God is LIGHT

Not only is God light, but there is absolutely no darkness, not one scintilla of darkness (moral imperfection) in him. In him is no shade, speck, or stain of moral imperfection. In him is no fault, failure, or falsehood. In him is no deceit, deviation, or dishonesty. Physical darkness is a terrible thing. “There is no distance in darkness. Darkness is limitation, darkness is imprisonment; there is no jail with walls so thick and impenetrable as darkness.” Darkness is an apt metaphor to describe sin. Unlike my heart and your heart where the light of the gospel shines, but where sometimes there may be pockets of sin that we allow to go unchecked, God in his character and nature possesses no moral imperfection whatsoever.[1]

Sin radically affects our fellowship with God[2]

In this context, John is using “truth” to refer to the true message/doctrine[3]

Walking in darkness can begin when we fall into the trap of renaming sins so they do not appear so bad. Political correctness abounds in our society. A person is not lazy, he is merely “motivationally dispossessed”; a shoplifter is not a thief, he is “a cost of living adjustment specialist”; a prostitute is not a prostitute, she is a “sex care provider.” Sin does not lose its sinfulness by giving it a less offensive name. A skunk by any other name still stinks.[4]

[1] David L. Allen, 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family, ed. R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 34.

[2] David L. Allen, 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family, ed. R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 34.

[3] David L. Allen, 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family, ed. R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 35.

[4] David L. Allen, 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family, ed. R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 37.