Two Truths and Three Lies
I remember it from school: an instructor would want students to get to know each other better. We’d pass out notecards and write down “two truths and a lie” about ourselves. Then, after reading our get-to-know-you facts, the other students would guess which one was the lie. The better we knew our friends, the more successful we would be!
Turn it on its head, and there’s a spiritual insight here: The better you know your God, the more spiritually healthy you will be.
The Apostle John does just that when he puts forward two truths to expose three lies in 1 John 1:5-2:2.
Truth: God is Light
“… and in Him there is no darkness whatsoever.” We have to be careful with biblical metaphors of light and dark and allow the context to breathe the nuance for us. John will tell us exactly what he means in a moment, but for now, notice the absolute starkness of the metaphor.
Pure, radiant, true, light with not a shred of shadow or darkness. That is God. That’s the first principle of John’s epistle about the Life made manifest. Start always with that truth—God is God, and God is good—all the time.
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5, ESV)
Lie One: “We Have Fellowship with Light and Darkness”
See how the truth exposes the lie? If you know your friend is an only child, then when he says he has four brothers, you win the game. If God is light, then no one can walk in the darkness and claim to have fellowship with God. That’s just lying, and if you remember the truth, it’s easy to spot.
No, rather, we must walk in the light as He is in the light… and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us of all sin. John isn’t arguing for sinlessness here, but for real cleansing.
“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.” (1 John 1:6–7, ESV)
Lies Two and Three: “We haven’t sinned!” And “We have no sin!”
Some try to restrict verses 8-10 to the believer’s past, so this text applies only to justification and conversion, leaving room for a strong position on Christian ethics or holiness. It’s a noble impulse, but the result can be disastrous, and John rejects both lies. We have sin now, and we had sin in the past.
Why? Because of the truth! Sin remains in us. But if you confess your sins, God is faithful and just to forgive your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Both your past and your present have sin—denying either is delusional.
Cleansing, not sinlessness, that’s the message of eternal life.
“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.” (1 John 1:8–10, ESV)
Truth: “We have an Advocate!”
John’s tone shifts to tenderness. He’s an old pastor who calls his readers “My little children,” and he clears any confusion that he’s making allowances for sin. No, he’s simply forcing them to lay hold of the truth that Jesus Christ the righteous is the only way to deal with sin; anything else is a lie. That’s the last truth, and it shines with perfect light.
“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.” (1 John 2:1–2, ESV)
God is holy; Jesus is the only sacrifice for sins and our advocate with the Father. That’s the truth.