It is often very trying to live with backsliders. What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you so that you may have fellowship with us. “Why do you call me `Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you” (Luke 6:46)? And what is cleansing by the blood of Jesus? Revelation 1:1-20 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful. The backslider in heart will be full of his own cares. The mark of the new creature in Christ is not a rosy self-concept. You know what this is like. According to verse 7 two things accompany walking in the light: “If we walk in the light”. phos []).The literal contrast between metaphysical good and evil, God and evil forces, believers and unbelievers. I think we need to get toughened up a bit. Walk in the Light – Bible Study – Daily Devotionals Our site—Walk in the Light—provides rich devotional resources on various Bible study topics, such as Bible Prophecy, Second Coming of Jesus, and The Rapture, helping you go deeper into the Bible. He loses his Christian reputation. or []; Gk. God is our witness that we speak only the truth, so others will be sure we can be trusted. In sum, then, the on-going cleansing of the blood of Jesus in our lives refers to two things. “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. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7–8). The other thing that accompanies walking in the light in verse 7 is cleansing from sin. Prayer is missing or perfunctory. A backslider is, indeed, the most foolish person in the world. There is no position in time or space in which he can be at rest. . Then when God keeps warning, sending His prophets and humans don’t pay attention: then we rouse His anger, then the drastic consequences of sin emerge; sometimes it becomes extremely fatal. He loses his property. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own disappointments. He regards his possessions as his own, his time as his own, his influence as his own, his reputation as his own. . I know what you mean. Mistakes in business, mistakes in forming new relations in life, mistakes in using his time, his tongue, his money, his influence; indeed, all will go wrong with him as long as he remains in a backslidden state. All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. God is looking for not only a clinging bride but also a walking partner. He is light and in him is no darkness at all. The condition for cleansing in verse 7 is walking in the light. Determined to have his own way, he will be greatly disappointed if his plans are frustrated; yet the certain course of events under the government of God must of necessity bring him a series of disappointments. And verses 8–10 are a necessary clarification. What is the main value of light? As Hebrews 9:14 says, “The blood of Christ . It frustrates your ability to attain your goal. John says that his desire is to proclaim Christ so that his readers might have fellowship with him. There are absolutely no regrets for those who come to God with all their hearts. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own lustings. He will frame his ways to please himself, without consulting God. Walking in the light does not mean perfection, for then verse 7 would make no sense at all — “if we walk in the light, we are cleansed from sin!” If walking in the light meant perfection, there would be no need for cleansing. And the old fellowship is over. His father answered, "True. But to me it smacks of artificiality. It opens the way to your goal. How is such teaching good news? “God is light and in him is no darkness at all.” It means that if you draw near to God, you do not find a dark and foreboding truth. John shoots down the first error in verses 6 and 7, and then shoots down the second error in verses 8–10. You’re both devoted to his cause. Jesus, then, is the conduit or provider of light to the world. But our newness consists in this: that the true light is shining in our hearts revealing the dreadfulness of our remaining sin and the abundance of God’s grace. Negatively, it helps you avoid danger. Which implies further that denying our sinfulness cuts us off from fellowship with God (just the opposite of what we are prone to feel); and confessing our sin opens the channel of forgiveness and cleansing. will cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” This is the moral effect of the blood of Christ. This is the message we ha… The backslider in heart shall be full of his own folly. While in that state, he will not, and cannot, control his tongue. Which is why secular education is such a mirage of hope in the contemporary wasteland of our culture. It gives the flavor of eternity to all we say and do. The backslider in heart will be full of his own crosses. That is, God is truth. You don’t even get to first base in true knowledge if you leave God out of account. And so we are. His appetites and passions, which had been kept under, have now resumed their control, and having been so long suppressed, they will seem to avenge themselves by becoming more clamorous and despotic than ever. 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. Fear is a God given emotion that keeps us out of danger, but we are not supposed to have so much that it immobilizes us and keeps us from serving God like we should. Those Who Were Ignorant Spiritual Blindness, Consequences Of Earth's Foundation Lack Of Discernment God Shaking Walking. I see three parts to John’s argument in these six verses. John does not spell out at this point how walking in the light and being cleansed from sin are related in reality. I answer that a powerless gospel is not good news. He has turned back to selfishness. Again, he said, "This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world and men love darkness and will not come to the light because their deeds are evil," (John 3:19 KJV). He will be anxious about himself, about his business, about his reputation, about everything. If he prays in secret, in his family, or in public, he knows he is not sincere, and feels condemned. Verses 6–7: application — therefore, let us walk in the light of God so that we can enjoy his fellowship and experience the cleansing of Christ’s blood. 57. And nothing sweeter than friends singing and reading God’s word. What he says is that when the truth enters in, its light reveals sin! 13:10-13). Now we must look at the clarification in verses 8–10. A backslider feels his trials keenly, but, while he complains of being so tried by everything around him, he is constantly aggravating them, and, being the author of them, he seems industrious to bring them upon himself like an avalanche. It may sound like light has dawned. The wartime zeal for the global cause of Christ has shriveled up to a me-centered pursuit of two-second pleasures. 19. In this state he is sure to fall into many and grievous mistakes, and may get entangled in such a way as to mar his happiness, and, perhaps, destroy his usefulness for life. 20. (1) It refers to the justifying effect of Christ’s shed blood blotting out all our sins and giving us acquittal and eternal acceptance with God. 15. Ours is simply to listen and submit to the word of God. They hedge themselves in, and shut their eyes against the light; stand on the defensive, and criticize everything that would search them out. But what blessings are lost by not making a proper use of the privileges freely given us of God! We’re on a mission to change that. The contrast of light and darkness is common to all of the words for "light" in both Old and New Testaments (esp. That is, there are no lurking shadows in God. Everyone who loves the world more than God is in the dark. 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. But these are dead works, they are not works of faith and love, which are acceptable to God, but are the filthy rags of his own righteousness. , 3:18, 3:36 tell us that those who will not believe in Jesus will. But when the light goes on, he sees that the warm, soft fur is the underbelly of a horrid, man-eating monster; and the hard, cold edge is the sword of the majestic Christ ready to save. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. That’s what John begins to do in verses 5–10. Having forsaken God, and taken the attitude of self-will, God will inevitably disappoint him as he pursues his selfish ends. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on us. He cannot have his own way. 8. Paul addresses walking in the Spirit with a capital “S” which means that the word Spirit is a proper noun meaning this is God the Holy Spirit as we can tell in Colossians 1:9-10 “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of … . In other words, does it refer to progressive sanctification or to the on-going experience of justification? 7. 17. Instead of keeping out of temptation, he will run right into it. 9. He feels a warm, soft fur with one hand and a cold sharp edge with the other, and draws in close to the warmth and softness of the fur. While others are chasing after physical pleasures and selfish gain, we’re commanded to live a different way—to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14). 56. The evidence of indwelling truth is the exposure of error. Second, the cleansing refers to the ongoing moral effect of the blood of Christ on our conscience, weaning us away from sin, giving us freedom from its power, and enslaving us more and more to the joy of righteousness. If we are not walking in the light, we have no warrant for believing that our sins are covered. The vexations of his backslidden life will make him nervous and irritable; his temper will become explosive and uncontrollable. (Yale edition, 339). It is a progressive work in the believer’s heart and, as Philippians 1:6 says, God “will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” All sin really will be cleansed away in the end if we walk in the light. He cannot gratify himself by accomplishing his own wishes and desires. John uses strong words so we will be strong people. To avoid conviction and remorse, he will do or omit many things, but it is all with reluctance, and not at all of his own cordial goodwill. then the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.” What does this mean? By his words he will involve himself in many difficulties and perplexities, from which he can never extricate himself until he comes back to God. He shall be filled with his own feelings. the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” If we walk in darkness, we cut ourselves off from the cleansing effects of Christ’s blood. There is truth in this. . 5:11). In other words, God is light means that God is the source and measure of all that is true. Remember the picture of the man in a dark room. Verse 8: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” The claim to be without sin is self-deception. He is a professor of religion. Not only to acquit but also to reform. It’s so important to choose faith, not fear, even in the midst of a crisis as big as the one we’re currently facing. The loss of any of these, he accounts as his own loss. . In order to create and nurture deep Christian fellowship you have to talk about who you think Christ is and what he taught. Verses 8–10: clarification — nevertheless, do not presume to claim sinlessness as you walk in the light, but confess your sins to God. Let these simple, straightforward, weighty truths sink into your mind and you will have a great ballast to keep your boat from capsizing in the winds of contemporary fads and fashions and trends. 1 John is written to describe what that lifestyle looks like and how it results from the God’s light and our new birth. Such a gospel produces a Christianity that is a game of words. When you see the ad in the Tribune that a computer store is having a sale on the IBM PC for under $2,000, that may sound very bright. But there is something more basic than that. This is why the Old Testament says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). See especially 1 John 3:9. He is all light. What are Consequences of Backsliding in Heart. He has no inward rest. Then you notice that the topic of God is avoided. Application: Walk in the Light (verses 6–7). 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 backslider in heart will be full of his own perplexities. Light. One of the many insights we get from these parallels is that denying our sin is part of what it means to walk in darkness, and confessing our sin is part of what it means to walk in the light. In other words, the reason Christ came was not merely to cover sin but to conquer sin. "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked" (Isaiah 57:21). The desires of the saints, however earnest, are humble desires; their hope is an humble hope; and their joy, even when it is unspeakable and full of glory, is an humble, broken-hearted joy, leaving the Christian more poor in spirit, more like a little child, and more disposed to an universal lowliness of behaviour. Hence, having faith in God no longer, and being unable to control events, he must of necessity be filled with anxieties with regard to the future. What is walking in the light? The priests of ancient cults were held in awe by the common people; Greek cities created their own gods; mystery religions promised communion with a deity through secret rites in a way strikingly similar to the Masons and Mormons. So John chooses the word light because it promises that the truth of God is a truth full of joy and hope. Walking in carnality and spiritual darkness results in a bad influence on others, and this can have eternal consequences. For some readers the word truth may leave open the possibility that the truth of God is a dark truth — a foreboding truth, a truth that is not inviting. And verse 7 shows what preserves fellowship with God — walking in the light. This does not answer the question, which comes first? Besides, verse 8 warns against claiming to be sinless while you walk in the light. Jesus says, “Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.” Gather up every ray, pass not one by. And our great grief is that so much of this very sin remains and defiles. First, verse 5 gives the message of Christ that John has heard. Verse 6 shows what destroys fellowship with God — walking in darkness. If we are controlled by desires for the world instead of desires for God, it doesn’t matter whether we say we have fellowship with God or not; we don’t have it. The mark of the saint is not sinlessness but sin-consciousness! He is light, and in him is no darkness at all. “He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The first picture of God that John wants to put before us is this picture of God as light. my boy, but if you walk on, the light will shine to the end of your journey." It militates against religious gamesmanship. I. We can see it best when we put verses 6–7 and verses 8–9 in parallel columns to show their similarity. the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”. This is the message that John heard from Jesus. The ongoing effect of Christ’s blood is to cleanse our hearts in such a way that we cannot be content to go on sinning. Our great joy is that our sin is forgiven in Christ. We no longer stay committed to an unforgiving nor unloving attitude because the light won’t tolerate it. But when you go to the store and check it out, you discover there is some darkness in it: that price doesn’t include any monitor — there’s nothing but darkness until you have a screen with your computer! He is the deliverer from all dark dangers and obstacles to joy. Now the third question that we must answer is: What is the connection between the two? The dawning of God’s light in the heart is the revelation of remaining darkness. And we have seen the application in verses 6–7 — that we must, therefore, walk in the light of God in order to go on being cleansed by the blood of Jesus. But when we walk in the light, the grace that heals our relationship with God also brings healing to our other relationships. But if you ever want to walk in love, you’ll have to make a decision to yield to that force of love on the inside of you. Positively, it helps you reach what you are after. Some people think that the only way to make the gospel really good news is to deny that changes are necessary in our lives. He shall be filled with his own works. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own anxieties. He must do something to sustain religious institutions, but to do so is a bondage. Walk in the light. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." A gain, he is in bondage to his own conscience. “He who does not see the light in others does not see the light in himself.”― Doreen DeVore. His state of mind will make multitudes of things crosses that in a Christian state of mind would have been pleasant in a high degree. His truth is bright and hopeful for all who come to him. He will inevitably say and do multitudes of foolish and ridiculous things. The backslider in heart must be full of his own losses. There is no assurance of salvation while you are living in disobedience. You can see this if you reflect for a moment on the value of light. All that know his state condemn him. As usual, the truth is a razor’s edge between two errors — the error that says your conduct after conversion has nothing to do with your salvation; and the error that says your conduct after conversion must be perfect. We walk in the light when we hate the sin we fall into and name it for the ugly thing it is and agree with God about it and turn from it. Does it mean that as we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus keeps us from sinning? “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. To such a person God says: "Who hath required this at your hand?" You discover one day that your friend seems strangely fascinated by some trend, strangely preoccupied with a book or a movie or a fashion or a singer or a career or a piece of lake property. His conscience is up in arms against him, and the thunders and lightnings of condemnation follow him, whithersoever he goes. They will very naturally commit themselves against any truth that bears hardly upon a self-indulgent spirit. They say that takes away the possibility of assurance of salvation. We find here Paul making the statement that they, both Paul and Timothy have not stopped praying for the faithful saints at Colosse. Knowing the fountain of living waters, he has forsaken it, and "hewed out to himself cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water" (Jeremiah 2:13). There is no small print qualifying the brightness of his glory. He has everything to care for. John makes a connection here between the way we walk and the effectiveness of the blood of Christ to cleanse us of sin. He will complain of his trials, but yet will constantly multiply them. Near the beginning of the 40 year wilderness experience, they were all getting ready to go into the Promised Land to reap their big reward in God. He loses much of his time. It honors the purpose of God in Christ to destroy the works of the devil. So we must ask three questions: We have already answered the first question: walking in the light means living under the controlling desire for God instead of the world — the kind of life you live if you see things the way God sees them and share his values. To understand this verse, we must know what sin is, what its consequences are, how the blood of Christ can cleanse us from sin, and what it means to walk in the light. 3. He loses his peace. Then the empire falls. His profession of religion brings him into bondage to the Church. 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. Conscience condemns him. There it is again, a life that is light. “God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows that he will also reap. Verses 6 and 7 draw out the practical application from this truth about God. If he does not read it, he feels condemned. 16. So verse 5 is the theological foundation. The reason the Son God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. “No man can walk so long in the Shadow that he cannot come again to the Light.”― Robert Jordan. He is not at peace with God, with himself, with the Church, nor with the world. Verse 6 gives the negative side of the application: “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth.”. It will prove itself to be an unruly member, full of deadly poison. “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.”. Therefore we are warranted in taking the cleansing of verse 7 to refer to forgiveness and not just to sanctification. Our "gods" nowadays are usually celebrities. In a backslidden state, he cannot possess his soul in patience. A gospel that only wins lip service is not different than all the other philosophies of the world. God is not like that. Coming to God is not like buying an IBM Personal Computer. Let’s try to see the overall structure of this paragraph first, and then go back and unpack its meaning. It is finished in the cross and no more forgiveness is possible. Verse 9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”, Then to drive home the clarification John repeats the point of verse 8, only with stronger words. Walking in the light is the opposite of walking in darkness. 4. The reason I think it refers to progressive sanctification is the very strong emphasis in 3:8–9 on Christ’s purpose to destroy sin out of our lives. In the light of God you will not be destroyed by the rattlesnake of sin; you will not fall over the cliff into hell. To choose gravel over diamonds you have to be blind. The thing is, God allowed me to choose my own way but not barring consequences. First, it refers to the experience of having all our sins forgiven, so that God does not hold any of them against us. The reason this is called walking in darkness is that the only way people can desire things more than God is if they are blind to the light of God. Who has not observed this of backsliders in heart? Another way to put it would be that nothing is truly understood until it is understood in the light of God. “If we say we have fellowship with God 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,” i.e., between God and ourselves. (2) And it refers to the moral power of the blood of Jesus to help us conquer temptation so that in the end all of our sin will actually be overcome and we will stand really pure and sinless before God (Philippians 1:6). The consequences of that damage remain in our relationships with family, friends, and neighbors. Consequently, his cares will be multiplied, and come upon him like a deluge. He is not led by the Spirit, but is walking in spiritual darkness. But John chose the word light not truth in verse 5. Walking in the light is the condition of fellowship not only with God but also with other believers. Instead of denying our sinfulness, we should confess that it is real and ugly. No missing boards or monitors or operating systems. Wandering on in darkness, as he does, he will, very likely, swallow the grossest delusions. God will frown darkness upon his path, and take pains to confound his projects, and blow his schemes to the winds. There is a walk, there is a lifestyle, that necessarily results from the miracle of new birth when we are given eyes to see the surpassing worth of the light of God. Sin hinders our spiritual walk. Thats what John begins to do in verses 510. Again, he is in bondage to God. And the word of God says that “if we walk in the light as he is in the light . The animal appetites and passions will burst forth, to the astonishment of the backslider, and he will probably find himself more under their influence and more enslaved by them than ever before. … It’s the foundational message of this book. These anxieties are the inevitable result of his madness and folly in forsaking God. “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness we lie and do not live according to the truth.”, Now verse 7 gives the positive side of the application of verse 5. The reason he was controlled by his desire for the man-eating monster is that he was in the dark. If he performs any duty that he calls religious, it is rather as a slave than as a freeman. He will bring upon himself multitudes of trials that he never would have had, had he not departed from God. Here is one of the most beautiful paragraphs I have ever read outside the Bible. "Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15). This morning we will look at 5 benefits of Walking with the Lord. He has no heart to consult the interests of the Church, or to labor for its up-building, and yet he is under covenant obligation to do so, and his reputation is at stake. Having enjoyed the love of God, and forsaken Him, he feels condemned for everything. Notice that the same word for passing away is used in 1 John 2:17, “The world is passing away and the desire of it.” From this I would conclude that walking in darkness means being controlled by desires for this world instead of desires for God. So I would conclude that probably the “one another” in verse 7 refers both to God and to fellow believers. What destroyed these nations is sin – disobedience to God’s word. But God’s Word tells us to “cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12). If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. He calls us evil. Does God love everyone in the world? There is no help for him, unless he returns to God. Instead we walk in darkness. He must be crossed and recrossed, and crossed again, until he will fall into the Divine order, and sink into the will of God. Light always involves the removal of darkness in the unfolding of biblical history and theology. It leads people to real faith instead of encouraging them to be content with a lip service that cannot change and cannot save. The message of 1 John — that walking in the light is not optional, but necessary for salvation — is good news because it creates the moral atmosphere of urgency in which serious business is done with God. God will not share His glory with anyone. These are extraordinarily strong words. In verse 5, John says that God’s very nature is light. When we walk in the light, we cannot walk in darkness. Walk means life. Finally, verse 10 repeats verse 8 with a stronger warning: “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” The claim to sinlessness is not only self-deception, but blasphemy. Healing to our other relationships love of God that John has just said verse. Positively, it helps you reach what you are consequences of not walking in the light of god in himself. ” ― Robert Jordan very remains. Christian should never pray for forgiveness in verse 7 two things accompany walking in the light of eternal consequences to... Have for the man-eating monster is that the truth enters in, light! Any duty that he who commits sin is of the true way of life, he feels condemned everything... Gives his followers only enough light to the Light. ” ― Doreen DeVore and will forgive our sins,! 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