If we walk in darkness we DO NOT have fellowship with the God of salvation. It even goes as far as to say “we lie” if we claim that we do.
Personally, having been one to “walk in darkness” and claim God, looking back I didn’t know I was lying.
I didn’t know what it meant to walk with God. I didn’t know that He was not only gracious, but holy, and so I thought my deliberate sin could be justified and would be forgiven. Nevertheless, I was lying to myself about my fellowship with God without realization. (Reflecting, I should have obviously known that we were not one, considering how little I knew Him or His heart [for me or in general], but I was deceived.)
• What does it mean to be Christian?
Scripture has numerous, urgent but loving wake up calls to “Examine yourselves as to whether you’re in the faith. Test yourselves…” [2nd Cor.13:5] and exclamations of “do not be deceived” in other passages, as though my experience is common, and many us have been deceived with false security…
Knowing this, anyone with a heart for Christ, should ask themselves, “Am I following Him or something else?”
To walk in darkness, means to walk in the flesh and not in the Spirit. The Spirit follows God, the flesh follows it’s worldly passions. (Read Galatians 5 to see details of that behavior. One corrupt passion alone condemns before a holy and perfect God)
Galatians 6:7-8
“”Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”” (s/n: if your fruit doesn’t worship Jesus, it’s not fruit.)
Jesus does forgive sin, He saved a woman from deadly judgement who was caught in sin, but then He told/ and lead her to “sin no more.” [John8:1-12]
It is essential that we have a heart change towards sin, and see it for what it is, or we will follow it away from Christ.
Now, this woman, seeing the grace of Jesus, and hearing that their was a new direction she could walk in, had a grateful, repentant heart and walked after Him/ and followed the Spirit.
God’s way has no condemnation.
God’s way is a graciously fulfilling eternal life of pure purpose and love!
God’s light frees us from sin.
God’s beauty can awaken an adulterous heart to live committed to the Spirit.
Jesus is the light of the world, and in His gospel is promised freedom for the believer!
We’re slaves to the world without Christ. We’re enslaved to sin without Christ. Does the world pay it’s servants fairly? It cost us to serve the world… The quickest way to lose taste for the world of sin is to know it’s wages:
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Gain taste for God, by reflecting on His gift! There’s so much more in Christ.
We can love God in truth!- faithful, renewed and sin dead to us.
God doesn’t allow us to stay on the fence nor live double lives. God’s love is holy and encourages life, not death. So if we encourage and choose sin, we’ll have no encouragement from God’s love. This is why Jesus also primarily taught, that unless we repent, we would perish. [Luke13:3, Acts:2:38, Acts17:30, Revelation3:19]