In the passage of Scripture we will look at today John tells us how we can know whether or not we are in fellowship with God.
(1 John 1:5 NKJV) This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
Heard - (present tense) - completed in time past, having present results. "What we heard in the past is presently ringing in our ears."
From Him -they heard this message from Jesus Christ.
God is light - The word "light" (phos) in the Greek text is without the article. The rule of Greek grammar is that the absence of the definite article shows quality, nature, or essence. So what John is writing here was "God as to His nature, essence and character is light." (Wuest)
The context in which we are reading these things concerns spiritual things. So we know that John is not writing about physical light. The light John is referring to is ethical, spiritual and moral.
When John writes, "God is light" he is making a statement concerning the absolute nature of God.
God is not a light nor the light. John is not saying that God is the light of men or the light of the world, but simply and absolutely, God is light, in His very nature.
The expression, God is light, is not a metaphor, such as God is like light. The expression, God is light is describing His very nature.
Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest writes that "Light is immaterial, diffusive, pure, and glorious. It is the condition of life. Physically, it represents glory; intellectually, truth; morally, holiness."
In the Old Testament, light is often the way that God visibly revealed Himself to men.
It was the first manifestation of God in creation.
Genesis 1:1-3 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
When God made a covenant with Abraham He sealed it with fire.
Genesis 15:17 - And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.
When Moses returned from receiving the Law of God the people noticed that he had been with God who is Light.
Exodus 34:29-30 - Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses' hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.
When God delivered the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage, He led them with a pillar of fire by night and a radiant pillar of cloud by day. (Exodus 13:21) That cloud would one day rest upon the mercy seat in the most holy place of the tabernacle. (Lev. 16:2)
John says that "God is light." Light is the absolute nature of God.
The light of God is manifested physically in His glory (we can see the glory of God!)
(Isa 60:19 NKJV) "The sun shall no longer be your light by day, Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; But the LORD will be to you an everlasting light, And your God your glory.
(Rev 21:23 NKJV) The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
The light of God is manifested intellectually in His truth (we can know the glory of God!)
(Psa 27:1 NKJV) The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
(Psa 89:15 NKJV) Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance.
The light of God is manifested morally, by His holiness. (We can do the glory of God!)
(Psa 18:28 NKJV) For You will light my lamp; The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
(Eph 5:8 NKJV) For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
(1 John 1:5 NKJV) This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
This light is ethical, spiritual and moral. John then concludes verse five with these words, "…in Him is no darkness at all." In the Greek, John is literally saying, "And darkness in Him does not exist, not even one bit."
Why is John teaching all of this?
Remember the Gnostics? They were the false teachers who believed matter to be evil, the spirit good, and salvation to come by secret knowledge (gnosis) granted to those who were part of their clique.
John is teaching all of this to combat a heresy circulated by the Gnostics called Antinomianism.
"What is antinomianism?" Antinomianism comes from the Greek words "anti" against, and "nomos" law-- "against law".
Antinomians believe in freedom from the obligation to obey the Moral Law to be saved. They take the words of Paul in the book of Romans, "You are not under the Law, but under Grace" (Romans 6:14) and twist it to mean if you are a Christian, you can live anyway you want, because of God's grace.
The believe, "The more you sin the more you have God's grace; so abstaining from sin is not all that important because God's grace is sufficient."
There are Christians who have been taught that they are not under the Law but under grace. As a result, these Christians look at the Law as unimportant and it no longer communicates truths they need to be concerned with.
When God says: They reason:
You shall have no other Gods before me All I need to do is make my million - I'm under grace
You shall not make for yourselves an idol I got to be me - I'm under grace
You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God I just cuss every now and then - I'm under grace
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy Look, I was at church this morning - I'm under grace
Honor your father and your mother I've got my own life to live - I'm under grace
You shall not murder He deserved it; God will forgive me - I'm under grace
You shall not commit adultery God knows I have needs - I'm under grace
You shall not steal I don't earn enough; My kids are hungry - I'm under grace
You shall not give false testimony She dissed me; I got her back - I'm under grace
You shall not covet Coveting? It's just a "phase" I go through - I'm under grace
Because they have a low regard for the commandments of God they live licentiously. They recklessly trample over the moral fences the commandments of God erect for our protection.
They forget that while the law cannot save it is still holy. Paul writes in Romans 7:12, "Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good."
Jude warned of "ungodly men, (who were) turning the grace of our God into unbridled lust" (Jude 4).
Even today there are those who would use the grace of God as an excuse for their sin. This is where you see bumper stickers with statements like: Christians aren't perfect; they're just forgiven.
There is a song that has these words:
Don't look at me if you're looking for perfection
Don't look at me I will only let you down
I'll do my best to point you in the right direction
Don't look at me, look at Him
On the surface, this is a message that many of us want to give to the world. We don't want people getting the wrong idea about Jesus by looking at our lives.
The only problem with this view is that it is unbiblical. The truth of the matter is people are looking at you; they are destined to look at you. Looking at you is one of the ways that God has purposed for them to see Christ.
(Mat 5:16 NKJV) "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
(2 Cor 3:2 NASB) You are our letter… known and read by all men;
(2 Cor 5:20 NKJV) Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
(Phil 2:14 NKJV) Do all things without complaining and disputing,
(Phil 2:15 NKJV) that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
The grace of God is there when we sin. Later in our text John has written:
(1 John 1:8 NKJV) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
(1 John 1:9 NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The grace of God is there when we sin but don't use it as an excuse to sin more.
The Apostle Paul came down upon those who used the grace of God as an excuse for their continued sin. (Rom 6:1 NKJV) What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
In our text John combats the Gnostics who teach antinomianism by making two points:
God is Light, and darkness in Him does not exist, not even one bit (vs.5)
God is light, physically, intellectually and morally.
In the Bible, the prophet Habakkuk knew something about the holiness of God. Under Habakkuk's ministry, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jerusalem and took hostages, including Daniel.
God would used Babylon to punish His people and this confused Habakkuk so that he would ask God, "How can You withhold Your judgment upon wicked Babylon?" Perplexed Habakkuk would write:
Thine eyes are too pure to approve evil, And Thou canst not look on wickedness with favor. Why dost Thou look with favor On those who deal treacherously? Why art Thou silent when the wicked swallow up Those more righteous than they? (Hab 1:13 NASB)
Habakkuk would learn that God doesn't wink His eye at sin, but judges all sin. God would tell Habakkuk, "I know what I am doing":
(Hab 2:3 NKJV) For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.
(Hab 2:4 NKJV) "Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.
This was the truth the Apostle John was communicating to those who were tempted to believe the Gnostic doctrine of antinomianism --God's nature demands that He judge sin. "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all."
You may call yourself a Christian and wink your eye at sin but God doesn't. God is light and light always cuts through darkness. God has to judge sin! If He doesn't judge you in this life, one day you will make your appointment with Him.
(2 Cor 5:9 NKJV) Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.
(2 Cor 5:10 NKJV) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
(2 Cor 5:11a NKJV) Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…
Not only did John declare to his readers that God is light, he makes a second point to battle the Gnostic heresy.
One cannot live in sin and fellowship with God at the same time (vs. 6)
(1 John 1:6 NKJV) If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
John includes himself with his readers and states a hypothetical case. John is in essence saying, "Let's say, for example, there is a person who says that he can live any way he wants and still have fellowship with God."
Remember the word fellowship here is the Greek word, koinonia, koy-nohn-ee'-ah meaning, "a joint participation with someone else in things held common by both."
John wants his readers to consider the possibility of anyone who has a disregard for the commandments of God having fellowship with One who is Light and whose nature is manifested physically in His glory.
Is it possible for one who lives in a constant state of immorality to have fellowship with One who is Light and whose nature is manifested intellectually in His truth?
Is it possible for one who has a habitual disregard of the commandments of Christ to have fellowship with One who is Light and whose nature is manifested morally by His holiness?
This is why John writes in verse 6, If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
There is no koinonia between the one who walks in darkness and God who is Light. There is no joint participation with God and this person because there are no things held common by both either. Why?
This person walks in darkness. He is not walking in God because God is light; no darkness is in God. This person is walking in darkness which means what he is doing is sinning.
He walks in darkness.
The word walks is peripateo, per-ee-pat-eh'-o and means to tread all around, i.e. walk at large. This person orders his behavior, conducts himself in the sphere of the darkness of sin while at the same time claiming to have fellowship with God.
The verb "walks" is in the present subjunctive which speaks of habitual action. Thus this person is sinning habitually and continuously which shows that he is an unsaved person. Chapter two goes into this more in detail:
(1 John 2:4 NKJV) He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
(1 John 2:5 NKJV) But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
(1 John 2:6 NKJV) He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
In our Sunday School lesson there was the story of a woman named Doris who got saved attending a conference. When she returned home, she got baptized, joined a church and started serving. One day John, one of her "old flames" called and invited her out to a fashion show. At the show she noticed that people were drinking, dancing to loud music, and scantily dressed. She also noticed that her friend John was ok with what was going on that evening.
Before she got saved, that evening at the fashion show would have been "business as usual" with Doris. But now she was different; she had trusted Jesus as her Lord and Savior.
But her friend John was not changed. He is the kind of person that the Apostle John in his epistle was writing about. This man walks at large in the arena of sin. He orders his behavior, conducts himself in the sphere of the darkness of sin.
Before Christ saved me this was a description of my life. Before you were saved, this is how you lived. Paul says to the Ephesian church, this is how it was for all Christians before Jesus saved them:
(Eph 2:1 NKJV) And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
(Eph 2:2 NKJV) in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
(Eph 2:3 NKJV) among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
The difference between the Christian and the man described in 1 John 1:6 is that he is walking in the darkness of sin while at the same time professing to have fellowship with God and I dare go past this place without asking, "Are there any among us who are like this man?"
*You are walking according to the course of this world - The world is dictating your agenda like you are its puppet on a string.
*You are walking according to the prince of the power of the air - The devil has the power of suggestion over you, not the Word of God. - "You are too tired to go to prayer meeting this evening" "Pastor Chuck thinks more about her ministry than he does yours."
*You are conducting yourself in the lust of your flesh - What you see others do, you do; What you see others with, you want; you are self-centered. If you don't get your way it’s the highway.
*You are fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind - You give in to your body's desires--overeating, addictions to alcohol, drugs and sexual habits.
While all this is going on you profess to be a Christian. But how can you be a Christian when Paul writes that these are the things that Christians used to do?
John wants us to know that "if we say that we have fellowship with Him (God) and yet order our behavior and conduct ourselves in the sphere of darkness, we are liars and we're not practicing the truth."
If we say that we have koinonia with Him or "a joint participation God in things held common" and yet walk in darkness we are lying.
If we say that we have His nature and love what He loves and hates what He hates and yet walk in the sphere of what He is not, we are liars.
I believe what John is teaching is so relevant for us today because the definition of a Christian has been watered down and sugar-coated.
At the time I was writing down this thought I noticed that the grape juice I was drinking tasted funny.
I looked at the bottle of grape juice I was drinking and found that it was not grape juice at all. The label said, "Tropicana Grape" on it in bold letters but the fine print said, "Flavored juice beverage from concentrate." It wasn't grape juice at all but a counterfeit--water sweetened, flavored and colored to look and taste like grape juice.
Like this juice, Christianity has been watered down into a counterfeit.
We have been conditioned into thinking that all one has to do is say a prayer and then they're in.
We are teaching a "gospel" that is high on grace but low on holiness.
We are propagating a "gospel" that stresses forgiveness and fizzles out when it comes to the Lordship of Jesus Christ over one's life.
Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. But some of us have gotten so afraid of having our salvation message misconstrued as one that is "works based" we leave out the part of the Bible that teaches, "Faith without works is dead…" (James 2:20).
We also fail to mention that Jesus said in John 14:15, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." In other words, Christians don't work to get saved, they work because Christ graciously saved them.
I don't work because I think my works will pay my way into heaven.
I work because the price has been paid for me to enter into heaven.
I work because the price has been paid in full and I'm grateful.
I work because He bought me; He is my Master and I am His servant and I want to obey Him.
In our text John combats the Gnostics who teach antinomianism by making two points:
1. God is Light, and darkness in Him does not exist, not even one bit (vs.5)
2. One cannot live in sin and fellowship with God at the same time
In verse seven of our text John describes the walk of the one who has fellowship with God.
(1 John 1:7 NKJV) But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
We have just learned that when one walks in darkness, the word John uses for walk is peripateo, per-ee-pat-eh'-o and means to tread all around, i.e. walk at large.
When one walks in the light, he orders his behavior, conducts himself in the sphere of the light.
The phrase "But if we walk" suggests that John is referring to one's life-style. The verb is in the present tense and denotes continuous action. John has in mind the practice and habit of life which is characterized by constant fellowship with God.
I've been in the ministry over 20 years and have seen people come into a profession of faith in Christ with blazing speed.
They make a profession of faith, join the church and start serving but just as fast as they came they leave.
This is why I'm learning not to put much stock in what people say, i.e., "I love the Lord." I just sit back and observe their lives and consistency of their faith.
This is what John is communicating--"If we continuously, consistently, walk in the light as He is in the light. This is also why John would later write concerning the Gnostics:
(1 John 2:19 NKJV) They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
John says, "but if we walk in the light as he Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another…"
Who are the "we" John mentions in this verse?
We learn who the "we" is by looking back to John's purpose for writing this letter. John wanted his readers to have true fellowship with God. In verse 6 he writes about the one who doesn't have fellowship with God. In verse seven He writes concerning the one who has fellowship with God.
John is saying that when you walk in the light as God Himself is in the light, you and God have fellowship with one another.
Have you ever met a president of the United States? Have you ever written the president and have him personally reply?
I remember shaking the hands of former Vice-President Qualye before he was elected into office. I was about 50 feet from President Ronald Reagan when He visited our company.
But imagine if you could tell someone that you were on intimate speaking terms with our president. He shared his mind and heart with you on a regular basis.
John is letting us know that we can have intimate fellowship with God, the Creator of the universe! We can be on intimate speaking terms with God. We have the privilege of knowing his heart and mind!
But wait a minute! Didn't John write that God was light? How could Someone who is so holy fellowship with those who are sinful? Were the Gnostics right after all?
Thought you would never ask!
John answers this question for the Gnostics who believed that it was impossible for God who was spirit to mingle with people who were (evil) matter.
How is it possible for God who is light to fellowship with people who are evil?
(1 John 1:7 NKJV) But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
The answer is "the blood!"
Sin separated us from God but the blood of Jesus brought us near.
(Eph 2:13 NKJV) But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
God who is the Holy and Righteous Judge had to deal with our offenses. He had to judge our sin. So He sent His only Son Jesus to earth to take upon Himself humanity and to be made sin for us.
Paul puts it this way:
For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (Rom 8:3-4 NKJV)
When Jesus went to the cross to die, He wasn't dying for His own sins; He was dying for your sin and for mine.
He went to the cross as the sinless Lamb of God and shed His precious blood to pay the penalty for the crimes that we committed against a holy God.
This is why John mentions the blood when it comes to our fellowship with the Father. Our sins made it impossible to have fellowship with a holy God but the blood of Jesus his Son drew us near to the heart of God.
(1 John 1:7 NKJV) But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
The songwriter penned the words,
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
But John is not finished. While you can't see it in the English text, the Greek shows the word "cleanses" to be in present tense. This means that while we are having fellowship with God, the blood of Jesus, His Son, keeps constantly cleansing us from sins of omission and even sins of ignorance.
As much as I try to get tabs on my sin and confess them when they are committed, there are sins that I commit that I don't know about because I am still growing up in Jesus--like when I wrote a Gospel presentation in Graffiti on the men's room wall at work when I was a new believer.
But the blood of Jesus, God's Son, keeps constantly cleansing us from sins of omission and even sins of ignorance.
The blood that Jesus shed for me way back on Calvary
The blood that gives me strength from day to day
It will never lose its power
Oh it reaches to the highest mountain, yeah
And it flows to the lowest valley,
Oh the blood that gives me strength from day to day
It will never lose its power
It soothes my doubts and calms my fears
And it dries all my tears
Oh the blood that gives me strength from day to day
It will never lose its power.
Because of the blood of Jesus Hebrews 10:19 says that we can therefore have boldness, confidence or assurance to enter the Holiest or the presence of God by the blood of Jesus. This is fellowshipping with God!
