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8 If we claim to be without 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 purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)

Today is Good Friday. For believers, it is the saddest day of the year, because Jesus Christ was crucified today in more than two thousand years ago. He died on the cross for our sins to save us from the abyss of sin, and bless us with the promise of eternal life.

If one claims to follow Jesus, the first step one must take is to confess one’s sins and repent. Today's Scripture says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 Jn. 1:8) We may feel that this verse has nothing to do with us, because as believers we certainly understand and acknowledge that we are sinners before God. The Bible says: “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10). We also know that we frequently commit sins in our lives, offending God along the way. We dare not say that we are innocent or that we will never sin. However, in confessing our sins, we often fall into the trap of "self-deception". Instead of confessing, we employ the skills of "finger pointing" and "delayed repentance".
We "finger point" when a problem occurs, and say things like, "It's not my fault, it's the other person's problem.” “Even if I sinned, I was propelled into it, so the fault should lie in the other person, not me.” And “I may have made a mistake, but only a small one; the other person is the real culprit!” Sound familiar? Have these conversations ever come into your mind? Our defense mechanism helps us downplay our part and convince ourselves that we really have not done anything wrong, and we clear our own conscience. We convince ourselves that God will understand the unjust accusation that we suffer and therefore forgive us. But the Lord said, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48). A lot of times, we are fooled by our own deception.

Another type of "self-deception" is "delayed repentance". Sometimes we know that we have sinned, and we know that God's will is for us to confess. We are even absolutely willing to confess before God, but repent? Well, that is another matter. We prefer to defer! We convince ourselves that the Chinese idiom “one’s temperament is set by the time one reaches the age of 3”. Therefore, one cannot change one’s behaviour or nature in a matter of one or two days, so take it easy. But then, we allow this to drag on, and it may be deferred indefinitely. At this rate, we may never repent during our lifetime! Occasionally, when we face our own "delayed repentance", we will fool ourselves by saying that God is full of mercy and grace, and that He will understand our difficulties and forgive our deference. But Apostle Paul said, “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God” (Rom. 8:7). When we embrace our own faults and delayed repentance, we are still enslaved by “Sin” and obey its commands (Rom. 6:16), though we claim we are the followers of Christ. It is not that God does not want to forgive our sins, but when we blindly deceive ourselves about our own sins, we end up following the wrong master.

When we reflect upon our own “self-deception”, this morning's scripture gives us great comfort (1 Jn. 1:9):

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Let us go beneath the cross of Jesus Christ this Good Friday, and put our sin of "self-deception" before Him. Let’s sincerely confess and repent. The Lord promises: When we confess our sins, He will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all evil. Amen!