Walking in Light

(from Lesson 11 – 1 John 1:6-7)

1 John 1:6 ^NASB “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and {yet} walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;

1 John 1:7 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.

Various claims were made by the teachers at that time: that they really weren’t sinners, that they didn’t sin, that the sin didn’t really have an impact on their relationship with God because if Christ has already paid the penalty for all of my sins then it really doesn’t matter what I do. So this, then, became a rationalism of excuse for continuing to sin in a licentious manner without ever having to honestly deal with the prohibitions of the Scriptures. This is set forth in several “if” clauses in the English: v. 6, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him”; v. 7, “If we walk in the light”; v.9, “If we confess”; v. 10, “If we say.” These are called hypothetical or conditional clauses. In English there is only one way to state and “if” clause. The “if” clause itself is called the protasis. Then there is the concluding clause, the “then” clause, and that is called the apodosis. The “if” clause expresses a condition or a supposition; the “then” clause expresses the results of the supposition.

The Greek language is much more precise in the way it expresses conditional clauses. It has four different ways and each expresses a different nuance. The first class condition indicates that the condition was more probable or likely—if, and assuming it is true. In the second class condition the “if” clause is not viewed as probable—if, and it is not true. The third class condition is the condition of a possibility—maybe it will, maybe it won’t; it could go either way. The fourth class condition is a wish—if it were so, I wish it were, but it is not. There are all kinds of shades of meaning that we can pack into “if” clauses, and what we have here, down through verse 10, are five third class conditions: maybe we do this; maybe we do not do this. These are options in the believer’s life.

“If we say…” The next question we have to ask exegetically is, who is the “we”? This is a first person plural pronoun. The “we” is I, John the apostle, secondarily, but it is not I and the audience, and it is not just anybody. It we take that “we” as anybody and make it “if anybody says that they have fellowship with Him and walk in the darkness, then they are a liar and don’t practice the truth.” That is what that would mean, and we could take that and say it was talking about unbelievers who aren’t saved. If the “we” were to refer to John and his readers, then it would indicate “if we (you and I) say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth,” and John might be using “we” to mean you. Then it could also be stretched to mean believer and unbeliever, and he would be saying then that if you claim to have fellowship to God and you are living a certain lifestyle in darkness and not practicing the truth then maybe you are not saved. There are those who do that. But once we understand that to be consistent the “we” here has to mean “I,” John first and foremost and the apostles as a group with him secondarily, and that is the meaning primarily, it can’t be applied to an unbeliever. It absolutely excludes believer versus unbeliever as the issue in 1st John.

More people get confused over this and end up in going in all kinds of strange directions in 1^st John because they want to make the tests that we will study in the epistle tests of whether or not we are saved or not. The implication of that is that if you are committing certain acts or not obeying Scripture in a certain way then maybe you aren’t really saved to begin with. This is one of the major planks in the position of what is called “Lordship salvation.” They interpret these to be tests of faith—how to know whether or not you are really saved. The problem with all of that is that is that you really don’t ever know that you are really saved, because what happens ten or twenty years from now if I start not doing these things or failing these “tests of faith” that are in 1^st John? So there is no real assurance of faith in what is called Lordship salvation, you don’t really ever know that you are saved.

1 John 1:6 ^NASB “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and {yet} walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” John is saying through the use of a third class condition here that it is possible even for him as an apostle to make a false claim with relationship to fellowship, and even as an apostle he cam walk in darkness. That is important because there are many who think that walking in darkness is tantamount to being an unbeliever. What we have just demonstrated by looking at the meaning of “we” is that if it means John then John admits that it is potential for him to walk in darkness. So walking in darkness, then, can’t be related to salvation but signifies something other than salvation. That affects verse 7.

1 John 1:7 ^NASB “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.” So the we and us all relate to the apostolic group. He is using themselves as an example. This tells us that this is not talking about believers versus unbelievers.

The doctrine of walking

1. The key word here is peripateo [peripatew] which means to walk. Figuratively the word is used for how one conducts oneself, to behave in a particular manner, or to live. Walk refers to a lifestyle. It emphasises that our life is lived one moment at a time, one decision at a times. Sometimes its metaphorical meaning may extend to the entire panorama of a person’s life, including thought life and overt action. Physically, walking is one of then best forms of exercise. Spiritual walking works all of the spiritual skills from confession of sin all the way through to inner happiness. It exercises the muscles of the spiritual life, it increases the circulation of doctrine in the soul, it improves the inhale and exhale of doctrine, it eliminates the waste of human viewpoint from the soul and replaces it with divine viewpoint, and it strengthens the soul through the construction of our soul fortress which protects and defends the soul from the outside pressure of adversity and prosperity. So walking, therefore, it a term that encapsulates everything related to spiritual life—our spiritual life and our spiritual growth.

2. Walking, then, is a crucial term to describe the characteristics of the believer’s life and the overall or the general mandate is to walk worthy. Ephesians 1:4 ^NASB “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” This isn’t legalism, it is responsibility. Colossians 1:10 ^NASB “so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please {Him} in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Notice that the worthy walk results in bearing fruit and increasing in the knowledge of God. We only know God by studying the Word. 1 Thessalonians 2:12 ^NASB “so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.” To break this down into categories, the first use of the word indicates walking in the sphere or a realm—e)n plus the dative of sphere or sometimes simply the dative of sphere or location. For example, in Romans 13:13 we are to walk in the day. In Ephesians 5:8 and 1 John 1:6, in the light, in the sphere of the light. We are to walk in newness of life, Romans 6:4; in Christ, Colossians 2:6. Ephesians 5:2 and 2 John 6, we are to walk in love. Ephesians 2:10, we are to walk in good works. Colossians 4:5, we are to walk in wisdom. 2 John 4, in truth.

3. The negatives: Ephesians 4:17, we are to walk not in the emptiness of our minds like the Gentiles. 2 Corinthians 4:2, we are not to walk in craftiness (deceitful cunning). Walking also involves living by means of something or action. This is indicated by the instrumental use dative of means. This emphasises the fact that we are to walk by means of the Holy Spirit, by means of His Word, by means of the illumination of the Holy Spirit. Then we are to walk according to a norm or a standard, and that norm or standard is expressed in God’s Word. Galatians 5:16 expresses the overall command to walk by means of the Holy Spirit. It is contrasted with walking by means of the flesh.

4. The basis for the believer’s walk is his new position in Jesus Christ. Romans 6:4. We are identified with Christ in His baptism so that we might walk in newness of life. That is the purpose for the believer’s life, to demonstrate the power of God in sanctification in phase two spirituality.

5. Another key verse says that a believer is to walk as a child of light because positionally he is already light. Ephesians 5:8 ^NASB “for you were formerly darkness [positional darkness: unbelievers], but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light.” When we trust Christ as saviour we are placed in Christ. This is positional light. Outside of Christ is positional darkness. Positional light and positional darkness are not the same as experiential light and experiential darkness. Paul says to the Ephesian believers: “Walk as children of Light.” If walking in light is the same as being in light, then he wouldn’t say that. When he tells them they are children of light he still has to tell them to walk as children of light. So what we see here is the reality that the believer can be light but not walk as light.

1 John 1:6 ^NASB “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and {yet} walk in the darkness [operate on the sin nature], we lie and do not practice the truth.” In contrast he says [7] “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.” So fellowship, then, is based on a certain type of lifestyle. As soon as that lifestyle if violated through sin that fellowship is broken. That last clause in v. 7 establishes the basis for cleansing: “and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” This is a reference to His substitutionary spiritual death on the cross.