How Can We “Walk In The Light”…..

1 John 1:5-10 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we 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 his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say 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 we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. [ESV]

1 John is a great book. If you have not read it or not read it recently I suggest that you do. In this post I want to discuss how we are able to walk in the light. Do we simply decide one day that we want to start walking in the light? Are there any requirements we must meet before we begin to walk in the light? If these seem like “loaded” questions they are so please don’t hold that against me.

First, lets define what “walking in the light” means. We are given the context in verse 5 where we are told that God is light. We must also know that when we see “walking” in the Bible, it often is a metaphor for how we live our day-to-day lives. With these things in mind it becomes clear what “walking in the light” means. It means to be living daily in accordance to God’s commands. Simple enough, right? Now that we know what “walking in the light” means we must turn our attention to how we can actually live according to God’s commands. This is not a small task.

The first thing is that we must come to the realization that we are NOT already “walking in the light”. This happens when we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and we see that we have a need for a Savior. We all (for the most part) have a belief that we are basically good people but the truth, as is taught to us in the Bible, is that we are actually wicked sinful people who deserve to spend eternity separated from God in Hell. Regeneration is an act of the Holy Spirit and we have no part in it.  In regeneration, God changes us from being spiritually dead to being spiritually alive.  He changes our heart of stone to a heart of flesh.

Once we recognize our need for a Savior we are willing to listen and respond to the Gospel.  We must hear and respond to the Gospel before we can “walk in the light”.  When we respond to the Gospel, by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God adopts us into His family.  We become joint heirs with Jesus.  We must be adopted into His family before we can “walk in the light”.  As adopted children, we then become responsible to live under the authority of our heavenly Father.  This means following His commands.  When we follow His commands in our day to day lives we are “walking in the light”.  Verse 7 gives us the benefits of “walking in the light”.  We will have fellowship with one another and will be cleansed by the blood of Christ.  Is that not AWESOME?

Are you “walking in the light”?

Chapter 32: The Last Judgement

Source: 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith

Chapter 32
THE LAST JUDGMENT

32.1 God has appointed a day when he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom the Father has given all power and judgment.¹ On that day, not only the apostate angels will be judged,² but also all people who have lived on the earth. They will appear before Christ’s judgment throne³ to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds, and to receive [judgment] according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.⁴

(1) Joh 5:22,27; Act 17:31
(2) 1Co 6:3; Jude 1:6
(3) Mat 16:27; 25:31-46; Act 17:30-31; Rom 2:6-16; 2Th 1:5-10; 2Pe 3:1-13; Rev 20:11-15
(4) 2Co 5:10; 1Co 4:5; Mat 12:36

32.2 God’s purpose in appointing this day is to show forth the glory of his mercy in the eternal salvation of the elect, and his justice in the eternal damnation of the reprobate who are wicked and disobedient.¹ Then the righteous will inherit eternal life and receive fullness of joy and glory with eternal reward in the presence of the Lord. But the wicked, who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, will be banished to eternal torment, and be punished with eternal destruction, shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power.²

(1) Rom 9:22-23
(2) Mat 18:8; 25:41,46; 2Th 1:9; Heb 6:2; Jude 1:6; Rev 14:10-11; Luk 3:17; Mar 9:43,48; Mat 3:12; 5:26; 13:41-42; 24:51; 25:30

32.3 Christ wants us to be firmly persuaded that there will be a day of judgment, both to deter everyone from sin,¹ and to give greater comfort to the godly in their adversity.² But he has kept the date a secret, so that people may shake off all self-confidence and always be watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will come.³ So they should always be prepared to say, ‘Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!’⁴ Amen.

(1) 2Co 5:10-11
(2) 2Th 1:5-7
(3) Mar 13:35-37; Luk 12:35-40
(4) Rev 22:20