(This is part 2 of a three-part series exploring 1 John)
1 God's Light Produces Fellowship and Sanctification
6 If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice 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 cleanses us from all sin.
The Walk in Darkness (1:6)
The first thing John tells us God's light produces is fellowship with one another and personal growth, or sanctification, within. But before detailing this, John records the first claim of the deceivers. He said, "If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness..." (1 John 1:6). The claim some made was that, even though they walked in darkness, they were in right relationship with God. Though living contrary to God's light, they claimed to be friends with God.
Notice how John addresses the claim of one who walks in darkness. Later in the passage, we'll discover he believes Christians who are walking in the light will become tempted and sin. This means John does not believe in the possibility of moral perfection this side of eternity. This helps us understand what it means to walk in darkness. John isn't saying a person will never sin, but he's talking about their habits and practices.
This person has tried hard to turn off God's light. They no longer allow the Scriptures into their lives. Their Bibles collect dust and sermons are of no real use to them. They aren't concerned with what the Bible teaches, and have likely considered it a fallible book. Perhaps they've fallen into the error of neo-orthodox (or neo-evangelical) view of Scripture, thinking the Bible's spiritual points and intentions are true, but not its science, sentences, or individual words. Perhaps they believed inerrancy is not taught in Scripture, forgetting it is the logical result of the Bible's claim to be God's word combined with the knowledge God cannot err. Perhaps they've believed inerrancy to be a modern invention of conservative scholars, forgetting it has been the unanimous teaching of God's people, Israel and then the church, not to mention Jesus Himself, for thousands of years. Or maybe they just think the Bible is not as exciting as Instagram. But for whatever reason, this person walks in darkness by turning off the light of the Word.
Additionally, they often turn off the light of the church. Their brothers and sisters in Christ are given little to no access to their lives, no say. No exhortation directed at them can survive. And, often, after spiritually or emotionally withdrawing from their fellow church members, they withdraw physically. They inevitably forsake the assembling of the saints, which Hebrews 10:25 warns us not to do.
And they turn off their prayer life as well, for spending time in God's presence is painful when walking in darkness. And if it isn't painful, it's just lifeless, because the connection to God is broken. The light of God cannot penetrate such a sad state.
All this is done to run from God's light, and to say while living a life of darkness, "I have fellowship with Him," is a sad myth. John calls it a lie.
The Walk in the Light (1:7)
There is, fortunately, a better way. John says, "But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light..." (1 John 1:7). But what does this walk in the light look like? As I already said, it does not mean moral perfection. It does not mean you'll never experience temptation. And it is not some unattainable life only a select few, real saints, ever achieve.
No, to walk in the light is a normal Christian life and experience. To walk in darkness is to try to turn off God and His light. To walk in the light is to want to live where God is, to have your whole life illuminated by Him.
There are many biblical examples of those who walked in darkness when they should've walked in the light. One was a man in the Old Testament era named Achan. The people of Israel had God's help and power when they entered into the Promised Land. God wanted to judge the nations and peoples of Canaan, and He used the people of Israel to do so. When they fought their first battle, it was against a city called Jericho, and God told them none of those spoils belonged to them. Later, they could inherit the wealth of the people's God judged, but not the people of Jericho. It was all to belong to God.
Well, Achan didn't like God's command, so he took a Babylonian garment and wedge of gold and hid them in his tent. Eventually, his sin was uncovered, and he was punished, made an example of for the generations to come, but I have often thought about Achan's experience. How hard it must have been for him to carry that shame and guilt around! He had to live a lie. He couldn't wear the garment or spend the gold. Instead, he had to hide them. He was a shell of his former self. He was walking in darkness.
But walking in the light is so refreshing. For one, notice how John says it, "We have fellowship with one another." Achan had to fake his way through his life group ("Yeah, things are really going great."). But walking in the light produces fellowship with God, of course, which leads to fellowship with one another.
Second, notice how walking in the light leads God to cleanse us. John says, the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. Remember Achan. He had to mumble his way through prayer ("God, I love you and give my life to...ah, forget it."). He was out of step with God. But in the light, he could have been cleansed from his sin.
Here's a major point:
John doesn't imply that walking in the light saves us. Instead, he means it sanctifies us.
Just as Jesus' blood positionally washed us of all our sins, so does Jesus' blood practically cleanse us from all sin. Progressively, as we walk in the light, Jesus works to purify our lives.
You should have this hope. Since it damages our relationships with others, we should crave cleansing from sin. Sin hurts fellowship and causes us to run away from each other, to other churches, or away from all churches, rather than give us a loving friendship together. Instead of living in darkness, hurting one another, we should believe a walk in the light will grow us, which helps fellowship.
Consider:
"But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day." (Proverbs 4:18).
Every day is a witness to the power of the blood of Jesus Christ in your life. When the sun peaks over the morning's horizon, it is emblematic of the beginning work of Christ in growing and shaping you. Later in the morning, when the day has its early glow, it sings of the way Jesus is progressively developing you for His glory. And when the heat begins to pick up in the late morning, it speaks of the significant progress Christ has wrought in your life. And when the sun is at its full strength, when the noon-day sun is beating down on you, it preaches of the ultimate work Christ's blood can produce in you, culminating in heaven when you are in glory.
As John would later write:
"We know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is." (1 John 3:2).
Yes! Walking in the light makes us brighter and brighter for God's glory. It produces fellowship and sanctification. And one day we will be like Jesus, morally perfect, even in practice and thought and action!
But what else does God's light produce?
2 God's Light Produces a Chain Reaction of Grace
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
To Disbelieve You Have a Sin Problem (1:8)
Here, John shows us God's light produces a chain reaction of grace. We see ourselves honestly, confess our sins, and He faithfully continues His work of sanctification, shaping, and molding us into the image of Christ, cleansing us from all unrighteousness.
But before getting to that, John mentions a second errant claim the secessionists made. Some Christians make this claim today. They said, we have no sin (1 John 1:8).
This assertion an obvious error. But what, exactly, were they claiming when they said they had no sin?
It is possible that some thought moral perfectionism possible. They might have believed the complete eradication of their sinful tendencies possible on this side of eternity.
It's also possible the eventual Gnostic error had begun to take hold. If so, they would have thought their bodies were separate from their spiritual person. So when they used their bodies to sin, they felt a spiritual God couldn't care less. Things done in the physical realm were of no consequence to them. On the inside, they knew they were spiritual and holy, good with God.
And in our day, both assertions might creep in, but we have other creative ways for denying we have sin. One thing we like to do is rename sin. So a lustful person is passionate. A greedy person is a penny-pincher. A liar is one who bends the truth. A drunkard is an alcoholic. An adulterer is a cheater. To have sex with your girlfriend is to sleep with her. On and one we go, softening and rephrasing sin.
We also like to defend or excuse our sin. We claim to be "imperfect." We preach that everyone makes mistakes. We compare ourselves with others, rather than God's perfect light, and are self-satisfied. Like the Pharisee in Luke 18, we say, "I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector" (Luke 18:11).
And don't call it sin! Whatever you do, don't use that word! It reminds us there is a law from God, and we haven't been able to keep it. So don't call it sin.
Get Romans 3 out of our faces!
All, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God." (Romans 3:9–11).
Remember, this view corrupts a person from the inside out. Here, we learn to feel this way is to deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
(God Is Light, Part 3 will be available on 10/6/20)
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