“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: but verily God hath heard me; He hath attended to the voice of my prayer.” Psalms 66:18-19
In the Apostle John’s first letter, he writes of “walking in the light, as He (Christ) is in the light.” (1 Jn. 1:7) What does this mean? Light exposes all that is of darkness, makes clear what is unseen, and gives assurance concerning where one is to put one’s feet, and the path that one takes. The practical application of walking in the light is honest, transparency before God. There is the willingness to accept God’s revealing of anything that is not of His light, His Holy life. In Habakkuk’s situation, where he of necessity needed to have clarity before God, and be sure that there was nothing of sin, or faithlessness, between him and God, he wrote: “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.” (2:1) Here is a prophet of God who realizes the meaning of walking in the light, as he is seeking to know if there is anything hidden or tolerated, which is sin against God. Not only is he looking to God to speak to him concerning this, but the evidence of his honesty and transparency, is seen by his willingness to answer God, “…when I am reproved.” It was John Calvin who said that man does not know the thousanth of his sin. If this is so, how are we to know that which could be between the Lord and us? It is comforting to know that when Isaiah had his vision of God, the Lord convicted him basically of one sin, that of “unclean lips.” God did not confuse Isaiah concerning all that Isaiah did not know, but put His finger on the one thing that was crucial to all else.
In John’s gospel, the Lord illustrates how He deals with us concerning sin. There came a moment when Jesus rose from supper with his disciples, and began to wash their feet, wiping them with a towel. Peter objected to this, and said, “Lord, doest Thou wash my feet?” (13:6) “Thou shalt never wash my feet.” The Lord then responded to Peter, declaring to him that, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me.” (v.8) The first lesson that Peter needed to truly grasp was that cleansing from the Lord Jesus, who alone can wash away sin, was essential to know Him, to belong to Him. Secondly, Peter needed to know, as the Lord Jesus made so very clear: “He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.” (v.10) The Lord washes Peter’s feet, because that was the point of dealing with Peter’s sin. It is as Peter is willing to allow Jesus to deal with that crucial thing, that the entirety of his being is washed. The point is this. If the believer is to walk in the light, the Lord will deal with one thing at a time, which hinders fellowship with Him. In allowing the Lord to deal completely with that sin revealed to us, He then He will cleanse us from ALL sin.
How important therefore is it to be transparent before God, with nothing between God and us? The Psalmist simply responds to this question by saying, “…the Lord will not hear me.” In other words, the Lord will not answer his prayer. This means that communion with God has been broken, ceased, and the communication with God has stopped until the obstacle, or sin, is dealt with. How then does the believer deal quickly, and effectively with sin?
In a short span of twenty seconds, sin can be dealt with by being transparent with God, acknowledged for what it is, sin against God alone. In honesty and sincerity with God, there must be the confession of the sin, and the repentance from it. There is then the, “…cleansing from all sin,” nothing between, the certainty of restored fellowship with God.
Dear Father, Cleanse us thoroughly, restoring our souls entirely. In Jesus’ name, Amen.