1 John 1:1–10 (NKJV)
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. 5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
John writes so that our joy may be full. The Word of life—the eternal Son of God who was from the beginning—revealed Himself by becoming flesh. The apostles heard His words. They saw Him with their eyes and touched Him with their hands, witnessing to the reality of His incarnation. The eternal Son of God became flesh to give us life. The life of Christ is received by believing it and that belief brings joy because we have fellowship with the Father and the Son through faith in the apostles’ doctrine. Being in fellowship with the Father means that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” and we look forward to eternal life. No one can take this joy from us.
But that joy is forfeited by walking in darkness. If we return to our former sins, or say that we have no sin in us, we deceive ourselves and the truth isn’t in us. The truth is that we sin each day because we have sin in our flesh. If we don’t cut off the indwelling sin when it tempts us, but take pleasure in it and consent to it, we sin. Instead of minimizing and rationalizing our sins and the sin in our flesh, we are to confess our sins to God our Father and by return to the Word of Life. The apostle reminds us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Walking in the light means confessing our sins and believing God’s promise of forgiveness and cleansing. Each time we confess our sins to God we hear the words of Jesus from Matthew 9:2, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” God’s forgiveness restores our joy and motivates us to love God, serve our neighbor, and abstain from sin.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, grant us grace to recognize the sin in our flesh, battle against it, and if we consent to it, bring us quickly to repentance and faith. Amen.
