GOD IS LIGHT: A BIBLE STUDY ON 1 JOHN 1:5-2:2

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.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, purifies us from all sin.

⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

 2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.² He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Presuppositions for Bible Study.

• As the Word of God to us, divinely authoritative for faith and conduct, making us wise for salvation, the written revelation from God, we are under the Scripture. Therefore we must be prepared to let Holy Scripture study us.
• As an ancient text we must understand its original context and purpose and discern how its teaching applies to our contemporary situation.
• We need to pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit so that we are open to what God is saying to us today.

 Outline

This is the message the apostles had heard from Jesus and is the content of their proclamation of the Gospel. He is citing the authenticity of the source of his teaching. God is light; in him is no darkness at all (John 1:4-8; 8:12). Intellectually light is truth and darkness ignorance or error. Morally light is purity and darkness evil. Right conduct, not just clear vision, is the benefit which light brings. The dominant theme of John is refuting the claims of heretical teachers. He supplies searching tests by which to judge one who professes and calls himself Christian. Is his life consistent with God is light? He introduces the false teaching with the words “If we claim”. He then contradicts it.

1. The claim that sin does not affect our fellowship with God (1:6,7) Christianity without morality is an illusion. Sin is always a barrier to fellowship with God. If we make such a claim we lie, deliberately, knowingly, self-evidently, and do not live out the truth. We not only contradict the truth in our words, but deny it by our inconsistent lives. The truth is that we need to walk in the light which exposes sin for what it is. When we do so we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus erases the stain of sin. The condition of receiving cleansing through the death of Jesus on the Cross and of enjoying fellowship with each other is to walk in the light, to be sincere, open, honest, transparent.
2. The claim that we have no sin, that we are basically good and that we are not self-centered. This is self-deception and a denial of the truth of human nature. Whenever the principle of sin in us is denied as an ongoing reality and we are unable to admit our weaknesses, failures and dishonesty, there follows a denial of responsibility for our actions and attitudes. It is always the fault of someone or something outside us. The truth is not in us. New Age spirituality has no place for sin or its relevfance to a relationship with God. It is to blame the cause of sin on physiological, psychological or social issues. Rather than avoid responsibility for sin we should confess it so that God can forgive us and purify us from all that is wrong with us. “The chief mark of regeneration is a broken and contrite heart.” (Charles Simeon)
3. The claim that we are incapable of sinning and therefore the God of revelation, who is light, who is presented in Christianity as requiring repentance and faith, is false and his word of salvation is not to be believed. The universal sinfulness of humanity is a basic tenet of the Bible. If it were not true Gods’ efforts to save his people would make no sense.We are not meant to sin but if we do Jesus, the Righteous One, is the advocate who intercedes for us, who sacrificially atones for our sins and all people on the Cross. A universal pardon is offered for the sins of the whole world and is enjoyed by those who embrace it. This is only possible because Jesus is righteous (sinless), his sacrificial death (fulfills the temple sacrifices) atones for our sins, and is our advocate in heaven. Forgiveness and reconciliation with God is achieved by the love of God coming in Christ to fulfill his just condemnation of sin by his own self-giving to take the penalty of sin upon himself.

The three errors he treats concern the fact of our sin in our conduct, its origin in our nature, and its consequence in our relationship to God. They are the misconceptions of those who want fellowship with God on easy terms. They have never learned the indissoluble marriage of belief with morality. They seek to separate them. They have an inadequate doctrine of sin and its sinfulness in relation to God who is light. He denies the error and indicates the divine remedy which is offered if we will only acknowledge our need of it. Each time he describes the cleansing and forgiveness which God has made possible through the death of Jesus Christ His Son. Christianity is the only religion which, by emphasizing that God is light, first insists on taking sin seriously and then offers a satisfactory moral solution to the problem of sin. The way to have fellowship with God who is light is not to deny the fact or effects of sin, but to confess our sins and thankfully appropriate God’s provision for our cleansing.

Questions for reflection

1. How popular is the description of God as light (truth & moral purity) in our culture?
2. How prevalent is darkness portrayed in our media today?
3. How does this message of those who want fellowship with God on easy terms compare with the teaching of confession, repentance and the Cross?
4. What does walking in the light mean to you?
5. Where does the teaching that we are basically good and do not need forgiveness come from, e.g. self-celebration, affirmation not transformation, that “God loves us as we are”?
6. How do you respond to those whose image of God is benevolent, accepting and non-judgmental and who criticize the need for Jesus to atone for our sins and intercede for us.
7. Why would anyone refuse to embrace the pardon God offers us in Christ?
8. How important is confession of our sins in our private prayers and public worship?
9. Why is it so difficult to admit our sins to one another?
10. How comfortable are you saying the words of the General Confession and Psalm 139:23,24? “Almighty and most merciful Father; we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done; and there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou them, O God which confess their faults. Restore thou them that are penitent; according to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake; that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.