Walking In The Light

1 John 1:1-2:2

1 John 1:1–2:2 ESV

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. 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. 1 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. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 1:1-4

1 John 1:1–4 ESV

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

This is the Gospel and the purpose of pastors. To testify about the supernatural reality of Jesus Christ. To preach Salvation through grace empowering the repentance of sin and renewed relationship with the father. A relationship which transcends time and space and allows us share in the eternal life of Christ. Sharing the gospel brings joy to those who know Jesus.

However! For Joy does not come simply at the proclamation of the Gospel, but at what comes after the proclamation.

Some people would now spend the next 20-30 minutes trying to explain the theology of salvation from this passage, but I want to focus on the following verses. You see, this opening is not the focal point of chapter one, but rather the hypocrisy and distractions which consume his congregation which 1 John addresses throughout.

1 John 1:5-6

1 John 1:5–6 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.

The message they heard from Jesus and we continue to proclaim today is. God is light, and there is no darkness in him. If you live a lifestyle of sin, if you have unrepentence in your heart, if you have pet sins, then you lie and do not practice the truth.

Another way of looking at this is, if you are hiding something… or if you are causing someone to hide something, then you are in darkness. Let me restate that, if you yourself are hiding something, or your judgementalness is the cause of someone else hiding something, then that is a darkness. 1 John 2:9-11 says,

Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

I want to be very clear in what I’m trying to convey here. If, when hearing these scriptures, you are thinking about other people than yourself … If you are thinking of the LGBT, BLM, Democrats, Liberals, Trans Community, Republicans, Conservatives, litteralist, Anti-vaxers, Covid fearers, Covid Skeptics or whatever category you deem to be evil, or if you harbor hatred for others that could be your sibling in Christ or could become your sibling in Christ, rather than self-inspecting your own lifestyle right now, then you lie and do not practice the truth.

another example of this is found in Romans Chpts 1 and 2. Most people read just chpt 1 which condemns all sorts of evil peoples. People read it and say, “see! God hates these types of people and judgment is coming for them!” Woe to those who stop in chpt 1 for chpt 2 says that those judge the previously mentions people are twice as condemned. Romans 1:18-2:10

1 John 1:7-10

1 John 1:7–10 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. 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.

Walking in the light means having fellowship with one another because of the blood of Jesus. Not because we automatically think the same, but because of the blood of Jesus we can think like Jesus. Walking in the light means that our mistakes and sins are open and seen. That we are self-aware and will repent to stay in fellowship with one another.

Romans 2:3-4

Romans 2:3–4 ESV

3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

Verse 9 clearly states how and from whom forgiveness of our sins come from. Bringing our sins into the light and being honest about them with God and whom God calls us to be honest about them too results in forgiveness and cleansing of all unrighteousness. It is both and immediate result and a continuous path. Bringing a sin into the light does not always mean that it will go away immediately, but rather that God’s kindness will eventually lead you to repentance as it says in Romans 2:3-4.

Being cleanse of unrighteousness ultimately leads one to righteous living. However, the opposite is also true. If you find that your relationship with other believers is on the rocks. that you are struggling to make connections with your fellow believers and stay in fellowship with them, then it is probably you who is not repenting of a way of thinking.

Walking in the light results in fellowship with other believers and fellowhsip with other believers results in Christian unity. Philippians 2:1-7 tells us that we are to seek a unified mind just like we have a unified spirit.

Philippians 2:1–7 ESV

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

OK, technical analysis aside, how does this apply. Your biases have an extremely high potential of deceiving yourself into thinking you are a righteous person when you are not, or a righteous group when you are not. If your mind justifies hatred and division in any form, then you need to check yourself, as there is probably deception in your heart. Confess your sins, be honest with resentment that your harbor and your heart and surrender it to God, so that you may judge reality rightly through the eyes of its savior, Jesus Christ.

1 John 2:1-2

1 John 2:1–2 ESV

1 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. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Thank God this is not entirely reliant on us. If we follow the truths of 1 John 1. We will certainly have less sin in our lives, but 1 John 2: 1 reminds us that we have an advocate, Jesus Christ the Righteous.

There is a promise in this passage as well. Jesus is a propitiation for our sins, but not only ours, but the whole world. have you really stopped to wonder what that means? Ultimately it means that God will deal with the world the way he wants, not the way you want. So take your hands of the wheel and off the mouth piece of God and let him do what he wants. Extend the grace that you have received from God to every group of evil you can think of, because that is exactly what Jesus did for you.

If you embrace this truth, you WILL experience the peace of God that passes all understanding. your worries about politics will cease, your fears of evil people will end. Because you know the author of Good is still writing His story, and he has promised to work out good for all who love Him. Now live your life like that is true!