“God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5)
God is Light of the world; as the sun rises daily and the moon sparks at night, HE is the light shining for eternity. Saint John’s message to all Christians about HIM states, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to 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 cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 5-10)
It is a message we must all receive. The Almighty God should be represented to this dark world as pure and perfect light. As this is the nature of God, his doctrines and precepts must be such; and as his perfect happiness cannot be separated from his perfect holiness, so our happiness will be in proportion to our being made Holy. To walk in darkness, is to live and act against religion. God holds no heavenly fellowship or intercourse with unholy souls. There is no truth in their profession; their practice shows its folly and falsehood.
Saint John spoke about fellowship within his messages both with God and with one another. Living our lives, we deceive ourselves when we try to pretend it isn’t not so; Walking in the light is the way to real fellowship with God and each other.
Saint John’s message about God being all light and that there is no “dark side” in HIM, so that we can trust him utterly or fellowship, have an intimate relationship with God as we walk in the darkness. Our deceit of ourselves claiming we are not sinners. And this seems to be following directly on his thought about walking in the darkness involving deceit, being deceived about yourself and others. When we walk in darkness, we remain in a place of deceit. And what are we deceived about? About whom we are, and where our source of life and identity truly lie. We say we are fellow-shipping with God, but we are not receiving His light into our lives.
The eternal Life, the eternal Son, put on flesh and blood, and died to wash us from our sins in his own blood, and procures for us the sacred influences by which sin is to be subdued more and more, till it is quite done away. While the necessity of a Holy walk is insisted upon, as the effect and evidence of the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ Jesus, the opposite error of self-righteous pride is guarded against with equal care. All who walk near to God, in holiness and righteousness, are sensible that their best days and duties are mixed with sin. God has given testimony to the sinfulness of the world, by providing a sufficient, effectual Sacrifice for sin, needed in all ages; and the sinfulness of believers themselves is shown, by requiring them continually to confess their sins and to apply by faith to the blood of that Sacrifice.
Sin being unfaithful before God and not naive to HIM to be the triune God, is related to deceit and darkness. And of course, deceit leads to a greater desire to deny truth. We can be afraid of the light, because of what it may reveal. But, Saint John has begun by assuring his readers about the character of God. God is not deceiving us; if there is any light we can rely on, it is the truth of God as a light. We can be sure of HIS leadership to full life fellowship with God and with others.
What may seem ironic is the way to step into the light which is to admit we are in darkness, that we sin. We shall begin and continue to move forward by confessing to God that we are counting on HIM to be all that HE is in our lives. God’s truth, HIS words, moves in and we see more and more as we walk with HIM the many ways we have not yet trusted HIM and the many ways we allege ahead on our own every day.
When we confess our sin, God is faithful and just and will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So Saint John turns his readers back to the superb character of God and expands their understanding of what it means that HE is light. God is faithful, just, forgiving, and cleansing. Apparently then, it is not our deed to make ourselves righteous. We participate in God’s making us righteous by turning over to him all the litter His light continues to reveal to us.
We need to forfeit the power of revelation of the darkness in our lives and be able to walk in the light of God. We shall seek God’s forgiveness in razing this darkness and so, it is vital to let HIM cleanse us. It is in HIS power and bliss to raze the darkness and receive us in His light. Every day we face the realization of our sin lingering in our lives, as we anxiously consider our circumstances or interaction with loved ones. Saint John has assured us about the awareness of our sin seeking repentance.
Thus, Let us plead guilty before God; be humble and willing to know the worst of our case.
Let us honestly confess all our sins in their full extent, relying wholly on his mercy and truth through the righteousness of Christ, for a free and full forgiveness, and our deliverance from the power and practice of sin.
Source: The Trinity Study Center