It’s a known fact that one cannot walk with God and live a life of darkness. And that no one can claim to be a Christian and still live in evil and immorality; and there’s no way that one could love God and court sin at the same time. We see this thought revealed in 1 John 1:6 where John says: “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:”.  When we walk in the light as the Bible tells us we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sins (1 Jn. 1:7).  Also, God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all, and God’s Word is true, for He leads us out of the darkness and into His marvelous light. Light brings clarity, reveals truth, and dispels darkness, where light exist no darkness can remain. In darkness, good and evil look alike, but in the light, truth is revealed. So, it is with sin for it cannot exist in the presence of a Holy God. 

Understand that “if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 Jn. 1:8). “Because you say, I am rich and increase with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked:” (Rev. 3:11); for self-sufficiency is the fatal danger of a lukewarm attitude.  If one desires a relationship with God, they must put aside their sinful ways of living. And to claim we belong to Him but then to live out our lives for ourselves is hypocrisy and we are no more than liars. All sin breaks our fellowship with God, it interferes with our worship, it hinders our prayers and it can stop the ears of God. It can be difficult, however, for many people to admit their faults and shortcomings even to God.  It takes humility and honesty to recognize that we have weaknesses and shortcomings but most of us would rather pretend that we are strong and are never seen as weak. You see, God already knows all about our sins, so we don’t need to fear telling Him anything about us. But humbly come to Him with a heart of repentance, God will never push us away – no matter what we have done.  

Throughout the Bible, God instructs us to confess our sins, to acknowledge our iniquity which we have transgress, and confess and forsake them. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful, and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 (Wesley NT). Also to “rend your heart and not your garments." Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil” (Joel 2:13 (NASB). Now, do you think God is trying to tell us something?  

Confession is supposed to free us to enjoy fellowship with Christ. But many Christians do not understand how it works. It should ease our conscience and lighten our cares, but there is still a feeling of guilt, so we continue confessing the same sins over and over.  There are even those that believe that God forgives them when they confess, but if they died with unconfessed sins they believe that they would be forever lost. These do not understand that God has already forgiven them even the present and future sins. We do not need to confess old sins and add to it sins of today, He allowed His Beloved Son to die just so He could offer us a pardon and free us from the bondage of darkness.

When we come to Christ, He forgives all the sins we have committed or will ever commit. His precious blood has washed us clean “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” (1 Peter 1:18-19). So, we don’t need to confess the sins of the past all over again and there is no need to fear that God will reject us.  Our relationship with Christ is secure. Now when it is true confession it is also a commitment not to continue in past sins again. There must be a complete turning away from the old and walking a new walk. We wouldn’t be genuinely confessing our sins to God if we were planning to commit them again and we just wanted temporary forgiveness. So, pray for strength to defeat the temptation when sin arises.

So, don’t let darkness hold you or keep you in bondage, “We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men (Isa. 59:10), “But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:11).  He who hates is not following Christ, therefore he walks in darkness and are subject to demon spirits controlling them.  The result of darkness is, God’s presence is absent, spiritual forces of evil are all around, it hides our evil deeds, depression and sadness dwells there and all hope seems lost.

Remember that “…God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1Jn. 1:5). And as Jesus said “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).  Father, I ask that you search our hearts, try us and know our thoughts and Lord, if there be any wicked way in us, please lead us in the way everlasting. Lord, speak to us of any hidden sins that we may have forgotten or that we may not know is sinful in your eyes. Wash us and make us clean as you help us to walk in the light. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray, amen.

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