1 John 1:5-10

1 John 1:5-10

And this is the message that we have heard from Him and we announce to you all: that God is light and darkness is not at all in Him.  If we should say that we have fellowship with Him and we should also walk around in darkness, we lie and we do not practice the truth.  But if we walk around 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 every sin.  If we say that we do not have sin, we cause ourselves to wander off of the path and the truth is not in us.  But if we should confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous in order that He should forgive us for the sin and He should purify us from every unrighteousness.  If we should say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His Word is not in us.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

At the beginning of this passage, we hear John declare several awesome truths.  The first of them is that if we say we have fellowship with God yet walk around in darkness we are liars and we are not practicing truth.  In other words, walk the walk if you are going to talk the talk!  If you believe in God, worship Him!  If you claim to follow God, then do what He says!  If you are humble before God, submit and repent!  God knows that we cannot walk around perfectly, but He does expect that we will try and walk around in the light and be repentant when we stray.  When we take that posture we have fellowship with Him and with others who are in Him.

Do you walk around in the light?  Do you repent when confronted with your error?  Do you have fellowship with others who are walking around in His light?

Second Thought:

John gives us another heap of truth here in this passage.  And this second truth is truth that even Christians struggle accepting and believing and practicing.  Jesus Himself taught us that there is no one good except the Father.  All of us are evil.  Every single one of us is evil, not good.  Yet how many times do I hear someone tell me, “You’re a good man!”  Now, I get what they are saying.  They are just trying to show appreciation for some way that God used me to put Himself on display.  I understand that.  But the truth is that I am not good!  When I say I am good I make God out to be a liar because His own Son said nobody is good.  The best I can say is that I am humble and submitted to God so that God’s goodness occasionally shines through me.  It is way more important for me to be humble and to submit to God’s judgment than it is for me to be considered good!

Are you a good person?  How does it change our perspective to assume the default answer to that question is actually “no?”  How does that change in perspective automatically force us to understand and practice a humble posture before God?  How is life different when you or I believe that we are not good but through our submission God’s goodness shines through each of us?

Third Thought:

To wrap up these verses, let’s hear the wonderful promise that John gives to us.  If we are humble and do submit and we confess our sinfulness before Him, then He does forgive us.  He does accept us even in our sin because He alone can purify us from our sin.  What a wonderful reality!  What an incredible promise!

What does it mean to you that you can be forgiven?  Do you confess your sins before God?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 John 2:1-6