1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another… You perceive in the text that the Christian is spoken of as a man who is in the light; but there is something more said of him than this. He is practically in the light, "if we walk in the light." He walks in the light of faith, in another path than that which is trodden by men who have nothing but the light of sense. He sees Him who is invisible, and the sight of the invisible God operates upon his soul; he looks into eternity, he marks the dread reward of sin, and the blessed gift of God to those who trust in Jesus, and eternal realities have an effect upon his whole manner and conversation: hence he is a man in the light, walking in that light. There is a very strong description given here — "If we walk in the light as He is in the light." When a schoolmaster writes the copy at the head of the page, he does not expect that the boy will come up to the copy; but then if the copy be not a perfect one, it is not fit to be imitated by a child; and so our God gives us Himself as the pattern and copy, "Be ye imitators of God as dear children," for nothing short of Himself would be a worthy model. But what does it mean, that the Christian is to walk in the light as God is in the light? We conceive it to import likeness, but not degree. We are as truly in the light, we are as heartily in the light, we are as sincerely in the light, though we cannot be there in the same degree. Having thus briefly sketched the character of the genuine Christian, observe that he is the possessor of two privileges; the first is, fellowship with God. "We have fellowship one with another"; and the second is, complete cleansing from sin — "and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." The first privilege we will have but a word upon; it is fellowship with God. He opens His heart to us and we open our heart to Him; we become friends; we are bound and knit together, so that being made partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world through lust, we live like Enoch, having our conversation above the skies. I. The first thing that struck me was THE GREATNESS of everything in the text. To what a magnificent scale everything is drawn. 1. Think how great the sin of God's people is! 2. Then observe the greatness of the atonement offered. It must be no man, merely; it must be the God-man mediator, the fellow of Jehovah, co-equal and co-eternal with Him, who must bear the bitterness of Divine wrath which was due to sin. 3. Think again: we have here great love which provided such a sacrifice. II. The next thing which sparkles in the text, is its SIMPLE SOLITARINESS, "We have fellowship one with another"; and then it is added, as a gloriously simple statement, "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1. Observe, here is nothing said about rites and ceremonies or about Christian experience as a means of cleansing. 2. Observe, again, that in the verse there is no hint given of any emotions, feelings, or attainments, as cooperating with the blood to take away sin. The blood is the alone atonement, the blood without any mixture of aught beside, completes and finishes the work, "For ye are complete in Him." III. A third brilliant flashes in the light, viz., THE COMPLETENESS of the cleansing. "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" — not from some sin, but "from all sin." IV. The next gem that studs the text is the thought of PRESENTNESS. "Cleanseth," says the text, not "shall cleanse." The moment a sinner trusts Jesus, that sinner is as fully forgiven as he will be when the light of the glory of God shall shine upon his resurrection countenance. V. Now, in the fifth place, the text presents to us very blessedly the thought of CERTAINTY. It is not "perhaps the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from sin," the text speaks of it as a fact not to be disputed — it does do so. VI. The sixth gem which adorns the text is the DIVINITY of it. Does it not strike you that the verse is written in a God-like style? God seems to put away His pearls as if they were but common pebbles. "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" — as if it were as much a matter of everyday work as for a man to wash his hands. VI. In the last place, just a hint upon the WISDOM of the text. I cannot see sin pardoned by the substitutionary atonement of the Lord Jesus, without dedicating myself to the praise and glory of the great God of redeeming love. If God had devised a scheme by which sin could be pardoned, and yet the sinner live to himself, I do not know that the world or the man would be advantaged. Now henceforth at the foot of the Cross the bands which bound our soul to earth are loosened. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. |
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