The Word of Life
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.
Walking in the Light
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by 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, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
I write to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
I write to you, fathers,
because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, dear children,
because you have known the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
Do Not Love the World
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
My Understanding: John offered us here a description of Jesus Christ similar in nature to his description of Jesus as recorded in the book of John, chapter one. Jesus Christ is described here in 1 John, and in the gospel of John, as the Word, the Word of Life, from the beginning with God the Father, as God himself, having the glory of God – the One and Only – as the creator of all things, as someone who could be seen, heard and touched, as the Word who became flesh and who appeared to and dwelled among man, and as life eternal.
In other words, Jesus Christ is God the Son, one of three divine persons of our triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He always existed with God the Father, and, in fact, he created all things that were made. Yet, he willingly left heaven, came to earth, took on human flesh, suffered as we suffer and was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, so that he could become our compassionate and merciful high priest (mediator between us and the Father). He was despised and rejected of men, was scorned, mocked, beaten and crucified on a cross as though he was a common criminal. When he died, he took the sins of the entire world upon him, crucifying our sins with him. When he was resurrected from the dead, he conquered death, hell, Satan and sin so that we could go free from the ultimate eternal punishment for our sin, and so we could be free from the daily control of sin over our lives.
We Proclaim
The apostles proclaimed Jesus Christ and his gospel (plan of salvation from sin) so that others, like them, could come to know Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior, and so they could have close, intimate relationships with Jesus Christ and with other believers in Christ, i.e. so that they could be in fellowship with God the Father, with Jesus Christ, and with those who had already come to know Christ. This kind of fellowship with Christ Jesus is described in John 15, where Jesus defined himself as the true vine, the Father as the gardener, and the believers in Christ as the branches stemming from the vine. Jesus told his followers to remain in him and he would remain in them. He said that if we remain in him, we will bear much fruit, i.e. the spiritual outgrowth of a life committed to obedience to Christ.
Then, he went on to say that if we obey his commands, we will remain in his love. To “remain” means: to continue, to endure, and to persist in our relationships with Jesus Christ. The way we do this is through obedience to his commands. There are at least twenty New Testament references to the importance of continuing in Christ, many that speak of the significance of enduring, and yet many more that talk of overcoming, persevering, holding fast to our faith, etc., much of which tell us of the necessity of continuing for our ultimate salvation when Jesus Christ returns for his bride.
Walk in the Light
We can’t be in fellowship with Jesus Christ and truly be in spiritual union with other believers if we do not have a continuous daily walk with the Lord Jesus where we spend time with him in his word, where we pray, and where we then obey the things that the Lord Jesus teaches us. True fellowship with Christ comes through development of a relationship with him on a day-to-day basis, and it involves admitting our sin, confessing it, and turning from our sin and walking in obedience to Christ. If we claim that we are in fellowship with Christ, i.e. if we claim to have a spiritual union with Christ Jesus and yet we continue to walk in darkness (sin), we are lying to ourselves and others, because we are not living by the truth. Can we get this? We can’t claim salvation for ourselves and the hope of eternal life with God if after we have proclaimed to have received him as Lord and Savior nothing in our lives changes, but we just continue “business as usual.” Salvation involves a heart transformation, and it involves turning from our sin and turning to walk in obedience to Christ and to his commands. The scriptures could not be clearer on this subject.
Yet, if we confess our sins, we turn from them, and we choose to walk in the light of truth, i.e. in holiness, honesty, love, compassion, forgiveness, and obedience to Christ, instead, then Jesus Christ forgives us our sins, his blood purifies our hearts from all unrighteousness, and we then can experience that spiritual union with Christ and with others that can only come through repentance and obedience, which comes only by God’s grace and through faith. Walking in the light is a daily thing. Jesus said that if we want to come after him we must daily take up our cross and follow him. Taking up our cross means dying to our old lives of sin, and following Christ means obeying him in doing whatever he says to do.
Yet, this does not mean we will never sin. We will, but we have a faithful and compassionate high priest, Jesus Christ, who then speaks to the Father in our defense, because he paid the price for our sins so that we could go free. Yet, God’s grace is not a free license to continue in sin, because John told us here in chapter two that if we say we know Christ Jesus and yet we don’t obey what he commands, we are liars. Ouch! Please don’t ignore this or think it doesn’t apply to you, because it does. Jesus Christ didn’t die for our sins so we would continue walking in sin while ignoring him most of the time. He died so we would be free from sin, and so we would be free to walk in obedience to him, i.e. to have that spiritual union with him that involves a close, intimate fellowship.
Jesus Christ summarized the Ten Commandments into two: 1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and 2) Love your neighbor as yourself. He said that all the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments (see Matthew 22:37-40). We will not kill, covet, blaspheme, commit adultery, lie, steal, hate, etc. if we are loving God like this, and if we are loving others like this. And, here in 1 John, we learn that love for others is also critical to us truly being in that spiritual union with Jesus Christ. If we don’t love other people, and if we hate our fellow human beings, then we are still walking in darkness. In other words, if we continue in willful sin (lifestyle), we are still walking in darkness, and we are not in the light of Christ.
Lastly, we learn here that if we love the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does – the love of the Father is not in us. In other words, if we live for the pleasures this world has to offer, and we are consumed by sin and rebellion and doing what we want without regard for what God wants for our lives, then the word says we are not truly in that spiritual union with Jesus Christ. We must take the view of the world that all that the world has to offer us is going to pass away, but the one who does God’s will lives forever. May we be ones who truly do God’s will.
So, if you have been living for yourself, still walking in sin, ignoring the one who has offered you salvation from sin, and living in willful rebellion against God and his commands, then I pray you will take these words in 1 John to heart, that you will turn from your sin today, and that you will choose to walk in the light of truth and have fellowship with Jesus Christ.
Walking in The Light / An Original Work / November 16, 2011
Based off 1 John 1-2
When I lift up my voice, and
Sing praise unto God,
I will fellowship with my
Lord and Savior, King.
In Him there is no darkness.
He is in the light of truth.
If we walk in His light,
From sin He purifies.
If we repent of our sins,
He’ll forgive us now,
When we humble ourselves, and
Before Jesus bow.
The man who says, “I know Him,”
But does not obey His truth,
There is no truth in him.
In darkness still he’s found.
Do not love the world of sin,
For it is hell bound.
If you follow the world, you’ll
Not in Christ be found.
The world and its desires
Will not last; they’ll expire.
The one who does God’s will,
Receives eternal life.
See that what you have heard from
Christ remains in you.
Then, you’ll remain in Christ, and
In His Father, too.
This is what He promised us –
His eternal life with God.
So, continue in Him, and
You’ll receive a crown.
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