Walking in the Light

Are you keeping up with this continuation of 1 John 1?  Yesterday we studied the first half of that chapter, and today we will look at the second half.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. ⁷ 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

John gets to the meat of the matter when it comes to the message he had heard from God, making him declare that message to his readers.  "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all."  John wants the hearers of this truth to take it very seriously.  Declaring that God is light and in him is no darkness is a declaration of bold truth.  If a tiny speck of darkness could be found in God, he would not be God. Thus, being a personality of light would mean he was constantly light. Now look at verse 6:

"If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth."  Just as God cannot be God if there is a speck of darkness about him, we cannot lay any claim to fellowship with God while we still walk in darkness.  In fact, John says if we make that claim, we lie and do not live out the truth.  A statement such as that not only convicts us, but declares the importance of striving to be people walking in the light.

Now verse 7: "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."  What a promise!  From God, who always longs for a pure and true relationship with his people, comes the assurance of that fellowship with those who, like God, walk in the light. In that fellowship we also have the promise that the blood of God's Son purifies us from all sin. 

The last three verses of 1 John 1 continue with words which encourage us as well as warn us. Read them carefully.  There is deceit in the life of the person who claims he has no sin, and the truth is not in him.  "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. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. 

May we always be people of light, enjoying fellowship with our God.  He loves us.  He will forgive our sins. He will keep us from all unrighteousness.

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