1 John 1:6, ‘If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we 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.’
Apostle John received this message from God and he is conveying this message to the believers. The message is about the two things. 1. Light and 2. Darkness.
V5, ‘This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.’
- Walking in the Light / Living in the Light and 2. Walking in the darkness / Living in the darkness.
V8, ‘If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.’
The message is that we should walk in the Light!
V6 MSG, ‘If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim.’
If we are not living what we claim or if we are not practicing what is truth; we are in the darkness! We can claim to be in the fellowship of God but if our life is not reflecting it, we are lying! The message is this, ‘God is Light and we should walk in the Light’.
John 1:5, ‘The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.’
When we are walking in the Light, whatever the areas in our hearts, are dark in our hearts; the Lord who is the Light; wants to remove all the darkness from our hearts and He want to shine His Light in our hearts, so that we can walk in the light!
2 Corinthians 4:6, ‘For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.’
For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” – In Genesis, God separated light from the darkness; the same God is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. ‘The glory of God in the face of Christ’ – this is the divine nature of God; we have to manifest this divine nature of Christ in our lives. It is only possible, when we walk in the light!
V7, ‘But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves’
The treasure in earthen vessels is the ‘life of Jesus’ in us.
1 John 1:8, ‘If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.’
When we are walking in the light, God will shine His light in our hearts, then we will come to know what are the dark areas in our hearts; there we need deep repentance and then we can come into the light and will experience His divine nature – ‘the life of Jesus’ in our lives.
The result of walking in the Light is, we can manifest ‘the life of Jesus’ through our lives.
1 Peter 2:9, ‘But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light’
This is the beginning of our Christian lives – God has called us out of darkness, into His marvelous light! We were in darkness, but God in His richest mercy, called us out of darkness and we came into His Light. As God separated light from darkness, God wants us, not to have fellowship with any darkness! There is no fellowship with darkness, for those who walk in the light. When we came to Light, the Holy Spirit convicts our hearts of sins and we should repent of our sins. We should not stop here! There should be progress in our spiritual life after receiving the Salvation! We need to walk in the light, as God is Light! Once we were far from the light but now, we should come closer and closer to God and walk in the Light.
When we are walking in the Light, we can see our spiritual condition! The Holy Spirit will convict us of many sins which we did not consider as sin before in our earlier life! In our attitude, in our motives, in our speech, in our actions. We will become more and more sensitive, when we walk in the light. This is what the Light does in our lives! We can see the defilement in our lives, when we walk in the Light. When the Holy Spirit will show us our defilement, we can cleanse ourselves, we can repent of our sins and cry out to God and ask forgiveness. The blood of Jesus will cleanse us from all sin, when we are walking in the Light.
1 John 1:7, ‘but if we 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.’
When we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus His Son, cleanses us from all sin.
Hebrews 10:26, ‘For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins’
If we are deliberately going on sinning, then there is no blood of Jesus available for us! There is no meaning at all! When we walk in the Light, we will be conformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. We will be growing in the holiness and this is the way we will be progressing in our lives. The result of Light is Life of Jesus, His divine nature! This is the result of walking in the Light. When we come closer and closer to God, God will show our wretchedness in our lives! In His light, we can see ourselves!
Luke 3:8, ‘Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves’
When we are walking in the Light, we will bear fruits in keeping with repentance. It is continuing!
Proverbs 4:18, ‘But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.’
The light of dawn is the beginning of our Christian life, we are not stopping there! But this path of righteousness is shining brighter and brighter, as the sun ascends in to the sky and comes to the noon day, this is the brightness of the full day! The spiritual progress of a Christian is like that. When we come closer to the Light, we will grow spiritually and we will experience the life of Jesus and the Holy Spirit will change our lives, changing from one degree of glory to another! Slowly by slowly, the Holy Spirit will change us and conform us into the likeness of Jesus. The path of righteousness is growing in holiness, spiritually from one glory to another. It is like the light of dawn shining brighter until the full day! One day when we see Him, we will be like Him. This is our hope in God.
1 Corinthians 15:9, ‘For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ‘
Apostle Paul got the Holy Spirit conviction; after many years of walking with God, he could understand that he is the least of the apostles and all saints!
1 Timothy 1:15, ‘It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.’
Ephesians 3:8, ‘To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ’
As he was walking more and more closer with God, he was getting more and more conviction of his inner life, he was conscious of more wickedness of his flesh! He says in Romans 7, ‘O wretched man that I am!’ This is what the Light does in our hearts! As we draw closer to God, we will come to know the more wretchedness in our hearts! Our inner life will be exposed.
We will become more sensitive to sin. If this is not happening, then our hearts are very hard or we are not walking in the Light! We need to repent and come closer to God, each time the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins!
Ephesians 5:13, ‘But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.’
V8, ‘for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light’
All things are exposed by the Light, nothing is hidden. The main thing is that, we need to come to His Light! The Pharisees did not come to the Light. They did not come to Jesus to have eternal life! All our hidden motives, attitudes, thoughts will be exposed when we come into the Light. God wants us to walk as children of Light!
John 3:19, ‘This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
Those who practice the truth, will come into the Light and will experience the divine nature of God.
John 1:4, ‘In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.’
When we are exposed by Light, there, we can experience the life of Jesus. The result of Light is the life of Jesus, His divine nature.
The moon does not produce any light! It receives the light from Sun, and reflects it and gives light in the night! Similarly, we cannot produce any light by our own strength! As God is Light, In Him is Light, we will receive His Light, we can see ourselves and walk in His Light! God wants to remove all the dark areas from our lives.
Psalms 36:8, ‘They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;
And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.’
V9, ‘For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.’
In His light, we see light; we see ourself. When we walk in His Light, we will have life, abundant life! Are we walking in His Light? Are we manifesting His Light in our lives?
When we walk in His Light, we will have fruit of light.
Galatians 5:22, ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.’
This is the fruit of Light, that we will manifest; when we walk in the Light.
When we walk in the darkness, the fruit of darkness is manifested in our lives!
Ephesians 5:3, ‘But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; 4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.’
V3 MSG, ‘Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. 4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.’
V7, ‘Therefore do not be partakers with them; 8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light’
Foolish talk, and coarse jokes – these do not give us any edification! If these things are seen in our lives, then we are not walking in the Light.
Galatians 5:19, ‘Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.’
How are our words, actions, attitudes? Are we walking in the Light or are we walking in the darkness? May God help us to walk in the Light. We have to live in His Light.
Luke 11:34, ‘The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness.
Let us watch out and be careful that the light in us is not darkness!
V36, ‘If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.”
Our body should be full of light, with no darkness at all! This is what God wants in our lives. This is what God is doing in our lives. May His Light shine in all our darker areas of our lives.
May God bless us.
