1 John 1:5-10

Had some fellowship with a handful of Christians at the Rietzugs' house this morning and early afternoon, looking into the book of 1 John. Five verses below on fellowship with the LORD, which need no commentary from me, are particularly helpful to my mind this evening.

This is the message which 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.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us (1 John 1:5-10).

OK. I will explain why they are helpful to me. Verse 6, reminding the man of God that double-speak tarnishes the truth and is not true to the fellowship with God and our Lord Jesus Christ. And as with true fellowship, true love, true salvation, the testing of spirits, identifiying the way of deceptive living is a recurring theme throughout the the epistle. This identifies deception: "If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen (4:20)?" Shall a man not overcome the world when he has become a Christian, child of God?

Paul challanged the Colossians all who have know Christ the Savior to "put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth" (Col. 3:8) as we have left our positions as "sons of disobedience" (those who still must worry of the wrath of God which is to come) and have stepped into eternity at the very instant when we first believed. In this reminder I know that I must carry out love, fighting the good fight of faith with a pure mind (for it is the mind that is the battleground of a man's soul), submitting myself to the Lord, and exemplifying Christ to my nonbelieving brothers and sisters in each meeting which come. I challange all Christians who might have chanced to read this to do the very same thing.