Walking In The Light

1 John 1:5-10 (KJV) 5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.


 1) Walking in the light is necessary because God is light (1:5). John begins his instruction by declaring that “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1:5). John is affirming that the very character and nature of God is light. This means that God is totally truthful in His self-revelation. John has already declared that God is the source of life eternal, and this eternal life is also related to the God who is light.


2) Walking in the light is necessary because the child of God must not walk in darkness (1:6). The believer is not to walk or live in darkness, for in so doing he is not practicing “the truth” (1:6). The believer’s life is to be based on God’ truth as revealed in Christ; therefore it is to be characterized by faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. This is the test of spiritual truth. To deny that Jesus is the Christ is not to believe the truth (2:21-22), and it makes God a liar because God has borne witness to His Son (5:11). The Christian life is a life of faith, centered in Jesus Christ. We must continue to believe in Him and trust Him, and know that we have life, eternal life in Him.


3) Walking in the light is necessary because it enables fellowship with one another (1:7). John is not only concerned with fellowship with God, but with the extension of that fellowship as believers relate to one another in Christ. It is as we “walk in the light” that fellowship is experienced, and maintained. It is in the context of true fellowship with one another that we experience the continuous cleansing power of the blood of Christ (1:7).