True Fellowship – 1 John 1:5-10

Last week, we saw that the basis for fellowship is sound doctrine and faith in Christ. In 1 John 1:5-10, John tells Christians how to stay in fellowship with God.

Transition

In our text this evening, John contrasts the faithful character of God with the false claims of carnal Christians.

The Faithful Character of God

God is light (v.5)
1. God’s very nature is light. Light pictures holiness.
2. God’s light exposes hidden sins of darkness.
3. Light emphasizes God’s purity.
In God is NO darkness at all (v.5)
1. Darkness pictures unholiness and sin.
2. God is absolute pure light. He has no darkness in him at all. John uses a double negative of “NO” for emphasis.
3. Unbelievers live in darkness all the time. They love darkness rather than light (Jn 3:19).
4. God warns Christians to flee darkness because walking in darkness is a real potential temptation for believers.
  ☆ (Romans 13:12) “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.”
  ☆ (Ephesians 5:8-11) “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”
To walk in God’s light, we must stay near him.
1. Light is always brightest near its source. Light forms a natural circle around the source. To walk in the light, we must stay inside that circle of light.
2. It is impossible to walk in light and darkness at the same time.

The False Claims of Carnal Christians

ÑWhile false teachers may make these same claims, but John was not writing TO false teachers. He was warning Christians ABOUT false teachers. John uses the word “we” which includes himself and other Christians in these statements. Fellowship with God begins at salvation, but the Christian must stay in God’s light to maintain fellowship with God. For example he must abide in Christ (Jn 15:7); walk in the Spirit (Ga 5:16); walk as a child of light (Eph 5:8); and draw nigh to God (Jas 4:8). This is not working for salvation (Eph 2:8-9). It is not working to keep salvation (1Pe 1:3-5). It is working out our salvation – living it daily.
☆ (Philippians 2:12) “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
John addresses three false claims of carnal Christians.

“We have fellowship with God” v.6-7)
1. What would you say if someone asked you “Are you walking in fellowship with God?” We always want to think we are, but that is not always the case.
  1. Peter wrote in his second epistle that we are to add to our faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly love, and love. These qualities will make us fruitful. Then he said,
    ☆ (2 Peter 1:9) “But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”
  2. Note how Paul described his personal struggle with sin.
    ☆ (Romans 7:19) “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.”
  3. We may not doing anything wicked, but our hearts may not be as clean as they ought to be. We might have a bad attitude, bitter spirit, slack prayer life, mechanical Bible study, or a worldly lifestyle.
2. John tells us that if we claim to be in fellowship with God but are really walking in darkness (outside God’s light), we are lying to ourselves and not doing God’s truth. Earlier we read the truth about this in Romans 13:12.
  ☆ (Romans 13:12) “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.”
3. On the positive side (v.7), if we walk in the light as God is in the light, THEN two blessings will take place.
  1. We will have fellowship with God. We will enjoy his closeness. We will be in agreement with him (Amo 3:3).
  2. The blood of Christ will cleanse us from all sin. The closer we are to the light, the more of our sin we will see and the easier it will be for us to confess it and be cleansed.
“We have no sin” (v.8-9)
1. The idea here seems to be that of denying that our flesh still has a sin problem or denying any guilt of sin.
  1. Some people believe in sinless perfection. In other words, they say that true Christians never sin.
  2. Others have been carnal for so long that they are calloused to sin. They sin, but no longer feel badly about it. This may be an indication that they have never truly been saved. However, they could be true Christians but carnal like the Christians in Corinth.
  3. When we get in this state, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. Our thoughts are not true. God’s truth is not in our thoughts. We are not in the light but in darkness.
2. When the opposite is true (v.9) and we confess our sin instead of denying it, God offers cleansing. The Holy Spirit here reveals four facts about Christ’s response to a confessing Christian.
  1. He is faithful . . . (He can be trusted to forgive and cleanse as he said he would do).
  2. He is just . . . (He is righteous to forgive and cleanse because he paid sin’s judgment in full).
  3. He will forgive us our sins (He will send away the sin permanently).
  4. He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness (He will wash us clean from all taint of unrighteousness caused by the sin).
    ☆ Once sin is gone, fellowship with God can resume.
“We have not sinned” (v.10)
1. Here is a carnal Christian who disagrees with God about what is sin. Maybe the devil convinces us that, “Everyone does that. That cannot be sin.” Or we try to justify sin because it was only a thought not an action.
2. When God calls something wrong and we disagree and think it is not sin, we are really calling God a liar. We do not know the Bible as we should. We do not have his word in our heart as we should.
  ☆ (Psalm 119:11) “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

Conclusion

When we get out of fellowship with God, it is not His fault. He is light, holy, pure, and unchanging. He does not move. We move away from God’s light into the darkness of sin, then we falsely claim that we are in the light. We falsely claim that we have no sin or that we have not sinned. Until we deal with these false claims, we cannot walk in the light and have fellowship with God. If you are not walking in the light, denying it will only hurt yourself.

Song: Cleanse Me – 166
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True Fellowship
22 February 2015 pm – 1John 1:5-10 – 1John 15 – Scott Childs