Bible Reading: 1 John 1:5-10
The hypocrite’s walking in darkness entails more than just the denial of personal sins. It also involves denying the possession of a sinful nature. Whereas the hypocrite disputes the biblical definition of sin in order to deny he has done anything wrong, he disputes the biblical doctrine of original sin in order to deny that there is anything wrong with him. Of course, belief in his own innate goodness is the corollary to denying his sinful nature.
It has been said that the biblical doctrine of original sin is the only philosophy empirically validated by thirty-five centuries of recorded human history. That man is, as the Bible teaches, not only a sinner by choice, but also by nature, is proven by how man’s every effort to create heaven on earth inevitably ends up producing hell on earth. Try as he may, sinful man is incapable of good apart from God. On his own, man’s utopian dreams always result in nightmarish evil.
The importance of a proper understanding of the biblical doctrine of original sin is impossible to overstate. It is imperative to a proper worldview. Unless one understands that God is the only good and that good is impossible apart from God (Mark 10:18), he or she will buy into the lie that man is innately good and consequently capable of creating his own heaven on earth, as well as earning his own way to Heaven. This is the very lie that the serpent spoke to Eve in the Garden of Eden to bring about the Fall of the human race. It is also the lie that spawned the building of the Tower of Babel, man’s initial attempt to create utopia on earth by means of a one world government and a one world religion. Make no mistake about it; behind the unbelief of all sinners and mankind’s utopian ideas is the serpent’s lie that man is innately good and capable of building his own way to Heaven, as well as his own ideal civilization on earth.
All who believe this forked-tongued lie of the serpent are guilty of accusing God of being a “liar†and “His Word†of being untrue (v. 10). God’s Word clearly teaches that all men are sinners and that no man is righteous or capable of doing good (Romans 3:10,12, 23). Therefore, anyone ascribing to this fallen world’s belief in the possibility of an earthly utopia under human governance or an alternative way to heaven based on man’s goodness rather than God’s grace cannot possibly be a Christian. Such a person is walking in the darkness of this fallen world’s deception rather than in the light of God’s infallible Word. If they profess to be a Christian, their Christian profession is proven to be a lie (v. 6). They are a hypocrite; someone who is obviously “blinded†by “the god of this world†rather than living in the “light of the glorious Gospel of Christ†(2 Corinthians 4:4).