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.
1 John 1:5-7
We are faced with many dichotomies: Good & Evil, Right & Wrong, White & Black…and John adds one to his letter in this scripture: Light & Dark. He likely uses this illustration because our senses can easily tell the difference in the natural world; we can quickly ascertain when it is light and when it is dark. In a world where we have trouble discerning the difference between good and evil (see Isaiah 5:20), John is going to help us know what is light (of God) and what is darkness (of the enemy) because we cannot trust that the things of this world won’t try to confuse or deceive us. John tells us that to have fellowship with God is to walk in the light, as He is in the light. But to walk in darkness is to have no fellowship with Him. We cannot walk in darkness and claim to have fellowship with either the “Father of lights” (James 1:17) or the “Light of the World” (John 8:12).
Jesus specifically teaches what John is explaining in this passage in John 3:19-21.
“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
True light clearly exposes all things; those who have something to hide do so in darkness. For those who wish to be refined, cleansed, exposed and transformed into the likeness of Jesus, they will be drawn to the light and gladly step into it. If one is not wanting to step into the light, they must consider what they still have to conceal, especially if they claim to have fellowship with Jesus.
As we do additional study in scripture we will see a recurring theme in the Gospel of John is likening Jesus to light, and in all the gospels Jesus uses the example of light to teach His disciples. Consider these verses:
John 1:4-9, John 5:34-36, John 8:12, John 9:5, John 11:9, John 12:35-36, John 12:44-46 also in Luke 8:16-17, Luke 11:33-36, Mark 4:21-23, Matthew 5:14-16, Matthew 6:22-23
It is imperative that we discover what it means to be in the light as Jesus and John tried to convey in their teachings as we seek to follow Jesus and walk rightly with Him.