The Blood Doesn't Cleanse in The Dark
"Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.
All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” John 3:16-21
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:5-7
The Big Reveal
Jesus is the light. If you follow him, you have the light that leads to life. People love darkness because their deeds are evil and they hate the light because it exposes their sin. If we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness, we are lying. We can only have fellowship with each other if we are living in the light. And, as 1 John 1:7 points out, there is a condition. This is an "if" "then" statement. If we are living in the light (as God is in the light, not a new age or otherwise altered version of living in the light), then the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin . Or as the late British Bible teacher Derek Prince once said, "The blood doesn't cleanse in the dark." In other words, repentance brings a practice of obedience to the truth. For those who claim fellowship with God but continue to live in spiritual darkness (ie practice sin), the outcome is that the blood of Jesus does not cleanse you from your sin. The truth in this verse is supported by many other scriptures written on this site.
Instead Be Imitators of God: Ephesians 5:1-14
"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
But sexual immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness or foolish talk, or vulgar joking, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, which amounts to an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
See that no one deceives you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Therefore do not become partners with them; for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), as you try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
Do not participate in the useless deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says,
“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.”