_If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth
is not in us._
The great foundation-principles of the Christian Religion are so
plain in themselves, that it would be natural to conclude, that none
who admit its reality, could be found who should be able either to
controvert or deny them. For the principles of Christian doctrine,
which are really necessary to salvation, are not only few in number,
but most clearly revealed, and repeatedly urged. To these the Apostle
refers when he says.--_For when for the time ye ought to be teachers,
ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles
of the Oracles of God. These first principles of the Oracles of God_
are the truths, which are obviously essential to the very existence
of all Religion. There are, according to the Apostle, what may be
termed with strict propriety _the first principles_ of the Oracles of
God. These may be easily comprehended by all, who pay any due
attention to the important subject of Religion.--Every art indeed or
science has, and must of necessity have what may be pertinently
termed _first principles,_ on which all the rest are built, and from
which they flow. These must be clearly understood, before we can
arrive at any considerable degree of excellence. No where is this
more eminently the case, than in the science of Religion, the most
valuable and interesting of all the subjects, to which mankind ever
paid their attention, or which they were ever called, in duty, to
examine. But on no subject, however, through the depravation of the
moral powers of the soul, are they so liable to fall into pernicious
errors. Such, it is conceived, is the notion that a _sinless
perfection_ is _attainable_ in the present state of being.
The words now read, and selected for present meditation, most
expressly declare that no one since THE FALL ever reached, or can in
this life reach such a state, in which he can with truth say, that he
commits no sin in thought, word, or deed. _If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. To say that we
have no sin,_ is to say that we do not offend in heart or conduct
against God or his law; against the Saviour of the world or his
Gospel; against our duty to our neighbour or ourselves. _To say that
we have no sin,_ is to say that we are entirely free from any remains
of corrupt nature, any evil passion or propensity, and totally pure
as the angels of God in heaven, according to the measure of our
rational powers and faculties.--Now if we say this, _we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us._ Being puffed up with spiritual
pride we are deluded by our own vain imaginations, _and the truth is
not in us._ We are ignorant of the true doctrines of the Gospel. We
are building up ourselves with a hope, which will mock and disappoint
us, in the end; and when Eternity shall open upon us, we shall find
we were far off indeed from sinless perfection.
The Apostle, in the foregoing verses, having said that _God is
light,_ that is, a perfectly holy and happy Being, assures us that we
cannot have fellowship with him, if _we walk in darkness_;--and that
in order to have communion with God, and an interest in the
all-cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, we must _walk in the light,_ the
light of truth and duty. _This then is the message which we have
heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is
no darkness at all. 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._
But lest this expression, _cleanseth us from all sin,_ should be
perverted, he adds, _if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us._ The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us
from all sin, as it wholly expiates or washes away the guilt of sin.
The good man is justified from all sin, but he is sanctified but in
part.--The completeness of our justified state, as Christians, is
urged in the next verse. _If we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness._ But lest this phrase, _cleansing us from all
unrighteousness,_ should be misunderstood or misapplied, he
immediately subjoins, you are not to conceive that you, when freely
and fully pardoned, have no remaining sin in your hearts: _If we say
that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in
us. His word is not in us._ We know nothing of divine truth as we
ought to know.----