1 John 1:5-7
According to the apostle John, the key to experience fellowship with God is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, through which we experience the very presence and joy of the Lord. In most Christian churches, we acknowledge and celebrate this personal relationship through Communion, the sacramental sharing of the bread and wine, the symbolic body and blood of the Lamb of God. With regards to celebration of Communion, the apostle Paul has given us an exhortation and a warning (1 Corinthians 11:27-29a):
“Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself.”
The apostle John in 1 John 1:5-7 likewise exhorts us to examine ourselves to determine if we are truly in fellowship with God and His body, the church.
“This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
In other words, one key to examining ourselves as to whether or not we’re in fellowship with God is to ask ourselves this question:
Am I walking in light, or in darkness?
How do I know?
John amplifies this in his Gospel, in the context of the Gospel (John 3:16-21):
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
That is, we should be living wholly transparent lives. Everything is transparent to God. Nothing can be hidden from Him. If we are saved by grace through faith in His Son, our Lord Jesus, then we should be purposely transparent to all; our thoughts, words, and deeds should be clearly evident, and they should be Godly. Conversely, we should hide nothing from anyone. Therefore, examine yourself, ask the Lord to reveal any filth within you, and then confess your sins (see Confession).
