1 John 1:5–7 ‘If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.’ (v6)
The start of John’s letter focuses on his testimony of being with Jesus when He was physically alive.
This is in part to counter a notion that was developing in popularity that Jesus was never a physical being.
So, the ‘him’ in our verse is Jesus. Of all the things to say that God is, John chooses ‘light’, because he knew this was important for his hearers at this point.
Later in the letter, we discover that so called ‘super spiritual’ people believed they could live as they liked, and John needs to bring them up short.
A human analogy brings this out. You have a friend who gossips behind your back, never replies to your messages and never keeps his promises.
Your ‘fellowship’ with them is going to need repairing, and any claims to be ‘friends’ false. John is saying that there are people who claim to be ‘in fellowship with God’ but who, actually walk in darkness.
There seems here to be a level of intention. John writes that we can know forgiveness of sins through confession, so avoiding ‘walking in darkness’ is not an assumption of sinless perfection.
We may struggle in various ways, but the question is whether we are deliberately siding with darkness over what we know God is looking for.
We may say, ‘Yes, I am a believer,’ yet know that in our heart of hearts, we are far from where we should be.
If this is you today, why not simply tell God it’s not a state of affairs in which you wish to continue?
A Prayer To Make:
Lord, thank You that we can walk with You and enjoy fellowship every day. Amen.
An Action To Take:
Imagine someone observes your day. Would they think that you have fellowship with God?
Scripture To Consider:
Ezek. 1:1–28; Isa. 9:2–7; John 8:12–20; 1 Cor. 4:1–5
