Two of the basic principles of our legal system are the right of an accused person to know the charges against him and the right to face his accusers in open court. It's hard to imagine a more helpless feeling that being accused of something when you have no idea what you're being charged with and no opportunity to defend yourself. A person in this situation needs a defense attorney. We have such a Defender in the heavenly courts, Jesus Christ the perfectly Righteous One. We can be thankful for this because we are the ones under accusation.

What is our purpose for remaining on this earth after we become a Christ-follower? Are we here to seek the condemnation of others, or are we here to share the Gospel with all unbelievers, and actively pray for their salvation? What about our relationship to other believers? Are we here to condemn their sin, or are we here to love and encourage them to live a life devoted to the Lord? We have so little time on this earth. We should live like Jesus did and share Christ's forgiving message to those who don't believe. Just think of the change we could make in the world!

Sin is binding. It leads us to judge others with a standard we refuse to apply to our own lives. Self justification reveals our pride and we cannot live in humble obedience when the sin of pride reigns in our heart. It is the choice to look in the mirror with our eyes closed. But as we will see in today's message, humility brings compassion. It does not condone sin but calls us to repentance and a life of faithful devotion by trusting in His forgiveness and love. An obedience which flows out of gratitude. Jesus drew a line in the sand. What side of the line are you on?

No one likes to admit when they are wrong or they have made a mistake. When we expose our faults it may make us feel weak. But when we admit them it testifies to the glory of God. The reality is that we all fall short of God's glory and we are all in need of forgiveness on a daily basis. First John tells us that we must confess our sins. It's a verb, an action. It's the conditional action that we must perform in order for the Lord to do His part. Then He can forgive and restore the relationship we have with Him. The great part about God's forgiveness is that there are no strings attached.

Every human has sinned. We are born with a sin nature. And yet, God calls us to be holy or without sin. John, the author of 1 John, makes it plain and simple why every Christian must be holy...”God is light, in Him there is no darkness at all.” Light stands for all righteousness, purity, and truth. Darkness is sin, deception and impurity. If Christians want to know God and walk with God, they must not deliberately choose sin over obedience. God grants forgiveness through Jesus Christ. So, the goal for every Christ-follower is not to be sinless but rather to sin less.

Apart from Jesus we were all in a state of death. That is, we were completely captured by the power of sin and were destined to face God's wrath. We were continually trying to do the right thing but missing the mark because of our sin. But God has graciously saved us from this state of death by extending the power of Jesus' resurrection to us. Since we are in Christ, we share in the resurrection life of Jesus. These blessing have come to us from God. Nothing that we could possibly do earns us God's saving favor. God extends salvation to us as a gift.

The Great News begins with God Himself and with us. God is light, and in Him there is no darkness. But this is a big problem with us, because on our own we walk in the darkness, and this means that we cannot walk with God, with whom there can be no darkness. This is the central problem of mankind, even when we do not recognize if. WE are in darkness, and God is light, and the two can never meet. But if we walk in the light, then we can have fellowship with Him. This is the very reason that Jesus, Light of the World was sent into this dark and weary world.

Jesus began his ministry with a call to repent. As we learn more about God, we begin to see our need for a rescue from this condition of death. God did send rescue, but only when we see Him, and not ourselves, in the midst of our pain. Seeing our failures should give us a reason to stop and search for something better...a light out of the darkness. Every sin emphasizes our own incompleteness and indeed, our own mortality. This recognition, however, should ultimately not lead us to despair, but to joy. And that joy is found in a new life of forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

Paul leaves us no room for a middle ground. Either we're loving and serving one another, or we're attacking and destroying each other. Paul gives us two lists of behaviors. The first is unsettling just to read:fighting, jealousy, immorality, rage...who would want any part of that? When we follow our sin nature and we fail to love, we choose to ignore that which is good and indulge that which leads to darkness. Does your life resemble this list of awful behaviors? Facing this truth might be hard, but Pastor Mark gives us the answer to find the solution to this bondage.

We cannot have fellowship with God and continue walking in darkness, the place in which sinful behavior and attitudes prevail. This is the world that is contrary to His holiness. When we claim to know God, our lifestyle becomes the judge for that claim. The problem of sin is more than just a violation of any particular rule. Sin affects our entire nature and only through Jesus do we find spiritual health and life. Through Christ His Spirit lives in us. Therefore, we should rejoice and turn to the Spirit when we find ourselves tempted to walk in darkness.