6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
Confession
The Gnostics who were preaching from behind the pulpit said they had fellowship with God and that they were Christians, but being a Christian does not have an impact of the way one lives. The Apostle John is encouraging the believers of this church to apply a principal that says judge a tree by its fruit. John followed the pattern of Jesus and John the Baptist when they said:
Matthew 3:77But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
The religious establishment wanted to escape God's wrath so they came to John to be baptized. They thought that being a Jew alone secured you in the family of God. Similarly Christians today oftentimes think that they are sealed in heaven by just saying they are Christian. However, John the Baptist said, "Bring forth fruit along with your confession. We've all heard the saying, "Talk is inexpensive". We are not saved by works, but faith that saves works.
Jesus put it this way:
Matthew 7: 15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
False prophets were those whom came in saying the right thing and they had the right look, but in actuality, they were wolves in sheep clothing.
Confession is powerful because it expresses allegiance to who you are coming into covenant with and it declares to others a level of commitment to the covenant. So, even though confessing Christ is important, good works has an important role in the life of the believer as well. Good works confirms to the believer who they are in Christ.
1 John 2:9 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him. Many of people have ended up in paternity court because they said, "That baby doesn't look like me." They say, "All my other kids look like me and others in my family. Christ says, "My kids will look like me; not the world and definitely will not look like Satan's their daddy.
1 John 3:9 The Amplified version really drives in home
1 John 3:9 No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, for God's nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God.
We don't want anyone questioning whether or not God is our daddy! We want to look like everyone else in the family.
2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
Fruit production isn't spontaneous or impulsive; it's a long process. The emphasis in this analogy is the time it takes to produce fruit. The concern we must have with sin is the time that we spend entangled in it. If the majority of our time we spend feeding our flesh, then we will produce thorns and thistles, but on the contrary, if we spend ample time feeding the spirit, then we will produce the fruit of the Spirit.
Fellowship with Him
Fellowship enhances faith through prayer, meditation, reading, praising, repentance, etc.
Note: Mr. Henry Blackaby says, The most important things that will be said during prayer will come from God. God knows what we will say before we say it. We don't know what God will say so we should spend a part of our fellowship time listening for God to speak.
1 Corinthians 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
Matthew 10:19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
Romans 10:17 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Walk in darkness
Verse 5 John said, the message Jesus gave to the Apostles to give to us is: He is light and in Him is not darkness.
The Gnostics were Bible teachers who lived dark lifestyles. Dark living for the believer; let alone those who teach the Bible is an oxymoron. Look at what Jesus promised those who follow Him.
John 8:12 Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life."
There are two words here that imply continuous repetition: Follow and walk. If you are not doing the one, you are generally endanger of falling prey to the other one. Jesus wrote on this as well.
Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
It doesn't say if you know of Christ, you will never walk in darkness. It doesn't say if you confess Christ, you will never walk in darkness. No, Jesus said, if you follow me you will never walk in darkness. He not saying you will never step in darkness. We are in a sinful bodies; prone to sin. They're going to be times were we become distracted and find ourselves stepping in darkness, but our goal is to have a routine of following Jesus; not walking in darkness.
Illustration: If you were in a dark place and only one person had a light, if your objective was to walk without stumbling in that dark place, you would try and remain as close to the light barer as possible. Now, because he's the one with the light, it would be understandable if you were to step in a trap, but logic tells us that we call attention to the light barer to shine light on us to see clearly how to get out of the snare and so that we can reconvene on an unobstructed path.
Brothers, when we walk in darkness, we are not living out the truth.
Night Walker
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
Confession
The Gnostics who were preaching from behind the pulpit said they had fellowship with God and that they were Christians, but being a Christian does not have an impact of the way one lives. The Apostle John is encouraging the believers of this church to apply a principal that says judge a tree by its fruit. John followed the pattern of Jesus and John the Baptist when they said:
Matthew 3:77But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
The religious establishment wanted to escape God's wrath so they came to John to be baptized. They thought that being a Jew alone secured you in the family of God. Similarly Christians today oftentimes think that they are sealed in heaven by just saying they are Christian. However, John the Baptist said, "Bring forth fruit along with your confession. We've all heard the saying, "Talk is inexpensive". We are not saved by works, but faith that saves works.
Jesus put it this way:
Matthew 7: 15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
False prophets were those whom came in saying the right thing and they had the right look, but in actuality, they were wolves in sheep clothing.
Confession is powerful because it expresses allegiance to who you are coming into covenant with and it declares to others a level of commitment to the covenant. So, even though confessing Christ is important, good works has an important role in the life of the believer as well. Good works confirms to the believer who they are in Christ.
1 John 2:9 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him. Many of people have ended up in paternity court because they said, "That baby doesn't look like me." They say, "All my other kids look like me and others in my family. Christ says, "My kids will look like me; not the world and definitely will not look like Satan's their daddy.
1 John 3:9 The Amplified version really drives in home
1 John 3:9 No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, for God's nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God.
We don't want anyone questioning whether or not God is our daddy! We want to look like everyone else in the family.
2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
Fruit production isn't spontaneous or impulsive; it's a long process. The emphasis in this analogy is the time it takes to produce fruit. The concern we must have with sin is the time that we spend entangled in it. If the majority of our time we spend feeding our flesh, then we will produce thorns and thistles, but on the contrary, if we spend ample time feeding the spirit, then we will produce the fruit of the Spirit.
Fellowship with Him