Sermon Outline: 1 John 1:5-10

1^st John 1:5-10

Walking in the Light with Jesus, pt.2

Pastor Jason Stewart 

I.      Introduction: 

   In this study we will see how what we looked at last time, “God is light”, applies to our lives, and changes our character. We will see that when a person accepts God’s invitation to enter into His unapproachable (1 Timothy 6:16), and marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9) through faith in Jesus, that person will naturally begin having a dramatic character change, due to being in relationship with God in His marvelous light.

II.     Revelation: What is this text saying

a.    Fellowship/a Relationship with God (1:6)

   To have fellowship with God means that we must have a relationship with God. Fellowship is “koinonia”, which means to partake together, to share “in common.” It is a partnership that both parties make a committed contribution to the relationship. It refers to close mutual relations and involvement with another. In order to have a relationship with God we must have “fellowship with Him. Which again, means that we share things “in common” with Him. 
   The Bible points out to us that the way we can share things in common with God, is by walking and thinking as He walks and thinks. In simpler terms, as we are in fellowship with Him, we are to imitate all that we hear and see when we are in His light.  
   In the remainder of this study, we will see that there are 3 simple steps that we can begin taking according to this text, that will enable us to experience a right relationship with God.

III.   Application: When we are Walking in the Light with Jesus

a.    We will PRACTICE the Truth (1:6)

   The Christian faith is much more than just “believing” the truth, it is a belief in the truth that leads to “practicing the truth.” The Christian faith is not simply a Religion one can believe in, in order to be in a right relationship with God. The Christian faith is a Religion that one must practice in order to be in a right relationship with God.

   The reason we must practice the truth, is because God is the “God of truth” (Psalm 31:5). Therefore we must serve God in truth (Psalm 33:4).

   To “practice” the truth means that we live our lives in accordance with the truth. Both our beliefs and our actions. According to (1 John 1:6), if we walk in darkness in our beliefs or in our actions, we are only lying to ourselves about the reality of our relationship with God.

   
Be sure to read Have you ever had an American Idol moment before? post which helps drive home this point. 

And so the first step that God wants you to take is to be a person who “Practices the Truth.”

b.    We will REMAIN in the Light (1:7)

   Walking in the light with Jesus really entails 3 key areas of our lives, which cannot be separated from one another if we are going to REMAIN in the light with Him.

1)    Living Pure and Holy by imitating Jesus (1 John 3:3)

2)    Living with Right Beliefs (1 John 5:10)

3)    Living with Right Love for others (1 John 3:18-19)

   Just as the Sun changes the condition of our skin tone when we are in the Sun without protection, so too does walking in God’s “Marvelous Light” with Jesus change the condition of our lives.

See The importance of getting Burned Illustration that helps drive home this point.

   The same principle that applies when we enter into a dark room and turn the light on, applies to us when we walk in the light with Jesus. When you turn on the light in a room the darkness flees because it is impossible for it to remain in the presence of light, and the same is true with us when we are in a right relationship with God. By being in God’s light, He removes the darkness from our lives. This picture that I have painted here also implies that we will not walk in darkness, or have hidden sins, falsehoods, or deceptions that rule our lives.

c.     We will CONFESS our Sins (1:9)

   When we wander away from the light, and back into darkness, we can confess our sins to God and return. In other words, when we begin wandering away from the light, God has given us a way to remain in the light with Jesus, even though we sin. The way that we remain in the light with Jesus is by confessing our sins to God. We must confess our sins initially to receive salvation. Once we are saved, we must continue to confess our sins in order to maintain fellowship with God.

   When we are practicing the truth by confessing our sins, and walking in the light, it will result in an ongoing and progressive cleansing of sin. So many times when we think of being forgiven for our sins, we think of it as our “past sins” only. But that is not what the Bible is saying here. The word “cleanses” (1:7) is a Greek verb in the present tense, not the past. He who has the power to cleanse us from all of our past sin, certainly has the power to keep us cleansed from all of our current sin, and future sin. We will still sin as Christians, but even though we are sinning, because we are confessing our sins and bearing fruit of a repentant heart by walking in the light, we will have an ongoing, unstoppable, fountain of sin cleansing blood, flowing through our lives each and every day, that continually cleanses us from all of our past, present, and future sins. 
   It is as if we have been placed in a fountain by God that is filled with the precious blood of Jesus. As Francis Ridley Havergal pointed out, we are in "a continual present, always a present tense, not a present which the next moment becomes a past. It goes on cleansing, and I have no words to tell how my heart rejoices in this. Not a coming to be cleansed in the fountain only, but a REMAINING in the fountain, so that it may and can GO ON CLEANSING."

IV.  Conclusion: When we are Walking in the Light with Jesus

   We have been looking at the importance of being in fellowship with God, and how in order to be in fellowship with Him, we must share things in common with God, namely His holiness and love. We have to walk in the light with Jesus, practice the truth, and continue confessing our sins to God when we blow it.

   None of us are perfect, and none of us have everything figured out yet. But the thing that we can know is that the more time we spend walking in the light with Jesus, the more that the darkness of our sin nature that dwells in us will be removed from our lives. If we could just stay in the sunlight all day, we would never have to see darkness. In the spiritual world, God is the light, and the more we stay in His presence the less we will have to face the darkness, that lurks deep within us, hiding in our sin nature.

   May this week be a week where we strive to “walk in the Light with Jesus”, so that God can use our lives to “shine so bright before the world, that they may see our good works, and then we can give all the glory to God.”