Peter Barnes | 1 John 1:5-7
SERMON NOTES
GOD IS LIGHT
Psalm 36; 1 John 1:5-2:2
Three false claims – in 1:6, 8, 10. Robert Yarbrough calls verse 5 ‘the main burden of the Epistle’.
1. God is light.
– 1:5; in a sense this comes before ‘God is love’ (1 John 4:8, 16)
– Ps.36:9; Job 4:18; 15:15; Isa.6:5; Hab.1:13; love is holy (1 Cor.13:4-7)
Thomas Binney:
Eternal Light! eternal Light!
How pure that soul must be,
When, placed within Thy searching sight,
It shrinks not, but, with calm delight,
Can live, and look on Thee!
2. We are to walk in the light.
– 1:6; but we naturally walk in darkness (John 3:19-20)
– Matt.7:21-23; Heb.12:14; 1 Cor.6:9-10; Mickey Cohen wanted to be a Christian gangster! Note 1 Peter 3:7 – sins hinders
3. The blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin.
– 1:7; Lev.16:30 fulfilled – hence Luther’s use of this text.