FRIDAY 3rd
1 John 1:7–10
‘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. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.’
This is the second time where John speaks of fellowship, and he enlarges on it by saying that fellowship happens when we walk in the light, that is in the true light, which has been revealed to us through the Lord Jesus Christ who is the light of the world.
In our previous devotion, I used the illustration of the potato riddle, and I want to expand on it by making it clear that although we may be genuine in our faith and will survive life without falling through the riddle, it doesn’t mean that we are yet perfect. We still battle with the old nature, we still struggle with temptation, but the difference is that while on the riddle of life, we should be seeking all we can feasibly do to live as Christlike as we possibly can. We know the Scriptures that tell us to put off or put to death and in its place to put on or to walk in the way of the Spirit. (For example read Colossians 3) But if we are honest we will all agree that we still have struggles. Even Paul did as we read in Romans 7:15-20 ‘For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.’
John helps us in our struggles by reminding us that if we are walking in genuine fellowship with one another (which as we have already seen links us to fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ v3) the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. Now I want to link this to what John says a few verses later, v9 ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’.
Going back to the ‘riddle’, as we find ourselves on the riddle of life, the ones that survive and get through to the end are those who 1) continue in genuine fellowship 2) do all they can by the help of the Holy Spirit to live and walk by the Spirit 3) and who on realising they may have sinned will willingly confess the sin and know ongoing cleansing. The ones who fall through the riddle will be those who 1) fail to continue in genuine fellowship (with other believers and with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ 2) resist the prompting and leading of the Holy Spirit but rather instead to continue in the ways of the flesh (3 who sin and willingly continue in the sin rather than coming and confessing it and being set free from it.
May God help each one of us to be constant in our faith and fellowship, to seek the mind of the Spirit rather than to walk in the ways of the flesh, may we truly know what it is to be walking in the light, by truly being born again by the Spirit of God and by keeping in step with the Spirit.