1 Jn 1:5-10
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7But 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, purifies us from all b sin.
8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
I've always found this passage hard to understand. It seems to be saying that if I sin I can't be walking in the light. But if I claim not to have sinned I'm lying. Now, like all Christians I sin so can any Christian claim truthfully to "walk in the light"?
Reading it more carefully in my quiet time this morning I came to this conclusion: that "walking in light" here is more about continual confession than being sinless. Note that Romans 6 makes the point that this is not a licence to sin so not "I can sin all I like as long as I confess". But who is there here who is "without sin"?
Note in verse 9 it explicitly states that it is "confessing sins" that leads to "forgiveness" and "purification from all unrighteousness" AND in verse 7 "walking in the light" leads to "purification from all sin".
Now sin (hamartia=missing the mark) and unrighteousness (adikia=opposite of (God's) justice) are not the same Greek words but they seem fairly close in meaning.
So the bottom line is don't let the feeling of guilt from sin prevent you from walking in God's light but rather be honest with God about your failings. The problems come when you try to pretend to God that you haven't sinned: God knows you better than that.
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7But 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, purifies us from all b sin.
8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
I've always found this passage hard to understand. It seems to be saying that if I sin I can't be walking in the light. But if I claim not to have sinned I'm lying. Now, like all Christians I sin so can any Christian claim truthfully to "walk in the light"?
Reading it more carefully in my quiet time this morning I came to this conclusion: that "walking in light" here is more about continual confession than being sinless. Note that Romans 6 makes the point that this is not a licence to sin so not "I can sin all I like as long as I confess". But who is there here who is "without sin"?
Note in verse 9 it explicitly states that it is "confessing sins" that leads to "forgiveness" and "purification from all unrighteousness" AND in verse 7 "walking in the light" leads to "purification from all sin".
Now sin (hamartia=missing the mark) and unrighteousness (adikia=opposite of (God's) justice) are not the same Greek words but they seem fairly close in meaning.
So the bottom line is don't let the feeling of guilt from sin prevent you from walking in God's light but rather be honest with God about your failings. The problems come when you try to pretend to God that you haven't sinned: God knows you better than that.