Taking a Look at 1stJohn

“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.” – 
1 John 1:5-7 New Living Translation

                  Light stands for all that is good, pure, true and holy.  Darkness stands for all that is sinful and evil. John’s gospel teaches us in John 3:19 _{(New Living Translation)}, that“God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.” God is perfect and holy and sin cannot exist in his presence. Think of a pitch-black room. What happens when you turn on a light? The darkness ceases to exist, because light pierces the darkness.

            We simply cannot tell the world we know and love God and continue to live in sin. That is a major contradiction. It makes us the hypocrites unbelievers say we are. It destroys our testimony. Christ didn’t cleanse us of our sins for us to continue on as if nothing had happened. That is called trampling on God’s grace. Verse 6 is John’s challenge to the false teaching that you can have fellowship with God and still go on living a sinful lifestyle. We see that today in many walks of life, where many don’t believe God would hold their choice of lifestyle against them because the Bible says, “God is love” _{(1 John 4:8).} You cannot pick and choose which verses of the Bible you will believe and cast the rest aside because they don’t line up with your way of thinking.

            Those that wish to follow the Lord must place what they have believed up against scripture. They need to find a spiritual mentor … a pastor, or strong believer, to help steer them in the right direction so that they will walk in the light with God. Speaking of light, Psalm 119:105 reveals to us that “(God’s) word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path”… another reference to light in the form of a lamp. Never underestimate the cost Christ paid to cleanse you of all your sins.  Until next time, walk with the King and  be a blessing! rlkeller

Resource: The Life Application Study Bible.