WALKING CLEAN

Do you remember playing with an Etch-A-Sketch when you were a kid? You try to sketch out your name or a house or stick figures — and when you mess up the masterpiece, you turn it over, shake it good and hard, and like magic you start over with a clean slate.

1 John 1:9 is the Etch-A-Sketch verse of scripture. John said in verse nine; “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” It's a simple no-nonsense promise stated in plain language for anyone to understand. The condition is that we confess our sins. The promise is that God wipes the slate clean. It sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? It can't be that easy. When we hear about God's generous attitude toward forgiveness, we often come back with the question—"If God guarantees my forgiveness, does that mean I can commit any sin I want, and God will forgive me?" It's like the bumper sticker I saw once that said, "How many sins can I commit and still get to heaven?"

The person who asks this is approaching the Christ-following life from the wrong direction. That person understands very little about what it means to be a Christ-follower. The main focus of the Christian life is not about getting your sins forgiven so that you can go to heaven. That's part of it, but not all of it. God has more in mind for you.

It's like having a job. Everyone who works is entitled to get paid — but no customer or employer wants to deal with a worker who is only there for the money. We've all known people like that. They don't like their work, they don't like who they work with, they don't like who they work for — they just want a paycheck. We can agree amongst ourselves that this person isn't on the fast track to advancement, right? With that attitude, they won't be effective in their job performance. In fact, can you imagine taking that attitude into a job interview? You say to your perspective employer, "I don't really care about your product, or the goals of your company, I just what to know what is the least amount of work I can do here and still get paid?"

And yet, some people think that way about the Christian life — "What's the minimum I have to do and what's the maximum I can get away with?" And though most people would never say it that way, if we're honest, we catch it ourselves thinking that way from time to time. Today, I want to challenge you to think the opposite way: How can I maximize my relationship with God, and how can I minimize my sinful behavior?

Jesus paid the price and solved the problem of sin by his atoning sacrifice on the Cross. Not only did he pay for the sins of your past, but the sins of your future as well and not only your sins, but also the sins of the whole world. Jesus paid the price for them all.

A relationship with God includes knowing that you are forgiven, knowing where you stand with God, knowing that your prayers are being heard, and knowing that you have the power to overcome temptation, knowing that God is with you, and on and on. This is what happens when you walk in the light of his grace when he forgives your sin.

You can be forgiven. God will forgive you as many times as is necessary, because his goal for you goes far beyond merely wiping the slate clean—he wants you to learn to walk in the light. He wants you to live in a right relationship with him and in a right relationship with his people. He wants you to experience his power, his wisdom, his presence, his anointing, his fullness — he wants you to walk in the light as he is in the light. Once you've become accustomed to living in his light, it's no longer a question of "how much sin can I get away with?" It becomes a question of "How much sin can I get rid of?" That's because nothing in the world compares with the brilliance of walking in the light of God's love.