Dr. Jay Snell Newsletter Feed and Free BonusesPart Three
Proof Texts The Devil and Well-Meaning People (The Unworthiness Peddlers) Use To Clobber You Over the Head To Make You Feel Too Unworthy To Receive Healing and Prosperity: Identified, Examined, Explained and Refuted
Dr. Jay Snell Newsletter Feed and Free Bonuses
Chapter Eight
God’s Five Continuous Provisions To Get You Off The Guilt Trip Down Unworthiness Detour So You Can Receive The Healing and Prosperity That Belong To You
I Jn 1:7-10
7 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.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
I Jn 2:1-2
1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Let me say again that scholars agree this book of the Bible was written to Christian people, to the children of God. The Apostle John was a child of God, and he wrote to his brethren who were children of God.
Provision #1: The Continuous Cleansing of Jesus’ Blood
He makes this statement in verse 7, "....the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." Look again at the word "cleanseth". It is written in the Greek present tense, which means "continuous action in present time". What this Scripture says is that for the Christian the blood of Jesus cleanses his sin, and it is a continuous process. It is a continuous cleansing. In other words, for Christians, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses and keeps on keeping on cleansing from all sin.
Verse 8 says that if we Christians say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Look at the word "have". It, too, is written in the Greek present tense, which means "continuous action or state of being in present time". If we say that we HAVE no sin and are keeping on HAVING no sin, we lie. Now what does this do for those who teach a sinless perfection? (Keep in mind, this book was written to Christian people.) I can appeal to the experience of every person, and if you're honest with me, and if you're normal, you will admit to me that from time to time you have a sin problem. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or jangle anyone's theology, but I'm just telling you what the Bible says. It says that if we say we have no sin - continuous action - if we have and keep on having no sin, we are deceiving ourselves. It says we have and are keeping on having a sin problem.
I had a Christian lady look me in the face just yesterday, tears running down her cheeks, and tell me, "I just can't be good enough." Unfortunately, she's right. So what happens when a Christian has a sin problem?
Thank God, the Bible says that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from the pollution of that sin problem. And it goes on to say that if we are one of those "super-pious" people who runs around trying to convince everyone else that we are above it, God says in verse 8 that we deceive ourselves. And then He goes on further to say that the truth is not even in us.
When we admit that we have a sin problem - and that we occasionally commit sin - we can be very thankful for verse 9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness."
When a person receives Jesus Christ as his personal Savior, his relationship with God is established. He becomes a son, or child, of God. But his fellowship with God can be broken. That does not mean that he is no longer a child of God, because there is a difference between fellowship and relationship. His new birth makes him a son, a child of God - that's his relationship. His fellowship depends upon the level of sinlessness that he maintains in his life. But when he does sin - and he IS going to - then he has to stop and acknowledge that sin before God in the form of a confession. It's the confession that restores the fellowship. A confession is this: someone telling someone else, "I did something that was wrong. It offended you, and I'm sorry." When the confession is made, God hears it, and restores, not your relationship, but your fellowship. When a husband and wife have a spat with each other, and the one who is at fault acknowledges that he is wrong and says that he is sorry, that is all it takes for the partner to respond in like kind, because they don't want broken fellowship. You see, your relationship is still the same - you may not be speaking - but you're still married.
God says in verse 9 that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive those sins, and He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Suppose I don't confess my sin, what then? My fellowship with God is marred until I do. I'm going to deal with this subject in more detail later, but look what verse 10 says, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." I'm talking about Christians' sin problems. I'm not going to beat around the bush about this subject. I hope to get you to the point where the Devil and well-meaning people (Unworthiness Peddlers) can't clobber you over the head, make you feel unworthy, get you on a guilt trip, and rob you of your power. I'm going to show you what the BIBLE says about sin.
For us to say that we - saved, born again Christians - have no sin (present tense), we deceive ourselves. I've known a lot of people like that, but they were deluded. I had a man sit in my office and begin this sinless perfection doctrine with me, but he was the most judgmental man I had ever met in my life. If he was so perfect, why was he judging me and everyone in my church? The Bible says, "Judge not." (Matthew 7:1) Where did that leave him? In sin, that's where. This was a man bent out of shape because I let people dance in the aisles of my church during praise and worship service. He said, "If you ever do that again, I'm walking out." (Remember now, this man is talking to me about all his sinlessness.) So, I called all the girls who love to worship God by dancing and made sure that they hit the aisles the very next service. Sure enough, this "sinless" man got up and stormed out of the service. He was not sinless, was he? Not only was he judgmental, but he had a horrible attitude.
"If we say we have no sin...." I sure don't say that I have no sin. I'm very much aware of my sin problem. I fire from the hip with my temper, and I know it. A lot of times I say something before I give the Holy Ghost a chance to tell me whether or not I should say it - not so much in preaching, but in day to day living. I once heard Oral Roberts talk about a time when he chose to keep his cool. He said that he sometimes prayed with a short fuse. And I thought, that's my kind of guy. I know all about that, and felt a kindred spirit with him. We have different areas where the Devil harasses us and draws the sin forward in us, and having a short fuse is a tough area for me. I can be all over someone before they can blink. It's not right, and I'm admitting it, not only to God, but to you. It's wrong, and I work on it every day. I'm better than I used to be, but I'm not what I ought to be.
So if we say that we have no sin - continuous action in present time - we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. To get fellowship restored, we confess the sin. The best way to do that is as it occurs. As our minds are renewed and we learn to think Scripture rather than deal with problems with our wits, we will be quick to confess, because immediately the Holy Ghost will deal with us about it. If we practice confessing our sin immediately when we sin, we keep the fellowship lines with God open. If we fail to confess immediately, we may forget to do it, and fellowship will be broken. Then when our sins have built up so big, we have to go off by ourselves and stay for several hours and let God remind us of what it was that we did that got between us and Him, and didn't take time to settle with Him. But when it is settled, then the fellowship is restored. Confess for fellowship.
We confess, that's our part, then God does two things - He forgives and He cleanses us from all of the sin. I like that. I once had a man ask me this question. What happens if a Christian dies before he has a chance to confess his sin? Will he go to hell? Absolutely not. The confession, in this instance, has nothing to do with his relationship with God. That is settled the moment he gets saved. Would you like Scripture for this?
Look at Romans 8:1-10.
Rom 8:1-10
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Romans 8:1 says there is no condemnation, no judgment now for those who are in Christ Jesus. NOW. There is NO condemnation and NO judgment. Therefore, this can only apply to fellowship. So if he doesn't confess, his fellowship is marred but his relationship is not. I refuse to be brought under a religious flesh work. I have learned what it means to trust in the blood of Jesus Christ, and I absolutely refuse to be brought under a religious flesh work of any kind.
When I teach this subject, there is always someone who tells me that I'm teaching that people can get saved and then go out and do whatever they want to - just get saved, but then go sin - you can get away with it. Well, I take my position with the Word of God. Look at 1 John 2:1 again, "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not." That's my position. I'm not telling anyone to get saved and just because you're saved now you can do anything you want. No way! And neither does the Bible. And you cannot go out and say that I said so. I'm not giving anyone a license to sin, and neither does God. I think we are to live as separated and holy as we possibly can.
I took a Philosophy of Religion course a few years ago and studied a book by a philosopher who had cataloged all kinds of religious experiences that people had had. The author made this statement in his book. "Some people are born with a certain amount of holiness (not Bible holiness), but they just have a holiness. Some people are just good, that is, better than others. It seems that some people are born good by nature." I've known sinners who were better people than a lot of Christians I know. I sometimes think I was by nature born worse than other people. Things that some people find so easy to do as a Christian, I sometimes have trouble doing.
What I'm saying is this - don't go out and sin. But I recognize, from my own experience and from talking and dealing with other Christians, that Christians are going to sin. Period. What happens when they do? That's where I'm coming from now. Although I'm pointing out these tremendous blessings that God has made as provisions for us, it does not mean that we can take these Scriptures as a license to sin. John specifically wrote this "....that you sin not." And I teach this- that you sin not! But when you do, I'm trying to tell you that you can be lifted up out of the guilt that comes with the sin
Provision #2: We Are Continuously Having A Lawyer Who Can Never Lose A Case
Verse 2 goes on to say, "....if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." We have an advocate with the Father, He's with the Father right now. He's not out of sight where His beeper won't reach Him. He is with the Father. The word "advocate" is a word which means "lawyer". Jesus is our lawyer. So "....if any man sins" he needs a lawyer. We have one right now, who's with the Father all the time. In other words, He's always in the court room, and some of us keep our lawyer pretty busy. Thank God there is a provision made for us when we sin.
Those who condemn other people when they sin will never preach this sermon, because they don't believe it. But I believe it. I live by it. We have an advocate with the Father - He's not off in space somewhere, but with the Father. We have a lawyer whose name is Jesus Christ. Revelation 12:10 says that Satan accuses the brethren before the throne of God day and night. The average person thinks the Devil is in hell, but he's not. He has access even to the throne room of God. He accuses the brethren - brethren are saved people. What is he accusing us of? He can't accuse me of being lost, because I'm saved. The only thing he can accuse me of is what I do as a saved person, because sometimes what I do as a saved person is not what a saved person should do. In other words, I sin.
Do you still have a problem with that? Go back to 1 John 1:8, "If we say that we have no sin...." - continuous action or state of being in present time, right now - "....we deceive ourselves." I'm not deceived, because I know me. The closer I get to God the more aware I am of the fact that I'm not what I ought to be.
What is sin? The Greek word for sin is Hamartia, which means "to miss the mark". If I put a bulls eye on the wall, shoot an arrow at it, and miss it, I missed the mark. If I miss it a quarter of an inch or a country mile, the point is I missed it.
Let's go a step farther. We place degrees of severity on sin. Some are worse in our eyes than others. Is telling a little white lie as bad a sin as killing someone? In a sense yes, but in a sense no. In one sense killing someone is much worse that telling a lie. But on the other hand both miss the mark, the target. The mark is what God tells us to do, but we missed it. What sin is there that will really get us in trouble?
James 2:10
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
If you keep the whole law, but break one point, you're guilty of breaking them all. The point is you missed the mark.
Someone says, "I'm a pretty good person. I don't commit adultery, I don't steal, I don't bear false witness, I honor my mother and father, I put no god before God." But there is one of the commandments that buckles us all. The one that says, "Thou shalt not covet." That actually means, "Thou shalt not lust." Who is free of that, unless you're abnormal. So you see, when you broke that one - you broke them all, according to James. That one thing will take you straight to hell, because you're breaking God's law. Who can escape?
I have already given you the definition for sin - missing the mark. But let's go a step farther than that. Paul said in Romans 14:23, "....whatsoever is not of faith is sin." What is faith? Faith is information that we receive from God that shows us in advance what His will is about a certain thing and what our part is in it. Look at the life of Noah. Noah knew before it ever rained what was going to happen and what part he was going to play in it. He knew in advance that he was to build an ark. He knew the rain was coming and that it was going to destroy everything on the earth. So faith is information that shows us in advance what the will of God is and what our part is in it.
Again, Paul said, "....whatsoever does not have it's origin in advance information from God is a sin to you." Do you have the job that you have because you received advance information from God telling you that job was God's will for your life? Do young people date certain ones because they had advance information from God that he or she was God's will for their life? What about idle conversation? Did the Holy Ghost tell you to say what you said? Whatever does not have its origin in advance information from God is sin.
When it all comes down to it, we need to consult God about everything. Do we? No. So when we really understand what sin is, we can begin to see the hopelessness and helplessness of our condition unless we have an advocate with the Father. Nobody, but nobody, can be what they need to be; therefore, we have an advocate with the Father. It all comes back down to Jesus. I'm not talking religious nonsense - going to church, strutting around, condemning and judging everyone else, I'm talking about where we live. I can guarantee you that the person who is so strong in condemning others will have the greatest lust problem of anybody you'll ever meet. I've never seen it any other way. The man who sits in judgment on other people for anything and everything is the man who is so eaten up with lust that he hurts. He's got a problem, and unfortunately, he does not recognize that he has an advocate with the Father. That lust problem that he has is one of the Ten Commandants - "Thou shalt not covet, or lust."
So we come full circle and find out that we've got to have our advocate. When you miss the mark, or sin, the Devil is going to remind God, "That guy claims to be your child. Look what he did!" When I was just a youngster, my Mom would catch me "with my hand in the cookie jar". I would lie like a dog to try to explain it away and get out of it. Unfortunately, as adults we try to do the same with God and with ourselves. The best thing to do is admit the sin, confess it, put it under the blood, and go on with God. This is how you deal with sin in your life. Confess it, knowing you have an Advocate, a lawyer to support you and plead your case.
Every time the Devil accuses me, my Advocate intercepts the accusation and tells God, the Father, "Yes, Jay did that. He shouldn't have, but he did." Then He points the face of
God away from what I did to the mercy seat and to His own blood which is sprinkled on it, and says, "He did it, but it's under my blood that I shed at Calvary."
"And the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses and keeps on keeping on cleansing us from ALL sin." (1 John 1:7) The difference in the way I teach this subject and the way others teach it is that I am so open and honest about it. I don't want you under bondage when you sin. I want you to walk in total liberty, because you will never exercise the power of God until you do. If you're bound by guilt when Jesus came down here to deal with your sin, you will never have a dime's worth of power in your life. So I want to get this out in the open, lay it out, shine the light of the Gospel on it, and show you what Jesus does when you sin. He is in heaven right now with the Father functioning as our Advocate.
I do a lot of things which do not have their origin in advance information from God. Remember the song, "I Did It My Way"? They wrote that song about me! But it's a sin. The first sin committed was this sin. Lucifer said, "I'm going to do it my way." His ego got him a lightening fast trip out of heaven. You see, this is the sin that no one can totally get around in this life. And from this sin, all others spring up. But if any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father - Jesus Christ the righteous.
Provision #3: Jesus Is The Continuous Satisfaction For The Christian’s Sins
Look at 1 John 2:2,
I Jn 2:2
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Propitiation means "satisfaction". Jesus is the satisfaction for our sin. Isaiah 53:11 says, "He (God) shall see of the travail of his (Jesus) soul, and shall be satisfied...." God was satisfied that the death of Jesus would be enough to deal with my sin. It satisfied God's demands for justice. Jesus is the propitiation, or the satisfaction, for the sins I commit as a Christian. Not only that, but He is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world if the whole world will appropriate His propitiatory work by faith. Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, but not everyone will be saved. But his death is good for their sin if they will accept it.
So many Christians have a hard time accepting what I'm saying, because they have been hammered with Moses’ Law they were never under. I'll tell you again - Gentiles were never under the Ten Commandants. We've had it screamed at us all our lives, but we were never under it. Romans 2:14 proves this.
Gentiles were never under it, are not under it now, and are never going to be; therefore, why should I put you under it? But the average Christian does their best to become a "lost Jew" and get under Moses' law. They hit themselves over the head because they keep missing the mark, condemning themselves. When this happens, they will not draw on their blood-bought rights as children of God. And they won't exercise God's power in their lives because they feel unworthy, and think God would never do anything for them.
In Acts 3 when Peter and John healed the lame man at the Gate Beautiful people ran up to them amazed at what had happened. Peter said, "Wait just a minute. I want you to know that it's not by our power or by our holiness that this man is made whole." Peter wasn't under a cloud of condemnation and unworthiness, nor was he on a guilt trip even though he had denied the Master three times. He understood the fact that he had an Advocate.
1 John 2:1 is written in the Greek present tense which means "continuous action or state of being in present time". Not only do we have an Advocate, but we are keeping on keeping on having an Advocate. Either my sin is cared for by Jesus Christ or it's not.
Experience will tell you that you are going to sin from time to time, even though you are a Christian. Are you going to lose your salvation and everything else Christ has done for you if you stumble? Absolutely not! His blood keeps on cleansing. We have and are keeping on having an Advocate who's with the Father right now. Jesus Christ is and keeps on being the propitiation for our sins. The Apostle John was writing in the "now", and there are three things that are continually working for us;
1) His blood is continuusly cleansing our sin now.
2) He is our continuous Advocate in heaven now.
3) He is the continuous satisfaction for our sin now.
Let me say it one more time - MY HOPE IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS THAN JESUS' BLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS! "I have no confidence in the flesh," the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:3. I don't either. I don't have any confidence in yours, and I have even less confidence in mine. My only hope is the blood of Jesus Christ. If His blood has a flaw in it, so that there is a sin I can commit that can overpower it, then I will concede that I am doomed to hell. But I don't know of any sin which has the capability of overpowering the blood of Jesus Christ. When someone produces a sin that Jesus' blood cannot cleanse, then I'll worry about it. But until it is produced I'm NOT going to worry about it.
The sin problem, as far as I'm concerned, is not even debatable. I don't worry about it. I'm concerned about some things in my life - there are not enough hours in the day for me to get done all the things I need to do. But my sin problem - bless God, I never give it a thought. I'm free of it. I thought it through and prayed it through, and settled it. I reached this conclusion - the only thing that can dislodge a Christian from his heavenly home is sin if you could find one that could overpower the blood of Jesus! But, until someone can find it, you'll find me standing on 1 John 1:7 - "....the blood of Jesus Christ his Son keeps on keeping on cleansing me from all of my sin." I just don't worry about the sin problem.
Copyright 1996 - 2007
Date Last Updated:
February 27, 2008
PO Box 59 ¦ Livingston, TX ¦ 77351
936-327-3676
http://jaysnell.org