WALKING IN THE LIGHT



"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.” -I John 1:7 [KJV]


Is the apostle John saying here that our fellowship with God is based on our conduct of life? That all depends on what is meant by “if we walk in the light.” First, stop and think about it, could we as sinners ever have fellowship with the thrice holy God on the basis of our conduct here in this world? Is not sin ever present in us? Is not everything about us in ourselves yet polluted with sin? Absolutely! So what is it to “walk in the light?” I believe it is to walk by faith in Christ. To trust Christ alone as He is revealed in the light of the truth. It is to believe the gospel that reveals God in His grace and shows the one way He can meet sinners in mercy.
I say that because it also says, “as He is in the light.” Light is often used to describe truth, the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. He is the Light. He is the One in whom God and sinners meet. Only in Christ and only through His sacrificial death for sin can God meet a sinner and a sinner meet God and live. Outside of the Lord Jesus all is darkness and death to us. But not only do we have fellowship with God, it is in the knowledge of Christ crucified believed in the heart that we experience that continual cleansing of our conscience! It is “in the light” of Christ, the light of the truth concerning Him and His death for our sins that we enjoy the effects of that finished work as the Spirit of God applies it to our consciences.
We also are said to “walk in the Spirit.” Christ said the Spirit would take the things concerning Him and show them to us. We fellowship with God and with the people of God on the basis of His substitutionary sacrifice. We both meet God and are in agreement with God in the crucified Savior! There are a number of references in the New Testament where the word “walk” does have to do with our conduct of life but this “walk” is our walk by faith and in truth. The truth of the gospel of His free grace in Christ goes like the pillar of fire above us and lights our way. It is the way in which we, like Enoch of old, walk with God and enjoy fellowship with Him.


-Gospel report by preacher Gary Shepard
Sovereign Grace Baptist church of Jacksonville, North Carolina USA

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