Walk in the Light

Opening

Greeting and Invitation

Good morning church! If you have your Bibles with you this morning, I invite you to open them with me to the book of 1 John chapter 1. Not to be mistaken for the Gospel of John, found in the beginning of the New Testament, but 1 John towards the end of it. We will be focusing on verses 5-10 today.

If you don’t have a Bible with you, no worries, we will have the text up on the screen for you as we move through our text this morning.

Have you ever known someone who says one thing, yet does the opposite?

I ask this question intentionally, because the answer is obviously a resounding yes! In fact, we all have been that someone before. Someone that says one thing, yet does the opposite.

This by definition would be called hypocrisy. And someone guilty of hypocrisy would be labeled a hypocrite.

If you study the word hypocrite and the background behind it, you will find that it is translated over from greek, and the greek word refers to “an actor” or “a stage player”, or more literally: “an interpreter from underneath”.

Actors in ancient Greece would wear large masks on their faces to depict which character they were and would speak from underneath that mask.

Later on, the term would refer to anyone who was wearing a symbolic mask, pretending to be somebody that they were not.

(pause)

Hypocrisy does not look good on anyone, yet it is something we can all find ourselves being guilty of from time to time.

In today’s text, I want us to see what John has to say about those in the Christian life who claim to follow Jesus, yet their life would claim something different. One who puts on the mask of a Christian, but in reality lives a different life.

John doesn’t just point that out, but he also provides us with what the life of Christians should actually look like.

Before we begin, let’s pray and ask God to help us as we open His Word and as He speaks to us today.

(pray)

Body

Context

Before we dive into our text, I want to give some context as to who John is and why he wrote this letter.

John was a disciple and apostle of Jesus Christ. Known as being in the “inner circle” of Jesus along with his brother James and Peter.

He refers to himself in his gospel as “The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved.”

John wrote the Gospel of John; 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John; as well as the book of Revelation found in our New Testament.

Most believe that John wrote this letter 1 John in response to the heretical early beliefs of Gnosticism of his day.

If you’re not familiar with what Gnosticism is:

It is the belief that salvation is a secret hidden knowledge, and within each person is a piece of God, a “divine spark” that once paired with knowledge, allowed them to obtain the secret of how to receive salvation.

This belief was deemed heretical.

John wrote this to give his readers clarity on the Christian life, providing ways that they could know they are truly in the faith.

I personally love John’s writings as they are clear and to the point.

He tells us the truth in the most simple way; no reading between the lines needed.

Text

With all of that being said, let’s read our text for this morning. 1 John 1:5-10

1 John 1:5–10 (ESV)

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

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.

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.

10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

(pause)

Main Point

The life of a true Christian is marked by confessing sin and walking in the light.

To begin, we must recognize the foundation, the grounds for which a true Christian is to walk in the light in the first place. And that is:

God is Light (v. 5)

Right in the beginning of our passage, John tells us the message that he has heard from the Lord Jesus Christ that he is now proclaiming to us, that:

God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

A statement that may seem obvious to us, but something we should not brush by too quickly.

(pause)

What does it mean that God is light?

Pastor Ken Jones says that: “In describing God as light, John is referring to His absolute moral purity and omniscience. In other words, there is no moral defect, nor is there a lack of knowledge in God.”

There is nothing bad in God. He is absolutely, positively, 100% pure and good.

He is light.

This is the foundation for everything that comes after in our text today.

When we become followers of Christ, He calls us out of our darkness into His marvelous light, as Peter writes (1 Peter 2:9).

We then enter into fellowship with Him, and He changes us and our desires.

Because God is light, we are to reflect Him. We are to be light, as He is light.

In other words:

We Are To Be Like Him (v. 6-7)

If we are to be like Him, then we must not live in darkness.

Light and darkness cannot co-exist.

John tells us this:

1 John 1:6 ESV

6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

(pause)

Those are piercing words by John.

I want us to notice two key words John uses here: walking, and practicing.

As believers, when Christ saves us, we are made a new creation in Him.

At the very moment of your conversion, your sanctification process begins.

Sanctification simply means the process by which Jesus makes you more like Him over time.

However, if you have been a Christian for any amount of time, you know that Christians struggle with sin even after being a born again Believer.

Now, there may be certain sins that you struggle with that the Lord may immediately free you from, or sins you struggle with less after becoming a Christian. If that is so, that is amazing! That can happen!

But, Satan hates the work that Christ has carrying out within us.

Satan is out to distract and destroy us.

We will still fight against the flesh as we are here on the earth.

So, is John telling us that if we sin at all after becoming a Christian, that we are lying and not of the truth?

Thankfully, that is not what he is saying!

John carefully chooses his words for us.

Notice the first phrase: “Walking in darkness”

What is walking in darkness?

Walking in darkness is when we continually walk in sin and do not care that we are doing so.

Walking in darkness is not something that simply happens after one sinful choice.

It is sinful choices that are made time and time again, to the point where one eventually becomes so comfortable with their sin that they eventually become numb to it.

This is sin that has become normal. Sin that you have gotten used to.

This is walking in darkness

Very similarly:

Take what John says about not practicing the truth.

(Use basketball example)

To practice by definition is to: perform (an activity) or exercise (a skill) repeatedly or regularly in order to improve or maintain one's proficiency.

If we are walking in darkness, and practicing darkness, that means we are getting better at sinning. It is becoming part of our daily routine. We are making a lifestyle out of sin.

This should be of great concern to us.

(pause)

Notice too that John says “if we say we have fellowship with Him” with the key word being say.

We can say one thing, and live a completely different way that contradicts the life we say we live. And this again would be called hypocrisy as we talked about earlier.

So many in the world today would say they are a Christian. You’ll hear it from many in Hollywood, you’ll hear it from political figures, you’ll hear it from people that you know:

“Yeah, I’m a Christian. I go to church every so often. I try my best to do what’s right. I love what Jesus stood for and the way He loved others” and so on… yet their life says the exact opposite.

If you ever hear those claims, ask yourself: What is their life like? How do they speak? What do they do? What things are they a part of?

You can validate a person’s claims by their consistent actions.

In other words, John is telling us: it’s not what you say; it’s what you do that reveals who you are.

(pause)

Now here is where John shifts gears, providing us with evidence to know that we are living like Him. Look with me at verse 7:

1 John 1:7 (ESV)

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.

Here is the evidence that we are believers.

Believers walk in the light, just as our Lord is light himself.

There are countless benefits that believers enjoy when walking in the light! John in our text gives us two of them. When we walk in the light:

We have fellowship with one another (Christians with Christians)

The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

This is sin past, present, and future, by the way!

What does walking in the light actually look like in a practical way?

This is not an exhaustive list, but here are a few ways of what walking in the light looks like.

Walking in the light looks like:

Obeying God’s commands

Living in fellowship with other believers

This includes coming to church as it is the gathering of the body of Christ

Having accountability in your life

Living above reproach, which would be

Living in such a way that sin and evil cannot even be named among you (Eph. 5)

The list could go on and on.

Church, this is what we are after. This is our goal. We aren’t perfect, and until we are made perfect in eternity with Jesus, we won’t always get this right.

However, we strive. We walk in the light. We pursue right living according to God’s standards. And what happens when we do so?

We reflect God himself, who is Light and Truth.

(pause)

However, what happens when we don’t reflect Him as we should?

What happens when we sin against Him, and fail?

When We Sin, We Confess To Him (v. 8-10)

John continues by telling us:

1 John 1:8 ESV

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

This is what not to do.

Have you ever tried to deny your sin? Even to the point where you deceive yourself, thinking there was no sin committed?

John tells us that if so, the truth is also not in us.

Behind the denial of sin is a prideful heart; one that does not want to acknowledge what is truly there.

There is no man or woman, boy or girl, who is without sin.

Where there is denial of sin, there is deception of all kinds.

Denial of sin eventually leads to death.

And it is those in denial of their sin who do not receive forgiveness.

(pause)

However, for those who know they have sin, there is forgiveness for them.

We see a promise contained in verse 9 that should be of great comfort to us all:

1 John 1:9 (ESV)

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

It is those who realize they have broken God’s commands and have disobeyed Him, and confess their sin to Him, that receive forgiveness.

When we confess our sins to the Lord, we do not do it so that He can shame us and embarrass us for what we’ve done.

He already knows what we’ve done, and He is aware of sin in our lives that we aren’t even aware of!

No; when we come to Christ with a humble, contrite heart, and lay before Him where we have sinned against Him, He is faithful to forgive and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.

Not some unrighteousness, not even most, but ALL unrighteousness.

Even when we are unfaithful, He is faithful.

Even when you sin against Him and fall short, He is faithful.

His faithfulness never changes or wavers.

His faithfulness is not dependent on your faithfulness or my faithfulness.

If it were, we would be in deep trouble.

This promise of forgiveness that we just spoke of is not just for those who are walking in the light and stumble; this promise is for all.

Whoever would confess their sins, and turn from them to Christ, He will indeed forgive them and He will cleanse them from all unrighteousness.

I love how Numbers 14:18 describes our God:

Numbers 14:18 (ESV)

18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression,

See how good this God is! He is slow to anger. He abounds in steadfast love, and forgives the iniquities and transgressions of those who come to Him, confessing their need for forgiveness.

This is why John is so adamant to tell us twice that if we say we have no sin or that we haven’t sinned, we show the truth is not in us.

Notice verse 10, where John once again tells us:

1 John 1:10 ESV

10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Forgiveness cannot take place where there is no recognized need for it in the first place.

There is more to the Numbers 14 passage that we must be aware of:

Numbers 14:18 (ESV)

18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty,

The guilty being those who do not confess their sin and continue to walk in darkness, those who continue to practice sin, those who live a lifestyle of sin comfortably with no regard for the truth, they will not be cleared.

God is just. He is perfectly righteous and just, doing what is right 10 out of 10 times.

It would be a crime for Him to let someone sin against Him without it being addressed.

That would go against His very character.

We would not want a God who lets sin go unchecked and slip right past Him.

We want Him to be a just God.

He deals justly with us.

Since He is a just God, sin must be dealt with.

Closing

Christ Dealt With Sin

Thankfully, sin was dealt with, once and for all.

The Gospel

Jesus Christ came to this earth and lived a perfect life - the life that you and I should have lived but didn’t and couldn’t, and died the death that we deserved to die, paying the penalty for our sins.

The best news is: Jesus Christ didn’t stay dead. Three days later, He rose again from the grave, proving that His sacrifice was perfect and accepted, and demonstrating that He defeated death and the grave once and for all.

He has done all of the work; all you must do is repent and believe in Him.

Romans 10:9 tells us that if we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved.

This is the gospel message. This is the good news.

There is no bad news in the good news. There is no catch to this. It is the free gift of God. He has provided all the means necessary for your salvation.

Repent and believe in Him today while there is time. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. In fact, the rest of your today is not guaranteed.

I say that not to instill fear in you, but to make you aware of seriousness of this and the reality of our lives. They are but a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow.

Don’t let this life go to waste living for the world and for walking in darkness.

Sin promises all the world, yet it always comes up short. It never delivers what it promises.

Are you walking in the light?

Do you claim to follow Christ, yet your life does not reflect that?

I encourage you: examine your heart today. Look deep within and see what is really there. Is it true faith in Christ that results in a changed life? Or is it simply the profession of faith?

Believers: what do you do when you sin? Do you live in the shame of it, and stay there, allowing a path of darkness to appear that you begin to walk down?

Don’t do that! Remember what Christ has done for you. He has paid the penalty for your sins and offered lasting forgiveness. He is FAITHFUL and JUST to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Keep walking in the light, believer. Keep practicing the truth. Continue to confess your sin when you fall short. Your Savior is ready to accept you with open arms and tell you; I have paid for it all. It is forgiven.

To the unbeliever

Maybe you have been walking in darkness and practicing sin this entire time. Maybe you are someone who has even claimed to be a Christian for years, but based upon John’s words and self examination, you find that there is no true faith there.

There is no fruit to prove that faith exists.

What should you do today?

Should you leave here continuing down a path of darkness? Continuing to practice sin and live a lifestyle of it?

No!

Run to Christ! Repent of your sins. Believe in Him.

Repenting is a change of mind that results in a change of action.

You agree with God and recognize that He is right and that you are wrong. You have sinned against Him. You are in need of forgiving.

You turn from your sins and you turn to Christ. You believe in Him. You rest in His finished work.

Close

We have people down front who would love to pray with you.

We will have pastors in our VIP room who would love to talk with you about what it looks like to walk in the light.

Recap

The life of a true Christian is marked by confessing sin and walking in the light.

1. God is Light

2. We Are To Be Like Him

3. When We Sin, We Confess To Him

My prayer is that we all would walk in the light.

Let’s pray.