I John 1:4  And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
5  This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6  If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
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.
8  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

God wants us to know His joy. This joy is only available for those who are saved. True joy comes through knowing the true God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ spoke of the joy He had even while suffering and dying for our sins. That joy was not laughing. For Jesus it was the joy of knowing that many would benefit from His suffering and death. His shed blood was required to provide salvation for mankind.
Paul and Silas could sing hymns in prison, having been beaten and while in stocks because they knew they had been faithful to God’s call. They were certainly not happy about the beating they had received. However, they saw something of greater importance than the physical suffering they faced.
Christians have a peace that the world does not know and cannot understand. It is a peace the world cannot take away either.
In verse 5 John began to lay out the details of the message that God wanted him to record. That message is one that he had heard and now was directed to tell others as well. John was not going to live on this earth forever. He was going to die. God wanted this message to be known in every generation.
The message is that God is light. Not only is God light, but in Him is no darkness at all. This is a brighter light than we know on this earth. We do not know what this pure light is with our human eye. However, those who are saved have been exposed to this light and we are blessed in having that light in us.
That light exposes the darkness. It shows us our need and shows us the answer to that need. The light here refers to the holiness and perfection of God. The darkness refers to sin. God has no sin. Man is born in sin. When a person is saved, he is changed from the heart outward. He is given a new heart and has the ability to please God. It is necessary to walk in the light and as we will see, when a saved person sins, he needs to confess his sin to be forgiven. We will also see that every born again Christian will sin at times.
In verse 6 we begin to see the importance of honesty. We dare not claim to be having fellowship with God and yet walking in darkness. The key here is “walking”. As we will see, every born again Christian sins, but we cannot live in sin. We cannot be on the broad way. Rather than promoting the easy-believism that is used by some groups, we need to teach people the blessings of salvation. God’s salvation is life changing. There is no need for a saved person to be bound in sin. Sin has strong tentacles. God’s mercy and grace is stronger than those tentacles. We can serve God faithfully and we can gain victory in our lives if we are saved.
God is very clear here. It is a serious thing to claim to be having fellowship with God and yet walking in darkness. God says I am a liar if I make that claim. I am not doing the truth if I am walking in darkness. That situation cannot remain if I am saved.
In verse 7 we have the “but” there. If we walk in the light, as he is in the light. That is the key. We do not determine the light. God is light. He has declared the parameters of the light. He saves us and he enables us to accomplish His will for us. When we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another. Thus we see the basis of true Christian unity is walking in the light. If we harbour sin, we cannot know that fellowship.
Some years ago I had some discussion with a professing Christian who insisted that sin did not interfere with fellowship with the Lord and one another. This passage makes it abundantly clear that sin will interfere with true Christian fellowship. The true child of God cannot lose his salvation, but he can lose that sweet place of fellowship that God has for His child. If the person is truly saved, he will not be able to remain in that place because it is contrary to God’s design for His child.
We see here that the blood of Jesus Christ is the cleansing agent for all sin. It is not our ‘good works’ that cleanse us. It is also important to note again that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from ALL sin. There is no sin that is so strong that we cannot be forgiven and delivered from. As we see in the Gospels, God understands that we will sin many times, but we also need to seek forgiveness many times. Christians cannot excuse their sin. They desire to be set free from the bondage of sin.
In verse 8 we are further reminded that we cannot claim sinless perfection. There are religious groups that claim that they do not sin. They commit acts that are clearly sin, but they claim that they are not sinning when they commit them. God covers every scenario that we as people might try to invent. When a person claims they do not sin, they deceive themselves and the truth is not in that person. This is also important to know. We cannot encourage someone to remain in their sin and accept their testimony of salvation.
We noted from Hebrews 10:24 that we are to provoke one another to love and good works. We are not the judge. God is. He is light. He tells us what is right and we must walk in the light if we are saved. For the saved person, this will not be a burden. For the pretender, this will be a burden. New Evangelicalism was developed to ignore God’s clear teaching and give way to deception.
In verse 9 we see the Biblical answer to sin for the child of God. Too often this verse is used in evangelism to lost people. The context here is to born again Christians. Born again Christians must acknowledge their sin and confess that to God. God knows when we sin. We need to be careful not to redefine the light and allow sin to corrupt us. If a person is saved and not wanting to deal with sin, God will chasten that person. God does not allow His child to live in sin for his own good and also for his testimony to others.
In my lifetime, I have seen things that were once declared to be sin, now accepted as ok. Music is one area where this has taken place. Modesty is another area of concern. There are secret sins that a person can commit and no one else can see. They are still sin and need to be confessed to be forgiven.
God is faithful. He will forgive the repentant saint. He desires to help His child to walk in the light. God is able to cleanse His child from all unrighteousness. We will need to deal with the old man for as long as we are on this earth. We should not be discouraged by this fact. We should be thankful that we can be forgiven when we sin. We can also learn God’s way of escape when we are tempted. We can grow stronger, but we still will need to deal with sin. We cannot justify sin. We, those who are truly saved, desire to be free from sin.
In verse 10 we are again reminded not to lie. If we try to redefine sin, we are making God a liar. If we do that we are proving ourselves to be unsaved. His Word is not in us if we try to make Him unholy. This is serious stuff. It is never wise to try to change God. We cannot do that in reality. New Evangelicalism is certainly guilty of this. However, others can attempt to do so as well. I am an independent Baptist but I still sin. I can deceive myself into trying to justify sin. I am no better than anyone else. Sin is sin and must be dealt with God’s way.
Purity is important to God. It must be important to His children. If we are saved and faithful in a good church we will see the importance of purity in our own lives. We will desire that fellowship that comes from knowing the true God and walking humbly with Him. We will not be content with compromise. The indwelling Holy Spirit cannot rest in the midst of sin. He will work to bring the true child of God into obedience with his Master.
Pastor Bartel