1 JOHN 1: 5-7 [LIFE, LIGHT & LOVE SERIES]
A CLEANSING FELLOWSHIP
[Last week if you remember I spoked about establishing fellowship with God.] All Christian fellowship originates in God. To have fellowship with God opens the door to fellowship with the brethren. The right kind of relationship with God sustains and grows fellowship with others.
There are conditions to joyful fellowship with God. To have fellowship with God, you must have something in common with Him. You must have a spiritual nature and be developing a moral character like the God with whom you desired to fellowship. Those who would experience this relationship must not only share a like spiritual nature, they must also be constantly connected with God. This daily connection with God we call walking with God.
If we are walking with God we must live in God¡¯s light. A redemptive joyful fellowship is only possible as we abide or walk in God’s light (CIT). If we will live in God¡¯s light, the blood of Jesus Christ will continually cleanse us from all our sin. This ¡°Cleansing Fellowship¡± is rooted in the Christian’s abiding relationship with God.
I. AWAKING LIGHT, 5.
II. WALKING IN DARKNESS, 6.
III. WALKING IN LIGHT, 7.
The Apostles learned from Jesus that God is true light. Verse 5, ¡°And this is the message which we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light and in Him nothing at all is darkness.¡±
Fellowship with God is dependent on reception of and obedience to the divine message. The message delivered here is that God is light. If you wish to have fellowship with God you must live in God¡¯s light.
This message is not a discovery we make about God, nor an inference or deduction which we draw. It is a divine or authoritative revelation to us, from Him, from Christ Jesus. The apostles hand on to all men what they received directly from Christ. The sum and substance of this message is two fold. First positive, God is light; next negative, in Him is no darkness at all. Light represents what is good, true and holy. Darkness represents what is evil, false, and sinful.
God is light is a metaphor, a figure of speech. No figure borrowed from the material world could give the idea of lucidity and perfection so fully as light. It suggests illumination, clarity, knowledge, intelligence, truth, purity, happiness and holiness. Light also implies integrity, truthfulness and authenticity. When used for God, it indicates excellence without limits and without taint. A power whose nature it is to communicate itself by going everywhere except where it is shut out. It is also the nature of light to shine and reveal [or enlighten] what was once hidden.
"Let there be light" was the first decree of the Creator. On this act of creation all the rest depend. Light is the necessary condition of life, growth and activity. Light displays or reveals the intellectual, moral and spiritual spheres as well as the material universe. All these similarities to light and its properties exist because they are reflections of the divine nature.
Light is diffusive, penetrating, searching; spreading itself over all space, and entering into every hole and corner. It is quickening and enlivening; a minister of healthy vigor and growth to all living creatures, plants and animals alike, including man himself. It is pleasant also; a source of relief and gladness to those who bask in its bright and joyous rays [Candlish, Robert S.; First John. Kregel Expositor Series. Grand Rapids. 1979. pp 34-35]. There are two properties of light though that may be singled out as specially relevant to this great depiction [or comparison]; its ability to reveal and its inviolability. First, light reveals. Light exposes by displaying itself. Light exposes things so they are revealed, discovered or seen to be as they are. The only way it can expose things is because light itself is clear, pure, and does not have any murky qualities. Because it is totally exposed or clear, it exposes all things [including whether something is good or evil]..
Light is always clear, transparent, evident and open as far as its influence extends. The entrance of light spreads reality all around. Darkness allows falsehoods and lies, and fosters unrealities. Light is the naked truth. Its very invisibility is exposes what is or exists. It is not seen because it is so pure.
A second characteristic of light is ¡°incontaminatability¡± or inviolability. Light is inviolable [i.e. unassailable, incorruptible, un-contaminatable] in that while it comes in contact with all things, it is itself affected by nothing. It kisses the disgusting and repulsive, it embraces foul pollution, it enters into the inner most recesses of rottenness in which unclean souls revile. And it remains the same clear element of light still; taking no soil; contracting no stain or disease, its brightness not dimmed nor its integrity marred. It endures as undefiled, clean and clear.
So when we hear the divine message "God is light," fix these two thoughts in your mind; the thought of revealing through perfect openness; and the thought of perfect inviolability or purity.
The second part of verse 5 expresses the concept negatively. ¡°In Him is no darkness at all.¡± Out of light no darkness can come. Light is symbolic of good and darkness depicts evil. God is perfectly holy and in Him is no unholiness what-so-ever. Just as darkness cannot exist in the presence of light, sin cannot exist in the presence of God. [If we want to have fellowship with Him we must confess and put aside our sinful way of living].
Great positive truths have their negative implications. If Jesus Christ is Lord, then I am not Lord. If God is filled with light then He is not filled with darkness. There is no deception, no half truth, no misleading, no impure motives, no treasonous inclination. His utmost depths and inmost recesses have been searched out by the light and no corruption, evil, wickedness, impurity, etc. has been found. John says there¡¯s no dark or negative side to God.
Why? Because there is no compromise of concession in Him with darkness. He stands as the foe of all darkness, [whether moral or intellectual]. He has no alternative motives. He has no partially shaded areas. God has no need for fig leaves.
Let me just add one more thought. There are declarations in Scripture that stand alone as revelations of the nature of God: "God is Spirit" (Jn. 4:24); God is Consuming Fire (Heb. 12:29); God is Light; and "God is Love" (1 Jn. 4:8). These are not attributes like mercy and justice, they are Himself. They are probably the nearest proximity to a definition of the essence, nature or character of God that the human mind can frame or comprehend. The simplest intellect can understand their meaning; the sublimest cannot exhaust it
II. WALKING IN TRUTH, 6.
Verse 6 is a faithful warning. ¡°If we should say that we have fellowship with Him and we should walk in the darkness, we lie and are not practicing the truth.¡±
With gentleness John states the case hypothetically and with great diplomacy he includes Himself in the hypothesis. He wants to guard against three false professions which are indicated by the phrase if we say (vv. 6, 8, 10).
The first of these false professions is to claim fellowship with God while walking in darkness. This truth is inferred [a corollary truth] from the principle just laid down. God is light, utterly removed from all darkness. Therefore to be in darkness, one must have turned Him off and shut Him out of their daily life. God is light and if you walk, meaning living in continual fellowship with Him, that fellowship must be a fellowship in Light. This Light is of the divine nature so there can be no compromising or evasion of it.
Light represents what is good, pure, true, holy, and reliable. Darkness represents what is false, sinful, and evil. The statement "God is Light" means that God is perfectly holy and true and that He alone can guide us out of the darkness of sin. Light is also related to truth in that light exposes whatever exists, whether it is good or bad. In the dark, good and evil look alike. [Things are relative.] In the light they can be clearly distinguished. Just as darkness cannot exist in the presence of light, sin cannot exist in the presence of a holy God. If we want to have a relationship with God, we must put aside our sinful ways of living. The idea that you can have fellowship with God without turn away from a life of sin is a lie. To claim [or allege] that we belong to Him but then to go out and live for ourselves is hypocrisy. [If Jesus Christ is Lord, then I am not Lord.] If we will live in His light we will see ourselves more and more as we really are and where we are. Jesus is the Light who makes the way upon which we live come into focus and become clear.
For John, Christian faith is walking in truth or in the light of God¡¯s Word. It is clear that God¡¯s truth is the lighted path upon which we are to walk day-by-day. For to do the truth is more than believing or speaking it. The sense definitely is that of conduct. The word walk (continuous present tense) expresses not a deed but continual actions. A life in moral darkness by definition must have no more communion with God, than life in a coal-mine can have communion with the sun. For "what fellowship has light with darkness?" (2 Cor.6:4).
¡°Walking in darkness¡± is walking in the course or the manner this world goes, or living according to the flesh or fallen man. It is ignoring the Word and establishing our own right and wrong. So the one who claims or professes fellowship with God, while habitually living in sin or in the course of this world is fooling himself. He is not fooling God. We can’t love God and court sin at the same time. If we think we can walk in the way of the world and have fellowship with God we are deceiving our self.
III. WALKING IN LIGHT, 7.
Verse 7 gives an incredible promise to those who live in God¡¯s light. ¡°But if we should walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.¡±
[Verse 7 is a further inference from the principle in verse 5.] The New Testament calls the Christian life a "walk." This walk begins with a step of faith (v.6) when we trust Christ as our Lord and Savior. But salvation is not the end--it’s only the beginning--of spiritual life. "Walking" involves progress, and Christians are suppose to advance in their spiritual life. Just as a child must learn to walk and must overcome many difficulties to do it well, so a Christian must learn to "walk in the light." [The fundamental difficulty of walking in light is sin.] To walk in light suggests instead openness and responsiveness to it. We are to be responsive to the revelation of divine truth which shows us how we are to live.
Fellowship with God indicates a close personal relationship, filled with constant contact and meaningful exchange. The reason we don’t have fellowship as God desires, is because we don’t walk in the light as God is in the light.
Notice that ¡°walking in the light¡± involves not only fellowship with God but fellowship with the brethren. We walk with God and with one another. If we walk with God we will have fellowship with other Christians. No Christian is to live in isolation from his brethren.
Walking with God brings us into fellowship with other Christians. One of the ways we know we have fellowship with the Lord is that we have fellowship with other people. If we¡¯re truly in the light, we won¡¯t gossip about, find fault with, or put down others. [Many Christians do not have fellowship with God. They have fellowship with each other about God because they have hidden from the light of God¡¯s Word.] People who cut themselves off from fellowship with other Christians cannot have fellowship with God.
[Notice we walk but God is. We move through space and time but God is in eternity. He who is absolute perfection knows no progress or change, we can only say "He is." He that is light must ever be in the light yet we progress from grace to grace becoming sons of light by believing in the light (Jn 12:36; Eph. 5:8-9) and doing what the light reveals we should.]
[Physical exercise like walking may help us fight off colds and infection. The theory is that a good workout puts our body in a condition similar to what happens at the onset of a fever. That’s not all bad. A fever is the body’s way of fighting back when micro-intruders get into our system. Increased body temperature aids our white blood-cell defense system while slowing down the action of bacteria and viruses. Exercise does the same thing. It releases chemicals into the blood that stimulate the brain to make our temperature rise.
Regular spiritual exercise is beneficial to the health of our soul also. To ward off sin, we must "walk in the light as He is in the light." and obey Jesus each day.
Disobedience, however, cools our spiritual temperature. Fellowship with God and other believers is neglected. Sin is neither confessed nor forsaken. If we have a lukewarm faith (Rev. 3:16), we are not taking advantage of the defense mechanisms necessary to fight spiritual infection.
The right exercise program is one of faith and obedience. It is essential to spiritual health. Walk with Jesus every day, and you’ll truly be walking for your health and eternal well-being. Walk with God and enjoy spiritual health & raise out of luke-warmness.]
This walk of fellowship is made possible because, ¡°The blood of Jesus Christ His Son keeps on cleansing us from all sin.¡± The conjunction and indicates that the following is a another result of walking in the light. [Fellowship with God and other Christians is the first.] If we walk in the light with God and fellow believers the blood of Jesus cleanses us from our sin. That is a most blessed consequence, isn¡¯t it?
The Greek word translated ¡°cleanse¡± [katha¨¬z¨] and its present tense clearly speaks of a continual cleansing. This means that the blood is constantly cleansing the Christian who is walking in the light. To be continually cleansed by the shed blood of Jesus is the need of even the most mature Christian. One who lives life in Christ’s light knows his own frailty and short-comings and is constantly availing himself to the purifying power of Christ’s blood, His sacrificial death. For ¡°apart from the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin¡± (Heb. 9:25).
[John makes use of the strong Greek word kathariz¨ to express the result of this encounter. The word means to ¡°clean out.¡± The English word ¡°catharsis¡± comes to us from this Greek root. John¡¯s message to us is very basic. We are able to do only one thing ourselves and that is to step out into the light. The tragic confusion and anger and hurtfulness that the light reveals in our lives is too much for us to handle and to resolve by ourselves. God Himself who brings the light also brings the help; that help is the Person Jesus Christ who gives His own life in our behalf. At just the right moment, we discover the enormous exception that God does not destroy the wanderers He finds upon the road. Rather He cleanses them and qualifies them for the way of light. [Palmer, Earl. The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol 35: 1, 2 & 3 John / Revelation. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1982, S. 28.]
How can a holy God have anything to do with the likes of us? Fyodor Dostoevsky, in Notes From the Underground, writes what we all know: "There are certain things in a man’s past which he does not divulge to everybody but, perhaps, only to friends. Again, there are certain things he will not divulge even to his friends; he will divulge them perhaps only to himself, and that too as a secret. But, finally there are things which he is afraid to divulge even to himself, and every decent man has quite an accumulation of such things in his mind."
If we have so many deep dark secrets, how can we hope to have fellowship with God? An illustration from Martin Luther’s life shows us. Luther had a dream in which he stood before God. Satan was there to accuse Luther, and when the books were opened the accuser pointed to sin after sin in his life. Luther despaired. Then he remembered the cross and, turning to the devil, he quoted 1 John 1:7; "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." The blood of Jesus is the only effective agent to cleanse sin from the believers life. Because of Jesus¡¯s shed blood sinners can be forgiven and walk with a holy God. Do you walk in fellowship with God?
One who is walking in spiritual darkness cannot appropriate that cleansing from sin which is wrought by the blood of Jesus, shed on the cross, and offered to God as an appeasement for sin. [It is by His death that we participate in His life, and the only sphere in which His life is found is in His light. As we journey through this sinful world, we become defiled. But thank God, the blood of Jesus Christ keeps on cleansing us from all sin.
[The hymns of Frances Ridley Havergal have greatly blessed the church. She wrote such songs as "Who Is on the Lord’s Side?" "Like a River Glorious," "I Gave My Life for Thee," and "Take My Life and Let It Be." She was not always a happy Christian, however. As F.J. Huegel pointed out in his book Forever Triumphant, she was plagued by depression. Perhaps overly sensitive to faults in her life, she was a defeated believer who lacked the joy that should characterize every forgiven child of God. Huegel says, "She walked with bowed head. Romans 7 seemed to be her lot."
One day she had a life-transforming experience, however. Huegel says that the Lord led her into the joy and blessing described in Romans 8. A great crisis marked her entrance into "the promised land of a life of fullness and victory." She was reading her New Testament in the Greek, as she often did. When she came to 1 John 1:7, she discovered from the tense of the verb that the blood of Christ keeps on cleansing the believer who walks in the light. Says Huegel, "The result for Frances Havergal was a mighty revolution. A new day dawned. She would no longer be sad because of her faults and blemishes. She would rejoice because of the infinite efficacy of the Savior’s atoning death."]
Note the tiny word all. There is no limit to the cleansing power of the blood. Even grievous sinners can be restored to fellowship and then become more and more like God in whom there is no darkness at all.
God rolls out the "red carpet" of salvation to even the vilest of sinners. No one is so corrupt that Christ’s blood cannot cleanse; no one carries a weight of sin so heavy that the Savior cannot remove it. The precious blood of Jesus’ atoning death not only washes away all present sin, but it also goes on cleansing us until we enter heaven.
An elderly Christian used to carry A SMALL BOOK with him that he often took from his pocket to show to others. He called it his biography. It had only three pages, but not a single word was written on any of them. Yet, he said it contained the whole story of his life. The first page was black. That, he said, was his sin--his condition by nature. The second, which was red, represented the blood of Christ, shed for his sins. The third was white. This final page stood for himself--washed in that blood and made whiter than snow.
We all have the first page in our biography--the sin-stained one. The second and third pages are added when we receive Christ as our Savior from sin. Scripture indicates that Jesus has "made peace through the blood of His cross."
How many pages do you have in your spiritual biography?
Thank God for His precious promise. When I am weary and heavy laden from trying to hide, paint or gloss over my deception of self-deluding, I can step once more into His reality, His light, and again experience the cleansing of Christ’s blood. Bless God for that fountain that God opened full to overflowing at Calvary.
CONCLUSION
When evangelist John Wesley (1703-1791) was walking home from a service one night, he was ROBBED. The thief, however, found his victim to have only a little money and some Christian literature.
As the bandit was leaving, Wesley called out, "Stop! I have something more to give you." The surprised robber paused, "My friend," said Wesley, "you may live to regret this sort of life. If you ever do, here’s something to remember: ’The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin!’" The thief hurried away, and Wesley prayed that his words might bear fruit.
Years later, Wesley was greeting people after a Sunday service when he was approached by a stranger. What a surprise to learn that this visitor, now a believer in Christ and a successful businessman, was the one who had robbed him years before! "I owe it all to you," said the transformed man. "Oh no, my friend," Wesley exclaimed, "not to me, but to the precious blood of Christ that cleanses us from all sin!"
John Wesley really did have something more to give the thief that night--the good news of salvation. And we have the same responsibility to share the gospel with those who cross our paths.
God has something more to give you too, if you will now come and ask for the cleansing from sin’s defilement He now offers by the blood of Christ. Will you come forward and receive Christ and be cleansed by His precious blood right now and begin to walk with Jesus?
