1That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life 2(and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us); 3that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled.
5This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie and don’t tell the truth. 7But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
The Sin of Denial
Peter and the Crowing Rooster
We all know the account. Peter had sworn that he would NEVER leave Jesus, no matter what happened. And yet when things heated up, Peter threw Jesus under the bus, and he was out of there, denying that he even knew Jesus. Most of us see and understand this as a great story that shows Peter’s sin, Peter’s repentance, Jesus’ forgiveness, and Peter’s restoration. It is all of those things, but what we often miss is that most of us are part of the story. When I was younger, I traveled a lot in my work career. I was continually flying around the world, visiting customers, and trying to sell the wares of my drilling supply company. It was easy to be faithful in secret, but often my travels took me to customers who I knew would ridicule my faith in Jesus. Of course, I was always thinking that it might have resulted in losing business. I was very careful around the customers, never mentioning Jesus or my Christian faith at all. It was a form of denying Jesus.
When some of them would learn of my faith, I heard comments such as, “Religion is good, but one must be very careful not to ever be fanatical about what one believes.” I might have nodded in assent, virtue signaling the listener and responding with something like, “yeah, being fanatical can never be a good thing.” It was my way of saying, like Peter, “Oh no, I’m not one of them. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I never remember sharing the gospel with any of those customers. I succumbed to their quiet intimidation. Reader, if you are honest, I would imagine there have been times when you, too, answered in a “safe” way. You might not have denied knowing Him, but you certainly didn’t mention that He had saved you from sin and self. Every time we’ve done these things, we are right there with Peter denying Jesus. That horrible night, Peter went out and wept bitterly. He was sorrowful and regretful for his sin. Have we done the same?
After the resurrection, Jesus purposefully found Peter and asked him three times, “Do you love me?” He was giving Peter an equal number of opportunities to pledge his fealty and faithfulness, acknowledging Him openly, moving forward. He gives each of us the same chance because when we come to Him, admitting our sin and wrongdoing, John tells us, “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) Reader, if you have been beating around the bush and hiding your light under a bushel basket, commit today to stop doing so. Come to Him and agree with Him that you’ve been hiding out like Peter did, denying Him and the power of the gospel. You might have denied that you were ever even with Him or that you didn’t even know Him. Confess it. Get right with Him, and you will experience total restoration. You will once again become an effective tool in the Kingdom of God. It’s the only way to live!