November 7
“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. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 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,” 1 John 1:5-7.
The apostle John continues with the message which he and the other apostles had heard from the lips of the Lord Jesus and which they are proclaiming to the readers of the Epistle. “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” John is not writing anything that is the result of their personal searching and study. He is reporting what they heard with their own ears. “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” God is light. He is the holy God who enlightens us spiritually through the light of the glorious Gospel. He brings us out of spiritual darkness through the message of forgiveness of sins.
When John the Baptist was born, His father Zacharias foretold that John would be the forerunner of Jesus, and that he would, “Give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,” Luke 1:79. John the Baptist directed people who were spiritually in the dark and in the shadow of death to Jesus, who is the Light of the world. When Jesus began His public ministry, John pointed to Him and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29.
On various occasions, Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life,” John 8:12. Jesus is the only one through whom we can enter into eternal life. There is no other way. When Jesus told His disciples that He was going to Jerusalem, where He would be taken captive, be given a trial, be condemned, and then be crucified, the disciples were very upset. The apostle Peter took Him aside and scolded Him for saying such a thing. He said that would never happen to Jesus! If Peter would have had his way, we would not have a Savior!
John says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” What we say and the way we live should be in harmony. If we say that we are in fellowship with the Lord Jesus, but then live in sin and in the service of the devil, we are in spiritual darkness and we are living a lie! We are liars and hypocrites when we speak and claim to be Christians but then live like little devils! The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “You cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of devils,” 1 Corinthians 10:21.
On the other hand, “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.” If we believe in the Lord Jesus as our Savior and if we live the Christian life, then we are in the light, and we are united in faith and fellowship with all Christians.
John closes these verses with a most comforting verse: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” His blood shed on Calvary’s cross has washed away all our sins. There is no sin that is too great, too grievous, too horrible, too black, or too whatever that it cannot be forgiven. His blood has cleansed us from ALL sin! Believe in Him and you will be saved!
“Jesus sinners doth receive;
Oh, may all this saying ponder,
Who in sin’s delusions live,
And from God and heaven wander!
Here is hope for all who grieve –
Jesus sinners doth receive.
I, a sinner, come to Thee,
With a penitent confession;
Savior, mercy show to me,
Grant for all my sins remission.
Let these words my soul relieve –
Jesus sinners doth receive.” Amen.