The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1917-06-15

Lord Jesus Christ 1t is SAID, L write
unto you, little children, because your
sins are forgiven you for his name
sake" (2:12).
Perhaps someone reading these
words has never had his sins forgiven.
He is carrying the burden Of his guilt
and knows nothing of the joy and
peace in believing in the Lord Jesus
Christ. To such a one comes the
words of Paul, BE it known unto you
therefore, men and brethren, that
through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins: And by him
all that believe are justified from all
things, from which We could not be
justified by the law of Moses" (Acts
Is :2S-29). 1t is possible, you see from
this, for an unbeliever to believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ and have at
once the forgiveness Of sin and to
know that his sins are forgiven him.
The Way of Cleansing.
Then notice next that this epistle
tells us of the provision made for the
believers cleansing from the defile-
ment of sin. This is set before US in
the first chapter, seventh verse, where
we read, THE blood of Jesus Christ,
his Son, cleanseth us from all SIM"
The word "cleanseth" makes it clear
going on in the believers life by
which he is made clean from sin. In
two ways God has provided for the be-
levers cleansing: First, through the
blood of Jesus Christ; and, secondly,
through his Word. We have the first
method mentioned above; the second,
when Jesus said to his disciples, "NOw
are We clean through the word which l
have spoken unto you," and In Ephe-
slams five, where we read of the wash
ing of the water by the word" The
ever-present cleansing. which Is the
believers through the blood of Christ,
Is perpetual in it's effect and assures
him that before God in Christ he is
cleansed. The cleansing by the Word
has to do with his daily walk, and in
measure as the believer permits the
Holy Spirit to apply the Word to his
life it cleanses and keeps him from
the defilement Of sin.
Complete DeIiverance.
Then we come to the third fact,
which tells us how we may be deliv-
cred from the power of sin. "These
things write I unto you that We may
not sin" (Revised Version 2:D. When
we face this truth we face one of the
most solemn truths in the Word OF
God. We may have been afraid of 1t
because we have known certain teach
ing that has led into grave error, and
as q result we draw back when any
one talks about the possibility Of the
believer not SHINING, but what is the
significance of this expression may
not SIM" if it does not mean that
there is for the believer deliverance in
this life from the power of sin.
1t is very evident from the context
that the apostle is not teaching the
eradication of sin when he says may
not sim" for he says, eff we say we
have no sin (that is the root or prin-
ciple of SIM we deceive ourselves and
the truth is not in u.s." But in the
face of this fact that sin is in us. the
apostle says "these things write I I'M
TO you that We may not sin" BY
this he means the practice of sin, and
so he thus sets before us the posi-
bility of the believer being delivered
from the practice of sin. Well may we
ask, "HOw?" The answer is, through
Christ" Just as in faith, we yielded
to Christ to save us when we accepted
him as our Savior, so we yield to him
to live his own life in us. He is the
one who can counterfeit sin in us, and
as we yield to him we shall win out
ever sin Galatians 2:2O).
Our Advocate.
But what if we should sin, is there
any provision for us? Yes, says the
apostle, eff any man sin we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous" (2:D. This blessed
provision is made not that we may sin,
but in case we do sin. Just as the life
boats are placed on the transatlantic
liners not that they may go down, but
for use in case they do go down; and
so if we fall into sin, the apostle tells
us what to do in the words: eff we
confess our sins, he Is faithful and
lust to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness"
q :9). Our part in the restoration into
fellowship is to confess our sin, re-
Numbering that before God stands our
Advocate who pleads by his presence
our case The ideal, however, for our
lives is for us not to practice sin. We
are altogether too ready to excuse our
selves on the ground of our sinfulness,
and so we set low standard for our
lives. Gods ideal for us is that we
sin not. Have we made 1t our ideal
for orr liyeS2 If so let us look to the