If we walk in the light, as he is in the light…

The context of this partial quote from 1 John 1:7 is of John giving us a message from the eternal (from the one who was from the beginning), historical (seen and heard) and tangible (our hands have handled) Christ (the Logos of life - all in v1). And the purpose of the message, is that we might have the fellowship of the saints (with us v3), and with the Father (verse 3). And the message is, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all (v5). Verse 7, started above, continues with “then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son keeps on cleansing us from all sin.”

It’s a bit of a puzzle in a way, I mean if we are walking in the light, then why would we need the continual cleansing from sin? We get a clue in the phrase “in him there is no darkness at all.” What is being implied here, is that there is darkness in us all of us. A lot more than we realize! And the fact of the matter is that there is "nothing hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light" (Luke 8:17). So from my point of view, it is better that we get it out in the open now, so that it can be confessed and forgiven(v9).

There is a similar thought about the hiddenness of or darkness in Paul’s phrase “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent” (1 Corinthians 4:4 NIV). My own experience has been that as I keep on seeking to walk in the light, the Lord in His gentle and loving way, exposes things I was in denial were there. It can be discouraging, because once I have a certain amount of victory over something He put his finger on, inevitably He shows me something else to deal with. And that is why we so desperately need verse 9 of this chapter. It tells us that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, not only this, but He is also faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Hallelujah!

Father, there is a sense in which the closer I get to You, the less holy I feel. In particular I seem to have such little love. I know that part of this, is that when I get closer to You I see my love in comparison with Your amazing, reckless and outstanding love. However, I felt You telling me this morning, that I cannot get closer to You, without being transformed by You in a positive way. And I choose to allow this to encourage me this morning, and to trust that I am indeed being transformed from one degree of glory to another. And I give You honour, glory and praise in Jesus Name Amen