1 John 1 vs 1-10

1 John Chapter 1 Verses 1 – 4

John speaks of fellowship in verse 3 and he says that he declares this to us so that we would have fellowship with each other and with God, really a central theme throughout this book. When John talks about fellowship he is not talking about hanging out and doing things with other Christians. What he’s talking about is a spiritual connection, on oneness, that is only possible, only accessible for those that are not only saved but also synchronized in their purpose, their personal mission to serve the Lord.

Churches have fellowship halls and fellowship events, but have you ever been around a Christian that you just, you just feel like you don’t belong? You feel left out even in a way!? See, that’s the difference! Fellowship is a sense of belonging and fit but on the spiritual level because we are about the same thing and that single thing is simply Jesus! It is a depth of connection, a security with someone, a safety, a strength multiplier on the spiritual level. 

I have met Christians, and many have come here to call this church their church home, and instantly there’s a connection with them. Right when I meet them. I don’t need to know where they’re from, what they do, nothing! In a matter of moments, its like I’ve known them my entire life! Like they’ve always been there…, its familial. That is fellowship. It’s not all things in common, sheesh, it’s many times not even many things in common. It’s one thing in common and that one thing for both of us is the main thing in our heart of hearts. And boom. Fellowship. 

And we have to remember that folks come into a church and see a bunch of people that have this fellowship and THEY can feel very much like they don’t fit. It’s interesting… Because it’s a great thing to have unity and fellowship, in fact that is what Jesus said will be our main, primary, only witness…, you will know they are Mine by their love for one another! (John 13:35) 

And yet, this same essential fellowship can harm those in the faith that aren’t there yet and certainly those that are not in the faith…, and so we need to be sensitive to that, watch for that and in the circumstance where this fellowship doesn’t spark instantaneously, we need to become servants…instantly. Come on man, it’s ALWAYS the stronger, the more mature, the wiser that serves the lesser, look at Jesus….

This sense of fitting and not fitting, fellowship, is exactly why Paul would tell us and biblically we would be often reminded to not be unequally yoked, and the most common example of that is marriage because you are literally meshing lives and to do that outside of what John is talking about, fellowship, is creating suffering and intense distraction for yourself.

You will be forever driving a car missing one cylinder. You may have seven cylinders firing perfectly. Physically, its there. Emotionally, its there. Financially, its there… On and on. But spiritually, that one cylinder, spark plug is dulled out. And because of it the entire engine never runs well… The entire marriage is never in a good place. Parts are good but sit down with the husband and wife separately and no matter how good all of the other cylinders are firing, within an hour there will be tears…

Two people with different life purposes. One to serve the Lord and one to serve the things of this world. Maybe not even self…, but the family or the kids or earthly success or image…, doesn’t matter, no fellowship. When things get hard, decisions are to be made, moments are to be shared…, no unity. Different life purposes. 

John says and hopefully you know from experience that the goal with every believer and really every person is fellowship. That’s part of the sweetness of life and a shadow of heaven to come. And truly our fellowship is not with each other…, that’s not where it originates or sustains but it is with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. If we all tune to the same tuning device then we all tune to each other. What’s that mean? If you and I are out of tune, its not really you and I. It’s either me and the Lord or you and the Lord….

1 John Chapter 1 Verse 5a

Again, I just love the explicit authority John is bringing. So many movements, cults, even churches living off of “divine revelation” some man or woman received while walking his dog or camping in the woods, and here’s the issue with that. If I am looking for what God is giving you or what is coming through from an angel to the leader of my group, then that leader is my source for what is true. John says what every good Christian instructor, teacher, leader should say. What I’m telling you came from Jesus so if you want more, hey, go to Him!

1 John Chapter 1 Verse 5

John says that God is light. He’s already said that He is the Word of life and will later say that He is love, but light. This is interesting. Einstein concluded in his theory of relativity that if you could travel at the speed of light, essentially catch up with light, 186,000 miles per second, that time ceases. He was asked who could understand that. His famous response was, “There are only two people that understand it and I’m one of them.” They asked him who the second one was and he responded, “I have not met them yet!” HA! But according to Einstein, scientifically, God is light for as you catch up with the light, you exit time.

And in Him is no darkness at all. Darkness is simply the absence of light. Light is so much more powerful than darkness that when light is present, dark is not… And therefore, if God is light then darkness fails…

1 John Chapter 1 Verses 6 – 7

Walking in darkness is not the act of walking in active or habitual sin. Contextually its something far deeper than that but everyone reads this and concludes, “Ok, if I am in sin then I am out of fellowship with God.” That’s not exactly what John is saying here and that conclusion can lead you not only to some sort of intense religious lifestyle but also intense discouragement!

Walking in the light does not mean that I have ceased from sin because if it did then none of us would ever walk in the light! John just said if we walk in the light then the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness. So no, walking in the light does not mean I am somehow achieving sinlessness for a moment, and hour, a day…, whatever…

Walking in the light, the light reveals, it makes manifest, it invites and allows detailed examination, walking in the light means I am in personal acknowledgment of my sin. No one has to tell me about it, wish I saw it, saddened and suffering because I won’t face it, walking in the light is walking in personal acknowledgment and repentance of my own sin. 

SIDE NOTE: Repentance is the catalyst for fellowship, oneness with God and fellowship, oneness with others. But false repentance kills the whole deal. False repentance is no change, no remorse, justifying the sin, repeating the sin, looking for others to side with me in my sin and blaming the ones that I have sinned against. Biblically, and one example is Numbers 14:39-45, true repentance accepts all consequence of the sin. True repentance is fueled by humility. Fake repentance just wants the guilt erased. Walking in the light is personal acknowledgement and true repentance of my own sin.

Walking in darkness does not mean I am inactive in righteousness or deciding to sin. In context of this letter, walking in darkness means I am denying, ignoring, accepting my own sin as just ok and not dealing with it. To the point that I may not even acknowledge it anymore. “Hey, I’m not so bad. I’m not as bad as this other guy. I don’t do what they do. I’m not that stupid! So, I’m ok. In fact, I’m good…, even great.” That person is walking in darkness.

This is actually where the new Christian has a significant advantage over the seasoned Christian. The new Christian comes alive, gives their life to the Lord, and now they are just so aware for a season and they want to work on everything. And as we age in the Lord, we settle, don’t we? We decide some sin is ok. Some elements of our soul that are just not pleasing to the Lord…, well, I’ve tried…well, I tried once…, wasn’t fun… SO just file that one under grace….

This is exactly what the enemy wants because God is light, He is in the light, and when we stop acknowledging and dealing with our own sin, we can learn more, serve more, lead more, do more, know more, and yet we are slowly drifting away from God, we’ve lost our oneness with God and truly joy is out the window and then the church wakes up stuck in their ways and cold.

When those that are walking in the light, seeking, not doing, seeking to worship Jesus in Spirit and in truth, you never have to tell them their sin, they know it! Even the elements of their soul that causes a rift between them and Jesus…, there is no denial of them, they are openly and readily acknowledged and when you call them to the carpet about it, they don’t defend and anger, they AGREE with you! That is walking in the light!

What cuts off fellowship is not the FACT that I sin. (Fellowship with you, others, and/or fellowship with God!) What cuts off fellowship is when I turn a blind eye and refuse to acknowledge my sin. Intimacy fails when things are left unacknowledged and rather than dealing with things through grace, we falsely claim grace and closeness is the cost. 

Well, I don’t want to deal with it, I don’t know how to deal with it, I don’t know how to fix it…, you don’t have to! Walking in the light, look, Jesus deals with it! That’s the promise he’s giving here! It’s called humility. It’s called no more accepting of just how I am and I can’t deal with it. DUH, if you could you already would have! John says, if you walk in the light, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

Even if you NEVER change, others will be made to forgive and to accommodate, why? Because you aren’t so ignorant towards them and what it does to them. You acknowledge it and you serve them in that! Not only is it a promise, a solution, a cure from on High, it makes complete, I MEAN COMPLETE practical sense!

That word cleanses is not in the past or future tense. It is presented in the present tense which means it keeps on cleansing us! Keeps on. We stay clean not because we are sinless but because we are not willfully ignorant of our own sin. Too many Christians are used to being dirty. Heavy souled. Critical craniums… It happens in the physical too…

You ever meet someone that just doesn’t have a need for cleanliness anymore? Matthew McConaughey. Just doesn’t mind being dirty. Or someone that just has decided brushing their teeth once a month is fine for them? And you wonder, “huh!?” Just gotten used to being dirty. Yea, that happens in our walks too… But God is in the light. That’s where and what He is… And a Christian that is so keen to know the sin of others and yet so good with being in the darkness about their own is the worst disease the church has… AND its why (it’s the only reason why) fellowship suffers throughout the body of Christ…

1 John Chapter 1 Verses 8 – 10

If we say we have no sin…, that is one element to walking in darkness and that means we don’t acknowledge that we are sinful in our core, from the beginning, that even if we aren’t actively doing anything wrong, we still have original sin…, and, if we say that we have not sinned…, if we do not acknowledge that elements of who we are, how we are and what we do are sinful, then we walk in darkness….

You see how unpopular this is? In the era of “I am enough.” In the era of “accept me exactly as I am.” In the era of focus of unperturbed self-esteem? The voices of this world will tell you that this type of thinking and approach to life that John is preaching will lead you to depression and maybe even ending your own life. And that makes sense, because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. 

John says that Jesus is the life. He says it here and he says it in his gospel. This approach to self does, probably will start in a discouragement perhaps…, (HUMILITY ALWAYS DOES) in the soul, but a cleansing of the spirit. A continual cleansing! If we confess our sin, acknowledge it and that means ACTUALLY DO SOMEHTING ABOUT IT, true repentance, God sends his just forgiveness and cleanses us continually…

The secret is that this type of humility and spiritual maturity leads to life in the spirit, soul and body. And the world will debate that. People think, because they’ve been taught this and the world system is set up to reinforce this, that if you give your life to Jesus and come into the light that He will take their life away. And in a way, that’s true! You will trade the life you know for the life He gives… And that’s a decision that some make and some do not… Even within the faith…

It’s like, in a way, trading disgusting polluted water that you’ve grown used to and even your body has grown used to processing, it’s the taste of your home village, it’s a part of who you are, and you come to trade that for clear water. Everlasting water that never fails. What’s the problem? You’re hooked on that bad water and you’re thirsty for it all the time. But God has everlasting water that remember what He said? Come and drink from it and thirst no more. It’s hard. I get it. Too hard for many and you know who they are because this is their hallmark. They walk in darkness….

Listen, if you have accepted Jesus Christ today as your Lord and Savior, that does not mean that you walk in the light. Now you know what that means. And whether you can hear it or not, acknowledging all of the dark corners of your own sin is indeed confronting yourself but it is the cleansing pathway that leads to life and fellowship with each other and fellowship with God. If you’re saved today, don’t ever worry about dying with unrepentant sin…, worry about living with it… 

Heaven is promised to us but living a life worth living is not. That is entirely entirely entirely up to each one of us…