In verse 5, John affirms that what he is about to tell the audience is a message from God and not from himself or any other man. “Here, he is summarizing the Lord’s teaching (that he witnessed) according to the emphasis he gives to it in his own Gospel… The Logos is ‘the light’; but God is light, just as he is ‘love’ and ‘spirit’ and ‘consuming fire.’” Notice that an article is not used, instead, “God is Light.” John then adds that there is no darkness in God. Here, he is affirming that God is perfect and there is nothing in God’s character that darkens his truth. “God is infinite, transcendent and ‘wholly other’; the source of all life and renewal.” Man tries to reduce God to his/her level in verse 6 by claiming to have fellowship with Him when he/she do not. They did not accept John’s teaching and lived in a world opposed to God, characterized by darkness. “These Christians were claiming that sin is unimportant – they were not of the world – and that God only looks on the inward condition of a man’s or a woman’s soul.” John refutes this type of thinking and makes it clear that their lives cannot be separated from their …show more content…
John gives us the alternative in verse 9.” The alternative is to confess your sins; when believers confess their sins, God forgives and purifies. The confession of sin is more than just admitting that you are a sinner instead it is laying your sins before God and to seek forgiveness. When believers confess their sins, God is “faithful and just and will forgive our sins…” “He is faithful to forgive because He has promised to do so, and just because His Son died for our sins.” It is when a believer confesses his/her sin that God purifies then from all unrighteousness. “To purify carries a different nuance and suggests the removal of the residual effects of sin, consequences that linger. Therefore, there is hope. The past and its errors as well as the future and its propensity toward sinfulness are both