Scriptures for Today
1 John 1:1-10
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. 5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 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. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Introduction to 1 John — A Letter About Fellowship, Not Salvation
The Book of 1 John is one of the most misunderstood books in the Bible. Many false teachers twist it into a book “proving salvation.” But John wrote it to show believers how to walk in fellowship with God and with each other.
How do we know this? Because John tells us directly. In verse 3, you will see the words: “That ye also may have fellowship with us.” In verse 4, you will see the words: “That your joy may be full.” 1 John is not a test of whether you are saved. It is a guide on how to walk in light, love, truth, obedience, and confidence as a saved person.
John writes as an old man, likely at this time the last living apostle, addressing believers that are facing many different challenges. The challenges they are facing are false teachers, gnostic lies, spiritual confusion, broken fellowship, and fear and doubt.
John’s message is simple: Walk in the light because God is light. Stay in fellowship. Stay in truth. Stay in joy.
1 John 1 begins with Christ, moves into fellowship, contrasts light and darkness, and ends with the cleansing power of the blood of Christ. I love the book of 1 John because it is the book with the verses that I finally believed and was saved. And because of this book, I stand here today. Let’s look closely here at each verse in this first chapter.
Verses 1–2 — John Saw, Heard, and Touched the Eternal Word
1 John 1:1-2
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life. 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.)
John opens the letter by destroying every false doctrine about Jesus.
1. He says Jesus is Eternal. “That which was from the beginning” — He did not begin in Bethlehem when he was born in the flesh. He is the eternal Word.
2. He says Jesus is Physical. John heard Him, saw Him, touched Him. Jesus was not a ghost, spirit, illusion, or vision. He was God in flesh.
3. He says Jesus was Manifested or made visible. God became visible. Eternal life stepped into time. What was unseen is now revealed. The apostle John who wrote this book through the Holy Spirit of God was very close to Jesus physically.
John 13:23
Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.
That was the apostle John who Jesus held very close to him. Jesus loved John greatly. And I believe that’s why John was most likely the last living apostle. And thank God Jesus gave him more life and that Jesus gave John these words to write in this book.
4. He says Jesus is Declared. John is not giving opinions. He is giving eyewitness truth. John is bearing witness. So everyone who doesn’t believe in Jesus is calling the apostle John a liar. They are calling the Holy Spirit a liar. They are calling God a liar.
Jesus is the Father of everlasting life. He is that eternal life. He was with the Father. And now we know that eternal life.
These 2 verses form the foundation for everything in the letter of 1 John: You cannot walk in the light unless you know who the Light is — Jesus Christ. Without Jesus, you cannot walk in the Light!
Verse 3 — Fellowship With God and Each Other
1 John 1:3
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
I love this verse. John saw and heard these things. And he wants to have fellowship with us. I can’t wait to meet the apostle John. I love him. I haven’t seen him, but I have fellowship with him through this book of the Bible. And together, we all have fellowship with John, the Holy Spirit, the Father, and the Son Jesus Christ.
John reveals the purpose of his writing: Fellowship. Not salvation — fellowship. Make sure you hear me on this as many false prophets twist the words of this book and create a works based salvation. The purpose of this book is FELLOWSHIP or close friendship.
Fellowship means: closeness, communion, shared life, intimacy, unity, walking together in truth.
First with the apostles (“fellowship with us”), Then with God (“fellowship with the Father and with His Son”).
If you break fellowship with truth, you break fellowship with believers. If you break fellowship with believers, you break fellowship with the Father. John is calling Christians back into unity by walking in the light. The Bible gives us the truth. We become closer here at this church as we study the Bible together.
Now, we want to stay in fellowship with God. We can go the other way in our life. And then we will not have fellowship with God. And this is very bad. We can walk in sin. We can do wrong. That’s reality. That’s obvious. But don’t do that. We want to stay in fellowship with God.
For example, when you come to church and join together with us in fellowship, closeness, friendship, everything will get better. We will walk together. But when you skip church, when you don’t want to talk with anyone here, when you don’t want to be here, that will not help you.
One good way to change your attitude at church is to stand and sing to God with us. You’ll be happier. It works for me every time. You get that choice. Be happy. Worship God. Don’t focus on all the problems you have. FOCUS ON GOD.
Verse 4 — Fullness of Joy
1 John 1:4
And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
Make sure you see that right there. Joy comes from fellowship. FULL JOY is an awesome thing. Fellowship comes from walking in the light. Walking in the light comes from knowing Christ. A Christian out of fellowship is a Christian without joy.
Sin steals joy. Darkness steals joy. Guilt steals joy. Flesh steals joy. Drugs still joy. Pain pills steal joy. Alcohol steals joy. All the evil in this world steals your joy. But walking with God restores it fully. And you can start at any time you choose. It’s your choice. You don’t have to go on a long journey to find it. It’s available right now. You choose.
Verse 5 — God Is Light
1 John 1:5
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
John heard the message straight from the mouth of God Himself, Jesus Christ. THIS IS THE MESSAGE! Make sure you hear it. This is the central message of 1 John: God is light. And in Him is no darkness at all. He is a great God, a perfect God, one that is always right.
The light represents: truth, purity, holiness, revelation, righteousness, perfection. Light exposes the darkness. The darkness represents: sin, lies, deception, error, wickedness, moral corruption. There is no mixing in God. No gray area. No compromise.
If you want fellowship with God, you must walk in what He is — light. This is not speaking about salvation or being saved from your sins forever. This is talking about fellowship. If you are sinning, you are not in fellowship with God because it cannot happen.
He cannot be around darkness. He cannot be in fellowship with you when you are sinning. That’s why there’s an old man and a new man. The old man and the new man are at war. They are not together in anything. They don’t like each other. The old man doesn’t determine the salvation of the new man.
The old man doesn’t fellowship with God. The new man fellowships with God. If you don’t understand the old man and the new man, you will misunderstand this entire book.
Verse 6 — You Cannot Walk in Darkness and Claim Fellowship
1 John 1:6
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.
Look closely at the actual words of the Bible. Many people will try to say that this verse says something that it doesn’t say. Look at the actual words. “If we say that we have FELLOWSHIP with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.”
Notice: John does not say they are unsaved. He says they are lying about fellowship. We cannot walk in darkness and say we have fellowship with God. Look, when we sin, God is not for us as we sin against Him. We are not in fellowship with Him at those times.
A believer can walk in darkness and this happens all the time. It is reality. A believer can have: bitterness, hatred, hidden sin, rebellion, false doctrine, hypocrisy, and disobedience. But you cannot claim intimacy with God while living that way.
This verse is about relationship, not salvation. You can be saved but out of fellowship.
Verse 7 — Walk in the Light and Enjoy Fellowship
1 John 1:7
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.
It is impossible for light to fellowship with darkness. It cannot happen. It’s impossible. Think of a dark room and then the light comes on. The darkness is gone immediately. Please understand this.
And please notice: “But IF we walk in the light.” That directly means it is possible for us to not walk in the light. Now you see the blessing of walking in the light: When you walk in truth, honesty, purity, and obedience, you experience:
1. Fellowship with believers (“we have fellowship one with another”). Walking in sin breaks fellowship with people. Walking in light restores unity, love, and trust.
2. Cleansing power of the blood. The blood cleanses from all sin — not some, not most, not small sins only.
Walking in light doesn’t mean perfection. It means honesty. When sin is confessed, the blood cleanses continually.
Verse 8 — Believers Still Have Sin
1 John 1:8
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
John confronts the heresy of sinless perfection. Anyone claiming to have no sin: deceives himself, denies reality, shows he is not walking in truth, is spiritually blind.
Saved people still have sin. But walking in the light means admitting it, not denying it.
Verse 9 — Confessing Sin Brings Cleansing and Restoration
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This is not about salvation. This is about fellowship. “Confess” means to agree with God — to call sin what it is. Confessing your sins to God means to admit your sins honestly to God and agree with Him about them. Don’t hide it. Don’t excuse it. Don’t blame others. Call sins what God calls it. And acknowledge those sins openly before Him. Confession is agreement.
IF we confess our sins. Listen, this isn’t to be saved forever. Now don’t miss this because we already talked about this earlier. This book is not about how to be saved. The Gospel of John was written so that people would be saved. Now John is going further after salvation. He is speaking of fellowship with God as a believer.
After we are saved, we still have this life to live. We still sin. We cannot say that we don’t have any sin. We still sin. Look closely at the verse. “If we confess our sins, HE is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. When we sin, we hurt our fellowship with God. Just as a friend of yours can hurt his fellowship with you by sinning against you, by lying to you, by being deceitful to you.
But, if that friend confesses that sin to you and is sorry for that sin and wants to get things right, THEN you can have fellowship again with each other. God responds with:
- Faithfulness — He keeps His promise. He is faithful to forgive us our sins.
- Justice — The blood of Christ paid for the sin. He is just to forgive us our sins.
- Forgiveness — Fellowship restored. With forgiveness comes restoration of fellowship.
- Cleansing — Your walk renewed. You are clean again in your fellowship with Christ.
You do not confess to stay saved. You confess to stay in fellowship. If you believe you must continue to confess sins to stay saved and have always believed that, you are not saved. You MUST be saved by Jesus Christ FIRST to have fellowship with Him.
Verse 10 — Denying Sin Makes God a Liar
1 John 1:10
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
This is even stronger than verse 8. Calling yourself sinless is calling God a liar. Why?
Because God says: “all have sinned,” believers still battle the flesh, and sin remains present until glorification. As long as we have this flesh, we are sinners.
A Christian who denies sin is a Christian who denies Scripture.
Application — Walking in the Light Today
1 John 1 teaches us:
1. Fellowship with God is possible only through truth. You cannot walk with God while walking in lies, hypocrisy, or hidden sin. It’s impossible.
2. Fellowship with believers flows from walking in the light. If you lose fellowship with people, it usually began with losing fellowship with God.
3. The blood of Christ continually cleanses. Every sin — past, present, future — was paid for. Confession restores fellowship, not salvation.
4. Honesty is the mark of someone walking in the light. The saved person admits sin. The deceived person denies it.
5. Joy comes from fellowship, and fellowship comes from light. If your joy is gone, check your walk with God.
Conclusion — Step Out of Darkness and Walk in the Light
John does not begin his letter with condemnation — he begins with invitation. He invites believers into: fellowship, joy, cleansing, unity, truth, light.
He is calling us out of shadowed living and into the brightness of God’s presence. Walking in the light is walking in the perfection of the new man. It is honesty. It is agreement with God. It is allowing the blood of Christ to cleanse us daily. It is stepping out of hiding and into truth.
When you walk in the light: fellowship is restored, joy is renewed, unity is strengthened, sin loses power, deception loses grip, darkness loses influence. This is not a salvation passage. It is a fellowship passage.
It is a call to believers to enjoy closeness with God by walking openly, honestly, and obediently before Him.
Walk in the light — because God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
Let’s pray.
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