I John 1:6-7

The place of expiation is the crucifixion. The means of expiation is His life, or we might say His blood or His death, but we have to say blood because of the context and because the Bible so frequently shows that forgiveness only comes through the shedding of blood. The virtue of propitiation extends beyond merely being a private experience for those of us who are partakers of something that happened in a specific time and place. I am talking about Christ’s death, 1900 and some years ago.

I John 2 shows that His death is involved, but I John 1:7 shows that His life is also involved in our forgiveness because verse 7 can be translated “His blood is”—present tense—“cleansing us.” Chapter 2 verse 2 is showing us an atonement as a completed act, a statement of fact, verse 7 of chapter 1 is showing us a process. The propitiation, the appeasing force, abides in us as a living and dynamic Personality.

John then sees propitiation as the cleansing from sin, a process, not merely a past work of justification or reconciliation that gets us accepted in God’s presence. This is a very significant insight. It is interesting to note the difference between Paul and John and their approach to this subject of propitiation. Both of them are correct. Each only has different perspectives.

I John 1:5-7

The origin of light is explained by God's purpose and nature, whom the apostle John described as not only the Creator of light, but in a broad sense as light itself: God is light.

Please turn to I John 1, verse 5. God is light just as much as He is love and truth and spirit. Spirit and light are expressions of His essential nature and love is the expression of His personality corresponding to His nature. God not only loves but is love. It is His very nature, and He imparts this nature to the realm in which His children dwell in light.

The darkness mentioned in verses 5 and 6 is the universal symbol and condition of sin and death. In direct contrast, light mentioned in verse 7 is the symbol and expression of holiness. God, by His presence and grace, is to His holy priesthood and His holy nation as a marvelous light.

This biblical vision, which closes with the breathtaking hope of the New Jerusalem, where God Himself will be our everlasting light and where night will be no more, testifies to the eternal promise of God's presence. Until then we are called to walk in the light as He is in the light, reflecting the radiance of Christ so that others may also see the way of eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

I John 1:5-8

In last week's sermon we spent a great deal of time in I John 1:5-8 in which John sets a hypothetical situation showing that a person who claims to have fellowship with God must be walking in the light. That is the phrase that he used. Light, among other things, symbolizes truth. If a person is to have fellowship with God, that person must be responding to truth.

I John 1:5-8

We are far from that point. We have sin in us. Paul told us we have this law of sin that is embedded in our members. And so if we say that we have overcome all of this, we are lying, we are lying to ourselves. We still have a long way to go.