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Scripture Reading: 1 John 1:5-7
We have seen that the believers’ relationship in life with God is unbreakable, but their fellowship with Him can be broken. This means that our life relationship with God is unconditional, whereas our fellowship with God is conditional. The first condition of the divine fellowship is that of confessing sins (1:5—2:22). Related to this first condition are the matters of abiding in God as light, walking in the divine light, and practicing the divine truth. In this message we shall go on to consider the cleansing of the blood of Jesus, the Son of God.
In 1:7 the apostle John says, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” In this verse we see that we walk in the light, but God is in the light, because He is light. When we walk in the light, which is God Himself, we have the co-enjoyment of the Triune God and the co-participation in His purpose.
When we live in the divine life, we are under its enlightenment, and it exposes, according to God’s divine nature and through His nature in us, all our sin, trespasses, failures, and defects, which contradict His pure light, perfect love, absolute holiness, and excelling righteousness. At such a time we sense in our enlightened conscience the need of the cleansing of the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus, and it cleanses us in our conscience from all sins so that our fellowship with God and with one another may be maintained. Our relationship with God is unbreakable, yet our fellowship with Him may be broken. The former is of life, whereas the latter is based upon our living, though it is also of life. One is unconditional; the other is conditional. This conditional one, our fellowship with God, needs to be maintained by the constant cleansing of the Lord’s blood.
In verse 7 John says that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. The tense of the verb “cleanses” in Greek is present and continuous. This indicates that the blood of Jesus the Son of God cleanses us all the time, continuously and constantly. Cleansing here refers to the instant cleansing of the Lord’s blood in our conscience. Before God, the redeeming blood of the Lord has cleansed us once for all eternally (Heb. 9:12, 14), and the efficacy of that cleansing lasts forever before God, needing no repetition. However, in our conscience we need the instant application of the constant cleansing of the Lord’s blood again and again whenever our conscience is enlightened by the divine light in our fellowship with God. This instant cleansing is typified by the purification of the ashes of the heifer for a water of separation (Num. 19:2-10).
In verse 7 John specifically says that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. The New Testament speaks of sin and also of sins. “Sin” usually refers to indwelling sin, which is dealt with in Romans 5:12 to 8:13. “Sins” refer to sinful deeds, the fruits of indwelling sin, which are dealt with in Romans 1:18 to 5:11. However, the singular sin in 1:7 with the adjective “all” does not denote indwelling sin; rather, it denotes every single sin we have committed since we have been regenerated. The sins we commit after regeneration defile our purged conscience and need to be cleansed away by the blood of Jesus in our fellowship with God.
When we are in the divine fellowship, we are in the light, and when we are in the light, we are exposed by the light. The divine light is much stronger than an x-ray. This light exposes whatever is wrong in our being. As we walk in the light and practice the reality in the light, the light shines within us, upon us, and through us. Exposed by this shining, we realize that we are wrong in many matters. We may see that we are wrong in our thoughts, emotions, motives, and intentions. We may also see that we are wrong with certain brothers and sisters. Because we are exposed in this way, our conscience is condemned. In order to deal with this condemnation in our conscience, we need the cleansing of the Lord’s blood. It is when we are in the fellowship and under the light that we see our failures, mistakes, wrongdoings, impure motives, and evil intentions. But at this very juncture, the blood of the Lord Jesus cleanses us from every sin. As we have pointed out, the tense of the Greek verb rendered “cleanses” indicates that, when we walk in the light and are in fellowship with God and with one another, the blood of Jesus cleanses us constantly, unceasingly.
It is significant that in 1:7 the apostle John speaks of “the blood of Jesus His Son.” The name Jesus denotes the Lord’s humanity, which is needed for the shedding of the redeeming blood, and the title “His Son” denotes the Lord’s divinity, which is needed for the eternal efficacy of the redeeming blood. Thus, the blood of Jesus His Son indicates that this blood is the proper blood of a genuine man for redeeming God’s fallen creatures with divine surety for its eternal efficacy, an efficacy which is all-prevailing in space and everlasting in time.
The title “Jesus His Son” is also used by John as an inoculation against the heresies concerning the Lord’s Person. One of the heresies insisted on the divinity of the Lord by denying His humanity. The title Jesus as the name of a man inoculates against this heresy. Another heresy insisted on the humanity of the Lord by denying His divinity. The title “His Son” as a name of the Deity is an antidote to this heresy.
No other verse in the New Testament uses the expression “Jesus His Son.” We have just pointed out that the name Jesus refers to the Lord’s humanity and that the title “His Son” denotes His divinity. Jesus was a true man, a genuine human being, and the blood of Jesus was the blood of a real man. Because we are human beings, we need to be redeemed by human blood. In the Old Testament the blood for atonement was of animals, and was a type of the blood of Christ. However, animal blood could not actually redeem us, because we are human beings, not animals. As human beings, we need the efficacious blood of Jesus, the blood of a genuine man.
The Lord’s divinity indicated by the words “His Son” is a guarantee, a surety, that the efficacy of the blood of Jesus will remain forever. The Lord’s humanity qualifies Him to have the blood to shed for our redemption. His divinity insures the efficacy of the power of this redeeming blood. The efficacy of the cleansing blood of Jesus is insured forever by His divinity.
We have seen that when John wrote this Epistle, there were heresies concerning the Person of Christ. One kind of heretical teaching said that Jesus was divine but not human. A different kind of heretical teaching claimed that Jesus was human but not divine. With one short expression — “the blood of Jesus His Son” — John inoculates us against both kinds of heresies. The words “the blood of Jesus” indicate that Jesus was a genuine man, and the words “His Son” indicate that He is divine. The blood by which we are cleansed is the blood of a wonderful Person who has both humanity and divinity.
In 1:1-7 we see a cycle in our spiritual life formed of four crucial things — the eternal life, the fellowship of the eternal life, the divine light, and the blood of Jesus the Son of God. Eternal life issues in the fellowship of the divine life, the fellowship of eternal life brings in the divine light, and the divine light increases the need of the blood of Jesus the Son of God so that we may have more eternal life. The more we have of eternal life, the more of its fellowship it brings to us. The more fellowship of the divine life we enjoy, the more divine light we receive. The more divine light we receive, the more we participate in the cleansing of the blood of Jesus. Such a cycle brings us onward in the growth of the divine life until we reach its maturity.
In 1:5-7 John uses five important words: light, truth, darkness, lie, and sin. Light is the essence of God’s expression. We may say that light is God expressed. When we walk in this light, truth will come forth, for truth is the issue of light. Light is the source of truth, and truth is the issue, the outcome, of light. Therefore, when we abide in the divine light and walk in the light, we practice the truth.
The lie is the essence of Satan, and darkness is the expression of the satanic essence. This darkness is related to sin. This is the reason that in these verses we have light, darkness, and sin. If we are not in the light, we are surely in darkness. When we are in darkness, we are deceived by the lie, which is the essence of Satan. Furthermore, since the lie and the darkness are related to sin, we are also involved with sin.
Let us remember that light is the essence of God’s expression, and truth is the issue of this light. Lie is the essence of Satan, darkness is the expression of this essence, and this darkness is related to sin. When we are in the light, we practice the truth. But when we are not in the light, we are in darkness. When we are in darkness, we are deceived and are in a condition that is related to sin.
When we are in the light, we shall be exposed, and we shall see our sins. Then we need to confess our sins. As we confess our sins, spontaneously and continuously the blood of Jesus the Son of God will cleanse us from all sin.
When we are in darkness, we are in sin. Moreover, when we are in sin, our fellowship with God is broken. But if we are exposed by the light and confess our sins, our sins will be washed away, and our broken fellowship with God will be restored.
First John 1:6 may be regarded as an antidote to the heretical teaching of the Antinomians. The word “Antinomian” is an anglicized form of two Greek words: anti, meaning against, and nomos, meaning law. The Antinomians were those who were against law, those who did not care for the law. The Antinomians in John’s time taught freedom from the obligation of the moral law and claimed that a person could live in sin and still have fellowship with God.
In 1:6 John inoculates the believers against the heretical teachings of the Antinomians. Here John says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and are not practicing the truth.” According to this verse, we cannot have fellowship with God and at the same time walk in darkness. The satanic darkness is versus the divine light, and the satanic lie is versus the divine truth. As the divine truth is the expression of the divine light, so the satanic lie is the expression of the satanic darkness. If we say that we have fellowship with God, who is light, and walk in darkness, we lie, we are in the expression of the satanic darkness, and we do not practice the truth in the expression of the divine light.
In Galatians 5:13 Paul says, “For you were called to freedom, brothers; only do not turn the freedom into an occasion for the flesh....” Here Paul is telling us not to misuse our freedom. In Galatians 5:1 Paul says, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore and do not be again entangled with a yoke of slavery.” Then in verse 13 Paul goes on to point out that we should not abuse our freedom. Although we are free from the yoke of slavery to the law, it is still necessary for us to be moral. This is contrary to the heretical teaching which says that those who are under grace have no obligation to keep the moral law.
The Antinomians claim that we can still have fellowship with God even if we live in sin. John wrote 1:6 to refute this false teaching. According to John’s word, if we say that we have fellowship with God and walk in darkness, we take the way of the Antinomians. John clearly indicates that in order to have fellowship with God, we need to deal with our sins by confessing them to God so that we may be cleansed by the blood of Jesus, God’s Son.
According to John’s word in 1:7, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. Actually there are two kinds of cleansing with the Lord’s blood. First, before God the redeeming blood has cleansed us once for all (Heb. 9:12, 14), and this cleansing lasts for eternity. The second cleansing is the instant and constant cleansing of the Lord’s blood in our conscience. On the one hand, the Lord’s blood washes our sin and sins in the presence of God. On the other hand, the same blood washes our sin and sins in our conscience. According to the typology in the Old Testament, the blood of the sacrifice was brought into the tabernacle and sprinkled in the Holy of Holies in the presence of God. This signifies the once-for-all washing of our sin and sins in the presence of God. The instant and constant cleansing of the blood is typified by the purification of the ashes of the heifer for a water of separation. The cleansing in 1:7 is not the eternal cleansing before God; rather, it is the continuous cleansing in our conscience. As we abide in the light, we are cleansed continually by the blood of Jesus.
We have pointed out that in 1:7 four matters — eternal life, the fellowship of eternal life, the divine light, and the blood of Jesus — form a cycle which we should experience in our spiritual life. First we have eternal life, and in this life we have fellowship. Fellowship brings in light, and under the shining of the light we experience the cleansing of the blood. Then the blood brings us more life, and with more life we have more fellowship. Then with more fellowship we have more light and more cleansing of the blood. This cycle of life, fellowship, light, and blood repeats itself again and again as we grow in life unto maturity.
