1Jo 1:10 | KingComments | STEP | . In you have read about ‘walking in the darkness’ and now you read about “walk in the Light”. Needless to say that ‘walk’ does not regard an activity with your legs, but it is about your whole conduct. You may say that the ‘walk’ makes visible to others what you confess with your mouth. Furthermore it is important, I repeat, that it is about where you walk. The point is a person is walking either in the darkness or he is walking in the light. As a believer you do not walk in the darkness, but you are always in the light. If you sin – and that unfortunately can happen, as it is also noticed by John – you sin, so to say, in the light. In that case you join together what can not to be joined together. The contrast between walking in the light and walking in the darkness is not the contrast between faithful believers and unfaithful or failing believers. The walk in the light and the walk in the darkness indicate the difference between the walk of believers and the walk of un believers. Every person who has new life, walks in the light. He who has no new life, walks in the darkness. The walk in the light is the walk that perfectly fits with Him Who “is in the Light”. You do have Christ as your life. He is perfectly in the light and He is the light. Because He is your life, you are also in the light and you walk in it. However, you do not walk there alone. You are in the light and you walk in it with everyone who also has eternal life. You have fellowship with everyone who walks in the light and everyone who walks there has fellowship with you. You share with one another what you have received in the Father and the Son. The new life is not a strictly individual matter, but something you share with others. It is about fellowship. The basis of that fellowship is the cleansing “blood of Jesus His Son”. John mentions the name ‘Jesus’, which refers to Him Who became Man to be able to shed His blood. At the same time he calls Him ‘His Son’, which refers to His eternal existence as the Son of God. The value of the blood is eternally unchangeable. John emphasizes that the blood is the ground on which you stand before God. Only God knows its full value and He deals with you according to that. If you let that sink in well, it gives peace in your heart. The important thing is not your valuation of the blood, but God’s valuation of it. If you realize that you may also know that it is the basis of all blessings that God has given to you. . This awareness will keep you from saying that you have no sin. You would deceive yourself if you would say that and it would prove that the truth is not in you. In the light of God’s truth, you have seen rightly and also acknowledged what is in you. Perhaps the danger is not so great that you will say you have no sin. Nevertheless, it may happen that you do not specifically call sin ‘a sin’, but you call it a ‘little mistake’. You may also see sin as a disorder, as something for which you may probably excuse yourself, as if you could not help it anyway. In fact you are then saying that you have no sin and you are deceiving yourself. It is important that call sin real sin. Then you really prove that the truth is in you. . The truth causes you to confess your sin. If you do that, God forgives you your sin. He does not do that only because He is full of love and because He is merciful, but also because He is “faithful and righteous”. If a person confesses his sins, He can, and you may even say, He has to , cleanse him from all unrighteousness. Why is it that you are allowed to say that he has to ? Because otherwise He would be unfaithful to the value of the blood of Christ. He would be unrighteous if He would deny the power of the blood of Jesus, His Son. Of course He cannot deny the power of the blood. Therefore, if a person confesses his sin, He forgives him. Confession, by the way, is a profound work. To confess means that you speak out that you judge sin in the same way God does. Therefore you do not speak about a ‘little mistake’ and you do not look for an excuse. Only if you see things in the way God does, you will understand the necessity of confession and you yourself will come to confession. The forgiveness you then experience, is a blessing, a relief. It gives you room and new strength to continue to live with Him ( ). . If you know what it is to confess your sins, you do not say that you have not sinned. Such people were there in the days of John and they still are in our days. As in and John again puts it in general terms in and says: “If we say.” He again includes himself. He says it this way because what he is talking about applies to everyone who confesses to be a Christian. Saying that you have not sinned goes a step further than saying that you have no sin, as it is said in . He who says that he has no sin, denies that he has a sinful nature within himself. Saying that you do not have that sinful nature, is self-deception. But he who says that he has not sinned, claims that he has never committed a sin. That is much worse than self-deception, for in this way God is made a liar. After all, God says in His Word that all men have sinned ( ). In such a person there is nothing of God at all. He shows an attitude of rebellion and an own will, an attitude that is clearly against the Word of God. “His word is not in” such a person. Now read 1 John 1:7-10 again. Reflection: What do you learn in these verses about walking in the light and about sin and the cleansing from it?

‏ 1 John 1:10

To Walk In the Light and Cleansing

1Jn 1:7. In 1Jn 1:6 you have read about ‘walking in the darkness’ and now you read about “walk in the Light”. Needless to say that ‘walk’ does not regard an activity with your legs, but it is about your whole conduct. You may say that the ‘walk’ makes visible to others what you confess with your mouth. Furthermore it is important, I repeat, that it is about where you walk. The point is a person is walking either in the darkness or he is walking in the light. As a believer you do not walk in the darkness, but you are always in the light.

If you sin – and that unfortunately can happen, as it is also noticed by John – you sin, so to say, in the light. In that case you join together what can not to be joined together. The contrast between walking in the light and walking in the darkness is not the contrast between faithful believers and unfaithful or failing believers. The walk in the light and the walk in the darkness indicate the difference between the walk of believers and the walk of unbelievers. Every person who has new life, walks in the light. He who has no new life, walks in the darkness.

The walk in the light is the walk that perfectly fits with Him Who “is in the Light”. You do have Christ as your life. He is perfectly in the light and He is the light. Because He is your life, you are also in the light and you walk in it.

However, you do not walk there alone. You are in the light and you walk in it with everyone who also has eternal life. You have fellowship with everyone who walks in the light and everyone who walks there has fellowship with you. You share with one another what you have received in the Father and the Son. The new life is not a strictly individual matter, but something you share with others. It is about fellowship.

The basis of that fellowship is the cleansing “blood of Jesus His Son”. John mentions the name ‘Jesus’, which refers to Him Who became Man to be able to shed His blood. At the same time he calls Him ‘His Son’, which refers to His eternal existence as the Son of God. The value of the blood is eternally unchangeable. John emphasizes that the blood is the ground on which you stand before God. Only God knows its full value and He deals with you according to that. If you let that sink in well, it gives peace in your heart. The important thing is not your valuation of the blood, but God’s valuation of it. If you realize that you may also know that it is the basis of all blessings that God has given to you.

1Jn 1:8. This awareness will keep you from saying that you have no sin. You would deceive yourself if you would say that and it would prove that the truth is not in you. In the light of God’s truth, you have seen rightly and also acknowledged what is in you.

Perhaps the danger is not so great that you will say you have no sin. Nevertheless, it may happen that you do not specifically call sin ‘a sin’, but you call it a ‘little mistake’. You may also see sin as a disorder, as something for which you may probably excuse yourself, as if you could not help it anyway. In fact you are then saying that you have no sin and you are deceiving yourself. It is important that call sin real sin. Then you really prove that the truth is in you.

1Jn 1:9. The truth causes you to confess your sin. If you do that, God forgives you your sin. He does not do that only because He is full of love and because He is merciful, but also because He is “faithful and righteous”. If a person confesses his sins, He can, and you may even say, He has to, cleanse him from all unrighteousness. Why is it that you are allowed to say that he has to? Because otherwise He would be unfaithful to the value of the blood of Christ. He would be unrighteous if He would deny the power of the blood of Jesus, His Son. Of course He cannot deny the power of the blood. Therefore, if a person confesses his sin, He forgives him.

Confession, by the way, is a profound work. To confess means that you speak out that you judge sin in the same way God does. Therefore you do not speak about a ‘little mistake’ and you do not look for an excuse. Only if you see things in the way God does, you will understand the necessity of confession and you yourself will come to confession. The forgiveness you then experience, is a blessing, a relief. It gives you room and new strength to continue to live with Him (Psa 32:1 ; 7).

1Jn 1:10. If you know what it is to confess your sins, you do not say that you have not sinned. Such people were there in the days of John and they still are in our days. As in 1Jn 1:6 and 1Jn 1:8 John again puts it in general terms in 1Jn 1:10 and says: “If we say.” He again includes himself. He says it this way because what he is talking about applies to everyone who confesses to be a Christian.

Saying that you have not sinned goes a step further than saying that you have no sin, as it is said in 1Jn 1:8. He who says that he has no sin, denies that he has a sinful nature within himself. Saying that you do not have that sinful nature, is self-deception. But he who says that he has not sinned, claims that he has never committed a sin. That is much worse than self-deception, for in this way God is made a liar. After all, God says in His Word that all men have sinned (Rom 3:23). In such a person there is nothing of God at all. He shows an attitude of rebellion and an own will, an attitude that is clearly against the Word of God. “His word is not in” such a person.

Now read 1 John 1:7-10 again.

Reflection: What do you learn in these verses about walking in the light and about sin and the cleansing from it?