In the previous four verses, the Apostle John wrote about fellowshipping with Jesus, having: heard Him, seen Him, and touched Him (v. 1). Because of this, he testified and declared to people (v. 2), so that they may have fellowship with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 3) and our (and your) joy may be complete (v. 4). Even though John had the privilege of seeing Christ physically and personally, we (Christians) have the privilege of knowing Him personally in a spiritual sense. You may think there is a big difference (between knowing Christ physically or spiritually), but our desire and prayer should be that our relationship with Christ would that real...that our relationship with Christ would be as if we knew Him physically and personally.
John continues this theme of fellowshipping with God by way of battling the heresies of the day and instructing about three types of people: 1) true believers in Christ, 2) the ones that think are true believers, but are, and finally, 3) false teachers. He doesn’t start describing fellowship with God by describing who we are and our role, but he starts with who God is. He says that God is light. In the Greek (because light is a noun), there should be a “definite article” in front of it, but there isn’t. What John is saying is: God is not just a light, or the light...He is light. His nature and being is light which represents: purity, holiness, and truth. This means that there is no hint of evil or darkness of God at all. We should not blame God for the bad things that happen to us by accusing Him of being evil.
Because John is battling the current heresies, he wants to bring to light (pun intended) the lies of the false teachings. I already touched on one, that God has some evil in Him. There are three other lies that he exposes. In verse 6, we lie if we say, “We have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness.” It could be said that a Christian, is someone who has fellowship with God (not just a relationship), someone who is jointed with God and have things in common with Him; and someone who has their sins cleanse by Jesus (v. 7). With that said, how can someone love the Lord Jesus Christ, yet walk in darkness. One of the key words of verse 6 is “walk.” The type of Greek verb used describes a continuous action. Christians are not perfect people, but as a lifestyle (or style of life), they should not habitually be walking in fellowship with sin. A Christian can’t play for both teams (God, light vs. sin, darkness). Which team do we fellowship with based on what we think about the most, what we talk about the most?
The second lie, in verse 8, is that “we have no sin.” Reading this in English, it sounds like the text is saying the lie is denying the presence of sin. This is mostly true, but it is really saying that false teachers (or false Christians) deny the existence of the sinful nature in their lives. For those in Christ, this is a crazy claim “Of course, I have a sinful nature because I fight and struggle with it.” We know there is a war within us and the fact that we do battle with the sinful nature is a sign that you are a believer.
We also lie when we say that “we have not sinned” (verse 10). Let’s think about this: we are brought into a relationship with Christ when we repent of sin, so we do not deny the presence of sin in our actions. People proclaim their own goodness (Proverbs 20:6) and are “self-righteous.” A Christian is not about their own goodness, but the goodness of Christ on their behalf, “Christ-righteous.”
As walking in the light, and fellowshipping with Christ is the style of life for a Christian, so is confession. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (v. 9). The word “confess” also suggests a continuous action. Many Christians think that repentance is a one type deal (like a flu-shot), but it should be a part of the life of the believer. John is not saying that we need to confess every sin we commit because that is impossible. What he is saying is that a Christian has a different relationship with sin and wants/desires to repent/turn from it. One author said that the sinner is to believe and the saint is to confess. The verse also says that God is just. If God is just, then He should punish us when we sin. One preacher said He does not do that because Jesus has already paid our sin and it would be unjust for God to punish us again. Amazing grace and love! (That is not to say that he doesn’t discipline us because He does.)
When a Christian does sin and it will happen, we should not be hesitant to go to Christ because He is the very one who paid for them. He is our Advocate (v. 2). A big theological word that is not used enough in reference to the cross is “propitiation.” It means that Jesus satisfied or appeased the wrath of God that was suppose to be poured on the guilty (you and me). Because of the atoning work of Jesus, God’s wrath was turned from us and onto Him. That is propitiation. It is the heart in understanding the Gospel and most people don’t know this is what happened on that tree at Calvary.
In light of this passage, ask yourself: “How then shall we live?” Am I an imposter? In other words, am I living a lie? Is my profession/confession of faith matched with my life? Or, do I claim to have fellowship with Him and walk in the light having a heart of confession and drawing near to our Advocate?
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