Walk in the Light

by Mathew Block

“Whoever says he abides in [Jesus] ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.”

So writes St. John in his first epistle (1 John 2:6). We follow after Jesus on the way because He is the Way (John 14:6). As we do so, we pray that God will transform us ever more into the image of His Son in whose steps we tread. We learn to reject alternate paths—“the old self with its practices”—and strive after Christ, putting on the “new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:9-10). 

Not that we see the final culmination of that transformation in this life; for that, we must wait until the return of Christ and the resurrection of the dead. St. John writes: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies Himself as He is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).

There is a tension here—the recognition that we are not yet holy and yet that we are called to be holy—which underlies the Christian’s life. Through Christ, we are already children of light; and yet our lives are not yet fully pure. Too often we walk in the darkness of sin. We do not do what we should. We do not love as we ought. St. Paul describes the condition well: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Romans 7:15).

In other words, the journey with Jesus that we are making is not a solitary affair; it’s a relationship between me and Christ and His body—the Church.

In the face of this continuing inclination to sin, which all people face, some are tempted to give up trying altogether—to confess that, since we are saved by grace through faith, any attempt to amend our lives is a rejection of that grace. But this is not what Scripture teaches. “We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death,” St. Paul writes, “in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (6:4). Therefore, he writes, “let not sin… reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions” (6:12).

The new life that we receive from Christ leads us to shun evil and to follow Him on the Way. Despite the difficulty of that journey, we are not permitted to throw up our hands and call it hopeless. We may not choose to wallow in sin. “If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth,” St. John warns. “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 cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:6-7).

In this life, the darkness inherent in our sinful nature always seeks to draw us from the path laid out by our Lord. But do not fear: “The darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining” (1:8). As we dwell in the light of Christ and the grace He has won for us by the cross and delivered to us in Word and Sacrament, we are forgiven of sin and empowered by the Holy Spirit not only to desire to pursue righteousness but even to some extent to achieve it (cf. Philippians 2:13).

The road is a difficult one, and impossible on our own apart from Christ. But we are not on our own. We have Christ. And we have each other. “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,” St. John writes (1 John 1:7). In other words, the journey with Jesus that we are making is not a solitary affair; it’s a relationship between me and Christ and His body—the Church. 

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil,” notes the Teacher. “For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). Christians are called to make the journey of faith together, because we all fall—we all fail—and we need the support of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We strengthen those who are weak. We raise those who have fallen. We walk as one body—the body of Christ—led ever on by our Head, Jesus our Lord.

In this issue, we reflect on the Church and our place in it. Rev. Dr. Edward Kettner calls us to remember that we are all members of the body of Christ. Rev. Thomas Prachar encourages us to work for peace in the midst of local church conflicts. And Rev. Michael Keith explains the value in talking with Christians of other traditions. May their words be an encouragement to the body of Christ as together we walk in the foosteps of our Lord.

O Holy Father, send Your Holy Spirit into our hearts that we might be led to follow after Your Son, Jesus Christ. Teach us to will what You will and to do what You do. Draw us ever further into Your light, that we would learn to love each other as You have loved us. And where we fail, Lord, forgive us our sins for the sake of the death and resurrection of Jesus, our only Saviour. Amen.

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Mathew Block is editor of The Canadian Lutheran and the Communications Manager of the International Lutheran Council (ILC).

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