008 Kernels of Wheat – Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!

by Jim Kerwin on October 17, 2011

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Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 008 – Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire! (1 John 1:6-2:6)

"Liar, Liar," recycled tin artwork by Jenny Fillius

Recycled-Tin Artwork by Jenny Fillius at jennyfillius.com. (Click on image for full link.) Website image used by permission. Original is currently being used by the Seattle City Department of Cultural Affairs.

To get the most out of this ongoing Bible study:

Read through 1 John once a week.

National Prayer Chapel

I mentioned work on the National Prayer Chapel's site. Visit NationalPrayerChapel.com to see what they're doing there. (And don't be surprised if you see the Kernels of Wheat podcast start appearing there soon.)

Review and Context:

Walking with or before God = being pleasing to God
“I write these things to you that you may not sin.” (1 John 2:1)
The blood of Jesus Christ continually cleanses us from inward sin IF we walk in the light.

The Heart, the Covenants, and “God Who Knows the Hearts”

Under the Old Covenant

Jeremiah 17:9-10 — Who can know the deceitful, desperately wicked heart? “I, the Lord!”

The Promise of the New Covenant

Hebrews 8:8-13
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Ezekiel 36:26-27

The Heart of the New Covenant

Acts 15:7-9 — hearts purified by faith by “God Who knows the hearts.”

Today's First John Passage: 1 John 1:6—2:6

1:6 — Lying, and the truth not being in us
1:8 — Self-deceit, another form of lying
1:10 — Making God a liar
2:4 — Saying one thing, doing another = liar

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!

The lie too many of us believe and repeat, in it themes and variations:

Sin is “okay.” Sin isn’t important, so God understands and forgives. That’s a lie.
Jesus is my Savior, but not my Lord, so I don’t yet have to give up sin. That’s a lie. If Jesus isn't Lord, are you really saved? The Scripture says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13), not “the name of the Savior, but not yet my Lord.”
“As long as I don’t die while I’m in the act of sin, and I confess my sin, everything is all right.” That’s a lie.
Pointing out people’s sins, especially the sinful lives of many Christians is legalism. That’s a lie.
A variation on the Flip Wilson/Geraldine Jones defense – “The debbbbill made me do it!” – I can’t ever be free from sinning because of my sin nature. (“My sin nature made me do it.”) Lie.
“When God looks at me, He sees Jesus, not me. He doesn’t see the sins I keep committing willfully, He sees Jesus’ righteousness. God isn’t ‘hung up’ about sin.” That is a MONSTROUS lie. Yes, God is very hung up about sin—Jesus was ‘hung up’ on a cross to save you from sin. If HE thought it was that serious of an issue, everyone who names the name of Christ had better see it as equally important.

1 John 1:9 and Confession

The word confess in Greek is homologeo, that is, to say the same thing. Do we say — and believe — the same thing as God about our sins (and our sin)?
What God says about continued, willful sin can be read in Hebrews 10:26-31. Bear in mind that these word were written to and about believers, not unbelievers.
Those who confess and forsake sins find mercy (Proverbs 28:13). With that kind of deep “confession” comes comes God's “faithful and righteous” forgiveness and cleansing.