FELLOWSHIPPING WITH YAHWEH ORWALKING IN HIS LIGHT
I John 1:5 - 2:11
As taught by Dave Lindstrom
I. What moment by moment fellowship looks like in the life of a believer (I John 1:5 - 2:2).
A. Fellowship involves walking in the light which includes walking in the truth (I John 1:5-7).
1. God (Yahweh) is light.
a. The apostle John’s use of light comes from an understanding of David and Isaiah’s use of light (Ps. 27:1, 36:9; Isa. 8:19 - 9:7, 59:20 - 60:3; John 1:4,5; 8:12; 12:35).
b. The primary meaning of light in John’s writings is truth or revelational truth from Yahweh. Some secondary meanings can be splendor, glory, and moral purity.
2. In Yahweh our God, “darkness is not in Him - none” (Greek translation). He is not a mixture of light and darkness as some heretical groups assert.
3. A believer can be in or out of fellowship with His God Yahweh based on his/her walk in the light and/or walk in the truth (verses 6,7; 2 John 4; 3 John 3,4).
B. Believers still sin while living out their Christian lives in their mortal bodies (I John 1:8).
1. However, if believers keep “the truth in them” they will sin less. The apostle Paul would call this “walking in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16) or “renewing the mind” (Rom. 12:2).
2. Some Christian groups have erred on this point.
C. Believers should regularly confess their sins and in so doing believe that their fellowship with Yahweh is fully restored (I John 1:9 - 2:2).
1. To confess in the Greek is “homologeo” which means to say the same thing. We acknowledge the same thing our Father Yahweh already knows.
2. Yahweh’s justice is completely satisfied (propitiated) by the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ. You do not need to add your own penance to it! Please don’t!
II. A life lived in moment by moment fellowship with Yahweh grows in deeper knowledge of God and mature love (I John 2:3-11).
A. Fellowship with Yahweh is demonstrated by being obedient to His word (vs 3-6).
1. Verse 3 should read, “And by these things (I John 1:5 - 2:2) we now know (present tense) that we have come to know (perfect tense) Him, if we keep His commands.” A perfect tense is a situation in the present which resulted from a past action.
2. Jesus taught His disciples, at the end of His three and a half years of ministry on earth, to teach new believers to obey and do His commands(John 14:21-24; Matt. 28:20).
B. Fellowship with Yahweh is demonstrated by loving our fellow Christians (vs 7-11).
1. The “old” command is the command Jesus already said and John has already written in his gospel found in John 13:34, 35.
2. The “new” command is the idea of living out the old command of “loving one another” in the daily lives of believers. Each time a believer loves with Christ’s love, it shows Yahweh’s Kingdom power in that life and witnesses His soon coming Kingdom on earth (Isa. 9:2; 2 Peter 2:19; I John 3:3).
