I wrote a blog post about “Warnings” and how 1John, written by the “Apostle of Love”, is packed with warnings. Many of these warnings are difficult to read, even for Christians; however, the warnings are plain enough to understand. The question is, are we going to heed the warnings and bring them from the chalkboard to the playing field? Are we going to simply read them and discard them, or are we going to diligently apply them to our life?
We find the first one just six verses in, right after John tells us that he and the others have eye witnessed, heard, and touch the Word of Life, which is Jesus Christ, who was with the Father before the creation of the world. John also points out that God is Light, and in Him there is NO DARKNESS AT ALL. That means God is perfect in everything He does, He creates perfectly, He speaks perfect Truth, He loves perfectly, He disciplines perfectly, and He judges perfectly.
Before we look at the first of these texts, we should define a few words.
FEL’LOWSHIP, n.
- Companionship mutual association of persons on equal and friendly terms;
- Partnership; joint interest
- Company; a state of being together.
- Communion; intimate familiarity
As I read the definition of FELLOWSHIP, it seems like an accurate summary of one who is in fellowship with God is one who’s relationship with God is no longer hostile, there is no longer a separation. As we know, our sin has separated us from God and the only One that can bring us into union with God, the only One who can bring peace between us and God is Jesus Christ. Through Christ we are now on “friendly terms” as defined above. Through Christ we have come into a relationship with God, a togetherness; we have come into fellowship.
DARKNESS
The context of the word darkness in 1John is a metaphor for sin.
PRAC’TICE
- To do or perform frequently, customarily or habitually; to perform by a succession of acts
WALK
to live and act or behave; to pursue a particular course of life.
1John 1:6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
Let’s paraphrase this based on the definitions above:
If we say we are on friendly terms with God and our relationship with God has gone from hostile to peaceful through Christ, while we pursue sin as a common behavior and deliberate course of life, we lie and do not act according to the truth as revealed in God’s Word.
To put this into perspective, consider this:
Since she was a young girl Johnny’s mom has always dreamed of having a small sitting room with white carpet, a comfy white recliner, a white couch, and white woodwork. Her rule for the house was, nobody can go into the room with their shoes on, and do not eat or drink anything in the room. One day when Johnny was 2 years old, he went into the room with a tippy cup full of cherry Kool-Aid. Johnny’s mom explained to him why he cannot do that any longer. When Johnny was 10, he knew the rules very well, but he ignored them and went into the room with a glass of cherry Kool-Aid and spilled it on the couch and carpet. Mom was not happy, but she called the Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner and miraculously they were able to clean it perfectly. Johnny’s mom paid for the cleaning and then turned to Johnny and explained to him what it cost to fix this problem and told him he can never go into the room with Kool-Aid again. Johnny assured his mom he was sorry, and that he loved her, and he would not do this again. A week later Johnny thought, “I have been a good boy for a week, I am going to relax in the comfy recliner and enjoy a nice cold glass of cherry Kool-Aid.” As expected, Johnny spilled again. This time the stains were too bad to clean, so Johnny’s mom had to replace the carpet and the chair. Johnny’s mom then explained to him what it cost to fix this problem and told him he can never go into the room with Kool-Aid again. Johnny assured his mom he was sorry, and that he loved her, and he would not do this again. A few months passed and once again Johnny was in the room with cherry Kool-Aid again, and once again, he spilled the Kool-Aid. Once again, Johnny’s mom had to replace the chair and the carpet, and once again, Johnny’s mom explained to him what it cost to fix this problem and told him he can never go into the room with Kool-Aid again. Johnny assured his mom he was sorry, and that he loved her, and he would not do this again.
Let’s say in this analogy that Johnny continued this pattern all the way through his teen-age years, what are we left to conclude?
- Johnny wasn’t really sorry, because if he was, he’d quit doing it
- Johnny didn’t consider it a big deal, after all, mom always cleaned or replaced his mistake
- Johnny didn’t have any respect for his mom as shown by his deliberate acts of disobedience
As we read this we think, “JOHNNY!! QUIT GOING INTO THE ROOM WITH KOOL-AID!!!”
Johnny didn’t accidentally fill the glass with Kool-Aid, he didn’t accidently walk into the room. He may have accidently spilled it, but he shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Johnny was deliberately, and habitually disobedient, he purposely continued to sin, he “walked in darkness”.
Isn’t this what God is telling us? “I fixed your mistake; I have cleaned you by the Blood of My Son; now go and sin no more.”
We know that the Apostle John is not expecting perfection, if he did, he would not have written:
1John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
We must recognize that sin for the believer is not the norm, it is not habitual, it is not a practice. If it were OK to practice sin as a follower of Christ, why would John write:
1John 3:7-10 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
As I often say to skeptics regarding the Word of God, “I didn’t write it, I just believe it.” If I am being transparent, I would rather this text was not here. I would rather it was true what many preachers say, “you can be a carnal Christian, after all we are saved by Grace.” My question to them is, “then why did Paul write?”:
Romans 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Romans 6:15-16 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
The fact that I prefer this not be true exposes the wretchedness of my heart! “Help me, Lord!”
One thing that I have come to realize is that sin is like something approaching you a few hundred yards away. You see something, but you aren’t sure what it is. As it approaches, it comes in to focus, and the closer it gets, more is revealed. As we grow in Christ, as we study God’s Word, the more sin we will see in our life. The more sin we see, the more aware we become of how amazing God’s Grace is that He would “save a wretch like me.”
It is in view of His Grace and Mercy that I don’t want to be as “Little Johnny”, I don’t want to trample on His Grace, I want to be obedient to my King.
