“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.”
Verse 7 introduces the counter-claim to the false claim in verse 6 of walking in fellowship with God.
But if we walk in the light
Believers who want to walk with God must walk in the light. We fellowship with God on God’s terms and not on our terms. We conform to God; God does not conform to us.
Eph 5:8-14, 8 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light… 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says:
‘Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.’”
Co 1:12-14, 12 “…giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
as He is in the light,
The basis of fellowship with God is God Himself. When we walk in the light, we walk according to the light. God is in the light. He exists in the sphere of truth and righteousness.
1 Ti 6:16, “…who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.”
we have fellowship with one another,
“Fellowship with one another” is not fellowship with other Christians but fellowship with God. When we walk according to the character of God, we can fellowship with God. Genuine fellowship with God can only occur if we live in the sphere of God’s character (light).
We can fellowship with God because we hold something in common with Him. Christians have continuity of fellowship with Him because the blood of Christ resolves the sin issue. We can walk in the light because of Christ, not because of human merit.
PRINCIPLE:
God determines our fellowship with Him on His character, not our character.
APPLICATION:
Walking in darkness is walking out of phase with God, not in accordance with the truth. Darkness is the absence of light. When we step out of phase with God, we walk in darkness. We turn our volition away from the truth of God concerning our lives. This makes us susceptible not to examine ourselves honestly. If we do not examine ourselves, we will not apply the truth to experience. We then walk in delusion.
Eph 5:11, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”
When we walk in the light, we become easier to live with. We are more compassionate and gracious. We walk without pretense before others. We are transparent and genuine with others. We are transparent with God.
1 Pe 2:9, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…
The nearer we get to God, the more terrible our sin seems to us. Living in fellowship with God means that we do not demonstrate our anger as often as we used to do. We live according to our claim to walk with the God of light. We are not as critical and negative as we used to be.
Thank you for sharing your insight. My question is with the end of this verse in the negative sense. To walk in the light suggests a continuing situation, what happens with regard to our sin if we don't continue to walk in the light? John says that if we walk in the light the blood of Jesus cleanses us of all sin. Is walking in the light a condition for salvation? For maintaining salvation?
Thank you for your thoughts on this.
Pat, did you read 1:7b and 1:7c? The argument of First John is fellowship with God, not salvation. At the top of this study, go to the "read Introduction to 1 John" where you can see the argument of the book. Note verses 3 and 4 say that the issue is fellowship with the Lord on a day-to-day basis.
Couldn't this verse be read as a condition and two outcomes of meeting the condition?
1) “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.”
2) “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
I did read your introduction and all of the comments on this verse. Are you saying that the light is comparing ourselves with Jesus' teaching and character and adjusting ourselves to meet what we see in Him that we are cleansed from sin?
I guess I don't understand why John added the part after "and" since he addressed the fellowship issue first. What do you think the purpose of the cleansed from sin part of the verse?
Thank you again for this discussion.
Pat, thanks for your thoughtful blog.
First, there is no indication anywhere in the epistle that John is addressing non-Christians. Secondly, note the "we" in verse 7. The "we" refers to Christians. The issue is fellowship of Christians with one another and with God. The "one another" in the Greek is one another of the same kind. The "same kind" refers to Christians in fellowship with one another. Thus, the "and" refers to the same group of people. The "if" is third class condition meaning that it is hypothetical based on whether we chose to walk in fellowship with the Lord. The word "cleanses" is present active indicative indicating the reality of the blood of Christ keeping on cleansing Christians from sin who "walk" as a course of life in fellowship with God. "Light" refers to God's absolute holiness. He is not relative. How righteous does a person be to go to heaven? He has to be as right as God is right. That is why he has to be "declared" or caused to be righteous by faith. The same is true as far as walking with God on a daily basis. We cannot rationalize sin away but we must confess it (1:9).
So if a christian walks in darkness the blood of Jesus christ no longer cleanses him?
Justin, yes the blood of Jesus keeps on cleansing the believer after sinning. Look at the next study (1:7b).
According to verse 7 what muse we do to prove that this is true in our lives/ What are the standards we must follow.
Robbie, the standard is God Himself. We cannot meet that standard except through Christ.
walking in the light proves that you have eternal life (1john5:13).Those who dont walk in the light dont have fellowship with God.
Believing in Jesus and His completed work for salvation of mankind and daily walking with Him,affords us the grace to receiving forgiveness when we confess our sin.