Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven- Matthew 5:16 NASB

Okay, so, true confession time: 

 I know (and believe with all my heart) that all Scripture is good, useful and instructive (1st Timothy 3:16). Consequently, I believe everyone should read the Bible, all of it, not just the parts that give us good feels. Nonetheless, I am human and sadly there are books of the Bible I tend to avoid for devotional reading. Some of them make sense. Numbers is kind of depressing as is most of Judges.  I tend to avoid them both. The minor prophets involve a lot of thinking, because you have to know (and in my case remember) a lot of biblical history in order to understand them. Leviticus is well, Leviticus.  No one really likes Leviticus. 

However, some of the books I tend to avoid make a lot less sense. I think some of it comes down to writing style. 1stJohn is one of the books I tend to avoid. The Apostle John was definitely one of Jesus’ besties. He was also a VERY wordy guy, and I tend to gravitate towards a more abbreviated style of writing. 

Nonetheless, I recently felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to spend some quality time in the book of 1st John.  It has been incredibly gratifying. This little book is packed with wisdom, DEEP theology and some warnings that are especially relevant to our time. 

John begins his letter by stating in a very lovely but wordy kind of a way that Jesus is “life”. This means anyone who is “in Jesus” (2nd Corinthians 5:17, Romans 6:11, Romans 6:23) will experience the earthly joy and honor of becoming partakers of God’s divine nature (2nd Peter 1:4) and a life of bliss and fellowship with God forever (1stCorinthians 2:9). Then John describes both Jesus and the Father as “light”. This means God is a being that has no darkness, evil or sin in Him. He describes our relationship to the God of light in this way:

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth- 1stJohn 1:5-7

 John makes it clear that a person can know, beyond a shadow of a doubt whether or not they are “in the light” or fumbling around in spiritual and moral darkness. Walking in the light means we are walking in holiness, love and truth. 

So, how do we know if we are walking in the light? There are four markers that clearly indicate a Christian is walking in the light and in fellowship with the God of light. They are:

Walking in the light means we love other Christians- 

John makes it clear that one direct measure of one’s spiritual maturity is their love for other Christians (1st John 2:9-11, John 13:34-35, John 15:11-13, Romans 12:10, Galatians 5:13). Unfortunately, many Christians either flat-out ignore this command and make a regular practice of publicly saying unkind things about fellow believers or they love other Christians in a manner that is not really scriptural.  Christian love should never devolve into a sappy sentimental kind of emotionalism that celebrates walking in sin or immaturity. Genuine Christian love receives people as they are but loves them enough to help them grow and transform into someone infinitely better and more holy (1st Corinthians 13, 1st Peter 2:2, 2nd Peter 1:3-11, Ephesians 4:17-32). Christian love is always all about wanting the moral and spiritual best for everyone. 

Walking in the light means we are real about who we are-  

A genuine believer in Jesus does not pretend to be perfect or without sin (1st John 1:8). Nor do they lecture others on the importance of transparency and holiness while they sin their faces off. Genuine Christians are real about their own struggles and never hide their sin. An individual who is walking in the light makes a regular practice of confessing their sin to God and to other Christians (Acts 19:17-19, James 5:16, 1st John 1:9).  

Walking in the light means we hate our own sin- 

Sin is one of the primary themes of 1st John. John’s aim is to answer the question: Can a born-again believer sin? His answer is a qualified “yes”. John is clear a Christian can sin, but he also makes it clear it’s abnormal for them to choose a life of sin and/or deceit (1st John 3:4-10). If a Christian sins, Jesus will advocate (help, root for, defend) for them and forgive their sin (1st John 1:7-10, John 2:1-2). HOWEVER, John also makes it clear that our eagerness (or lack of eagerness) to obey God’s commands is a powerful indicator of our salvation, or lack thereof (1st John 2:3-6).   

And finally, 

Walking in the light means we want light-  

According to the Apostle the Christian faith is a series of progressive moves towards more holiness, more righteousness and more truth. This means that if we are walking in the light, we will have a voracious appetite for even more light. Anyone who wants more light goes to great lengths to deal with the sin in their lives and love others with greater fervency all the time (1st John 4:7).