Real change for real sinners isn't possible without the real body of Christ.
Real change for real sinners requires honesty.
1 John 1:5–7
This is the message we have heard from him (Jesus) and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Walking in the light is not just about living and loving well; it's about what we do when we don't.
1 John 1:8–10
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
The mark of a mature believer isn't sinlessness, it's truthfulness.
To walk in the light is not to live without sin, but to live without deceit. - John Stott
Pretending to be better than we are is the quickest route back into the dark. - C.S. Lewis
1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Cleansing | a once-for-all and at the same time an ongoing experience of forgiveness.
Walking in the light means being honest- with God and with other believers.
Dare to Be a Sinner - Bonhoeffer
Bonhoeffer dared people to be a sinner not to celebrate sin, but to expose it.
James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed…..
1. Confession Creates Real Biblical Community.
1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another…
2. Confession Crucifies Our Flesh.
Romans 8:16-17
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
If we don't believe that Christians suffer, we'll avoid confession forever because confession is a kind of suffering.
3. Confession Causes Certainty.
A person who confesses his sin in the presence of a brother or sister knows that he is no longer alone with himself; he experiences the presence of God in the reality of the other believer. - Bonhoeffer.
Acts 19:18-19
Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly.
Boldness to be honest, boldness to walk in the light comes when we are assured the verdict of the cross has already set us free.