Walking in the Light, Part 2
The idea of “fellowship” is a major theme in 1 John, both fellowship with God the Father and with the Son, but also fellowship with other believers. But fellowship is not practiced blindly; if we would have unbroken fellowship with the Father and the Son and with the Body of Christ, we must understand what makes that possible. In simplest of terms, fellowship with God, and indeed genuine fellowship with anybody, is not possible unless we understand who God is in Himself and who we are as creatures of God.
1. God’s character, 1:5
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
With verse 5, John seems to be changing his subject, which he announced in verse 2—
The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
So according to this verse, the subject of the letter is “eternal life.” But in verse 5, the subject seems to change to “the message we have heard” which was “God is light.” Has John suddenly changing his mind and the direction of his letter? Not at all, as Blaney observed—
All of John’s thoughts are interlocked; but as the apostle passes from one to the other and back again, with the shuttle of lofty inspiration, he weaves a pattern of rare beauty and profound insight.
Indeed, John’s description of God’s infinite character is masterful and deeper than it appears on the surface.
John begins by referring to a message “heard from Him,” referring to something he and the other disciples heard directly from Jesus. We’re not sure exactly what teaching John was referring to. Some scholars think John is alluding to the sum of all of Christ’s teaching about Himself (Barker) but others see something quite different. The apostles heard the teachings from the very lips of Jesus, but they also knew the message from their considerable knowledge of the Old Testament. They knew, for example, this observation of David—
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light. (Psalm 36:9)
God also revealed Himself to His people through the words of the prophets, like Isaiah 49:6—
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.
2 Peter 1:19 makes it clear that Isaiah was writing about the coming Messiah. John’s point is that the message he brings to his readers came directly from Christ, whether they were words about Himself or words from their Scriptures about Himself, it didn’t matter for Jesus Christ is the Word of God in the flesh.
The message was simply “God is light.” Elsewhere in his writings, John uses other short declarations about God’s character:
- God is spirit, John 4:24
- God is love, 1 John 4:8
All three of John’s brief descriptions of God’s character stress the immaterial nature of God (Barker) and all three statements when taken together present some of the most profound things ever written about the nature of God.
- God is spirit, stressing God’s essential nature: He is not made of substances like wood and stone. God cannot be approached as one would a perfect man. God is not an animal or some kind of created thing. God is not one spirit among many spirit, God IS spirit, and if human beings want to have any kind of relationship with Him, they must take heed of John 4:23
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
God is not all that interested in the songs we sing as we approach Him or the position of our bodies. Under the New Covenant, we approach God in spirit for He is spirit. Under the Old Covenant, true believers had to follow an elaborate ritual in order to approach God for that was the only way the could relate to Him, through their careful obedience to His meticulous admonitions—things like ritual sacrifices and orchestrated music and choreographed dance and special clothing. But New Covenant believers are under no such teaching. In fact, according to Paul, Christians approach God like this:
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:19)
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)
Worship comes from within, motivated by the Word of God. Our songs and hymns are not primarily how we are to worship God, for they are of the flesh, and He is Spirit.
- God is love, but that love is not some kind of touchy-feely emotion God has toward men, rather, God’s love was manifested in an action—
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
We say the phrase “I love you” often times to people as flippantly as we say “Pass the salt” at dinner time. But when God said “I love you” to sinful man, He did it by sending His one and only Son to die for their sins.
- God is light, emphasizing the splendor and glory of God, His self-revelation to man, the truthfulness and purity of His person. Our God is not a light among many lights, nor is the brightest light that shines in the darkness; He does not carry the light like a lantern and light is not one of His characteristics: God IS light, and although He created light, He Himself is uncreated. And the light that is God is visible in Jesus Christ:
I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
It is part of God’s nature to give Himself to man without limit, and this is illustrated prefect with light. God’s light shines into our hearts and illumines every dark nook and cranny, nothing is hidden from His light. Light also accents God’s empowering activity, for God as light not only shines downward for man’s salvation, but also enables that same man to walk in the light.
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Walking in the light means also means walking with confidence, and walking in God’s ever present grace and remaining in His very presence.
2. Three tests of Christian faith, 1:6—10
If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by 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, purifies us from all sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
With verse 6, John returns to a favorite contrast of his: light and darkness. As John uses them, both light and darkness are spiritual terms denoting the opposite qualities of holiness and sin (Blaney). God is light, He is holy, and He is pure and light cannot be hidden. However, light, no matter how brilliant it may shine, cannot be seen by anything incapable of receiving it. God has revealed Himself through the world around us, according to Paul in Romans 1, but not to it. In other words, only a rational human being who can make a decision is capable of making the choice to walk according to the light or not; they can accept God’s revelation or reject it. Haupt wrote—
Only man is capable of light, that is, can so receive the nature of the Logos pouring toward him, that he himself shall be consciously transformed into it.
God has revealed Himself for the sole purpose of sharing His life and light with man, so that man’s character may be transformed from a character of darkness into a character of light. The fact is, unless a person’s life has been touched by the light of God, that person is incapable of having any kind of fellowship with God or with God’s people.
· First test: If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness. In the strict context of John’s letter, he probably has in mind the Gnostics, who boasted about having fellowship with God but by their very actions denied it: the had no love for one another, they hated their brothers, they claimed to be sinless, and they denied that Jesus came in the flesh. These people, far from walking in the light, knew only the darkness. Similarly, today, those who claim to be Christians yet exhibit none of the fruits of the Spirit can be said to living in the dark, regardless of what they confess.
· Proof of possessing the faith: [W]e have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we are truly walking in the light, we will walk as Jesus walked and we would be fellowship with other believers. Those “Christians” who never seem to want to be in the company of other Christians are clearly not showing that desire and their faith has to be suspect. Another proof of genuine faith is that we have experienced the forgiveness of sin by Christ’s shed blood. Walking in faith means that this experience is continuous, because not one of us sinless and we are all in need of forgiveness. Sin alienates man from God and from his fellow man. Sin throws the body of Christ into confusion, and instead of the peace of God there is only the discord of disunity. That is why forgiveness is so vital. John Stott’s observation is priceless:
What is clear is that if walk in the light, God has made provision to cleanse us from whatever sin would otherwise mar our fellowship with Him or each other.
· Second test: If we claim to be without sin. Verse 8 repeats in a general way the thought of verse 6 but carries it even further. If we claim to be without sin, we are not only making a false assumption about our own goodness that runs contrary to God’s revealed Word, but we are deceiving ourselves and others and heading down a path that leads to self-destruction. This reminds us of Proverbs 28:13
He who conceals his sins does not prosper,
but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
· Proof of possessing the faith: If we confess our sins. In other words, only a genuine believer is capable of grasping the enormity of one single sin—and they are compelled to confess it to God to rid them of its awful, offensive stain. The beauty of this verse is beyond compare—note the fulfillment of confession: He will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. The NIV puts the verbs in the future tense, the Greek is far more decisive: God forgives and purifies the moment confession is made. The verb “to forgive” describes the act of canceling a debit and the restoration of the debtor. The second, “to cleanse,” refers to making the sinner fit for fellowship with God by making him holy. When we come to God, all we are doing is confessing our sins, but God takes the initiative to do so much more for us! This is reminiscent of what the prophet Isaiah wrote:
Come now, let us reason together,”
says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool. (Isaiah 1:18)
· Third test: If we claim we have not sinned. It sounds as though John is repeating himself, but this test is different from that of verse 8, where there John seems to be saying that some might now claim to be sinless because of some religious commitment they have made. Here the thought is slightly different, where a person actually claims to have never sinned once in their whole life. This is the most arrogant of all assumption a person can make about themselves because it denies the very fact of sin. This is so reprehensible because it makes God out to be a liar.
· Proof of possessing the faith: [H]is word has no place in our lives. This last proof that one possesses genuine faith is stated from the negative: one who denies the reality of sin is one who denies what God has said plainly in His Word; therefore His Word is not relevant to such a person. The opposite characterizes a true believer: the Word is given a prominent place in their lives.
3. Conclusion
Many Christians drive around with “God is Love” bumper stickers on their cars. But how many of us have ever stopped to consider “God is light?” We should, because light of God must always come before the love of God. It is God’s light that that shines into our blackened hearts, reveals that which is hidden, which keeps us from experiencing the fullness of God’s amazing love, and forces a choice upon us: leave the darkness behind and walk in the light, or block God’s light from our lives. When we have fellowship with God, our sins cannot be hidden because sin, like darkness, has no place in God’s light. It must be dealt with and removed.
God is the one who removes our sins by (1) cleansing us with the blood of Jesus, and (2) God tells us what we must do for that to happen: confess our sins to Him. The blood of Jesus is powerful enough to wash away all our sins, but we must first confess our sins. God’s provision and man’s responsibility work together.
