Darkness

1 John 1:4-8 - We write this to make our joy complete. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 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. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

John 8:12 - When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Hebrews 9:14 - How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

Proverbs 20:9 - Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin"?

John 8:44 - You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Conclusions:

• It is also true that God is light
• And as Jesus followers reflect the light that comes from Him, they too are the light of the world
• Darkness is both the darkness of the world and that of Satan
• God is light; but Jesus is also the light from God that lights the way for life—as the pillar of fire lighted the way for the Israelites
• He was the one who offered the sacrifice, and He was the sacrifice itself
• Christ was unblemished in the entirety of His being, not just superficially
• To cleanse our consciences means to remove sin’s defilement from the very core of our being
• No one is without sin—but those whose sins have been forgiven have clean hands and a pure heart
• The Jews relationship to Satan was stated explicitly
• Jesus clearly excluded the idea of the universal fatherhood of God
• The Jews problem was basically spiritual, not intellectual
• Being oriented toward Satan, the Jews were bent on murder and eventually would succeed
• Truth is foreign to Satan and those who are his

Application:

• Do you reflect the light that comes from Jesus?
• Have you removed sin's defilement from the very core of your being?
• Do you have clean hands and a pure heart?
• Do you have spiritual problems?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible