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
Earlier we looked at the introduction to this letter, and here, we enter the first section of the letter which begins at verse 5 and continues through 2:14. This section is given context in verse 5: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. Thus, this section is all about John’s declaration of light versus darkness, and it contains comparisons and contrasts.
Before we take a look at it, keep in mind what John wrote in John 1:4 “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” All through the Gospel story, John used “light” as signifying the presence of Jesus, contrasted with “darkness” denoting His absence. Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at our text. After proclaiming that God is light, John gets down to his explanation claiming that if we claim to be in fellowship with God, but walk in darkness, we lie, and are not in the truth. This is a rather easy statement to understand, for if we are in darkness, then we aren’t in His presence, and if we aren’t in His presence, we couldn’t possibly be in fellowship. There is no half-way!
The contrast is that if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship… because we are with Him in the light. If we have this fellowship in the light of His presence and truth, then His blood purifies us from all sin. The reality of the statement is that we can’t be in fellowship with Him until our sins have been forgiven by His sacrifice on the cross.
Sometimes, we may walk a ways in darkness, and by this I mean that we may stray from time-to-time. John doesn’t suggest that our errors kick us out of fellowship as we will see a little farther through this text, but that there is a way to return to the light of His presence, by confessing our sins., as we see in the next paragraph:
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
1 John 1:8-10
I think we all would agree that a claim by any one of us to have never sinned would be little short of crazy. John seems to think it’s worse than that! All have sinned, but take heart, for there is a way out, confess your sins and He will forgive; this is our covenant promise. There is simply no need for us to wring our hands and carry around a burden of guilt and shame before God, for when we confess out sins (acknowledge them) He will forgive; we have His Word on that!
Next time, John will have more to say on this topic; see you there!
Life Project Blog 
God’s purpose is to have us in fellowship with him… he really wants only that – but giving us free will to turn our back on him and all he represents that is something he gives us too. Why is it – as humans we try so hard to be our own little ‘god’ and really not put everything in his hands. God gives us an out for our rebellion and that is Christ Jesus. If we focus on that relationship and confess our sins we are forgiven and go back to a time of fellowship with God. What a plan – God is an Awesome God! Praise him for his Glory.
He sure is! Great contribution, thanks!
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
(Ps 139:7-10)
To hide from Light, to walk in darkness, I find all I must do is “close my eyes”. Then, I am blind. Then, I am weak and vulnerable. Then, I am injured. Even though I cannot “escape” the Light… I am yet “in” the Light (in Reality of Him), yet I am blind and derive no benefit from the Light all around me. Jesus was anointed to… bring sight to the blind. He can open my eyes, that again I “see”… that I “see beyond sight”… that I again see Light and find my way holding His hand… to “see beyond”… to meta-noia.
How fabulous is such a God of Love?
Grace — LM
Maybe we should remove the question mark and replace it with an exclamation mark instead, for I know no one who has the vocabulary to answer such a question.
Yes indeed, How Fabulous!
Walking in the light is guaranteed when we persistently keep seeking God, but what happens when it seems as if the more you seek Him you get pursued by forces of darkness? There must be a point where the darkness becomes too much for some of us as believers: it is warfare and no one wins each battle. what happens when you are in the midst of a battle and it seems as if darkness overwhelms the soul?
Don’t reply “keep your eyes on Jesus”; that would be a very strong christian, yet christians have been known to fall. Is it grace that makes the difference then? or are we saying that grace annul falling into darkness?
Too much questions, I know. Just thinking. W
Grace seems to be a major component, and John mentioned that if we do sin we have an advocate in Jesus. You’re right, this is war, and there are times when it seems like our position has been over run by the enemy… but then there is a theme that runs through the Scriptures that few speak of very often, and that is that very little is actually what it appears to be. In my life, those times only seem to be overwhelming, for greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. Victory is found in Him and in His presence, so I won/t say focus on Jesus, this time I’ll say run to His arms!
That’s a very commendable answer, but having been there myself at one point and having to mentor at times younger and new converts who are like new babes (literally) when the pressures or attacks come against them it is simple overwhelming so they resort to the base nature they once knew. At this point it is hard to hear the “still small voice” reassuring you and comforting you. This is where who makes the most noise will get through; and we know who is making a lot of noises in the world today, don’t we?
So yes Jesus is calling us to run to Him, but there is a wolf in the way who desires my soul just as much as my Savior. Not as simple for oppressed Sir. W.
This isn’t really the right medium for this conversation; this is a very big topic, and there are many variables, and we are not likely to get tthrough all of them here. So, about all I can realistically do is to speak in general terms. My email is listed on this site if you want to be specific.I discern that you have a specific case or cases in mind that I know nothing about, so sorry if I’m not seeing the exact need to address. But what the heck, let’s take another pass…
I, too, have been there, and I have mentored new (and not so new) Christians for longer than I’d like to think about, more than 25 years we’ll just say. If I am following your metaphor, yes there is a wolf there, but we really need to understand that the wolf couldn’t care less about anyone’s soul. The wolf is only there to keep us apart from Jesus Christ. Remember, we’re talking about Christians; that wolf has neither power nor authority over a Christian’s soul, for that is the property and purview of the Lord Jesus Christ. That wolf is not nearly as strong as he seems to be in fact. You see, in very tough cases, the day comes when the believer, new or not so new must stand on the Word of God, and this is no small matter, as you know.Standing on the truth and fact of the Word of God, we must be done with the wolf.
Now, this may sound harsh, and I apologize in advance if it does, but in normal situations, there isn’t a wolf at all. What there really is, is an immature Christian who doesn’t want to let go of the old life. The way to Christ isn’t a rush through the woods, it is a surrender. A surrender of the old ways, and most importantly a surrender of self. No, this isn’t always easy. Yes, it is harder for some than others. Yes, some of us can get the message and run up the white flag, and others insist on taking their lumps, but all of us can get there with patience, guidance and grounding in the Word, and a decision to follow Him no matter what the circumstances. It may take a lot of time for some, it may require that a person confess their sins to another, a mentor for instance, and it may take a mentor such as yourself who can keep the person on the right track, but in the end, it takes a commitment to let the old life go.
W, I hope this helps. Without knowing exactly what we’re talking about, I’m not sure what else to say…
Don
thxs for responding. this can go on forever i think. But i get questions ever so often as i go through. W
Yes, I can identify with that!
:))
Indeed He is the Light of the world. Thanks for your encouraging words.
Thanks!
Don – I believe for most Christians they remain in the immature state for a very long time. Those of us who were there for most of our life finally realized that wasn’t working for us – that we were missing the point that God wanted us to see. He wanted us to realize our purpose is serving him. Serving him by putting him first in our lives. When we forget our selfish ways – the devil or the wolf at the door tends to leave us alone. When we are less confidence in the Lord and rely on our own selfish ways – then he is ready to take us from our Lord. In Christ Saves us from the wolf and all the Worldly things that distract us from our work of the Lord. It sounds so easy to focus and then all is right with the world… but focusing on Christ helps us to put ourselves behind Christ too. Self dies and God’s work can begin.
“Self” is the great stumbling block! Thanks!
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