How lovely God is Pt 28: There is no darkness in God

1 John 1:5-10                         5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  6If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.  7But 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.  8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

There is no darkness in God

“God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).  This is not just poetic language—it is a declaration about God’s character.  Light in Scripture consistently represents holiness, truth, purity, and life.  Darkness, by contrast, represents sin, deception, and death.  When John says there is no darkness in God, he is saying there is not even a trace of evil, corruption, or deceit in Him.   We are not dealing with a morally God who compromises with evil.  “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him” (Psalm 92:15).  God does not merely prefer righteousness—He is righteous.  Everything He does flows from that perfect light.

John is also laying a foundation for how believers are meant to understand their relationship with God.  If God is light, then fellowship with Him must involve walking in that same light.  We cannot reshape God into our image or redefine holiness to suit our preferences.  Instead, His character defines the terms of the relationship.  This is comforting as well as challenging.  It means that when we come to God, we are not coming to Someone moody, unpredictable, or morally inconsistent.  We are coming to perfect goodness.  That makes repentance safe.  We do not confess to a cruel judge, but to a faithful and righteous Father who always acts in accordance with truth.

At the same time, it reminds us that God’s grace never lowers His standards.  Grace does not mean God becomes tolerant of darkness; it means He lovingly invites us out of it.

Fellowship with God means living in truth

To “walk” in Scripture refers to one’s pattern of life.  It is about direction, not perfection.  If a person persistently chooses darkness—covering sin, justifying wrongdoing, refusing correction—then something is deeply wrong with their claim to know God.  We all have Goliaths in our lives—those patterns of behavior we just can’t seem to remove from our lives.  When John says, “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth” (1 John 1:6), he is not saying believers never struggle, nor is he saying a fall leads to our doom.  He is saying that a lifestyle of hidden sin and ongoing deception is incompatible with genuine fellowship—either with God or with each other.

But there is  positive side: “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus… purifies us from all sin” (v.7).  Walking in the light means living honestly before God and others.  It means refusing to hide, pretending nothing is wrong, or presenting a polished version of ourselves.

Interestingly, walking in the light leads not only to fellowship with God, but also to fellowship with one another.  When believers are honest about their need for grace, community becomes safer, not more threatening.  Confession breaks isolation.  Transparency builds trust.  Healing grows in environments where people are allowed to be imperfect but honest.  But this is hard to do.  It is the rare person who can be consistently transparent about their own strengths and weaknesses, and it is even rarer to not form judgments when someone is that transparent with us.  The answer in either case is to trust Jesus in the other person and allow this intimate communion to continue.

And notice the promise attached: while we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus keeps cleansing us.  This is not a one-time event only; it is an ongoing reality.  Our security does not rest on flawless obedience, but on continual dependence on Christ’s sacrifice.  This is incredibly freeing.  Many believers think they must clean themselves up before approaching God.  John says the opposite: come into the light, and cleansing happens there.  Darkness keeps wounds festering.  Light brings healing.

Claiming to be without sin is self-deception

Remember, Satan is good at deception and good at lying.  Lots of people think they are (mostly) sin free.  They have bought into something which the Word shows to be a lie.

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.  (Romans 3:10-11)

When I was younger, before I came to Christ, I was offended by all this talk about sin.  It seemed people were pointing fingers and making accusations all the while being hypocritical.  Well, the truth is when we deny sin, we silence truth.  And when truth is silenced, growth becomes impossible.  Some in John’s time likely believed that once spiritually enlightened, sin no longer mattered.  Others may have separated “spiritual” life from moral behavior.  But John is blunt: pretending you are sinless is not spiritual maturity; it is delusion.  Even mature believers remain dependent on grace.  Growth does not mean graduating from repentance; it means becoming quicker and more honest in repentance.

Denying sin is not only lying to ourselves—it is contradicting God.  God has spoken clearly about human brokenness and the need for redemption.  To deny that is to reject His testimony.  This is where spiritual pride quietly destroys intimacy with God.  People who cannot admit sin cannot receive forgiveness.  People who will not confess cannot be restored.  Pride blocks grace because grace only flows where need is acknowledged.

There are two extremes: pretending we are perfect, and pretending sin does not matter.  John rejects both.  Sin is real, serious, and damaging—but forgiveness is real, powerful, and available.

But repentance brings righteousness

But listen to this: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Confession here does not mean vague regret or general guilt.  It means agreeing with God about our sin.  Certainly we should be careful with whom we share—avoid the town gossip—but nonetheless we should be honest about it.   And when we do, two powerful truths are revealed about God’s response: He is faithful and just.

He is faithful because He keeps His promises.  God does not grow tired of forgiving repentant hearts.  He does not say, “This time is too many.”  And He is just because forgiveness is grounded in Christ’s finished work, not in God ignoring wrongdoing.  God is just; sin must bring consequence.  God’s righteousness requires that a price be paid, but Jesus has already paid that price.  Therefore, forgiveness is not only merciful—it is legally righteous.

Even more, God does not merely forgive; He purifies.  Forgiveness removes guilt.  Purification restores relationship and renews character.  God is not interested in leaving us where we are—He intends to transform us.  This is where repentance becomes beautiful, not shameful.  Repentance is not about humiliation; it is about restoration.  It is not about being crushed, but about being cleansed.

This speaks powerfully to believers weighed down by recurring struggles.  John does not write to drive us into despair, but to lead us into honest, healing relationship with God.  When we fall, the answer is not hiding, pretending, or giving up.  The answer is coming back into the light.  And perhaps most importantly, repentance restores fellowship.  God is not standing at a distance waiting for perfection; He is inviting us into honest relationship where growth can truly happen.

What about me?

So what does this mean for everyday life?

First, it means we practice regular honesty with God.  Not rehearsed prayers, not religious language, but real confession.  God already knows the truth—confession is not for His information, but for our transformation.

Second, it means we cultivate honest Christian community.  Isolation breeds shame.  Light brings healing.  Trusted believers who can pray, encourage, and speak truth are not luxuries—they are part of God’s design for our growth.

Third, it means we stop confusing perfection with faithfulness.  God does not call us to sinless performance, but to repentant hearts.  When we stumble, we do not run from God—we run to Him.

Finally, it means we live with confidence, not fear.  Because forgiveness is grounded in Christ’s blood, not our success rate, we can walk forward without being trapped by yesterday’s failures.

God is light.  And the closer we walk to Him, the more clearly we see—not only our sin, but also His mercy, His cleansing, and His transforming grace.