Living In The Light

Living in the Light

Read: John 3:16-21

“Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

John 3:21

“For him who confesses, shams are over and realities have begun.”

—William James

IN WORD Much has been made of the possibility of people in the church bringing discredit to the gospel. The line of reasoning is this: The gospel cleanses us from sin; therefore, when one of us falls into sin, the cleansing power of the gospel is discredited. But is this true? Does a sinning saint damage the gospel’s reputation?

That depends. Someone who claims to be right with God, but who clearly is not, may weaken the witness of the message. But someone who falls, confesses, and repents—no matter how great the fall—only confirms the power of the truth. That person has demonstrated the meaning of grace.

Look at it this way: It’s easy to discredit a gospel of legalism; all you have to do is break its laws. But the only way to discredit a gospel of grace is to be perfect. Grace assumes that the laws have been broken by everyone already. Why would we be outraged when we see someone fall into sin? Our message of mercy presupposes that we will. It accounts for the depravity of the human condition. How can our sin contradict our assertion that God forgives sin? When we see sin and repentance, we don’t see a discredit to the gospel; we see the gospel in action.

IN DEED Jesus said that those who live by the truth will come into the light and their confession will be evidence that God is at work. He does not mean that those who live by the truth are those who never sin. He means that those who live by the truth will deal with their sin. They will bring it into the light and accept God’s forgiveness. That does no harm to the gospel; it affirms it.

Are you hiding your sin? The church often unwittingly encourages its members to do so. But that denies the gospel. Bringing it openly to the Cross exposes the sinner as sinful but also exposes the gospel as powerful. May we always know the freedom to live in the light.