4. Do 1 John 1:6,6If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: (1 John 1:6) and 2:11, speak of the child of God as walking in darkness, or of the condition of “the children of darkness in contrast with the children of light?
Ans. — In bah cases we have the testing of’ profession. The language in chapter 2:9. Shows distinctly as to the latter passage, that it is not the failure of one who was once in the light, that the Apostle speaks of, for “he that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother; is in darkness even until now.” Such a man never was out of the darkness. On the other hand, “he that loveth his brother abideth in the light (ver. 10).
As to chapter 1:6, the very next lime, to one who knows the Gospel, shows that the apostle is Speaking of the unsaved, for only “if we walk in the light ... the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” The man walking in darkness is therefore not a cleansed one. The walking in light or in do knees shows the real condition of the soul, whether cleansed or not.