The author again talks about having no consciousness of sin. We are not to be in conscious sin. There are sins of ignorance and unintentional sins. When we realize we have committed them, we immediately confess and repent, asking God to cleanse us and remove it from us. In doing so, we remain in the Light and remain in fellowship with God. No intimacy is lost.

If you know you are sinning and are choosing that sin, that’s a whole different matter. You aren’t in right relationship. You can’t count on your prayers being answered. You can’t expect the Lord to confide in you as a friend. You confess. You repent. You ask God to remove it. If you don’t want to let go of your sin, ask God to help you hate it and want it gone.

The command is to love God with your everything. If you are choosing sin, you are choosing another love. You are denying God as your first love. That is a dangerous place to be. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Why would you choose to hate God with your sin? Why would you hate the one who gave His life for you and to you? Why would you hate the one who gave up everything to rescue you from your choice of sin that was destroying you?

God never desired sacrifices. He was never pleased with animal blood offerings. They were needed, for our sake. He endured it all for our sake.

Jesus did the Father’s will, including suffering and dying. We imitate Christ’s love. Give up your life. The only way to save your life is to lose it.

Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, the complete sacrifice. With His one offering He perfected forever those He is sanctifying, making perfect.

He is the one perfecting us. Our salvation is His work. We believe. We hope. We have faith in the one who is faithful. We trust the one who is trustworthy.

We meet together, not to make friends, but to encourage one another, to stir each other up to love and good works. We use our gifts to build up the body. We gather to give. We gather to be a blessing, not receive a blessing.