Stay In The Light

We need to stay in the light because that's where God is and also:

2. Because That's Where We Have Fellowship With God and With Each Other.

One of the false views John deals with in this letter is that there were those who thought that there is no connection between a person’s behavior and the condition of one’s relationship with God. It was as if you could sin all you wanted and it simply didn’t matter. In fact, some seemed to pursue perversion and excuse it as God wanting them to know the deep things, even the deep things of Satan. Revelation 2:24 mentions this.

If we are continuing in the deeds of darkness, there is no way we can have fellowship with God. John says that if we try to have it both ways, living in sin and still professing to be a Christian, we are liars, living a lie. 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. Darkness cannot exists where there is light. It is one or the other. We can claim to be a Christian. We can claim to love God and we even have membership in a church. But if the life we live doesn’t go along with the claims we make, what is the truth? Does someone who claims to love God and the Lord Jesus continue to use their names inappropriately? Will those who claim to walk in fellowship with the Giver of life show disrespect for the gift of life and support abortion?

How can those who claim to be clothed with Christ soil themselves with greed, hatred, lust, gossip, or slander? John gives a clear answer to all those questions. No! We can’t claim fellowship with the Light and continue to walk in the darkness. If we are doing that, we desperately need God’s light to shine on and in us.

Jesus said in Matthew in 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” It is not what we claim, but what we really are that is important. Does this mean that we must be perfect? No, it is not possible. Because we will never outgrow our need for Jesus. But we must purpose to walk in the light and not in darkness.

Anything else will interfere with our fellowship with God and also our fellowship with one another. It is our union in Christ that brings the variety of people that we are into a relationship that rivals any family connections. We have fellowship with each other because we are united in Christ.

So we must stay in the light, for this is where God is and it is where we fellowship with our Lord and each other. But also we must stay in the light:

3. Because That's Where the Blessings Are.

One of the blessings of light is that it is more safe. If you are walking around in the dark, you are more likely stub your toe, stumble or fall down. The same is true with spiritual things. We live better lives when we live in the light.

Certainly the greatest blessing we have is the blessing of forgiveness of our sins when we walk in the Light of Christ. Verse seven says that when we walk in the light, “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” The truth is that as Christians, we are all sinners who have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. That is something that we must never forget.