1 John Series – Three Levels of Deceit

As we continue to study through 1 John, we will see how John will speak against those who might reject God’s standard for some worldly desire.  And it is interesting to think of the “shades of gray” that the world tries to push into those places God doesn’t desire for us.

Paul spoke of the “god of this age” describing the activity of Satan.  He does not have to get people to not believe in Jesus, but he only needs to make them believe in a false Jesus, and they don’t even see the light of God.  Everything that God is embodied in Jesus.  That was God’s plan, and that it is in Christ that we know the Father.  To reject Jesus is to reject God.

The same man who wrote the Gospel of John also wrote this book.  It is interesting to see the connectors between his writings.  John speaks of the light of God revealed in Jesus.

John will describe the three areas of deceit that people tell themselves to not address God’s standard.

The first level of deceit:  The deception to others about our sin.

There is a danger when we give the appearance of righteousness, that we give the appearance of walking with Jesus, but we lie and do not live in truth.  Maybe we are not living some sinful physical life, but spiritual sin is known only to ourselves, and because of that others cannot always see the evidence of that spiritual sin.  We need to walk with Jesus and walk with one another, and we will begin to address sin and begin walking in righteousness.

The second level of deceit:  We start to deceive ourselves. 

We begin to think that we don’t have sin in one area or another.  Many times we see this in the sins of attitudes:  pride, envy, etc…  We have to be very careful when we start to say that we don’t have an issue.

 

The third level of deceit:  We lie about God:  We refuse to obey His word.

(we will get back to )

Perhaps the first symptom of sin not dealt with.  We begin to stay away from God’s word and we will blame others for not understanding its truth.  When we struggle, the more we do not want to deal with sin, the more we will stay away from God’s word.  And when we get to the point that we start blaming others for the circumstances resulting from sin, we are far away from where God wants us to be.

John notes the conditional request here.  IF we confess our sin…  When we get to the third level, the best is to just confess, accept God’s grace, choose righteousness over sin, and begin to move in a direction where it becomes the central point of our life.  Confession involves both accepting God’s truth but also living out God’s truth.  Confession is not really about asking for forgiveness, which is common in our vernacular of confession.  It’s OK to ask, but we must not believe that we have to ask to receive.  When we confess (acknowledge) our sin and accept God’s correcting truth, forgiveness is already there.

If we don’t immediately grab ahold of the forgiveness, the enemy will use that against you.  “Look how bad you are. God will never accept you with sin like that.”  But we must hold on to God’s forgiveness.

Where are you in God’s word?  Are you reading the Bible?  Are you filling your life with God’s truth so that it can both challenge and encourage you?  This will connect you in relationship with God, and it will repel the deceiver and his lies.

If you find yourself at any level in deception, today’s message in a nutshell, knock it off!  Turn to God, confess your sin, accept God’s forgiveness, walk in fellowship with other Christians, and walk that righteous path that God has set before you!