Scripture for the Fourth Tuesday in Advent
December 22, 2009 by Lillie
1 John 1:6-7
If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by 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, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Lord God, we claim fellowship with You and with one another, and we can only do this if we are purified by the Blood of Jesus and walk in His light. Let us live by the truth and not deceive ourselves. We ask in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Very few people who preach like to use 1 John scipture. 1 John scriptures seem to fly in the face of the traditional grace doctrines.
Such scriptures as:
He who sins has not met God or even known God
He who hates his brother cannot love God.
Anyone that says he abides in Jesus MUST walk like Jesus
etc…
Thanks for your post.
Matthew,
Yes, 1 John does remind us that if we are saved by grace we need to live like it. I was just having a discussion with a friend, and we agreed that if we claim to Christians, our lives need to look different than the lives of people around us who don’t have faith.
Yes people are saved by grace but they need to live a life that shows they are different.
Barna research could find nothing different by church people in the USA in their buying habits, watching TV habits, going to movies habits or nothing. There was no difference between Christians and non Christians except that Christians went to church on Sunday.
That is terrible news
Terrible news, indeed, Matthew. All of us fall short of the glory of God, but Christians shouldn’t fall as far short as non-Christians.
Thanks for sharing this scripture. I love the lightness/darkness metaphor – light is a metaphor for goodness, but also for clarity and truth.
Emma,
Yes, the light symbolizes several great things.