“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7
In the Apostle John’s first letter, he deals with the great and fundamentally important message of fellowship, or communion with God. As he is basically addressing every believer in the body of Christ, he lays the foundation for what he will say by speaking of the personal witness he saw in Christ. He begins with things as they were, are, and will be. With regard to the things which were, he writes concerning the Lord Jesus: we heard Him; we saw Him; we looked upon Him and our hands touched Him. Then John declares that Christ was “…the Word of life.” (1 Jn. 1:1) That which was the very essence of what John and the other apostles saw, was the LIFE of God which was manifested in Christ. It was the Eternal Life of God, even “…that which was with the Father and was manifested to us.” (v.2)
This introduction to John’s letter is very important, because one revelation will lead to another. The first revelation is that of WHO Christ is, and what He was before His ascension into heaven. Because of the truth of Christ, stated and revealed to all who will hear and believe, there comes an application to every life. The revelation of Christ was given to declare another one, and that is, that God has by the Gospel of Christ, called every individual to know, experience, and live in communion or fellowship with the Living Christ. This is first of all possible by the union that God the Father, by the Spirit, created between the believer and the Lord Jesus Christ at the moment of the new birth. This new creation, this new man, was created with a new capacity that the old man did not possess. Because of the indwelling Spirit in the heart, and the principle and law of sin having been broken, and power given to the soul to live by faith, the believer in Christ has been given a marvelous open door, and opportunity. And yet, it is more than that, for it is also a calling, a command, and a confirmation of God’s blessing, that one can live by the very Spirit of Christ, being led by Him, filled with Him. Because of this new and great salvation which Christ has provided, the believer is called upon to live in fellowship with Christ, walking in the light of His presence, knowing, as the Apostle Paul wrote, “…the power of His resurrection,” His life by the Spirit. Why then must we speak of the cleansing power of the blood of Christ at this point? Why is it so very important, even essential to know, if true fellowship with Christ is to be known? The reason has to do with light, the very light of Christ Himself.
When the believer comes to a saving knowledge of Christ, and receives cleansing from all of his sins, receiving also the Spirit of Christ to know His eternal life, he is faced with certain realities, the first of which is that the individual sinner is still a sinner, with a sin nature. John makes it clear from a conscience standpoint, that there can be no controversy between the truth in Christ, and our obedient obedience to it. The problem here is not with known sin which can be dealt with by confession of it to God. It is with all the other sins that a believer is not aware of. God has made provision for the forgiveness and cleansing for these sins by the power of the precious blood of Christ. It is as the believer, honestly and sincerely, seeks to walk with his whole heart in the light of Christ’s truth by the Spirit, and as he confesses known sin, that God cleanses him from ALL sin to know communion with God.
Dear Father, Make and keep us clean. In Jesus’ name, Amen.