I found a scripture that after prayer, study and knowing the direction God called me to [ministry] is one that encompasses a foundation I can build upon. Y’all there’s so much to do to be a Christian. I mean the list is long. Like be obedient to God’s Word. And………….lol. If you do that, that’s really all you need to do.
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him. 6 If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. 7 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. 8 If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous 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.
I John 1:5-10 CSB
Let’s learn some background into who wrote this book and why.
John is the apostle of intimacy. John is very concerned with our fellowship-that’s our closeness with the Lord. In I John he speaks of obedience, walking with God in righteousness, submission to the truth and functioning together in love as being key elements of intimacy with God. Pretty much what we should do in our personal lives which will spill over into our public lives. In all I-III John (all 3 epistles) John seeks to promote intimacy with God as well as other believers. In I John chapter 1 John lays out fellowship with God by walking in the light. We will be obedient to God’s Word, live in the light, speak the truth and create an intimate relationship with God.
The function of light is to reveal things as they truly are, to expose what’s right there in our faces. If you want God’s personal presence and activity in your life, you must be willing to allow his light to expose your sinful thoughts, attitudes, speech, and actions that are inconsistent with his character. Because his character should become our character after we accepted Him as our Lord and Savior.
Fellowship with God is determined by our walk not by our talk. Only as we live fully exposed to the truth of God is the ongoing cleansing work of the blood of Jesus activated to reveal, cleanse, and empower us to address the sin that has been exposed. Then fellowship with God is maintained and expanded. We won’t see or feel God’s transformation within us if we refuse to be open, honest, transparent and vulnerable with God about what we’ve done.
Failure to do this keeps God’s work dormant in the life of the Believer. When we confess our sins to God, we are agreeing with what God’s Word reveals about us. We are admitting that what the light exposes is not just a mistake, a bad habit or mere product of our upbringing. It’s sin. This allows forgiveness and cleansing power to flow. To deny your sin is to call God a liar and forfeit the hope of his Word doing its transforming work in your life. Repenting (changing our minds about sin) is something we have to do so the cleansing power of God is felt within. You know some of the things you’ve done or are doing is just wrong. Admit it, then stop doing it and accept what God tells you what’s going to happen because you did it. It’s not fun but it’s the process to get to walk in the light with Him, live in His truth and have that intimate relationship that will give you a sense of belonging and comfortability to live your life regardless of what others say, think or do to you.
We don’t want to follow anyone blindly or off a cliff. Yet, following God can feel like that at times. Let’s be honest here. So, knowing that the light will reveal all truths should give us comfort as we choose to accept a life of obedience to God. We’re choosing obedience because we know it will strip us of unnecessary weight to carry. It will allow us to be intimate with God because we have nothing to hide or be ashamed of. It will help us see ourselves, how God sees us, not how the world sees us. The light reveals what we need to face, confront, let go of and leave behind. Just like any relationship; vulnerability, openness, transparency and honesty will get you further.
I John 1:5-10 is the foundation to create intimacy between you and God as well as you and other believers. The foundation to help free you from hiding in the darkness. The foundation to move towards living a life of obedience.
Being obedient to God’s word initially may sound hard, boring or useless. But from someone who is a living testimony to God’s transformative work, I can attest that living in obedience after being exposed by the light is one of the most freeing experiences you’ll ever go through. And one that will make you feel comfortable being exactly who God has created and called you to be.
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