“But if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 NASB.
This text is so true. This is looking at the truth in a different way. We need to contemplate what this means, it is so important! Those who are walking in the light as God is the light will not be thinking that they do not need to be too concerned about their behavior or whether they are free from all enslavement and entanglement with the sins and things of this world. Many surround themselves with preachers and others who believe that they do not need to be concerned very much about their behavior or entanglement with sin and the things of this world, and little mention is made of the sinner’s need of walking in the Light of God, to repent and have a change made in them. And others think that they believe in ‘the truth’ while they are not walking in the Light and have not His abiding presence in their heart. It is every Christian’s privilege to choose to walk in the Light as God is the Light, whether they will listen to His sweet Spirit when He whispers to their heart or not.
John the Beloved here is saying that if you want the blood of Jesus to keep cleansing you from sin, you must walk in the Light of God, allowing God to change you and make you into His image. What is that image? Simply put, love. Love is the fulfillment of the Law. Romans 13:10. If you have the love of God in your heart, you will have fellowship with one another. How do you get the love of God in your heart? First you must confess your sins to God and ask Him to help you. 1 John 1:9. Then when He starts to change you, you must continue to walk in the Light, and go where He leads, not struggling against His will or the truth He has revealed to you in the Bible. You must walk in the Light, if you want the blood of Jesus to cleanse you from all sin! If you are not fully willing to do everything He wants you to do, or drag your feet on this or that, or stop making the changes that He wants you to make, or stop asking for His guidance, you will no longer be walking in the Light, and will lose the ability of having sweet fellowship with His other true believers, since He will no longer be your master. If this continues, eventually the blood of Jesus will no longer cleanse the soul from sin. This is the progression.
Unfortunately, many who go to church are no longer walking in the Light as He Himself is the Light, or they are not fully walking in the Light of His love and truth. This is the cause of the lukewarmness in the Church which manifests itself: either they are not too concerned about making a complete repentance and obeying God, or they are often harsh and critical of others, and have a problem keeping the Spirit of the Law. Both are missing the divine spark of God’s love and willingness to obey Him in their life. A belief in the truth and the soul’s duty to obey God is a place to start, but is not enough. There must be a deep desire to obey God in all things, because the soul loves Him.
If anyone continues willfully sinning, eventually the blood of Jesus will no longer cleanse them from sin. “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.” Hebrews 10:26-27 KJV. This is not pleasant to think about. But we don’t want anyone to be lulled into a false sense of security, but for all to know that all may get peace with God, if they will learn to love and submit fully to Him. Those that love God and His Son Jesus are not willful against them, and would do anything for them. Peter and the disciples said that they were ready to die for Jesus, as they stated in Matthew 26:21-35, but did not know their own heart, but after Jesus’ death and resurrection, they eventually were ready, and tradition tells us that every one of Jesus’ eleven disciples except John died a martyr’s death. The eleven truly learned to love Jesus, and were willing to obey Him in all things; this was a delight to them.
If any want to have fellowship with one another, they must allow the blood of Jesus to cleanse them from all sin, confessing all of their sins to God, and to those whom they have wronged as far as possible, and ask and allow God to help them turn away from all sin and wrongdoing. Then the blood of Jesus will have cleansed them from sin, and then and only then, they will have fellowship with one another. This is because true love produces unity and trust between believers, but its absence destroys sweet fellowship. Those who have not yielded to Jesus and His Father all the way, believed in Jesus, and received the Holy Spirit, will be unable to have true fellowship with one another. If you will spend much time with God and learn to yield to Him, you will be brought into a sweet, close fellowship with Him, and He will make all the changes in you that are necessary for your salvation. Then you will walk in the Light of God and have true fellowship with other believers, because you will have allowed the blood of Jesus to cleanse you from all sin.
If you want to have life, walk in the Light of God’s love, allowing Him to mold and shape you into a new creature. This is something you cannot do by yourself. Renounce all sin, and yield to God willingly, giving yourself to Him, cooperating with Him at every point. The only way you can have sweet fellowship with other believers, is to have God’s love in your heart, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Then He will help free you from sinning over and over again, and the blood of Jesus will cleanse you from sin, and you won’t be guilty of the blood of Christ! Then God will make you a new creature and give you the power to be Jesus’ disciple! This is walking in the Light, as He is the Light!
May you walk in the light of God, have fellowship with one another and let the blood of Jesus cleanse you from all sin! Amen.
By John Foll, finished writing on 10/14/2017.
© Copyright 2017 John Foll
Part 1, 2
#Walk #Light #God #Cleanse #Sin #Fellowship #Another #Love #Blood #Jesus #Confess #Submit #Yield #Willful #Belief #Truth #Not #Enough #Free #Entanglement
Originally posted 2017-10-14 17:54:00.
“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'” Luke 14:26-30 NASB. Are you able to finish the course that is set before you? Hebrews 12:1. You will be able to finish the course that is set before you, if you count the true cost, and the true value of the surpassing riches that God wants to provide you. “And raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:6-7 NASB.
Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down His life for His friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you.” John 15:13-14 NASB. Jesus is the good shepherd who laid down his life for His friends!Jesus said, “Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?” Luke 6:46 NASB. We are Jesus’ friends if we do what He says. Doing everything that He said is doing everything that He has commanded us.
How to know if you are born again and belong to God? Do you love to tell of Jesus and His Father’s love? Or do you love to tell the faults of others? Do you love your neighbor as yourself? Does doing the right thing, being a good witness, and sharing your faith seem like a duty or a pleasure? Do you have a nagging guilt that you should do something for God and others? Or do you have a burning desire to serve God and help others? Are you so happy that you are free? Or are you bound in slavery and guilt?
Certificate of Achievement: This acknowledges that [blank] is a servant of God because he/she loves Jesus. [Your Name Goes Here?] Signed by the Holy Spirit. Today’s Date? Please look at this certificate and ponder the importance of what it is trying to teach, it is really quite simple, yet powerful. This pictorially shows us how we can please God, and know if we are on the right track or not. It is not just trying to be cute, but to help all to see the truth.
Give your heart to God every day! Why not? He loves you! If you promise to love and serve Him, by His power, and ask Him to bless you in witnessing to others of His love, He will be happy with you! Even though we are cautioned by Jesus not to vow, because we cannot turn one hair of our head white or black, He is talking about any promises that we make in our own strength. The key here is that we cannot keep an oath that we made ‘by our head,’ or by ourselves. But we can vow by the mighty power of God!
“Therefore they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’” John 6:28-29 NASB. What shall we do that we may do the works of God? Believe in the one God sent, Jesus. Yes, we repeated it. When you want to really understand a text, it is often helpful to read it again, because the Bible explains itself. Both the question and the answer are both contained in this text. This is another way of stating righteousness by faith!
The inspiring testimony of Charles Fitch - how he came to receive the Holy Spirit and have a closer walk with God. He learned how God could make him more like Jesus:
It is now several years, since, after a season of spiritual gloom and sadness, I came fully to the conclusion, that there was something in the religion of Jesus Christ, to which I had been a stranger. I had seen myself to be a sinner before God, richly deserving His everlasting indignation. I had seen that God would be holy, just and good, and worthy of universal and eternal adoration, while punishing me with everlasting destruction from His presence and from the glory of His power. I had also seen in Christ a Saviour, who, after atoning for all mankind on the cross, was able, on the merits of that atonement, to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him; and on that Saviour I had cast myself as my only hope, and trusted in Him, and Him only, as my Deliverer from the wrath of God.
Peter said, “And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Acts 5:32 NASB. So obedience to God is the condition for receiving the Holy Spirit! There is a true Holy Spirit, and there is a counterfeit. How do you know which Holy Spirit is the real Holy Spirit? If you are obeying God in what He has revealed in the Bible, or if you want to obey Him, He will give you the help you need and the continued desire to obey Him in everything He has said.
The force of this is found in the fact that the Christian life, which is the result of faith, is progressive. The Christian life is a continual growth. Peter says: "Beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 3:17, 18. The only way to keep from falling from that which we have, is to grow. David says of the righteous man that "he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water." Ps. 1:3. This means continual growth.
