New Year Message - Pastor Eric Otchere

 

We live in a world with many people who claim to be Christians. They use Christian terms, pray, have Bibles on their phones and attend church but cannot say with deep conviction that they are born again Christians.

 

I write this short article knowing that if we don't consistently preach the true gospel of Jesus Christ to even people who are seated in our churches, one day, Christ will turn them away and say He didn't know them.

 

A true Christian walks in the light and not in darkness.

I John 1:5-7 (NKJV) says,

"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."

 

The epistle of 1 John has many ways to test ourselves whether we are of the faith. John wrote in a time when false teachers were giving false hope to people about salvation. He also wrote to encourage believers to be firm in their faith.

 

There are very important truths we can deduce from the text above, to examine whether we are Christians or not. We must note that John uses the word 'walk' to mean daily practice of light or darkness.

 

GOD IS LIGHT (1:5)

The Apostle John says that what they heard from Christ is what they taught the early Christians and that's what we must believe and teach that 'God is light and in Him is no darkness at all'. This is a great claim upon which our Christian lives are built each day.

 

WALKING IN DARKNESS (1:6)

If God is light, John says that those who say with their mouth that they have fellowship with Him but walk in darkness are liars and do not practice the truth of God. In effect, they are false believers who do not have any fellowship with the Father nor the Son. Walking in darkness is the same as being obedient to the father of all darkness, Satan, and doing his will. In Matthew 7, Jesus said that not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven because they didn't do the will of the Father. A Christian does not live a hypocritical lifestyle of walking in light and in sin. That is an unbeliever pretending to be a believer.

 

WALKING IN THE LIGHT (1:7)

The next thing John teaches is that those who are truly born again walk in the light. They don't only speak that they are Christians but they live as Christ lived (1 John 2:6). He goes on to show us two important things about them.

 

They Fellowship With One Another. If we claim we walk in the light, it will show in our fellowship with other believers who are in the light. We would not forsake the assembly of other believers: we would love to be with like-minded Christians.

They Are Cleansed From Sins. The next thing we see of those who walk in the light is that their sins are cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. A believer's life is a walk of holiness and righteousness. Blessed is the one whose sins are forgiven (Psalm 32:1).

 

We learn from 1 John 1:5-7 that a Christian walks in the light of God's word and consequently has fellowship with other believers and continues on the path of sanctification.

 

As we begin a New Year, ask yourself if these qualities can be found in your life: Are you a child of light? Do you walk in the light? Do you have fellowship with other believers? Do you continually ask for forgiveness of sins? If yes, then you are a believer. If no, then cry out to God for mercy to save you (Luke 18:13).

 

What have you learnt from this teaching? Share your views.

Pastor Eric Otchere