1 John 1:5-6 ESV
God is light. And God is truth, righteousness, holiness, moral purity, uprightness, integrity, and faithfulness. Therefore, light is all those things, too, i.e. light is truth, righteousness, etc. And darkness is the opposite of light, so darkness is sin, evil, wickedness, immorality, lying, cheating, stealing, and being unfaithful, etc. Now since God is totally light, there is no darkness in him at all. And the reason Jesus died for us was to deliver us out of the darkness and to bring us into God’s wonderful light (1 Pet 2:9).
Now this word “fellowship” is the Greek word “koinonia,” which means not only fellowship in the Spirit, but it also means partnership, participation, contributory help, sharing in, and communion. This is used of Christians having spiritual fellowship with our Lord, as well as with one another. And it is used in reference to Christians having a partnership in the gospel of our salvation, which has to do with our participation in the gospel by living out our salvation in doing what our Lord commands us to do, by God’s grace.
So, if we say that we have fellowship with God (with Christ), this isn’t talking just about a daily quiet time where we pray and read the Scriptures. This means we are partnering with him and we are cooperating with him and we are participating with him in his work of grace in our lives in delivering us out of the darkness and bringing us into God’s marvelous light. Yes, we do nothing in ourselves to earn or deserve our own salvation, but our salvation is not absent of works. They are just the works God prepared in advance that we should walk (in conduct) in them (Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:11-14).
Therefore, if we claim we have fellowship with God (with Christ), that we are in intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, that he is our Lord and Savior, and that heaven is our eternal destiny, but we are still living in deliberate and habitual sin, then we are liars, not truth tellers. For we can’t continue in deliberate and addictive sin patterns and be in true fellowship with Christ. For one is opposed to the other and therefore they conflict with each other.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
1 John 1:7 ESV
To walk in the light, as God is in the light, we walk (in conduct, in practice) in truth, righteousness, holiness, moral purity, uprightness, integrity, and in faithfulness. This is the way we live day in and day out. It doesn’t mean we are absolutely perfect (see 1 Jn 2:1-2), but that sin is no longer what we practice. For we have chosen by the grace of God to put sin to death and to now walk in righteousness, holiness, and obedience to our Lord, which is what we are living out in our daily lives, in practice, by the grace of God.
So, if this is how we are living, in practice, by the grace of God, and in his power and strength, then we have fellowship with one another, but that is only because we now have genuine fellowship with our Lord. And this fellowship is only with other Christians who are also walking in the light and no longer in the darkness, for light has no fellowship with darkness. For true fellowship involves unity of mind and heart, which is unity with the mind and heart of Christ (of God), which is the basis for our spiritual fellowship.
The bottom line here is what Jesus taught, and what Paul and the other apostles taught, and that is that genuine faith in Jesus Christ is all about us daily dying with Christ to sin and to self. And it is about us walking in obedience to our Lord, in practice, in holiness and in righteousness. Faith without genuine repentance and walks of obedience to the Lord is not the faith that saves us from our sins. Faith that saves comes from God, is authored and perfected by Jesus, and is gifted to us by God, and so it surrenders all to Christ to walk in his ways and no longer in sin.
1 John 1:8-10 ESV
There are many people these days who profess faith in Jesus Christ who are still living in deliberate and habitual sin. Sin still has mastery over their lives and Jesus Christ, in truth, is not their Lord and Master, for the lusts of the flesh and of the eyes and the pride of life are what they worship. They are their idols. Yet, many of these professing Christians want to put on a show of righteousness so they don’t want others to know they are living in sin, and so they will sin in secret and then lie to cover up their sin.
So, if you sin, but then you say that you did not sin, or if you have gotten back into a particular habitual sin which you do in secret, yet you claim you are doing well, and that you are not sinning, you are deceiving yourself, for that is a lie. And people who are addicted to particular sins, especially but not limited to sexual immorality, they lie as a regular part of what they say. And they twist the truth or they skirt around the truth, but that is still lying. But they are skilled at deception and manipulation and trickery.
But to confess sin is not just to verbally acknowledge one’s sin. It is to agree with God about our sin, and not just to agree that we sinned, but to have the same mind as Christ about our sin which then results in us repenting of (turning from) our sins and following our Lord in obedience. And we have to read verse 9 here in light of verses 6-7. So, we can’t just give lip service to confession of sin and call that repentance. Many people sin, confess, sin, confess as part of their habitual sin patterns but they never truly repent.
So, if we want to be in genuine relationship and fellowship with God (with Christ Jesus), we must turn away from (die to) our sin and now walk in holiness and righteousness and obedience to our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant), all in the power of God’s Spirit now living within us. And we must continue in this walk of faith steadfast until the end, which is when our salvation will be complete, when Jesus returns for his bride. But not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the ones DOING the will of God the Father in heaven (Matthew 7:21-23).
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
“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. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”
God is light. And God is truth, righteousness, holiness, moral purity, uprightness, integrity, and faithfulness. Therefore, light is all those things, too, i.e. light is truth, righteousness, etc. And darkness is the opposite of light, so darkness is sin, evil, wickedness, immorality, lying, cheating, stealing, and being unfaithful, etc. Now since God is totally light, there is no darkness in him at all. And the reason Jesus died for us was to deliver us out of the darkness and to bring us into God’s wonderful light (1 Pet 2:9).
Now this word “fellowship” is the Greek word “koinonia,” which means not only fellowship in the Spirit, but it also means partnership, participation, contributory help, sharing in, and communion. This is used of Christians having spiritual fellowship with our Lord, as well as with one another. And it is used in reference to Christians having a partnership in the gospel of our salvation, which has to do with our participation in the gospel by living out our salvation in doing what our Lord commands us to do, by God’s grace.
So, if we say that we have fellowship with God (with Christ), this isn’t talking just about a daily quiet time where we pray and read the Scriptures. This means we are partnering with him and we are cooperating with him and we are participating with him in his work of grace in our lives in delivering us out of the darkness and bringing us into God’s marvelous light. Yes, we do nothing in ourselves to earn or deserve our own salvation, but our salvation is not absent of works. They are just the works God prepared in advance that we should walk (in conduct) in them (Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:11-14).
Therefore, if we claim we have fellowship with God (with Christ), that we are in intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, that he is our Lord and Savior, and that heaven is our eternal destiny, but we are still living in deliberate and habitual sin, then we are liars, not truth tellers. For we can’t continue in deliberate and addictive sin patterns and be in true fellowship with Christ. For one is opposed to the other and therefore they conflict with each other.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
1 John 1:7 ESV
“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.”
To walk in the light, as God is in the light, we walk (in conduct, in practice) in truth, righteousness, holiness, moral purity, uprightness, integrity, and in faithfulness. This is the way we live day in and day out. It doesn’t mean we are absolutely perfect (see 1 Jn 2:1-2), but that sin is no longer what we practice. For we have chosen by the grace of God to put sin to death and to now walk in righteousness, holiness, and obedience to our Lord, which is what we are living out in our daily lives, in practice, by the grace of God.
So, if this is how we are living, in practice, by the grace of God, and in his power and strength, then we have fellowship with one another, but that is only because we now have genuine fellowship with our Lord. And this fellowship is only with other Christians who are also walking in the light and no longer in the darkness, for light has no fellowship with darkness. For true fellowship involves unity of mind and heart, which is unity with the mind and heart of Christ (of God), which is the basis for our spiritual fellowship.
The bottom line here is what Jesus taught, and what Paul and the other apostles taught, and that is that genuine faith in Jesus Christ is all about us daily dying with Christ to sin and to self. And it is about us walking in obedience to our Lord, in practice, in holiness and in righteousness. Faith without genuine repentance and walks of obedience to the Lord is not the faith that saves us from our sins. Faith that saves comes from God, is authored and perfected by Jesus, and is gifted to us by God, and so it surrenders all to Christ to walk in his ways and no longer in sin.
1 John 1:8-10 ESV
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
There are many people these days who profess faith in Jesus Christ who are still living in deliberate and habitual sin. Sin still has mastery over their lives and Jesus Christ, in truth, is not their Lord and Master, for the lusts of the flesh and of the eyes and the pride of life are what they worship. They are their idols. Yet, many of these professing Christians want to put on a show of righteousness so they don’t want others to know they are living in sin, and so they will sin in secret and then lie to cover up their sin.
So, if you sin, but then you say that you did not sin, or if you have gotten back into a particular habitual sin which you do in secret, yet you claim you are doing well, and that you are not sinning, you are deceiving yourself, for that is a lie. And people who are addicted to particular sins, especially but not limited to sexual immorality, they lie as a regular part of what they say. And they twist the truth or they skirt around the truth, but that is still lying. But they are skilled at deception and manipulation and trickery.
But to confess sin is not just to verbally acknowledge one’s sin. It is to agree with God about our sin, and not just to agree that we sinned, but to have the same mind as Christ about our sin which then results in us repenting of (turning from) our sins and following our Lord in obedience. And we have to read verse 9 here in light of verses 6-7. So, we can’t just give lip service to confession of sin and call that repentance. Many people sin, confess, sin, confess as part of their habitual sin patterns but they never truly repent.
So, if we want to be in genuine relationship and fellowship with God (with Christ Jesus), we must turn away from (die to) our sin and now walk in holiness and righteousness and obedience to our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant), all in the power of God’s Spirit now living within us. And we must continue in this walk of faith steadfast until the end, which is when our salvation will be complete, when Jesus returns for his bride. But not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the ones DOING the will of God the Father in heaven (Matthew 7:21-23).
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
