Walking in the Light
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Intro:
I have made this statement before… I am not the one who came up with it, but it is 100% true…
Your talk talks and walk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks… Now, that might sound like a tongue twister, but it’s making a powerful point.
What we say matters — our talk talks. People do hear our words. But our actions — our walk — those speak even louder. If what I say doesn’t line up with how I live, people will believe my actions before they believe my words.
For example, if I tell you I’m on a diet, but you keep seeing me eat at B.C.’s all you can eat pizza buffet everyday,… which message do you think you’re going to believe?… My talk or my walk?… … My walk will shout the truth every time.
That’s exactly the kind of issue John is addressing. He’s saying you can say you have fellowship with God — your talk talks… But if your life is lived in the darkness, then your walk is talking louder, and it’s telling a very different story.
Authentic living — real Christianity — isn’t just about what we say we believe. It’s about how we live, day in and day out. And John is going to show us what it looks like to walk in the light… not just talk about it.
Read 1 John 1:5-10
Meat:
Last week we read and went over the first 4 verse of this chapter. I told you then that those first four verses were going to serve as the foundation of the rest of the John’s writing.
And now we are going to build on that foundation…
The first foundational pillar that we looked at last week was “The Authenticity of Christ”…
John doesn’t waste any time building on that foundation… as pointed out last week, Jesus Christ is part of the Eternal Godhead… and now John goes into explaining who God is…
If we don’t understand the character of God, we’ll never understand what it means to walk in the light. And John puts it as clear as day in verse 5 — ‘God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.’
So the first mark of walking in the light is this:
Marks of Walking in the Light
1. Living by God’s Truth
1. Living by God’s Truth
Through the months of June and July this year, we looked at 6 different attributes of God… And we did so, in order get to know and understand God a little better. Because, if we are going to serve Him properly, then we better know Him properly.
John is doing the same thing here… when he says “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” - he is not just giving God a buttery compliment… he is actually giving us a vivid description of God’s very character.
When John says God is light, he’s telling us that…
1.1 He is Holy
1.1 He is Holy
There’s nothing hidden, nothing shady, nothing sinful about Him. He is light… He doesn’t merely give light — He is light. And notice how John emphasizes it: ‘In Him there is no darkness at all.’ Not even a shadow.
Light is mentioned many times throughout the entire Bible and it is very symbolic…
It symbolizes Truth and Revelation - It reveals what has been hidden. God is the One who makes truth known.
9 For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.
If it weren’t for God’s light, we would walk in blindness and deception.
It symbolizes Guidance - Light shows the path…
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
In His light we find direction, hope, and safety.
It symbolizes Glory and Radiance - God’s presence is so radiant that light is often used to help us understand its immensity.
Think of the pillar of fire that led Israel from the land of Egypt.
Or the shining face of Moses after being with God
Think about the fact that the New Jerusalem won’t need any sunshine because the glory of God’s presence will be enough...
23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
All of these can be summarized into the fact that God is Holy… His light is undefiled. It exposes and cleanses sin. Where His light shines, darkness has no place.
But that is just part of the truth that John is trying to convey here… … Yes, if we are going to live by God’s truth, we have to know and believe that He is Holy… but it is also true that…
1.2 He Commands us to be Holy
1.2 He Commands us to be Holy
When I first put this outline together, I was going to have this point say “He wants us to be Holy”… But the more I got into it, the harder it was impressed on me to change it to “He commands us to be Holy”
God’s holiness is not just a truth we admire from a distance—it’s a standard He calls His children to reflect. Peter quotes the book of Leviticus when he writes…
15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
This means that holiness is not optional for us as believers… John says in verse 6…
1 John 1:6 “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”
To claim fellowship with a holy God while clinging to sin is a contradiction. God’s command to be holy is really a call to live in alignment with His nature.
We have to realize that God is not asking us to somehow manufacture holiness on our own, as if we could reach His standard by sheer effort… many have tried and that many have failed, because, left to ourselves, we could never measure up.
When God says “Be Holy, for I am Holy”… He is calling us to reflect His holiness. Our role is not to create it, but to yield to His Spirit and live in obedience, so that His character shines through us.
Some people talk about having “dual personalities” — almost like two sides of themselves battling for control. They’ll admit that sometimes they give in to the side that makes them feel the best in the moment, even though it may not be the wisest or healthiest choice.
In a very real sense, believers also live with two natures. On the one hand, we still carry around the old nature — the flesh, with its sinful desires. On the other, we have a new nature given to us by Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The question is… which nature will we yield to? If we give in to the old self, it may feel good in the moment, but it leads to guilt, brokenness, and distance from God. But when we yield to the Spirit, we honor God and find true joy and freedom… and that’s the truth…
John continues to build on the foundational truths we looked at last week… Proper fellowship was the second foundational pillar we discussed and we see it again right here…
The second mark of walking in the light is…
2. Building a Real Fellowship
2. Building a Real Fellowship
I’ll read v.6 again and then 7…
1 John 1:6–7 “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and 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 Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
John makes it clear that real fellowship begins with God Himself. As I mentioned last week, fellowship isn’t just a church activity, a meal together, or surface-level friendships… … it’s a spiritual bond rooted in Christ.
Walking in the light means living openly before God, not hiding sin, but allowing His truth to shape our lives.
When we do this, two things happen:
We enjoy fellowship with God – a real relationship, unhindered by the barriers of unconfessed sin.
We enjoy fellowship with one another – genuine, life-giving relationships with other believers because we are walking in the same light.
We need to build a real fellowship that…
2.1 Grows with Honesty
2.1 Grows with Honesty
One of the biggest barriers to real fellowship is pretending. We put on masks, we hide our struggles, and we act like everything is fine when it’s not. But you cannot have experience real fellowship if you’re living in the dark.
John says that walking in the light means stepping into truth. Stop lying to yourself, stop lying to others, and stop lying to God…
When we live honestly in God’s light, it frees us to be honest with each other. That doesn’t mean I broadcast every detail of my life to the whole world, but it does mean I don’t live a double life… I don’t act like I’ve got it all together when I don’t.
A few weeks ago we had our communion service. As is our custom, before communion, we had a time for the congregation to share testimonies.
During that time a man stood up, still in the early stages of his walk with Christ, and he openly admitted, to everyone that was here, that he was severely struggling with his faith. No sugarcoating, no trying to look like he had it all together—just raw honesty.
And I’ll be honest with you — I’d take that kind of honesty any day over someone who acts like everything in life is perfect, when deep down they’re barely holding it together. I’d rather hear someone say, ‘I’m struggling, I need help,’ than watch someone fake it just to keep up appearances.
Think about relationships you’ve had where someone wasn’t honest. Maybe they said one thing but lived another way. How strong was that relationship? Probably not very strong. Trust is built on honesty, and fellowship is the same way.
On the flip side, when someone is real with us — when they admit a weakness, confess a struggle, or share a burden — that draws us closer, doesn’t it?… Why?… Because honesty tears down walls and builds bridges.
That’s what real fellowship looks like. Not masks. Not clichés. Not the automatic, ‘I’m fine’ when you’re really not.
Real fellowship happens when we walk in the light, admit our struggles, and let God’s people walk with us. Because the truth is, when we hide, we stay in the dark. But when we’re honest, that’s when God’s light breaks through and real healing begins.”
Real Fellowship Grows with Honesty… and it is…
2.2 Strengthened by Grace
2.2 Strengthened by Grace
John says in verse 7 that “… the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Grace is what makes real fellowship possible. Because here’s the truth… if we are all sinners saved by grace, then none of us has the right to look down on anyone else. There’s no ‘super-Christians’ and ‘junior-Christians.’ We are all here by the Grace of God.
But listen — grace doesn’t mean we just pat each other on the back and say, ‘Well, that’s just how I am.’ No,… grace creates the environment where we can be honest about our struggles, but also be encouraged to grow.
Real fellowship means I don’t condemn you, but I also don’t leave you where you are. … I come alongside you, remind you of who you are in Christ, and encourage you to keep walking closer with Him.
Think about how that changes relationships. When I understand how much I’ve been forgiven for, it makes me slower to judge you and quicker to extend grace… And when you’ve experienced God’s grace, it makes you more willing to forgive me when I stumble.
Grace says, ‘I love you enough to meet you where you are, but I love you too much to let you stay there.’ That’s how fellowship is strengthened — by lifting each other up, not tearing each other down, and by helping one another walk more faithfully with Christ.
The final foundational pillar that we looked at last week was “Complete Joy”. John said that his reason for writing was that we might have complete joy. And I said that real, lasting joy is rooted in Christ and shared with others.
But let’s be honest — nothing robs us of joy faster than sin that we try to cover up. Guilt, shame, pretending we’re fine — those things eat away at joy like rust on metal.
That’s why John builds on that foundation… He shows us how joy can be maintained even when we stumble — and it’s through the cleansing power of Jesus Christ.
Which leads us to this third mark of walking in the light…
3. Daily Cleansing Through Christ
3. Daily Cleansing Through Christ
Walking in the light doesn’t mean we’re perfect. John is very clear about that. In fact, in verses 8 and 10, he says that if we claim to be without sin, we’re deceiving ourselves. And if we claim we’ve never sinned, we’re making God out to be a liar.
That’s a strong warning — pretending we don’t struggle with sin is not walking in the light, it’s actually a sign of living in darkness.
Daily cleansing is vital for the Christian life. Think about it — physically, we don’t just wash once and expect to stay clean forever. We take showers, we wash our hands, we brush our teeth, because daily life makes us dirty. Spiritually, it’s the same way.
Even though we’ve been saved and forgiven through Christ, we still live in a fallen world, and sin has a way of clinging to us.
When we fail to deal with sin, it builds up. Guilt piles on. Shame grows heavier. Our joy fades. Our fellowship with God and with others becomes strained.
But when we allow Christ to cleanse us, when we keep short accounts with God… The relationship stays fresh, the joy stays strong, and the fellowship stays real.
When we shower, we have 3 main cleaners that we use… Bodywash, shampoo and conditioner… For us guys, we can get all 3 of those in one bottle… they haven’t seem to figure that process out for the ladies yet… we’ve got 3 showers in the house, full of different cleansing bottles to prove it…
But as we talk about letting Christ cleanse us daily I see 3 different components that it takes for a proper spiritual cleaning…
First of all… it…
3.1 Takes Humility
3.1 Takes Humility
v.8…
1 John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
Think about that. The moment we pretend we don’t struggle, or we try to act like we have it all together, we’re blocking God’s light from doing its work in our lives.
Humility means admitting that we’re not perfect, that we need God, and that we’re dependent on His mercy every single day.
It’s not a weakness — it’s the doorway to real fellowship, real joy, and real cleansing. Humility allows us to face our failures honestly instead of hiding them.
The reality is… none of us can cleanse ourselves. Pride tries to do it…
Pride says, “I don’t need God’s help. I can fix this myself.”
“I’ll just ignore it, tough it out, or try to be a better person next week.”
Pride says, “I can’t admit my struggle — it will make me look weak.”
Someone pretends to be “better” than others to avoid embarrassment: always projecting perfection.
Pride says, “I don’t need forgiveness; I don’t need to humble myself before God.”
or “It’s not that bad. or... Everyone else is doing it”
Pride says, “If I just behave better, God will overlook my sin.”
Here’s the harsh reality about pride… it will always fail and will end in destruction…
18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.
Only when we humble ourselves and acknowledge our sin can God’s grace come in and purify us. Daily cleansing requires us to lay down our pride each day and say, ‘God, I need You.. Because I cannot do this on my own.’… …
Daily cleansing takes humility… … it also…
3.2 Takes Confession and Repentance
3.2 Takes Confession and Repentance
v.9 may be familiar to most and possibly not so familiar to others…
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
People like to focus on the confession part but they leave out the repentance…
Confession means we’re honest with God, agreeing with Him about our sin instead of making excuses or blaming others.
Repentance means we’re willing to turn away from that sin, to change direction and walk in a new way… a way that honors God…
“But Pastor, John only mentions that we have to confess our sin… where do you see the word repentance?” … I am so glad you asked…
Bible study 101 - Interpret Scripture with Scripture. Is there another Scripture passage or verse that talks about the confession of sin… … Yes! a lot of them… but do to time constraints, let me draw your attention to one of them…
13 He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes(repents of) them will find compassion(forgiveness).
John, and anyone else that knew the words of King Solomon, would know that forgiveness of sin doesn’t just come from confession alone. It MUST include repentance.
And it’s not just a one and done type thing. Yes, when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are part of His family for Eternity. We can never lose that salvation… But, to stay in and build a proper fellowship with God and other believers, we must go through a daily cleansing.
Daily cleansing means taking a good look at our hearts, being honest about where we’ve missed the mark, and choosing each day to let God’s light guide us.
When we confess and repent… Guilt is removed, shame is lifted, and our fellowship with God is restored.
Daily cleansing takes Humility, it takes confession and repentance… and finally it…
3.3 Takes Agreeing with God
3.3 Takes Agreeing with God
1 John 1:10 “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
Daily cleansing through Christ takes agreeing with God about our sin—calling it what He calls it, not excusing it, not blaming others, and not softening it with nicer-sounding words.
The truth is, even as Christians, there are times we struggle to agree with God about our sin. We want to minimize it, excuse it, or pretend it doesn’t exist.
I think about a fella — a faithful believer — who kept getting frustrated about the same pattern of anger in his life. He knew what God’s Word said about patience and forgiveness, but every time he blew up at someone, he tried to justify it by saying: ‘Well, they pushed my buttons… or... I’m only human.’
In that moment, he wasn’t confessing; he was excusing. And when we excuse sin instead of agreeing with God about it, John says that we are essentially calling God a liar.
We are basically telling God, “Your Word isn’t true; this isn’t really sin, or it’s not that serious.”… But the moment we stop making excuses and admit our wrongdoing— the moment we agree with God about our sin—… that’s when His cleansing power begins to work in our lives… restoring our fellowship with Him, renewing our joy, and helping us walk in the light day by day.
Closing
So, what does this mean for us this morning? Walking in the light isn’t a one-time decision. It’s a daily commitment. It’s living with humility, confessing and repenting when we stumble, and agreeing with God about our sin — even when it’s uncomfortable, even when we want to make excuses.
Here’s the challenge I want to leave you with:
Examine your walk. Ask yourself: Does my walk match my talk? Am I truly living in the light, or am I hiding parts of my life in darkness?
Take stock of your fellowship. Be honest with God and with others. Step out of the shadows and let God’s truth, grace, and cleansing power work in you.
Remember, real fellowship grows through honesty and is strengthened by grace — it’s not about pretending to be perfect, it’s about being real in Christ.
And then finally…
Commit to daily cleansing. Every morning, every evening — check your heart, confess, repent, and surrender to God’s light.
Don’t let pride, excuses, or denial block the work of Christ in your life… The joy John talked about, the authentic, complete joy, flows from walking in the light day by day.
Back in the 90’s, there was a Christian Rock band named DC Talk… they had a song out entitled “In the Light”. The chorus goes like this…
“I wanna be in the Light
as You are in the Light
I wanna shine like the stars
in the Heavens
Oh, Lord be my light
and be my Salvation
'cause all I want is to be in the Light”
I hope that is your desire this morning…
Prayer
