1:7
So how should things be? If we truly know God then we too will walk in the light. Walk means to habitually do something, ie our way of life. John is not saying we will never sin, but sin will not be a way of life, sin will not be something we glory in, or seek to justify. There are echoes of John 3:19,20 in what John writes here. Those verses in John’s gospel are spoken of far less often than John 3:16, but they are vital to understanding the human condition. Men preferred the darkness.
When we do come into the light we have fellowship with one another. Man’s sinful condition leads to him becoming ever more isolated. When we come to Christ we find that we have fellowship with all sorts of people, we find we have something in common with people from all sorts of backgrounds.
But how can a sinful people know the light and live in the light? It is because we are cleansed by the blood of Christ.
1:8
The gnostics were light on sin. Indeed, you will find that most false teachings are light on sin. “Liberal Christianity” is very light on sin. They may well be big on someone else’s sin, but they will be light on their own sin. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us”. Any “gospel” that does not address the problem of my sin and your sin is no gospel at all, and does not come from God.
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