“And 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. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the true light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7).

 

At the center of our minds is a conscious or unconscious decision regarding our per­sonal approach to living. God has endowed us with the gift of choice. Thus, our fundamental choices determine the direction and nature of our living.

All the approaches to living can be nar­rowed down to two: We are either living in the light or living in the darkness. The Holy Spirit says that a commitment to living in the light must be made or the good life from God cannot be experienced.

Have you acknowledged the truth that practi­cal, God-like living begins with a decision to live in the light? First John 1:5-7 will help you make that decision if you have not made it. This passage gives a convincing, convicting rationale which should persuade anyone to walk in the light. Commit or recommit yourself to the life of light as John de­scribes the characteristics and beauty of that life.

 

I. THE DIVINE CHARACTER OF IT (1 John 1:5)

Think, first, of the high quality of the life lived in the light. It is living which partakes of the very nature of God. John says, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1:5).

Light represents holiness and truth, while darkness refers to evil, wickedness, deception, and death. God is righteous and pure, holy and trustworthy. His actions are expressions of right­eousness; His words are arrows of truth. He is holy. His lips have never been soiled with a sinful word nor has His heart ever been stained with an evil thought. The life of light emanates from Him. He is the Architect and Source of it, the wisdom and power behind it.

What greater recommendation could we have for living in the light than that God is light? Why not reach for the best? A few pursuits cannot be improved upon. One cannot climb a higher mountain than Mount Everest, one cannot sail a wider ocean than the Pacific, and one cannot live a better life than the life of light. Can we go beyond God? No aspiration could be greater than to reach for the life of God.

Living in the light requires a commencement and a continuation. We enter the life by surren­dering to the Lord’s will in gospel obedience. We continue the walk by habitually living by God’s light revealed in His Word. Live in the light because of the divine character of it!

 

II. THE DYNAMIC COMPANIONSHIP OF IT (1 John 1:6, 7)

Also, walking in the light enables us to enjoy a matchless, dynamic companionship. Every soul needs elevating companions. Godly fellowship enriches and inspires, fortifies and strengthens. Walking in the light provides divine and human companionship—heavenly fellowship with God and earthly fellowship with His children (1:6, 7).

For emphasis and clarity the negative and positive of this fellowship are given. The life of darkness is godless and lonely. John says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1:6). But living in the light brings companionship with the God of light and the sons of light. He further writes, “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 Christ cleanses us from all sin” (1:7).

This dynamic fellowship with God and His people gives courage and strength to the heart.

T. B. Larimore was twelve years old when hisdad died. His mother secured a job for him so he could help out. He would work Monday though Friday for a farmer and spend the weekend at home with his mother. One day he told his mother that it was really difficult to cross late on Friday the valley located just outside their farm. It was dark at that time and the valley was lonely and frightening. His mother gently said, “Don’t worry. I’ll meet you in the middle of the valley next Friday evening.” When he crossed the val­ley the next Friday his mother was waiting for him. Her presence made all the difference! Com­panionship drives away our fears, bolsters our courage, and multiplies our strength.

As one living in the light, awaken your heart to the dynamic companionship which is yours. Activate that fellowship in your life. Live in the conscious awareness that you are walking with Him! Partake of the beautiful fellowship which can exist between you and other travelers of the road of light.

Live in the light because of the dynamic companionship of it!

 

III. THE DAILY CLEANSING OF IT (1 John 1:7)

Third, as we live in the light, we are blessed with a daily cleansing from sin through the blood of Jesus. Sin is our ever-present difficulty, plagu­ing us daily. We need a solution to our sin problem which is realistic and practical. John says walking in the light brings us into contact with the answer (1:7).

He places before us two truths about God’s remedy for sin, declaring the fact of our cleansing and explaining the way the cleansing takes place. He says in Christ we experience a day-by-day cleansing of our sin. This constant flow of the blood of Jesus into our lives does not eliminate the need to apologize when we err or the need to repent of particular sins which enter our lives, but it does give us the assurance of constant forgive­ness as we honestly strive to walk in the light.

Christians have a tendency to go to one of two extremes concerning sin. We either become discouraged over it or disinterested regarding it. Discouragement sets in when we see ourselves losing the battle with sin; disinterest comes when we are so confident of our victory over it that we do not give proper attention to it. Both views are unscriptural. God wants us to be confident of our victory in Christ, but He also wants us to be conscious of our sinfulness and need of His daily grace.

Take this verse to heart. It is one thing to know a verse by heart, but another thing entirely to take a verse to heart. John issues a challenge and holds up a basis for confidence. His chal­lenge is this: Live in the light. This challenge can be met by each one but it will require diligent adherence to the Word of God. The confidence he mentions is based upon your acceptance of God’s wonderful grace working in your life. Live in the light and lean on His grace—and you can look toward heaven with confidence.

Walk in the light because of the daily cleans­ing of it!

 

Misconception 1: Man Can Fellowship with God and Still Walk in Sin, 1:6-7

1 John 1:6-7: "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. {7} But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

 

Every form of life has its enemies. Insects have to watch out for hungry birds, and birds must keep an eye on hungry cats and dogs. Even human beings have to dodge automobiles and fight off germs.

 

The life that is real also has an enemy, and we read about it in this section. This enemy is sin. Nine times in these verses John mentions sin, so the subject is obviously not unimportant. John illustrates his theme by using the contrast between light and darkness: God is light; sin is darkness.

 

But there is another contrast here too—the contrast between saying and doing. Four times John writes, "If we say" or "He that saith" (1 John 1:6, 8, 10; 2:4). It is clear that our Christian life is to amount to more than mere "talk"; we must also "walk," or live, what we believe. If we are in fellowship with God (if we are "walking in the light"), our lives will back up what our lips are saying. But if we are living in sin ("walking in darkness"), then our lives will contradict what our lips are saying, making us hypocrites.

 

The New Testament calls the Christian life a "walk." This walk begins with a step of faith when we trust Christ as our Saviour through baptism for remission of sins. But salvation is not the end—it’s only the beginning—of spiritual life.

 

"Walking" involves progress, and Christians are supposed to advance in the spiritual life. Just as a child must learn to walk and must overcome many difficulties in doing so, a Christian must learn to "walk in the light." And the fundamental difficulty involved here is this matter of sin.

 

Of course, sin is not simply outward disobedience; sin is also inner rebellion or desire. For example, we are warned about the desires of the flesh and of the eyes and about the pride of life (1 John 2:16), all of which are sinful. Sin is also transgression of the Law (1 John 3:4), or literally, "lawlessness." Sin is refusal to submit to the Law of God. Lawlessness, or independence of the Law, is the very essence of sin. If a believer decides to live an independent life, how can he possibly walk in fellowship with God? "Can two walk together except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3)

 

Neither in the Old Testament nor in the New does the Bible whitewash the sins of the saints. In escaping a famine, Abraham became weak in his faith and went down to Egypt and lied to Pharaoh (Gen. 12). Later, the patriarch tried to "help God" by marrying Hagar and begetting a son (Gen. 16). In both cases, God forgave Abraham his sin, but Abraham had to reap what he had sowed. God can and will cleanse the record, but He does not change the results. No one can unscramble an egg.

 

Peter denied the Lord three times and tried to kill a man in the Garden when Jesus was arrested. Satan is a liar and a murderer (John 8:44), and Peter was playing right into his hands! Christ forgave Peter (cf. John 21), of course, but what Peter had done hurt his testimony greatly and hindered the Lord’s work.

 

The fact that Christians sin bothers some people—especially new Christians. They forget that their receiving the new nature does not quickly eliminate the past. Sinning saints are not mentioned in the Bible to discourage us, but to warn us. All of us, therefore, must deal with our sins if we are to enjoy the life that is real.

 

Mark Twain put it, "It isn't the parts of Scripture that I don't understand that bother me, it's the parts I do."

 

The Blood of Christ

 

“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” (1 John 1:7).

 

One of the unique marvels of the Bible is its unity. Although it was written by more than forty persons over a period of hundreds of years, there is still a continuous thread of mean­ing that is woven throughout this Book.

 

H. H. Rowley wrote a number of years ago concerning the unity of the Old and New Testaments:

They are one in the sense in which the parts of a musical cadence are one. Without the final chord it is incomplete, a process that does not reach its goal; on the other hand, the final chord, however beautiful it may be as a chord, is robbed of its full significance without the chords that should precede it. The two Testaments are one in that they form a single whole.

 

The Bible has a tremendous unity in spite of the diversity of people, places, cultures, and time.

 

But, throughout the Bible is the continuous theme of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament is replete with proph­ecies of the coming of Christ and of the sacrifice He would make on our behalf. There was an anxious waiting by the Israelites for the Messiah, who would save them. Although they did not know the nature of the Savior, they earnestly looked for Him.

I. THE IMPORTANCE OF BLOOD

A few years ago, one of the major denomina­tions, in their annual synod, voted to delete the concept of blood from their hymnals, creedal statements, and other official church documents. They reported that the reason why they did this was because blood was repulsive to many people. They overlooked the fact that blood has always had a significant place in religion.

 

God has always required a blood sacrifice. Do you remember that Abel offered a blood sacrifice to God? When Noah departed from the ark, he offered a blood sacrifice to God. The Hebrew writer declared that “according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). We have noted that “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1:7). In Hebrews 10:10 we learn that “by this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

 

This lesson, therefore, centers around this statement: “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1:7). We want to look at the relationship of the blood of Jesus Christ to our own salvation. Were those referred to earlier correct in attempting to erase the concept of blood from their creed? Or, is the blood of Jesus really an important element of Christianity?

 

II. A HISTORICAL VIEW OF BLOOD ATONEMENT

Our earliest records regarding sacrifice in the Bible are directly connected to blood sacri­fices. Abraham offered blood sacrifices to God. He was commanded to show his faith to God, to offer his own son on an altar to God. Later, when the Israelites were led from Egypt by Moses, they were commanded to observe the Passover Feast, which was to call to their remembrance that God passed over those who had placed blood on their doorpost.

 

When the law of Moses was given to the Israelites, they were told to offer sacrifices to God. In the Pentateuch we read of a number of types of sacrifices which they were commanded to offer to God. Although not all of them were blood sacrifices, the greater number of them were blood sacrifices. One of the most important sacrifices for Israel was the one offered on the Day of Atonement, which heralded the “rolling forward” of their sins for another year. This sacrifice was a blood sacrifice, and it is referred to in the New Testament. In a real sense, there was no real forgiveness for sins in the Old Testa­ment, for the sacrifice of Christ looks both back­ward and forward in its cleansing power.

 

The Hebrew writer said,

. . . the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Hebrews 10:1-4).

 

The sacrifices of the Old Testament merely paid the “interest” on the debt that we owe to God. It took Christ’s death to pay the debt in full. Again, in Hebrews 9:11-14, we read,

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  This same truth is stressed in Hebrews 10:13, 14.

 

The New Covenant that Jesus brought con­tinues to stress the importance of blood in our redemption. Our text, 1 John 1:7, tells us that “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” In Ephesians 1:7 Paul said that “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the for­giveness of our trespasses.” Again, in Revelation 1:5 we read, “. . . and from Jesus Christ, thefaithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood.” It is through the cross that we are re­deemed; and, the cross was the historical enact­ment of the sacrifice of Jesus’ blood for our sins.

 

III. HOW DOES BLOOD SAVE?

For centuries, theologians and others have attempted to understand the mystery of the atonement. Many theories have been suggested, but none has yet been able to explain completely the full meaning of the cross and how Christ’s blood can reach both backward and forward to cleanse men from their sins. But, it is not neces­sary for us to understand the remedy in order to enjoy its power. When I go to a doctor, I often ask him what he is prescribing, but even if I do not understand him, I trust his medical knowledge. It is not necessary for me to understand his prescription in order to enjoy its healing power. So it is with the sacrifice of Christ. I do not need to understand its mystery in order to receive the blessings that it offers.

 

Many people have tried to explain the mys­tery of the atonement and the relationship of the blood of Jesus in many ways. For example, one major denomination has explained the celebra­tion of the Lord’s Supper as a literal eating of the flesh and drinking of the blood of Christ. This doctrine—known as transubstantiation—de-clares that when the priest blesses the bread and wine, they become the literal flesh and blood of Jesus. Of course, this is not necessary. Christ’s body and blood become real to us in the com­munion when we follow the direction of our Lord. It does not have to be a physical reality, for the physical flesh and blood of Jesus are not accessible to us. We are saved by the spiritual atonement of our Lord, for He presented His sacrifice to God on our behalf.

 

Two things are needed in any healing pro-cess—the right remedy and the right applica­tion. In the diagnosis by the doctor, he deter­mines what the remedy for the illness is. This will result in his giving the patient a prescription which must be applied. In the same way, we have the Great Physician, who has diagnosed our problem: We are lost in sin. We are com­pletely undone; we can do nothing for ourselves. Hence, He gives us the remedy. The remedy is the application of His blood. We can understand the diagnosis; we can know the remedy; we can understand the application. But until we apply that remedy we will never be healed. Just as in our physical condition, we can leave the medi­cine in the bottle and never be healed. We must apply the remedy if we expect to be healed.

 

IV. APPLYING THE BLOOD

As we have said, salvation comes from the blood of Christ. (See Ephesians 1:7.) This is the remedy. The law of the Spirit is the right applica­tion. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:2). The remedy (Christ’s blood) and the application (the law of the Spirit of life) work together to the complete cure for sin. We need to look at this principle as it is applied to our lives. I believe that four illustrations will make this clear to us.

 

First, we receive remission of sins. We will notice how the blood of Christ when applied by the law of the Spirit brings the remission of sins. Ephesians 1:7 said that we have “redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our tres­passes.” This is accomplished through the law of the Spirit. Acts 2:38 says that if we repent and are baptized, we receive the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit: Hence, when the law of the Spirit is applied through repentance and baptism, we have the remission of sins through the blood of Jesus Christ.

 

Second, we have our sins washed away. In 1:7, we learn that the blood of Jesus Christ “cleanses us from all sin.” In Revelation 1:5 we learned that Christ has “released us from our sins by His blood.” This is accomplished by the application of the law of the Spirit. When Paul was visited by Ananias, he was told to “arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins” (Acts 22:16). So, if we apply the law of the Spirit by being baptized, we will receive the washing away of our Sins.

Third, we have a good conscience. We should remember that consciences are trained. Man­kind is unique among God’s creations, because we have a conscience which reproves us when we do what we have been trained to believe is wrong. But, when we do what is right, our con­sciences approve our actions. This is true regard­ing our response to God’s commands.

 

We are told in God’s Word that through the blood of Christ God will “cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:14). When we fulfill the directions God gives through His Word, our consciences will be cleansed. We are told in 1 Peter 3:21 that “bap­tism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience.” Hence, when we submit ourselves to be baptized, the blood of Christ acts in such a way that we have a good conscience.

 

Fourth, we have membership in the church of Jesus Christ. The same thing that gives us remission of sins also washes away our sins and gives us a good conscience. We learn what it takes to put us into the church that Jesus established. In Acts 20:28 Paul said that Christ bought the church “with His own blood.” These words were said to the elders at Ephesus. In the letter to that same church, Paul said that we are cleansed “by the washing of water with the word” (Ephesians 5:26). The only way that the New Testament uses water in relationship with the church is through baptism. Hence, it is baptism which Christ uses to make us clean for His church.

 

Do you not see the unity of the message of Christ? Baptism gives us remission of sins, washes away our sins, gives us a good con­science, and grants us membership in the church. All of this is done through the blood of Jesus. Paul discusses the form of doctrine in Romans 6:3, 4 and 6:17, 18. In these references, one can again see the relationship of baptism to the accom­plishment of God’s eternal purpose.

 

We have seen how the alien sinner is given remission of sins. But what if a person drifts from God? Is there any hope for that person? Thanks be to God, there is. The same blood of Christ that redeems the lost will also restore the wandering child of God.

 

John makes it clear in this epistle that all of us sin. If we say we are born of God, we will not continue to live lives of sin. But, we can truly be forgiven if we will pray to our God. In Acts 8:22 we read of one who had sinned against God after having been baptized. He was told to repent and pray to God that his sin would be forgiven.

 

CONCLUSION

There is no sin that one does repent of that cannot be forgiven. We must be sorry—truly repentant—of that sin, and determine that we will try to avoid it in the future. Then, when we pray to God, He will forgive us.

 

The blood of Christ is capable of saving us.

 

Jesus, the light of the world, invites us to live in the light. His invitation to this life should be easy for us to accept because of the divine char­acter of it, the dynamic companionship of it, and the daily cleansing of it. How beautiful it is to walk in the light with Jesus!

In 2 Kings 6 Elisha found himself surrounded by Syrian soldiers who were seeking to take his life. Seeing the soldiers, the servant panicked, saying, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” Elisha calmly prayed an unusual prayer. He prayed, “O Lord, I pray open his eyes, that he may see.” It was a strange prayer because the servant had just demonstrated his ability to see. He was the one who had reported the soldiers to Elisha. The prayer was prayed because Elisha knew that his servant saw only his problems, not his powers: His eyes needed to be opened that he might see his divine strength.

The servant’s failure is often our failure too. We see clearly our difficulties, but our vision of the divine dynamo available to us as we walk in the light is blurred. Open your eyes to the beauty and power of the life of light. Live daily in the light of the Son!