Two lies about sin

We looked at 1 John 1:1-2:2 in Bible Study on Thursday night and discovered that there were two lies we could believe about sin.

The first says that sin doesn't matter:

1:6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

The second says that sin doesn't exist:

1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

How easily we fall into the trap of believing either of these two lies - trying to deny the seriousness of our sin or pretending that it's not real.

Yet the truth of the situation is that while Christians do sin, we don't continue to live in sin. Jesus' death on the cross pays the penalty for our sin and the Holy Spirit at work in us transforms us to live a holy life. As we see in 1 John 2:1-2:

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

How great are those comfortable words?