the moment you
think you're above it is the moment you fall into it. Therefore, believer, we are to
be ever watchful, walking circumspectly and not as fools. Sin not. Isn't this what the grace of
God teaches us? live soberly, righteously, godly in this present
world. Hear the voice of Christ by His
Apostle, my little children. Adopted by the Father, purchased
by my blood, born of my Spirit, sin not. Set all your heart and mind and
give no occasion to the flesh. You know why you should give
no occasion to the flesh? Because there is no treaty you
can make with it. I know you've tried. Isn't that it? Well, if I just
do this, then that'll calm me down a little bit. No! Because
when you give the flesh an inch, He'll take you and drag you down
to the pits of hell. That's what He'll do. You can't
give Him anything. He must not be treated. He must
not be taxed. He must be destroyed. He must
be killed. Sin not. Even so, let this be our hearts
to desire to destroy the old man and give
him no room. For sin shall not have dominion
over you. Isn't that a good promise? Sin
shall not have dominion over you. And this we cannot do in
our own strength, but only in weakness. is Christ's strength
made perfect. Only when you realize that you
cannot do this, that you must depend upon Him for everything,
that's the only hope we have of overcoming it. That's it. Faith in Christ. Abide in Christ. Let us seek to love and serve
and obey His voice. For only then are we at perfect
peace in our minds who stayed on Him. Isn't that right? Sin not. Struggle. The struggle
begins. And then, what is our only peace? Stay your mind on Christ. When the serpent bit the people,
were they given any instructions to patch up or to medicate themselves? Well, you've got to kill those
snakes. Is that instruction given? Kill the snake? No. Look to Christ. Are you bitten? I don't care
how many snakes you kill. That's not going to be the remedy.
Look to Christ. Look to Christ. And you know what you should
do when you see your struggle? Look to Christ. Look to Christ. My faith has found a resting
place, not in device nor creed. I trust the Ever-Living One.
His wounds for me shall plead. Here is our hope. Here is our
confidence. Sin not. And when you sin. That's what John says here. Look
at that. Look at that in our text. He
said, little children, these things I write in you that you
sin not. And if, that word if, if you look it up in the original,
it is better translated when. When. Because it's not a matter
of if. Just a matter of when. When you
sin. We have an advocate with the
Father. We have someone ever living to
plead our case before God. He ever liveth to make intercession
for you. The purpose then for God's exposing
our sin is so that we would seek only to be found in the righteousness
of Christ. Isn't that the reason why He
does this? He's not doing it to be vindictive. It's not like
us. He's not like man. He's not vindictive. He is doing this for the glory
of Christ. He exposes our sin and our struggle
so that we would give all the glory and praise to Christ. That's it. So then we must see the greatness
of Christ's advocacy. The greatness of His propitiation. His mercy seat. That's what it
means. Propitiation means mercy seat. It's that little seat where
the blood was shed, where God met in peace with Israel. Over
that mercy seat. You know where God meets in peace
with you? Over the mercy seat of Jesus Christ. That's where
God meets in peace. And I'll tell you, that high
priest was the only one who went in there in the Old Testament.
You remember what happened when Christ's blood was shed? That
veil was cut down. And now then the way into the
very presence of God is made open for you. It's open by the
blood of Christ. It's a place where God meets
in peace with His people. Therefore, let us, He says this,
He is the propitiation for our sins, and listen, not only ours,
but the sins of the whole world. Isn't that encouraging? Because
our sins are so many. But know this, however many sins
you have, how much more did Christ pay for, seeing He paid for the
sins of all His people? Will He not be able then to forgive
you and plead your cause? You bet He will. So then, John says this, Hereby
we do know that we know Him. Do you know Him? Do you have
fellowship with Him? Then keep His commandments. In John chapter 3 and verse 23,
he tells us what his commandments are. It's not the Ten Commandments,
it's not the law as religious, self-righteous hypocrites would
say. John 3 and verse 23, and this
is his commandment. that we should believe on the
name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another as He gave
us commandments. So what then are we to do in
the midst of this struggle? Believe Christ and love one another. Is that not simple? Not complicated. Believe Christ. Believer, we have a struggle.
It's real. But our confidence is that Christ
has redeemed us by His blood. Therefore, we confess our sins,
and God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Saved by grace. But that gives
us no excuse to sin. Sin not. But when you sin, you
have an advocate. Jesus Christ, the righteous.
and we obey His commandments. What are they? Faith and love. Faith and love. May God bless
this to you.