Mensa Otabil - Abiding in the Light
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First John chapter 2, verses 9 and 10: He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. John is very persistent, and he is not leaving us alone; he is not making it easy for us to just go and live our lives the way we want and make our own rules. He is drilling it down, and then he says you cannot be a Christian and hate other Christians. You cannot be in church and hate the people you are in church with; it doesn’t work that way. John says if you do that, you are living in darkness.
Now, the Christian body is very large; it is both visible and invisible, it is universal, and it is local. This includes Christians everywhere in the world, but particularly the Christians you associate with in your local church, in your local community. There are Christians who belong to the same group as us, maybe the same church, same denomination, and then there are other Christians who do not belong to the same group as us.
There may be different ethnic groups, different races, but the commandment is the same: we have to love. John is saying that if we don’t love, we have no excuse; we’ve moved out of light into darkness. This is a very important statement because Jesus Christ is our light. When he comes to live inside us, he makes us into light. He said we become the light of the world.John says although we are light, when we hate somebody-when a Christian hates another Christian-although the Christian is light, he is now living in darkness. He is light living in darkness.
The sum of it is that he is a Christian living like an unbeliever, a believer living like an unbeliever, a Christian living like a non-Christian. There is no difference between you and the person living in darkness if you are light living in darkness. Therefore, the Christian must endeavor not only to be light but also to live in the light. When we walk in love, we are living in the light-that’s what he is saying.
Living in love, or walking in love, does not mean that you’re going to feel good about everybody; it is not a feeling, it is an act. You may not feel nice toward everybody because it may not be the way it is, but you have to act right. That means we have to act with mercy, we have to act with kindness, we have to act with compassion, we have to act with generosity. This is love in action. Although we may not feel the best vibe toward somebody-perhaps someone is making you feel very uncomfortable-you still have to be kind to them. You still have to be generous. You have to be gracious; you have to say nice things about them. Do not gossip about them, even though they are not treating you well.
This is not a feeling; it is an action. It is putting God’s principles into work, and John says if we do that, then we are walking in the light. So, we are light walking in the light. Jesus spoke the parable about the people who are light but whose light is under a bushel. It means they are light, but the light is covered; they are the lightest in darkness, and it is not shining, it is not permeating the world. He goes on to say that when we are light and we walk in the light, we will not stumble.
That is a great promise. It means that when you are the light of God and you are walking in light, you will not fall into the enemy’s traps; you will not stumble, you will not fall. Satan may plan all kinds of things against you, but you will not fall into any of them. Why? Because you walk in love.So, the best way to protect yourself as a Christian, the best way to ensure that you don’t fall into any trap of the enemy, is to walk in love. You may not like them, but be kind to them, be generous, be gracious, and be well-intentioned toward people. This is how we walk in the light.
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, you are the Father of light. Help me to walk in your light as I walk in your love. In Jesus' name, amen.» Well, I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.