Walking in the Light (1 John 1:5-10)

Take your Bible and turn with me once again to the letter of I John.  This morning, we will continue our study that I’ve entitled “Back to the Basics” by considering verses five through ten of I John chapter one.  If you’ll remember last week, we came away extraordinarily encouraged by the fact that we stand on a gospel that is rock-solid.  But John understands that not everyone walks according to that gospel.  Follow along with me, please, as I read (1 John 1:5-10)  

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In 1969, in Pass Christian, Mississippi, a group of people were preparing to have a "hurricane party" in the face of a storm named Camille. Were they ignorant of the dangers? Could they have been overconfident? Did they let their egos and pride influence their decision? We'll never know.

What we do know is that the wind was howling outside the posh Richelieu Apartments when Police Chief Jerry Peralta pulled up sometime after dark. Facing the Beach less than 250 feet from the surf, the apartments were directly in the line of danger. A man with a drink in his hand came out to the second-floor balcony and waved. Peralta yelled up, "You all need to clear out of here as quickly as you can. The storm's getting worse." But as others joined the man on the balcony, they just laughed at Peralta's order to leave. "This is my land," one of them yelled back. "If you want me off, you'll have to arrest me."

Peralta didn't arrest anyone, but he wasn't able to persuade them to leave either. He wrote down the names of the next of kin of the twenty or so people who gathered there to party through the storm. They laughed as he took their names. They had been warned, but they had no intention of leaving.

It was 10:15 p.m. when the front wall of the storm came ashore. Scientists clocked Camille's wind speed at more than 205 miles-per-hour, the strongest on record. Raindrops hit with the force of bullets, and waves off the Gulf Coast crested between twenty-two and twenty-eight feet high.

News reports later showed that the worst damage came at the little settlement of motels, go-go bars, and gambling houses known as Pass Christian, Mississippi, where some twenty people were killed at a hurricane party in the Richelieu Apartments. Nothing was left of that three-story structure but the foundation; the only survivor was a five-year-old boy found clinging to a mattress the following day.  

Sadly, people often ignore warning signs, and instead feel content to live their lives the way that makes them feel the most comfortable.  Often, such decisions lead to real and irrevocable consequences. Spiritually speaking, it is never okay to ignore warning signs, and to walk away from God. John understands this.  That’s why he so passionately proclaims in I John 1:1-4 that the gospel is rock-solid, and must be the foundation for everything that we stand upon. 

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In the midst of a culture that was constantly changing –
In the middle of a people who were leaving the church (the secessionists) –
During a time when the roots of pre-gnostic teaching were beginning to take hold in the lives and hearts of those for whom he ministered, 

THE GOSPEL PROVIDES A SOLID FOUNDATION! And yet, in the midst of this undeniable fact people walk away from God.

Proposition: Because Christ has provided salvation, you must walk in the light.

How do we walk in the light? How do we avoid ignoring the warning signs and plunging off the cliff with all of the secessionists?  John directs our way of thinking along three specific lines of thought in this passage. Consider them carefully, for these have been well documented to be certain tests of your salvation.  Let’s consider first of all that…    

I.  Because you must walk in the light, you must understand God’s purity (v. 5).    

John begins his argument with a statement about the nature of God that he had heard straight from the mouth of Jesus – “God is light.”  This is the very essence of what the message of I John is all about!  The message of I John is about the character of God. This is especially amazing as it’s juxtaposed with pre-gnosticism.

As we search the Scriptures for what is meant by the idea that “God is light,” there are two very apparent options.

• Revelation & Salvation
• Holiness & Purity: The comparison of good & evil with darkness & light is familiar in the ancient world as it is today (Zoroastrianism & Gnosticism).

As John gets to the meat of his message, he wants you to understand something very clearly –God is Light. He is pure. He is holy. He cannot tolerate sin in any form. Those who would avoid walking away from him must understand that.

A. God's Purity is Certain (v. 5)
Just as John wants to make it clear in the opening verses that his information is from Jesus, he makes it abundantly clear here as well when he says “This is the message that we have heard from him.” In stark contrast to the false teachers who would deny this teaching, John says, “I got this straight from His mouth! God is light. His purity is certain. Understand that the false teachers were minimizing the seriousness of sin, especially when indulged in by born again believers.  Since the thought that the physical was evil anyways, many of them believed that indulging in physical sin had very little consequence & that perhaps God didn’t even care. – NOT TRUE!

Have you ever received your news from someone that wasn’t really very reliable? I have. When you don’t respect the person telling you something, it’s tough to agree to the news that is heard.  As a kid, “Mommy says,” carried a lot less weight coming from a sibling than when the news actually comes from Mommy herself.

That’s the idea of John’s inclusion of the phrase “we have heard from him” in this text.  The pre-gnostics say that sin might not matter.  John says – IT DOES!! I HEARD IT FROM HIM! Don’t ever let the world convince you that God might not care so much about purity.  Many of you are there already. You think that God doesn’t care about what you listen to, what you watch, or who your friends are. God is not neutral on any of those issues – his purity is certain.

B. God's Purity is Absolute (v. 5)
Next, John takes this topic of purity a step further. He wants to be really sure that they understand this.  God’s purity is not partial, it’s not haphazard, and it’s not accidental…“In Him is no darkness at all.” The contrast between light and darkness is expressed here as strongly as possible.  What’s more, it’s important to notice that there is no article. God is not a light. He is light.  Of all of the statements of God’s essence, none is more comprehensive than light. There is no darkness with him.

What do John’s words mean to you today?  For some of you, they mean that you must immediately tear down the false god that you’ve built up in the corners of your life. The god that…

• Doesn’t care about what you look at on the internet.
• Doesn’t mind that your friends tell dirty jokes.
• Is okay with your thought life being perverted.
• Is cool with your judgmental and critical attitudes.

That god has got to go! The God who is central to the writings of this epistle is a God whose purity is certain and it is absolute.  Until you understand that, you will end up just like the people that John is so burdened about in this text.  You will end up walking away from God.

Here is our problem: People walk away from God.

Here is our command: Because Christ has provided salvation, you must walk in the light.

In order to avoid walking away from God and in order to walk in the light, we must understand that God is pure, and we must also be drawn to a second line of thinking…

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II. Because you must walk in the light, you must recognize your danger (vv. 6, 8, 10).

Often, we don’t think that it’s too big of a deal if we spend a bit of time walking away from the light of God’s presence.  John goes to great pains in order to make it abundantly clear that this is not the case. There is immediate and grave danger.

• Verses 6 through 10 represent a series of five conditional (if…then) statements. In the original language, the point is this – If the first part of the statement is true about you, then the second part of the statement logically follows.
• 3 of these statements, in verses 6, 8, and 10, warn of some very specific and intense danger that surrounds those who walk away from God. These are specific claims that were made by the heretics. John stands utterly opposed to each one of them. Sou should you.
• The first danger is unveiled in verse 6…

A. Beware of the Danger of Darkness (v. 6).
The false teachers claimed to have fellowship with God, but we know from a look at 1 John that…

• They have no love (1:7)
• They hate the brothers (2:9,11)
•  They claim sinlessness (v. 8)
• They deny that Jesus came in the flesh (v. 10)

Clearly, these people are not walking in the light of God. John’s point is simply this:  Genuine salvation is manifested in a radical lifestyle change. No one who claims Christianity and yet constantly walks in the darkness is really saved.  On the contrary, those who make such claims and do not follow after God are guilty of two offenses.

• They are lying about their relationship with God (not really in fellowship).
• They are literally “not doing the truth.”

When I was in college, I fell madly in love with my wife. What happened? I wanted to spend time with her, I wanted to buy her stuff, etc. What do you think she would have thought if I claimed to love her, but never developed our relationship at all?’ What would she have thought if I said I loved her, but actually did things to hurt her?

That’s what some of you are doing today. The same thing that these heretics did. This is the danger of darkness. It’s time to stop playing the game. Guys, I would rather you not come to youth group at all, than you coming to youth group but not following after Jesus. I’m not talking about falling occasionally – that will happen. I’m talking about a habitual lifestyle that is antithetical to the cross. That’s where some of you are, and you are at a major crossroads.

B. Beware of the danger of deception (v. 8).
The tense of the verb here makes it clear that this is not a claim of not actually having done wrong, but it’s a claim of denying the consequences of sin that is in view. The heretics believed that sin was a matter of the flesh, and it no longer mattered. Notice the progression: It is prouder to actually say that you have no sin, than it is to just ignore your sin like verse 6.

• Wherever the denial of sin occurs, the denial of responsibility for actions follows.
• Whenever sin is denied, truth, as an inner principle of life, ceases to exist in us

THE ONLY ONE THAT YOU ARE FOOLING IS YOURSELF.

As I look out on the room in front of me this morning, is it possible that I am looking into the eyes of teenagers who are functionally fooling themselves? You know that you do wrong, but you deny that there are any real consequences for your sin. If that’s the case, then you have two reasons to be afraid: First, you have already deceived yourself, and the truth is not in you. Second, those that the Lord has a relationship with, he chastens. Some of you are walking away from God this morning. You’re not walking in the light becaue you have fallen to the danger of deception.

C. Beware of the danger of deamination (v. 10).
At first glimpse, this verse looks nearly identical to verse 8. But the tense has changed in the verb, and so the progression continues Progression: (v. 6) Ignoring sin. (v. 8) Denying the effects of sin. (v. 10) They have not actually sinned.Now, since we understand that the Bible makes our sinful nature abundantly clear, understand the sincerely awful nature of what these heretics claim: The reason that God acted in grace and mercy towards us is that he first deceived us and now is a deceiver in order to redeem us. THIS MAKES A MOCKERY OF THE GOSPEL. The result: “His word is not in us” – These people are not saved.

Watching someone progress from bad to worse to worst is not an easy thing to do. I remember watching a kid in high school once as he failed to respect a teacher. Things just kept getting worse.    

Obviously, this is on an exorbitantly larger scale, but the progression makes sense.  The people who deny their sin point a finger of accusation at God and say – You’re a liar! Are you there? Does your sin bother you? Oh, that God would help us to beware of the danger of damnation. If we say we have no sin, His word is not found anywhere in us!

Here is our problem: People walk away from God.

Here is our command: Because Christ has provided salvation, you must walk in the light.

In order to avoid walking away from God and in order to walk in the light, we have been directed by John along two specific lines of thought. We have understood God’s purity, and recognized our danger. Finally today…    

III. Because you must walk in the light, you must embrace the hope that is available (vv. 7,9).

I am well aware that this has been some really heavy stuff so far today from the pen of John. But I’m also aware that the aged apostle doesn’t leave the churches in Ephesus without any hope. Consequently, he doesn’t leave us without hope today either, for behind the conditional statements that offer warnings, shine conditional statements that glimmer as a beacon of hope for those who would walk in the light.

A. There is hope for fellowship (v. 7).
After warning the believers of the danger espoused by the heretics of claiming fellowship while walking in another direction, John offers a complementary truth that gives hope for the weary soul. “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with each other.” You would think that John would emphasize the fellowship that we must have with God when we walk in the light, but he chooses to do something different. Here’s his point: You cannot have fellowship with other Christians without walking in the light, and there is no real fellowship with God that is not expressed in fellowship with Christians.

Man, is this an important concept to grasp! Though those who claim to know Jesus but walk away from him are left in the dark, those who know Him and walk with him are rewarded with the prospect of fellowship – true gospel partnership – with other believers. This cannot, and will not happen without walking in the light.

B. There is hope for cleansing and forgiveness (vv. 7, 9).

• Verse 7: Look at the way the wording is phrased – “If we walk in the light...we have fellowship…and Jesus’ blood cleanses us.” Literally, Jesus’ blood is cleansing us. This is a continuous process known as sanctification. Where God erases the stain of sin by the grace of his son Jesus Christ.
• Verse 9:  “If we confess our sin” – Confess = omologew – To say the same thing about our sin that God does. The proper attitude is not to deny it as the heretics did. “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

The forgiveness and cleansing that he offers is offered on the basis of His character. God remains faithful to his covenant, and that is just. This all comes if we will confess!

2 obvious results of confessing sin from this text:

1. God forgives us – cancels the debt that we own.
2. God purifies us – removes the defilement and makes us like him (v. 5).

The point that I want to drive home here is simply this – It is entirely pointless for you to continue in your sin. That is an option that is available to you, but one that makes no sense whatsoever. Some of you today are stepping right into the dangers that are warned of by John in this text. Confess your sin! There is hope fro cleansing and forgiveness on the basis of the very character of God!

In 1969 in Mississippi, an awful tragedy struck. Why? Because people didn’t want to obey the warnings that were so readily available.

In 2012 at CHBC, a tragedy is quickly approaching. What is it? It is a tragedy of teenagers who are walking away from God like the secessionists in Ephesus because they are failing to walk in the light by:

• Recognizing the purity of the God that they serve.
• Heeding the warnings given to those who walk in darkness.
• Embracing the hope that is available to those who would call on the name of Christ.

Here is our problem: People walk away from God.

Here is our command: Because Christ has provided salvation, you must walk in the light.

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