Walking In The Light

Walking In Light

1 John 1:1-2:6.

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 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. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.

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. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 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.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

It has been said that the Christian life would be simple to live if it wasn’t for sin. It is easy to talk about being a Christian, but living the way a Christian should is completely different. God is Light and Satan is darkness. How does a person ‘walk in the light’? ‘Walking in light’ is how we should deal with sin in response to the light of God’s Word. In our text we find three ways of dealing with sin.

I COVER THEM UP

1 John 1:5-6, 8, 10; 2:4

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. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. {a cover-up}.

1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. {a cover-up}.

1:10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. {a cover-up}.

2:4 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. {a cover-up}.

When a person is saved they are called out of the darkness. They were children of the darkness, but are now children of the Light. Those who do wrong hate the Light and when Light shines in on our lives, it reveals everything - yes everything! Let’s not be negative, it shows the good as well as the bad.

In nature, light is invaluable; it aids growth, and does much more. It is an accepted fact that depression increases as the days get shorter, simply because of the lack of natural light. I believe that it has been stated that December the 20th is the worst day for depression, simply because it is the shortest day of the year, with the least natural light.

Light produces life, growth, and beauty; but sin is dark. Darkness and light cannot exist in the same place. If we are walking in light, the darkness is gone and if we hold onto sin the light is gone. I am not saying we lose our salvation. What we do lose is how we spiritually appear to the “lost”. There is no gray area when we are discussing sin. Our sin is the reason the Lord Jesus came to earth and died.