1 John 1:5-2:2
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Recap (1:1-4)
Recap (1:1-4)
Hello everyone! Welcome back! Last week we started reading the book of 1 John. We read through the first four verses and exploring that through Jesus we have fellowship with God and the church family. Jesus is God, who was from the beginning, He came to earth and the disciples physically saw, heard, and touched him. He is the word! The entire good news is about Jesus and you can’t have that without Him.
We are going to continue our journey through 1 John and ask the question tonight: what does it look like to have fellowship with God?
Pass out Bibles
Can someone read 1 John 1:5-7, 8-10, and 2:1-2.
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.
Let’s pause right here. The message that Jesus Himself gave to the disciples/his students: God is light!!
Why do you think God is described as being light?
God is completely good, just He is light. We can read in John’s gospel that he describes Jesus as being light, he says
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
God is light, and Jesus who is God is light. In Him there is no darkness at all! No evil can be found in Him.
If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
In tonight’s passage we see a lot of these if statements (these conditional statements). However, John is showing us what true fellowship with God looks like.
Do you guys remember the false teachers we mentioned last week?
Well John will be addressing things here that are false and contrasting them with what’s true.
White Board truths and false
Walking in darkness -> what does this mean? Well if God is light and we know there is no darkness in Him we can see a separation between the two.
The second part of the verse says that for those who walk in darkness they do not practice the truth.
What’s going on here?
Let’s read the next verse to try and understand what’s going on.
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.
Okay, so we see there is now walking in the light -> If we walk in the light = fellowship with God. If we do not = we don’t have fellowship with God. We see the contrast between the two - > darkness = lies
Light = the truth
John clarifies what’s going on even more:
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The truth is not in us when we do not acknowledge sin.
However when we acknowledge our sin - we tell God about it - He forgives us - He cleanses us. And if we go back two verses we can see that we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus. He takes our place.
Those who believe they are sinless -> lies and darkness
Those who acknowledge they are sinners and confess to God relying on Jesus -> walking in the light!
A commentator writes
John makes clear in 1:9 that it is those who confess their sins by believing in Jesus who have fellowship with the Father and fulfill the condition for fellowship11 Daniel L. Akin, 1, 2, 3 John, vol. 38, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001), 74.
Nothing we do can save us, only the blood of Jesus and what He has done! If we deny our sinfulness -> we are liars! John continues with this:
If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Have you guys ever been caught by your parents doing something you know you shouldn’t have. For me it was playing video games way longer than I was allowed to. If I said no I didn’t do anything wrong, even though I was going against what my parents said, I would be a liar.
John makes the point here we are all wrong, and to say other wise goes against what the Bible says about us, and it’s like calling God a liar.
But why exactly is John explaining this to us?
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
John’s warning us, to not be like those who think they are sinless. He is also saying do not sin, but if you do, know that Jesus is our advocate.
Can someone explain what an advocate is?
He speaks on our behalf. For those of us who walk in the light, Jesus speaks on our behalf to the Father. He knows everything going on in our life and is communicating it to the Father! That’s so cool! He knows our personal lives and wants to help us. He forgives us and cleanses us!
We see the word their - propitiation, gaining the good will or favor of. Jesus is our propitiation for our sins. What He did allowed us to be in relationship with God once more.
Key Takeaways:
God is light, He is good!
To walk according to the light is to walk/believe in what God has told us in His word - we are sinners, we need Jesus, He forgives us, and reunites us to God
3. If we confess (make known) our sins/evils to God, He forgives us!
Questions of the Week
Why do we need to tell God what we’ve done wrong?
Is it challenging to walk in the light?
How do I know God is listening?