The ultimate truth

36. 1 John 1:7

But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. —
1 John 1:7

Years ago evangelist Charles Finney preached this verse in Detroit, and afterward a stranger asked him to come to his house to talk with him about his soul. Against the advice of friends, Finney followed the man down a side street, into an alley, and through a darkened door into the back of an establishment. The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a revolver. He said, “You see this revolver? It has killed four people.... Is there any hope for a man like me?”
Finney simply repeated the text from his sermon:
“The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.”

The man explained he owned a saloon and had sold every kind of substance to every kind of person. Again he asked, “Is there any hope for a man like me?”

And again Finney replied, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.”
The man continued, “In back of this other partition is a gambling joint and... there isn’t a decent wheel in the whole place.... Men have gone out of that gambling place to commit suicide....
 Is there any hope for a man like me?”

Finney said, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.”

The man confessed he had cheated on his wife and been abusive to his family. Hanging his head, he asked, “Brother Finney, is there any hope for a man like me?”

Finney took the man by the shoulders and said, “Oh, son, what a black story you have to tell!
 But God says, ‘The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.’”

The next night this man and his family came to Finney’s meeting, listened to the gospel, and gave themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Charles Finney used this verse evangelistically, but in its actual context it’s addressed to Christians. John was writing to church members, encouraging them to walk in the light and to confess their sins in order to keep their relationship with the Lord sweet and strong. We need to walk in the light.

Perhaps there’s a sin into which you repeatedly fall. It’s unhealthy to allow that sin to remain unconfessed. If we know Jesus as our Savior, we don’t lose our salvation every time we sin, but we do lose something of the sweetness we should have with our heavenly Father. We lose a clear conscience and an untarnished walk.

How wonderful to confess our sins and walk in the light as He is in the light.

I find a speedy deliverance by simply declaring over and over again “The blood of Jesus cleanseth me from all sin.” It seems as if Satan cannot endure the mention of that name; he always takes his flight.—

Hannah Whitall Smith

100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart.