Walking in the Light

It all started in May 2002. A
small group of us in West Auckland decided to study the book of 1
John for our weekly Bible study.

After six months of intense study,
we completed 1 John. Before completion, we were exhorted by our
cell group leader Derek Jones to put pen to paper
(electronically) and hot from each heart list the pearls
ascertained during the study which have affected our lives.

I want to emphasise that these
writings are not theology (“study of God”) but
lifeology (“living God’s Word”). This is not an
extensive exposition of 1 John, but writings of everyday people
seeking to walk more closely with their Lord and Saviour.

For the next few articles, I would
seek to enrich our readers with the pearls that we received as a
Bible study group. It has changed our lives and my prayer is that
as you read, it would challenge and change your life too!

Chapter 1

Verse 7 “But if we walk in
the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from
all sin.”

When I first read this scripture,
I was dumbfounded at how I could “walk in the light as he
is in the light”, yet the “blood of Jesus
Christ” would cleanse me of my sin.

How could this be? If I was
walking in the light, surely I would not be sinning; therefore
there would be no need for me to seek forgiveness for sin!

After much discussion, we all
agreed that as we “walk in the light”, God will start
to reveal the areas of our lives that need to be cleaned out.
Furthermore, as He reveals, God promises to cleanse us of our
sin. PRAISE THE LORD!

My wife Alison shared that as she
was walking with Jesus, (“in the light”) He revealed
things in her life that she needed to put right with Him. While
she was receiving these revelations, she was disheartened because
she was thinking, “But Lord, I’m walking with you?
How could these things be happening in my life?” Deep in
her heart the Lord encouraged her to continue to walk in the
light! These revelations were not to show that she was in
darkness, but that He was shedding His light on issues so that
they could be cleansed away! Gladly she received this word and
confirmed it with me.

This revelation strengthened and
brought me to another level of maturity in my walk with the
Lord!

Alison then went to England for a
month! During this time, I continued to walk in the light and God
revealed a major area in my life that I needed to get right!
Through God’s grace I committed my life afresh to Him,
continued to walk in the light, and the Lord by his grace dealt
with this area of my life forever!
Integral to this verse is the
importance of fellowship. Through our fellowship, I have
appreciated the scripture as “Iron sharpens iron: so a man
sharpeneth the countenance of his friend”. As I have been
walking in the light, my desire to fellowship with others has
increased. I always look forward to fellowship on Wednesday night
because I know that from it, I will learn more about who I am,
and more importantly, go away with more hunger to search His
Scriptures. The more I walk in the light, the more I fellowship,
the more areas in my life get put under the spotlight and get
cleansed through the blood of Jesus!

Verse 9 “If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

This verse is probably the most
memorised verse around after John 3:16. I thank the Lord that He
is able to forgive and cleanse me of all my sin and
unrighteousness as I confess it to Him.
I recall when I was getting
baptised the excitement I felt as each person before me was
receiving beautiful words of knowledge and encouragement. I was
excited because I knew that when I came out of the waters of
baptism, I too would receive beautiful words of knowledge. As I
rose out of the water, I heard one of the Old mothers quote
“If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive you of your sins, and to cleanse you from all
unrighteousness”… not exactly the word of knowledge
I was expecting…