1 John 1:9 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible, and it carries tremendous meaning. The word “cleanse” in 1 John 1:9 carries with it a greater meaning than a simple cleaning. When a plate is washed, we declare it to be clean and that it is free from dirt. However, “cleanse” carries with it a far greater meaning than only washing. We are not just cleansed from the stain of sin. We are also purified from wickedness and unrighteousness.
In Revelation 5:5-6, we find that Christ is sitting on the throne in the form of a Lamb as if slain. That is to say, the blood of Christ we need for cleansing is always available, something like a fountain. We have available a perpetual cleansing, and that not only from the stain of sin but also from impurity and unrighteousness. It is our unrighteousness which is the root of sin. This cleansing extends beyond the stain of sin and penetrates into the root of our sin.
We would not understand 1 John 1:9 to mean that we can abuse the blood of Christ. Some people believe we can go on sinning even though we have been cleansed. We should not justify continual and willful sin on the basis that the blood of Christ is always available. What we find here is a deeper cleansing which makes us pure, to the extent that it is possible to not sin – through the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit.
A pure vessel has no need of further cleansing because it is perfect. That is to say, a pure vessel is not dirty. In our hearts, darkness, wickedness and unrighteousness are all “dirt.” A pure heart is one from which does not spring sin because it is pure. This is what cleansing leading to purity means. A pure heart will not sin because sin does not spring from purity. James 3:7-12 This is the doctrine of Christian perfection. We are not only cleansed from the stain of sin, but we are cleansed in such a way that the root of sin is eliminated. We are made pure, but this does not mean it is impossible to sin or that we cannot sin.
When we discuss the imitation of Christ, we understand that He is morally pure. It is the essence of His divine character. We can only imitate Him if we are also pure in heart. 1 Timothy 1:5, Matthew 5:8 The object of the Christian life is moral purity, a character which imitates Christ. And to be sure, Christ Himself calls us to imitate Him in Matthew 5:48.
As there is no darkness where there is light (God is light and in Him is no darkness), there is no impurity or sin where there is purity.
Friends, if we continue to sin, our hearts are not pure. Yes, this is a high challenge. Avoiding sin is extremely difficult, yet this is precisely what we are called to embody. It involves continual surrender and, most importantly, leaning on Christ’s strength to abstain from sin. One of the verses that greatly helped me as a young person is 1 Corinthians 10:13. When we are in Christ, we are cleansed in such a way that we are enabled to not sin.
The fellowship with God which we seek is conditioned on the high calling of moral purity. 1 John 1:6 We cannot say we have fellowship with God if we go on sinning; nor can we say we are imitating Christ. Because there is no darkness in God, we should not think He will allow us into His inner circle while we are stained with the darkness of the world. As James 3 says, we cannot profess purity but act out impurity. Matthew 15:11,17-20
We’ll conclude this post with a quote from the Bible commentary Biblical Illustrator. “To believe or to deny the possibility of Christian ‘perfection’ is to leave the motives of the spiritual life almost wholly unchanged, as long as each man believes (and who on any side doubts this?) that it is the unceasing duty of each to be as perfect as he can, and, in the holy ambition of yet completer conquest, to ‘think nothing gained while aught remains to gain.’ Were a perfect man to exist, he himself would be the last to know it; for the highest stage of advancement is the lowest descent in humility. As long as this humility is necessary to the fulness of the Christian character, it would seem that it is of the essence of the constant growth in grace to see itself lowlier as God exalts it higher. Besides this operation of humility, it must be remembered that the spiritual life involves a progressively increasing knowledge of God.” Professor W.A. Butler
Our aim must always be the reformation of our motives, so that we can love God with a pure heart, unmixed with any desire for sin. Let’s commit never stop pursuing a pure heart and to never stop putting off sin and all desire for sin.
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