Living In The Light

Living In The Light

Text: I John 1: 6 & 7; I Pet.2: 9 & 10

Intro: In perhaps an elementary, yet practical sense, to walk in the light is to walk where one’s path is illuminated. The Christian is supposed to be one who has been illuminated, for they have received into their hearts He who is said to be the “light of men” (John 1: 4b).

To live in the light is to live by the revealed will of God. It is to live according to the righteous standard set forth by Christ Jesus Himself. It is living openly, honestly, and sincerely before God and man. As John stated, walking in the light is a prerequisite for having fellowship with God. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another…” (I John 1: 7a). Since the theme of I John is “’The Saint’s Fellowship with God,’” I believe the fellowship John speaks of here is that enjoyed by God and His obedient children (Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies, Vol. II, published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan; The Exegesis Of I John, pg. 102).

Just as there are certain traits exhibited by those who don’t know God, and live in fellowship with Him, the same is true of those who do. It isn’t possible to discuss all of the characteristics of the child of God today, but Peter does give us a good idea of what kind of person a Christian ought to be.

The Apostle Peter believed that the saint was to be different from the world. His reason for this belief was because the Christian has been “…born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God…” (I Pet.1: 23). The child of God has experienced the miracle of the New Birth; and that always changes a person. If there’s been no change, there’s been no conversion.

Look with me into I Peter chapter two, as we seek to discover some of the traits of those who are “LIVING IN THE LIGHT.”

Theme: Peter tells us that:

I. CHRISTIANS SHOULD LIVE RAVENOUSLY

A. God’s Children Should Have A Hunger For The Word Of Life.

1. No one gets saved apart from the Word of God.

I Pet.1: 23 “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.

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25 But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”

2. After salvation, the Word of God produces continued spiritual growth.

I Pet.2: 2 “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.”

NOTE: [1] The word “desire” carries the idea of “an intense yearning” (Ibid, First Peter In The Greek New Testament, pg. 51).

[2] The Word of God is referred to as the “sincere milk of the word” (v. 2). That means that God’s Word is “guileless, pure” (W.E. Vine, M.A., An Expository Dictionary Of New Testament Words, Vol. IV, publish by Fleming H. Revell Company, Old Tappan, New Jersey; pg. 34). The Bible is without adulteration, without ulterior motives. God’s Word has one basic purpose—to nourish man’s spirit by revealing the truth and person of God.

[3] There is a prerequisite to the saint’s intense yearning for the Word of God implied in verse one. The words “laying aside,” in I Pet.2: 1 implies that known sin is to be dealt with decisively, in a “once for all action” (Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies, Vol. II, published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan; First Peter In The Greek New Testament, pg. 50). Someone once printed a very true statement in the flyleaf of one of my bibles: “This Book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this Book.”

[4] Just as a healthy baby is a hungry baby, even so, “A spiritually healthy Christian is a hungry Christian. This solves the problem of why so many children of God have so little love for the Word” (Ibid, First Peter In The Greek New Testament, pg. 52).

[5] There are some folks however, who have such a love for the Word of God they won’t let anything keep them from it.

Read with Tongue

A man in Kansas City was severely injured in an explosion. Evangelist Robert L. Sumner tells about him in his book The Wonders of the Word of God. The victim’s face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands.

He was just a new Christian, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read Braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in Braille. Much to his dismay, however, he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been destroyed by the explosion.