Walking in the Light
by David Silvester
Just before this verse, the ageing Apostle John is speaking about the dangers of saying we are walking in light yet, in reality, we are walking in darkness.
Before we come to Christ, we walk in the ways of this world, the ways of sin and darkness. But as we come to Christ, we become conscious of our sin, and repent of it. That is when we immediately receive the Father’s forgiveness.
When we experience forgiveness, we are brought into that condition where we are able to walk in "fellowship" with God. This speaks of the wonderful relationship Jesus had with His Father, and God desires it to be our ongoing experience as well.
Nevertheless, we also know that even though we have been forgiven, there is a natural desire to drift back into some of the old sinful practices. This is where God, by His Holy Spirit convicts us of the danger of doing such things and God prompts us, to keep "walking in the light" of all that He has given us through that forgiveness.
The beauty of this is that, as we continue to "walk in the light" of our salvation, and live in the enjoyment of God’s forgiveness, "the blood of Jesus His Son is actively cleansing us and purifying us from all unrighteousness".
God has provided all we need to keep us "cleansed" in order that we remain "in the light", yet the old Apostle was fully aware of the fact that despite this, we can all, sadly, fall into sin again. This is why he then says "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (v.9).
What a wonderfully gracious and merciful God we have, who has provided for such contingencies!
Prayer: O Lord God, thank You for Your grace and mercy to me, and for providing complete forgiveness and cleansing of my sin. Please keep me sensitive to Your Holy Spirit’s activity in warning me of the dangers of falling into any of my old sinful ways of life. I pray this in Jesus’ Name.
David Silvester is married and has a son, two daughters and eight grandchildren. He trained as a production engineer. He then moved on to become a lecturer of engineering craft skills before being called of God in his early fifties to become a pastor of a Baptist church. He says that,"having previously experienced an amazing healing on a day others expected me to die, it came as no surprise that God directed me and my wife, Margaret, to become involved with Ellel Ministries."
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