Foundation: God Is Lightįirst of all, verse 5: “God is light and in him is no darkness at all.” What does John mean that God is light? Truth Now let’s go back and unpack some of its meaning. Clarification: Don’t claim to be without sin (verses 8–10).Application: Walk in the Light (verses 6–7).That’s the overall structure of the paragraph: I think we need to get toughened up a bit. If this were not an apostle talking, I can imagine someone today saying, “Do you have to use such inflammatory words when you warn people about error?” John evidently felt that so much was at stake the language, “You make God a liar,” should not be softened into something like, “You displease your heavenly Father.” I’m not sure the Scriptures should be adjusted to our emotionally fragile age. The sentence, “I am without sin,” amounts to the sentence, “God is a liar.” Verse 10: “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” In other words, the claim of sinlessness is not only self-deception it is also blasphemy. Then to drive home the clarification John repeats the point of verse 8, only with stronger words. Verse 9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Instead of denying our sinfulness, we should confess that it is real and ugly. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” In other words, the claim of sinlessness is simply self-deception. “The claim of sinlessness is not only self-deception, it is also blasphemy.” John had said, “The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.” Someone might say, “See even the apostle teaches that all sin is totally left behind when you become a Christian.” So John clarifies. It could be that the wonderful promise of verse 7 would play right into the hands of people who have a perfectionistic view of the Christian life. “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.” That’s the positive implication from the foundational fact in verse 5 that God is light. “(Therefore) if we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth.” That’s the negative implication from the foundational fact that God is light. “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.” Verses 6–7: The Application And verses 8–10 are a necessary clarification. Verses 6–7 are the practical application. So verse 5 is the theological foundation. Third, verses 8–10 answer a possible misunderstanding of verses 6 and 7, and so clarify their meaning. Second, verses 6 and 7 describe some practical implications for life that come from this message. First, verse 5 gives the message of Christ that John has heard. I see three parts to John’s argument in these six verses. Let’s try to see the overall structure of this paragraph first, and then go back and unpack its meaning. That’s what John begins to do in verses 5–10. “What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you so that you may have fellowship with us.” In order to create and nurture deep Christian fellowship you have to talk about who you think Christ is and what he taught. Last week we saw from verses 3 and 4 that John makes the message of Christ (call it theology, or doctrine) the basis of all significant Christian fellowship. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word 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 no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 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.
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.
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