Walking in the Light
10.21.09
Walking in the Light
[1 John 1:7 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 every sin].
At a first glance, this verse seems to say that as long as we hold up our end of the bargain, the blood will cleanse us from our sin. However to walk in the light as God is in the light is actually a result of God giving us HIS righteousness – John is talking about our secure position in Christ here, not our behaviour. Our position in Christ is eternally secured the day we put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. From that day on we walk “in the light”.
Now some people may ask “what is light?” In John 8:12 Jesus said “I am the light of the world”, therefore Jesus is light. When we are born again we are placed in Christ (1 Cor 1:30, Eph 2:10), and therefore we are in the light. But because we are in the light, we also become light. [Eph 5:8 you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light]. Jesus also says we are the light of the world: [Matt 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden]. As He was (and still is) the light, so we have become as He is: [1 John 4:17b ... because as he is so also are we in this world].
Most of the arguments against the Grace message come from the 3 epistles of John. Most legalists that read these books see it as a set of instructions that tell us what we are supposed to do, instead of reading it in the correct context (as we’ve already discussed previously): The epistles of John were written by John to his “little children” who had just come out from under the false teachings of Gnostics. John was by no means trying to tell them to “DO THIS!” or “DO THAT!” Instead he was telling them how secure they were in Christ, assuring them of their eternal salvation.
1 John 1:7 (our key verse) says the blood cleanses from EVERY sin and to any sensible believer that should pretty much mean exactly what it says: EVERY sin. In the original Greek language the word that was used for “cleanses” was katharizo. This literally means to “continually cleanse”. So if we make a mistake the blood removes it completely and this happens day & night without ceasing. Also if we believe we can “walk in the light” based on our own obedience, why then would we need the blood to continually cleanse us? Because now we are doing it all our self! No, we walk “in the light” because we have been given the righteousness of God as a free gift. Once again note that John is talking about our position in Christ and not about our external behaviour. Here are some more verses to explain this:
[Eph 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord]. This says that we were once lost (in darkness), but now we have been born again (we have become light).
[Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, nor of the moon, that they might shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 And the nations of those who are saved will walk in the light of it; and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour into it]. This verse says that those who have been saved will walk in the light. Once again “walking in the light” refers to the believer’s secure position in Christ and not to some physical thing they are supposed to do.
Yes when we look at our behaviour we will clearly see that we make mistakes every day and that we don’t necessarily walk in the light in our actions, but that is because our minds have not been fully renewed yet. Until the day we go to be with the Lord there will always be some area in our lives that we will need to bring under submission to the authority of God, whether it be thought patterns, habits, or whatever. The point is that we don’t practice “correct behaviour” in order to earn God’s approval, but it happens spontaneously as a result of us falling more in love with Jesus and becoming more and more aware of how wonderfully we have been saved.
During our entire time spent on the earth we will always be able to improve our external behaviour and bring it more in line with our perfect position in Christ. But until we receive our gloried bodies, God has already provided more than enough Grace to cover any mistakes we may make along the way: [Rom 5:20b But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound]. There is nothing wrong with living moral lives, but we should not use our ability to live ethically as the measure or standard of our relationship with God.
Yours in Grace
Andre van der Merwe
