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'Even in this conditional setting the keeping of the Word is a proof of
our being in Him; not that the keeping of the Word either places us in that
blessed sphere, or secures us when we are there.
'By comparing 1 John 4:17 with 1 John 2:5,6 it will be seen that God's
love to us, and our love to God, meet together in the Lord Jesus Christ as
their great goal; both point forward to likeness to Him. The believer's love
to God urges him to seek more conformity to the image of His Beloved Son; and
God's love to His people has fixed as its goal, perfect likeness to Christ in
resurrection glory. Be it noted that this verse does not say, "We ought to
be as He is", but it says, "We ought to walk as He walked". Many have gone
into all kinds of excesses in their endeavour to "walk as He walked",
forgetting that 1 John 1:7 must be included, and that henceforth we know
Christ according to the flesh no longer. 1 John 1:7 speaks of walking in the
light. This is how the Lord Jesus always walked whilst here on earth.
'In the very presence of God, in the light of the holiest of all; what
a position to be found in! what a position to abide in! No creature
preparation or perfectness can avail there; in fact, any attempt at such only
shows the failure to appreciate the heights of holiness demanded by that
brilliant throne. What is our warrant for daring to walk in the light?
'As He is we are. Is this "sinless perfection"? No! If we say we
have no sin we deceive ourselves. If we say we have not sinned we make God a
liar. It is not by covering up our sins, neither is it by imagining
ourselves to have become sinless that we draw near to the presence of the
Lord. No; it is by reason of the wondrous grace that has made us "accepted
in the Beloved", that has "made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of
the saints in the light". With all our imperfections still upon us, with all
our sins of omission and commission, we may draw near to walk in the light.
Do we make little of sin? No! God does not, but He has made provision. It
is not our walk or our talk that will ever keep us fit for His holy presence,
but "If we walk in the light ... the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth
us from all sin".
'Such is some small fragment of the teaching of these verses. Let us
glorify God by believing His Word, and, seeing that by His grace we are (in
Christ) as He is, and that as He is we shall be, let us seek by grace to walk
as He walked, to walk in the light, to confess thankfully the glorious
efficacy of the blood that cleanseth, and to exemplify in some measure the
complete sanctification which is ours in Christ Jesus'.
Related to the figurative use of the word 'walk' is the use of the word
'conversation'. Modern usage would give first place to the meaning of
conversation, 'familiar or intimate talk, interchange of thought and words,
familiar discourse', but if one consults a standard dictionary, this
definition comes a long way down the list. The word 'verse' comes from the
Latin verso 'to be occupied', and from another branch of the same word we
have 'versatile' as being 'versed' or skilled or even 'conversant' with a
subject. Lloyd's Encyclopaedic Dictionary gives the following meanings in
this order:
The act or state of residing or sojourning in any place; residence,
dwelling.
Commerce, intercourse, dealing, traffic.