To Know the Joy of Being Cleaned Out
From N.T. Wright ~
“Lent is a time for discipline, for confession, for honesty,
not because God is mean or fault-finding or finger-pointing
but because he wants us to know the joy of being cleaned out,
ready for all the good things he now has in store.”
1 John 1:5 through 2:2 (from The Bible for Everyone)
1:5 This is the message which we have heard from him, and announce to you: God is light, and there is no darkness at all in him. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the dark, we are telling lies, and not doing what is true.
7 But if we walk in the light, just as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus his son makes us pure and cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar, and his word is not in us.
2:1 My children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone does sin, we have one who pleads our cause before the father—namely, the Righteous One, Jesus the Messiah! 2 He is the sacrifice which atones for our sins—and not ours only, either, but those of the whole world.
