Do we lose fellowship when we sin?

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. 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. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. 1 John 1:1-10

  In my last post I answered some concerns about 1 John 1:9. You can read about that here: What about 1 John 1:9, Grace teacher? 

  I answered thoroughly that this passage is not addressed to the Church. I now want to address the other concern about 1 John. What about our fellowship? What happens when we do sin? Does God in fact remove fellowship with us? This is what many have in times past taught. Let us address this issue.

  First thing we need to study is verses five through seven in 1 John. We begin with great news. Not just good news but great news! In God there is no darkness. None! That means God is always good. He has your best in mind when He thinks of you. That is a great thought isn't it? What, you might be asking? The fact that God Almighty thinks about you. The Creator and Master of the entire Universe thinks about you! He is so full of love and wonder. What a gracious and loving Heavenly Father! 

 So God is light and not darkness. This means He is light, He knows the way! He is full of truth. He enlightens us with the truth. He is never holding anything back from us. So how does Him being light affect you? It means if He is in you, you are also in the light. We are one with God through our union with Christ. 

 The sixth verse describes a professor of faith in God not an actual possessor of faith and thus not a possessor of eternal life. When we are born again we are walking in the light. 

 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:14 

 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12

But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.     John 11:10

to open their eyes,in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ Acts 26:18

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light  (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), Ephesians 5:8-9

 Proof positive when we are born again we walk in light. As we walk in the light any missteps or failings are continually cleansed by the blood of Jesus. We are abiding under the waterfall of forgiveness. We walk under a continual cleansing. We are clean and stay clean by the blood. Again, you are already forgiven all your sins the moment you are born again. We then abide and walk in the light. It's not according to light. 

We walk in the light. Walking according to the light is manifested in the maturing into who we already are as a result of walking in the light. As I have said in times past knowing we are already cleansed and forever forgiven produces fruitful living.

  Whenever we sin we are not then suddenly walking in darkness. We may be walking as darkness walks momentarily. However, we are still in the light, in right standing with God receiving the continual cleansing of the blood of Jesus. We are cleansed (past tense) and stay cleansed by the blood continually. So am I saying children of God cannot walk in darkness? No, I am not, the Spirit of God is.

 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. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. 1 John 2:9-11

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. 1 John 3:14 

 When we are born again we are walking in the light. We have the love of God flooding our heart. This is proof we are in fact in the light. Again, if a believer misses it or stumbles they are still in the light. If every time we failed, it meant we were walking in darkness how could we find our own way out? This idea about being in darkness is why so many believe we lose fellowship with the Lord. He has no fellowship with darkness. So if we sin and thus are in darkness it stands to reason He would have no fellowship with us. This sounds reasonable but the whole of the Word doesn't agree. We are the Children of light not darkness. What about these passages then? 

 These passages about walking in darkness are referring to professors of faith not possessors. Believes have the love of God within. They don't possess a hate filled spirit. If you say you are a believer and actually walk in hate or in darkness then you are deceiving yourself. Come accept the Lord Jesus. Then you will see light, love and peace flood your heart and mind. 

 So we've established believers walk in light and therefore have fellowship with God. Now after study and research I've seen that nowhere in the Word of God does it state God breaks fellowship with us. This is the good news. Obviously I must prove this with the Word. So stay tuned for part three. 

  In this post I've set out to establish we have fellowship with the Lord because we walk in the light. We are continually in fellowship with Him and the Blood continually cleanses us. You are in the light as a believer. You have fellowship with the Lord because of this. Thus, He will never leave you. I pray these truths bring peace and comfort to you. I pray you rest in this relationship with our Father. If this blesses you please feel free to leave any feedback and consider sharing with your loved ones. If you wish you may sign up via email for any future posts. God richly bless you with His loving kindness today.