After meditating on the glory of God as the Life and Light, verse six stands in stark contrast. “If we say we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”
I learned that this verse of 1 John is a “law” verse, whereas most of this book is a gospel message. John seems to be pointing out to the believers that it is not enough to say we have a personal relationship with Christ but that our lives should be reflections of His light! It reminded me that even though my works don’t save me, what James says in 2:18 is so true: “But someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.'”
This verse also makes me prayerfully consider the things I expose myself to that are labeled as “Christian”. Someone brought up this point in our GMG group: not everything you see in the Christian book store is truly Christian in nature. I am compelled to “test everything” (1 Thess 5:21) against the truths of Scripture and be cautious about what I read and listen to from any source.
The rest of this passage (verses 8-9) reminds me that obviously, I am not perfect. And at times I excuse my sin when I really should be recognizing how it is hindering my ability to walk in truth. Praise the Lord for His forgiveness! Despite the fact that I sin every day and need to confess that sin, He is willing to forgive me for Jesus sake (verse 9). That is the purest gospel message we can hear!
Check out this page if you would like to join in on the 1 John Bible Study through Good Morning Girls. It’s never too late! This post is linked at Women in the Word Wednesday.
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