God’s Light – Our Walk (1 Jno. 1:5-10)

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. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 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. 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. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. – 1 Jno. 1:5-10

I believe it has always been so that those who profess to enjoy a relationship with God, who is light, must walk in His light. How we live must be authentically and practically connected to who God is. Under the law of Moses, a sacrificial system was in place for the very reason that there was ongoing failure to walk in the light to the full measure of the law’s requirement. Under the gospel, “the blood of Jesus,” God’s Son, “cleanses us from all sin.”

But we must identify that little pronoun “us.” The context supplies the antecedent. Those who are cleansed by His blood have stepped into the light, and as they walk in the light and fail, they confess their sins, knowing God is faithful to forgive them.

This word “fellowship” here has reference to one’s relationship with God. While those who are related to God through Christ may enjoy harmony with one another, that harmony or unity is based on their fellowship with God.

One more thing. John doesn’t want anyone to be deceived, thinking they can claim fellowship with God while living in sin. This truth brought out my John prompted me to tweet this thought the other day.

“Real relationship with God is more than knowledge, emotion, association and claim. It is sincere reverence for Him with trust in Christ that is demonstrated daily by how we live.”

-web