This week we’re studying 1 John 1:7-9, and we’re looking at what it means to walk in the light in Scripture. We know that this is an important aspect of our Christian walk because John tells us that it was written “so that [the apostles’ or the saints’] joy may be made complete” (1 John 1:4). Let’s dive into these verses a little more and see if we can pinpoint why they’re so instrumental. We’ll also uncover what exactly they instruct us to do.
When receiving instruction, it often helps to begin with definitions. Otherwise, we may not do what we’re supposed to. Without a clear understanding of the words used, we may miss the mark entirely.
Walking in the Light
The first instruction given in these verses is to walk. It can be easy to skip a word like this and take it for granted. We aren’t just talking about taking an evening stroll here. The Greek peripateótranslates literally to “walk” but also implies, as our own use of the word may also imply, to live. It means to regulate one’s life or conduct oneself, it is “equivalent to to frequent or stay in” 1. The call to action here is this: that we are to live in the light.
But that brings us to the next question. What is the light? And what does it have to say about how we’re to live, and to walk? The Greek phós conveys more heavenly meaning. According to Strong’s Concordance, this word highlights the results of light, or “what it manifests,” specifically alluding to “the manifestation of God’s self-existent life, divine illumination to reveal and impart life, through Christ”2.
Thankfully, John shed some additional light on this. In 1 John he says that “God is Light,” and that “in Him there is no darkness at all” (v 5). These verses are telling us, quite literally and very simply, to walk in the Lord. Walk in His light. Walk in His righteousness.
Fellowship With One Another
The next thing we must ponder is the question of fellowship. 1 John 1:7 says, “but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another” (emphasis mine). So what is fellowship? The Greek is koinōnian. It means community, contribution, literally, it means partnership3. The key here, I think, is not to define fellowship, but to define one another. With whom do we have fellowship, if indeed we walk in the Light as John instructs?
Of course our automatic assumption concludes that our fellowship is with, well, one another. Our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Our church family, and our body of believers. But further context from our passage gives us more. Earlier in this chapter, John tells us that he proclaims this message to us in order that we also “may have fellowship with [the body of believers]; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).
Faith = Salvation = Works
Don’t confuse this for an act of works that must be done in order to have fellowship with Christ. That’s not how grace works. Remember, light, or phos, is equally the source of the light and the result of light or what the light manifests. If we have fellowship with God our Father and with His Son, we will walk in the light. Our words and deeds are nothing more than an overflow of that which exists in our hearts. If we are saved, our lives will bear fruit of righteousness. We will walk in the light. This is further exemplified later in 1 John. In chapter 2, John says, “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (v. 4).
The Blood of Jesus His Son
A couple of things stand out upon reading the following part of this verse. Remember that it’s easy to miss important truths when they’re intertwined with the familiar. Let’s go back to the beginning. 1 John 1:7 says, “but 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.” And let’s first break it down.
Blood in this verse, the Greek haima refers not only to blook, but particularly to the shedding of blood 4. In other words, it’s a direct call to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. The word for Son is the Greek huios, which refers both to the character of a person, as a person “sharing the same nature as their Father,” and also to their legal rights as a child, as to an inheritance 5. This single statement, the blood of Jesus His Son says so much already. First it identifies Jesus as a “blood” relative of God, just as much as it identifies Him as the legal heir to God’s throne and kingdom (which would be us). It also identifies Christ’s character as resembling God’s character in nature. This single phrase encompasses everything that’s most important about what we know about Jesus.
Cleanses Us From All Sin
As for His sacrifice, His blood, is cleanses us from all sin. The Greek for cleanse is katharizó, literally, ceremonially, or spiritually to make clean or pure, or to remove any “intermingling of filth” 6. It says that His sacrifice removes all, or pases, every, each all, the whole, “every kind of” sin 7.
Here’s the key, though. Notice that this verse isn’t speaking in past tense, or in future tense. It’s speaking actively in the present, in the here and now. It’s continual, and ongoing. We must choose, continually, every day, to walk in the Light of God’s righteousness and in His will for us. And as we do so we are continually having fellowship with God the Father, and with His Son, and with one another within the body of Christ (His Church). Most importantly, His sacrifice, which saved us (past tense), once and for all, continually cleanses us, every day removing sin from within us and from our lives, sanctifying us and “[perfecting us] until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).
All Have Sinned, All Have Sin
The text continues to say that “if we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” What a powerful truth. And we know that the rest of Scripture agrees, that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But this takes it even a step further. 1 John 1:8 says that to say that we don’t have sin is to deceive, or planao, wander or go astray, almost always referring to “the sin of roaming”8. John says that it means the truth, aletheia, meaning divine truth or reality, is not in us 9. To say we have no sin is more than just telling a lie, to ourselves or to God. It means that we are not living in reality. We’re not living in God’s kingdom, which is Truth.
But God is Faithful and Righteous
The next verse, however, gives us the answer. It gives us hope. “If we confess our sins,” John says, “He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Something I’ve worked hard to instill in my children, even before I was saved, was honesty. If they do something wrong, they know they’ll be punished. But if they confess to me, the punishment will be much less severe than if they lie, or deceive. Because nobody can right a wrong or begin improving as a person until they first admit their wrongs.
God doesn’t promise not to discipline us for our sins. But once we confess, we are forgiven, here the Greek aphiemi, meaning also release or let go10, as in to let go or release our sins, or to release us from our sins. The verse continues that God is “faithful and righteous,” or trustworthy and holy11, “to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, emphasis mine). He doesn’t just forgive us and walk away. He releases us from our sin, and continually works to cleanse us, conforming us into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).
Don’t Forget
Remember that this is an on-going, life-long process called sanctification (2 Thessalonians 2:13). This is the process by which God, through the Holy Spirit, and perhaps with some discipline wherever necessary, molds us into the image of His Son. As we read His word and surround ourselves with His body of believers, we learn to “put off [the] old self…and to be renewed in the spirit of [our] minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24, ESV, emphasis mine).
References
1 Bible Hub, Strong’s Greek: 4043. περιπατέω (peripateó) (https://biblehub.com/greek/strongs_4043.htm)
2 Bible Hub, Strong’s Greek: 5457. phós(https://biblehub.com/greek/5457.htm)
3 Bible Hub, Strong’s Greek: 2842. koinónia (https://biblehub.com/greek/2842.htm)
4 Bible Hub, Strong’s Greek: 129. haima (https://biblehub.com/greek/129.htm)
5 Bible Hub, Strong’s Greek: 5207. huios(https://biblehub.com/greek/5207.htm)
6 Bible Hub, Strong’s Greek: 2511. katharizó (https://biblehub.com/greek/2511.htm)
7 Bible Hub, Strong’s Greek: 3956. pas (https://biblehub.com/greek/3956.htm)
8 Bible Hub, Strong’s Greek: 4105. planaó (https://biblehub.com/greek/4105.htm)
9 Bible Hub, Strong’s Greek: 225. alétheia (https://biblehub.com/greek/225.htm)
10 Bible Hub, Strong’s Greek 863: aphiémi (https://biblehub.com/greek/863.htm)
11 Bible Hub, 1 John 1:9 (https://biblehub.com/1_john/1-9.htm)
Emily is a Christian mother and blogger who lives in sunny Florida with her three children. She works full-time setting appointments at a home remodeling company and in her scarce free time she enjoys serving her fellow brothers and sisters in Christ however possible, and spending as much time in prayer, Bible reading and studying, and fellowship as possible. As a recovering addict, she has a heart for addiction ministry, and for creating things so she can give back to those who have need.