LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Light of Communion
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another…" (1 John 1:7).
The apostle John, in this letter, brings us a very necessary teaching for our Christian career. We were born again, we were forgiven by the blood of Jesus; we were justified by his death and resurrection. Now, by faith, we have been made righteous. God no longer calls us sinners, but holy and blameless (Col 1:22). Holy, just, but we are not yet perfect.
If regeneration immediately brought us to perfection, we would not need sanctification. "He who is holy, let him still be holy", the Lord taught us (Rev. 22:11). It is not possible to reach sanctification walking alone. A Christian who walks alone cannot grow in sanctification, because much of it is done in the light of fellowship.
How is this? John teaches us in his first letter, in verse 3, that our communion is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ of him. This is the necessary fellowship, but in verse 4 he tells us that it is completed in fellowship with one another, that is, with the Lord's church.
Verse 5 tells us that God is light. There is no darkness in him, there is nothing that is hidden in his presence. All things are naked and open before him (Heb. 4:13). If Christ is the head of the church, the purpose is that, like him, all his Body is light (Matt. 5:14). We are children of the light. God did not destine us for wrath, but for us to reach salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thes. 5:5, 9).
He qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light (Col. 1:12). Therefore, if we say that we have fellowship with him and we walk in darkness, we lie. Walking in the light here does not refer to holiness. If so, we would not need to be cleansed by the blood as verse 7 says. The light to which John refers is the light of the Word brought in communion with the saints, that is, the Word as light for the church of the Lord (Ps. 119:105). In his light we see light, the psalmist tells us (Ps. 36:9).
The light of the Word in communion with the church exposes our life. It exposes what is of our flesh; exposes the sins that are hidden from our eyes (Ps. 19:12). John refers to sins that are not deadly (1 John 5:14-17).
We cannot discern our own errors, nor judge ourselves; if we did this, we would not be judged (1 Cor. 10:31-32). Only the light of communion can do this, and it is in this communion with the church that the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ purifies us, cleanses us from all sin. This is the communion with the blood of which Paul speaks to us in Corinthians; of the cup of blessing at the table of the Lord (1 Cor. 10:16-21).
Sin separates us from God and automatically from communion, and the Lord does not want us to walk like this. It is by walking in the light and having fellowship with one another and by the fellowship with the blood that our sins are brought to light and are cleansed. How we need the light, the church and the blood of our Lord!