Walking in the Light
1
John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we
have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his
Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
God
is light (verse 5). To walk in this light, which is to live free from
bondage to sin (Rom. 6:18), is to make true communion between
believers possible. Jesus’ violent death on the cross, which is
what blood signifies, is the initial antidote for and ultimate
defense against sin’s presence and power.
We
walk in the light
(ἐν
τῷ φωτὶ περιπατῶμεν)
The
phrase occurs only in the First Epistle. Walk, as above. In
the
light,
having our life in God, who is light.
A Christian walk habitually in the light truth and holiness, not in
darkness falsehood and sin. Their walk also results in cleansing from
sin as the Lord continually forgives His own.
He
is in the light.
God
is
forever and unchangeable in perfect light. Compare Psm. 104:2; 1Tim.
6:16. We walk,
advancing in the light and by means of the light to more light. The
path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more
unto the perfect day (Prov. 4:18).
Since
those walking in the light share in the character of God, they will
be habitually characterized by His holiness (3Jhn. 11), indicating
their true fellowship with Him (Jas. 1:27). A genuine Christian does
not walk in darkness but only in the light and cleansing from sin
continually occurs (verse 9).
One
with another
(μετ'
ἀλλήλων)
Not,
we
with
God
and
God
with
us,
but with our
brethren.
Fellowship with God exhibits and proves itself by fellowship with
Christians. See 1Jhn. 4:7, 4:12; 3:11, 3:23.
I
see in this the need for Christians to have friends who are
Christians too. We must remain in the Light of God. Walk daily with
Jesus and other Christians, and the world will get dimmer and dimmer.
blood
of Jesus...
We are cleansed from all sin from the time of confession of sin
(1Jhn. 1:9) and as long as we walk in the light (1Jhn. 1:7). Notice
the blood of Jesus Christ continuing to cleanse us from all sin, when
we are in the Light. The more we walk the Christian walk, the easier
it gets to stay in the narrow path of Light that leads to Him.
Of
Jesus Christ His Son
Omit
Christ.
The human
name, Jesus,
shows that His blood is available for man. The divine
name, His
Son,
shows that it is efficacious. I shall be rendering a service to
students of John's Epistles by giving, in a condensed form, Canon
Westcott's note, classifying the several names of our Lord and their
uses in the Epistles.
The
name in John, as in the Bible elsewhere, has two distinct, but
closely connected meanings.
1.
The Revelation of the Divine Being by a special title.
2.
The whole sum of the manifold revelations gathered up so as to form
one supreme revelation.
The
latter sense is illustrated in 3Jhn. 1:7, where the name absolutely
includes the essential elements of the Christian creed, the complete
revelation of Christ's work in relation to God and man. Compare John
20:31; Acts 5:41.
In
1Jhn. 2:12, the term is more limited, referring to Christ as He lived
on earth and gave Himself for the brethren. In 1Jhn. 3:23; 5:13, the
exact sense is defined by what follows.
Actual
Names Used.
(I.)
His
Son
Jesus
Christ.
1Jhn. 1:3; 3:23; 5:20. The divine antecedent is differently described
in each case, and the difference colors the phrase. In 1Jhn. 1:2-3,
the Father
(compare John 3). In 1Jhn. 3:23, God.
In 1Jhn. 5:20, He
that
is
true.
Thus the sonship of Christ is regarded in relation to God as Father,
as God, and as satisfying the divine ideal which man is able to form.
The whole phrase, His
Son
Jesus
Christ,
includes the two elements of the confessions which John makes
prominent.
1.
Jesus is the Son of God (John 4:15; 5:5).
2.
Jesus is the Christ (John 2:22; 5:1).
The
constituents of the compressed phrase are all used separately by
John.
(1.)
Jesus.
1Jhn. 2:22; 5:1; 1Jhn. 4:3 where the correct reading omits Christ.
The thought is that of the Lord in His perfect historic humanity.
(2.)
Christ.
2Jhn. 1:9. Pointing to the preparation made under the old covenant.
(3).
Jesus
Christ.
1Jhn. 2:1; 5:6; 2Jhn. 1:7. Combining the ideas of true humanity and
messianic position.
In
1Jhn. 4:15, the reading is doubtful: Jesus
or
Jesus
Christ.
On
1Jhn. 4:2, That
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh
(Ἱησοῦν
Χριστὸν ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθότα)
Lit.,
Jesus Christ having
come,
etc. The whole phrase forms the direct object of the verb confesseth.
(4.)
The
Son.
1Jhn. 2:22, 2:23, 2:24; 4:14; 5:12. The absolute relation of Sonship to Fatherhood.
(5.)
The
Son
of
God.
1Jhn. 3:8; 5:10, 5:12, 5:13, 5:20. Compare His
Son
(1Jhn. 4:10; 5:9), where the immediate antecedent is ὁ
Θεός
God;
and 1Jhn. 5:18, He
that
was
begotten
of
God.
Combination of the ideas of Christ's divine dignity and divine
sonship.
(6.)
Jesus
His
(God's) Son.
1Jhn. 1:7. Two truths. The blood of Christ is available
and efficacious.
(7).
His
(God's) Son,
His
only
Son.
1Jhn. 4:9. The uniqueness of the gift is the manifestation of love.
The
Son
in various forms is eminently characteristic of the First and Second
Epistles, in which it occurs more times than in all Paul's Epistles.
Κύριος
Lord,
is not found in the Epistles (omit from 2Jhn. 1:3), but occurs in the
Gospel, and often in Revelation.
The
expression, the
blood
of
Jesus
His
Son,
is chosen with a profound insight. Though Ignatius uses the phrase
blood
of God, yet the word blood
is inappropriate to the Son conceived in His
divine
nature. The word Jesus
brings out His human
nature, in which He assumed a real
body of flesh and blood, which blood was shed for us.
Cleanseth
(καθαρίζει)
See
on Mark 7:19. Not only forgives
but removes.
Compare Tit. 2:14; Heb. 9:13 sq.; Heb. 9:22 sq.; Eph. 5:26 sq.; Mat.
5:8; 1Jhn. 3:3. Compare also 1Jhn. 1:9, where forgive
ἀφῇ
and
cleanse
καθαρίσῃ
occur,
with an obvious difference of meaning. Note the present tense
cleanseth.
The cleansing is present
and continuous.
Alexander (Bishop of Derry) cites a striking passage from Victor Hugo
(Le Parricide). The usurper Canute, who has had a share in his
father's death, expiring after a virtuous and glorious reign, walks
towards the light of heaven. But first he cuts with his sword a
shroud of snow from the top of Mt. Savo. As he advances towards
heaven, a cloud forms, and drop by drop his shroud is soaked with a
rain of blood.
All
sin
(πάσης
ἁμαρτίας)
The
principle
of sin in all its forms and manifestations; not the separate
manifestations. Compare all
joy
(Jas. 1:2); all
patience
(2Cor. 7:12); all
wisdom
(Eph. 1:8); all
diligence
(2Pet. 1:5).
Again,
there can be only one sphere of real communion with God - the light
itself. Thus John insisted that this is where a Christian will find
that communion: But
if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another.
It is strange that many commentators have understood the expression
with one another as a reference to fellowship with other Christians.
But this is not what the author is discussing here. The Greek pronoun
for one another allēlōn
may refer to the two parties God and the Christian named in the first
part of the statement. John’s point is that if Christians live in
the light where God is, then there is mutual fellowship between
Himself and them. That is, they have fellowship with Him and He has
fellowship with them. The light itself is the fundamental reality
which they share. Thus true communion with God is living in the
sphere where one’s experience is illumined by the truth of what God
is. It is to live open to His revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ.
As John soon stated (1Jhn. 1:9), this entails believers’
acknowledging whatever the light reveals is revealing the wrong in
their lives.
It
is significant that John talked of walking in
the light, rather than according
to
the light. To walk according
to
the light would require sinless perfection and would make fellowship
with God impossible for sinful humans. To walk in
it, however, suggests instead openness and responsiveness to the
light. John did not think of Christians as sinless, even though they
are walking in the light, as is made clear in the last part of this
verse. For John added that the
blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from every sin.
This statement is grammatically coordinate with the preceding one, We
have fellowship with one another. The statement of 1Jhn. 1:7, in its
entirety, affirms that two things are true of believers who walk in
the light: (a) they are in fellowship with God and (b) they are being
cleansed from every sin. So long as there is true openness to the
light of divine truth, Christians’ failures are under the cleansing
power of the shed blood of Christ. Indeed, only in virtue of the
Savior’s work on the cross can there be any fellowship between
imperfect creatures and the infinitely perfect God.
