Purified by the Light: Thoughts on Confession and Sanctification

I’ve been obsessed with this theme of purification lately.

On the surface level, there are some areas in our home I have concerns regarding mold and air quality, and I know the only way to address potential issues is to identify and diagnose the source.

At a deeper, more personal level, there are some areas of my soul that have been exposed—some underlying ways I’m operating in brokenness that I know the Lord has revealed so that I can walk in a way that is more whole and healed with him.

From my house to my heart, this idea of wanting things to be purified has been thematic. Which is why when I opened up 1 John 1 this morning, a few verses jumped right off the page:

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:5-7 NIV

As I considered the idea that walking with God means stepping out of the darkness, I was reminded of the way humanity was described in John 3:19-20:

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. John 3:19-20 NIV

What’s particularly interesting about this passage in that it comes right after the famous John 3:16 which tells us that God’s love propelled him to send Jesus, as our messiah, into the world. That the role of Jesus wasn’t to condemn us for our sin, but to save us from it.

This means that our sin problem is taken care of so-to-speak before we even own up to it. The idea of condemnation isn’t hanging over our heads when we are given the choice of admitting our sins or denying them. All that hangs in the balance is if we want to make the choice to acknowledge it, or not.

Do we want to bring the dirtiness of our sin into the light, or not.

Acknowledging our sins means dying to our pride with the proclamation that we are in dyer need of saving. And when we do this, God is faithful to finish the task of purifying us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Reading verses like the ones mentioned in 1 John 1:5-7, about living in the light and finding God’s purification, can have one searching their own hearts, asking the Lord to reveal the areas that need to be purified. He is so faithful to do this.

Psalm 139:23-24 comes to mind on the matter. In it, the psalmist pleas that God would search his heart and mind in order to keep him continuing in God’s everlasting way:

Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 129:23-24 NIV

As I took a peek at this Scripture, something stuck out to me regarding the value of our trials in this process of purification we undergo as Christ’s beloved: periods of testing expose our anxious thoughts.

Said another way, the difficulties or trials we undergo shine light on deeply-rooted ways of thinking that God wants to go in and purify us from.

1 Peter 1:7 describes our faith being tested through the refining process.

 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:7

James 1:2-4 says this about our trials adding to our maturity and completeness:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4 NIV

There is a humility required for the sanctifying—purifying—work that God wants to do in us. We mustn’t try to hide our sins or anxious thoughts, but allow them to be revealed. We must bring the fullness of all we are carrying with us into the light, in full confession, as we trust him to be the faithful, good, and righteous God he is.

He is the one who has allowed the blood of his Son to wash over us and cover our every misstep and doubt.

If only we might step into his light and fully receive the gift of his sanctifying presence.

May we be fully his today, and may we walk in his light with humility, not veering away from the ugly parts of ourselves or the sin habits we struggle to stray from. Rather, may we bring all that we are into the light of his love, knowing that we are his people.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9 NIV

We are his beloved children, whom he wants to purify and make whole—to the praise of his glory. May you walk in the light today, my friend!