Victorious life studies

by Robert Crawford McQuilkin

“There is none that doeth good, no, not so much as one” (Rom. 3:12).

“All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

“In thy sight no man living is righteous” (Ps. 143:2).

These statements are used in Scripture to describe the condition of all men outside of Jesus Christ the Saviour. To wrest these words from their connection and apply them to saved men to prove that they are not righteous and that they continually are coming short of the glory of God, is to take all meaning and significance out of the language of Scripture. It is because this is our natural state that we need a Saviour. When He saves us, are we left in the same state? Some have carried this strange use of the words of Scripture to the extent of believing (or thinking that they believe) that Paul considered himself still the chief of sinners after he was saved. He speaks of himself as the chief of sinners for the very purpose of showing the greatness of the grace of the Saviour which availed to save the chief of sinners, and that grace was not found vain. But what would we say of a Saviour whose grace abounded in such a way as still to leave Saul the chief of sinners? That is not Paul’s Saviour, and that is not the way Christ’s grace operates even in the lives of those true Christians who think they believe themselves still to be unrighteous sinners.

Perhaps the Scripture that has suffered most from this method of lifting it out from its environment is First John, one, eight: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” A passage which was written for the express purpose of giving the children of God the glad tidings that they need not sin, and pointing out God’s provision for keeping them walking in the light, has somehow become for many a stumbling block which keeps them in darkness.

Now whatever John, one, eight means it must be in accord with the later word that these things he was writing that we may not sin. “And if any man sin, we have an Advocate.” “If any sin.” That means there is a possibility of not sinning, as well as the admitted possibility of sinning. He does not say “When a Christian sins,” which would make sin inevitable. Now if a Christian were sinning all the time, this word of assurance against sinning, and also the word of comfort and assurance for the Christian who has been overtaken in a fault would be robbed of all meaning. First John, one, eight, therefore, cannot mean that Christians are sinning continually, or if they are, the next verses urge them to get out of that condition.

The literal rendering of this verse is, “If we say that we have not sin,” or “If we say that we do not have sin.” The negative is an adverb, not an adjective. The ordinary renderings, “If we say that we have no sin,” might encourage the assumption that the Apostle was speaking of degrees of sin and warning against the thought of being free from all sin. But sin is not something that can be divided; if there is sin, there is sin, and it is not here a question of more or less sin.

It will help also to remember that there is no independent First John, one, eight in the Word. This sentence is part of a closely woven argument running from the fifth verse of the first chapter to the sixth verse of the second chapter. He is talking of fellowship with God, which is an absolute thing in the sense that we either have perfect fellowship or we do not have perfect fellowship, just as a man wants perfect fellowship with his wife though the fellowship deepens and becomes richer as the days go on. There is but one thing that can break this fellowship with God, John says, and that is sin. For God is light and in Him is no darkness, and the man that has fellowship must walk in the light. Therefore man needs to be cleansed from sin so that he may walk in the light, having fellowship. There were some in his day, as in ours, who were saying that they had fellowship, though they were walking in darkness. If we say that, we lie. But if we admit that we cannot have fellowship and be in darkness, and are cleansed from sin in the blood of Christ, then we may walk in the light. If we say that we do not have sin, and therefore do not need this cleansing, we deceive ourselves. But if we are not deceived in this way and confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, so that we may walk in the light. If we say, as they were saying in his day, that we have not sinned, we make God a liar, for he has said that all men have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and therefore need a Saviour. John is writing all of this for the purpose of keeping these Christians from sinning, not for the purpose of explaining to them that they must be sinning continually while they are walking in the light. Sin breaks the fellowship, and before a man sins he must step out of that light. This is the message of the whole of First John. He may confess and be cleansed and restored to the fellowship, walking in the light.

But was not John referring to Christians when he said “we”? Let us ask if John meant that he and other Christians would say that they had fellowship with God when they were walking in the darkness; or would he and others say that they had not sinned, and thus make God a liar? The “we,” of course, is used in the same sense as, “If any one says that he has fellowship with him.” It is the use of the first personal pronoun that we ourselves continually make in stating universal truths. Some have even brought consternation to rescue mission workers by telling them never to use First John, one, nine for sinners, because the “we” refers to Christians, and God is “faithful and just” to forgive Christians, because they are under the covenant, while it is of his mercy that he forgives sinners. But “he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world,” and since God has given Christ to die for the world, it is of his righteousness and justice to forgive every sinner the instant he turns to the Saviour. This is not to say that it is not also of his mercy, but as one has suggested it is mercy from start to finish, for the Christian as well as the sinner. The rescue mission workers and other soul winners may go on using this verse with a clear conscience, for God will honor it both for sinners, and for Christians when they act like sinners, and need to confess and be forgiven.

In The Sunday School Times there was published recently a remarkable testimony of one who was saved from Christian Science, and the verse that brought conviction was First John, one, eight. “Why, that is just what I have been doing,” this woman said in amazement to herself one time when she read this verse. “I have been saying that I have no sin, and I am deceived. I need a Saviour.” This is the Spirit’s use of that passage; if it refers to Christians who have confessed their sins and have accepted the Saviour and been cleansed from sin, there can remain in it no convicting power for the one who has not confessed.