Religious Performance
1 John 1:6-7
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
In scripture, Light is a metaphor for truth. Darkness is a metaphor for an absence of truth. More specifically, darkness means we are in deception (believing a lie). Often times, this reflects core beliefs about what we think about God, others, and ourselves.
I used to look at the phrase ‘walk in the light’ as an issue of performance, of needing to walk perfectly in purity and holiness. Sure, I can make choices that help (agree with Holy Spirit), but there’s a religious deception that shifts the focus from God to me. No works of the flesh will be glorified in His sight. The context of the scripture (looking at what precedes the text), is not one of sin, but rather of fellowship. Amazing how our orphan and religious training causes us to miss the context of scripture.
Fellowship
1 John 1:3 (NIV)
We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
Koinōnia is the Greek word used for fellowship. It also means community, communion, joint participation, intimacy, and to share.
When we walk in the light (truth), we are walking as sons and daughters where we have fellowship with the Father, with the Son, and with one another.
Galatians 4:6-7
Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir *through God.
Abba is of course, Aramaic for ‘daddy’ which shocks the religious systems. Jesus came to reveal God as love.
When we walk as orphans and not as sons and daughters of our heavenly papa, we don’t have fellowship with each other. Walls of pride, fear, shame, and condemnation separate us from one another and from God. When we walk in our redeemed nature as sons and daughters, we walk in our true identity where what others think about us and what we think about ourselves pale in comparison to what God thinks about us. When I know how much I’m loved and accepted as a son, I don’t need walls to separate me from others (perfect love casts out fear).
Are you walking as a son or daughter?
adonainissi 