How do you know if your confidence before God is real—or false?

“If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”
1 John 1:6

John’s first epistle was written to steady believers who were being unsettled. Some people had stepped away from the church and were now speaking with the kind of confidence that sounded spiritual and persuasive. They talked about spiritual enlightenment and knowing God. And yet, the way they lived no longer aligned with what God had revealed about Himself.

So John speaks clearly and without apology. God is light. Which means God is truth. He is holy. He is consistent all the way through. There is no version of God that looks the other way at sin. No fellowship with Him that bypasses obedience. If someone claims closeness with God while continuing in darkness, John says that claim simply isn’t true.

That kind of statement feels weighty. And it’s meant to. John is drawing a line, because false confidence is dangerous. A life that makes peace with sin while still insisting everything is fine with God is not a life grounded in truth. John calls that self-deception, not assurance.

These words can land heavily, especially for sincere believers who ask, “What about my sin? What about the ways I still stumble?” John’s warning is strong, but it forces a careful distinction. Walking in the light doesn’t deny that believers still wrestle with sin, or that we will stumble from time to time. What John exposes is a posture toward sin. It means refusing to deny it, excuse it, or make room for it. Darkness isn’t in struggling. Darkness is when we let it settle in.

Confession, then, is not a way to excuse ongoing sin. It is the posture of someone who wants sin exposed and removed, not tolerated or rebranded. Confession names sin as sin and turns toward God for cleansing rather than continuing on unchanged. And where sin is brought honestly into the light, John gives a steady promise: God forgives. God cleanses. Christ intercedes.

That matters, because believers are bombarded with many different voices. Some messages treat sin lightly, as though grace makes obedience optional. But others speak of holiness in ways that leave no room for assurance at all. John provides clarity here too. Assurance is not found in denying sin or redefining it. Neither do we need to despair every time we fail. Assurance grows where truth and grace meet—where sin is taken seriously, repentance is real, and Christ is trusted as our Advocate.

So this is what walking in the light looks like. We don’t claim fellowship while ignoring obedience. We don’t confess sin while refusing to turn from it. And we don’t despair when we stumble, because Christ stands between us and judgment.

John writes this epistle to help believers tell the difference between real faith and false claims, and to keep the church from being pulled off course by deception. And he is anchoring joy where it belongs—in truth.

God is light.
Truth and obedience belong together, and they are held together by love—love for God that does not make peace with sin, and love that desires real fellowship rather than hollow assurance.
When we walk in that light, assurance is not fragile. It is grounded in who God is and what Christ has done.

Reflection Questions

1. Are there areas where you are tempted either to excuse sin or to confess it without truly turning from it—and how does John’s call to walk in the light speak into that?

2. If you struggle with assurance, what voices or assumptions have shaped how you think God views you—and how does John’s emphasis on truth, repentance, and Christ’s advocacy reframe that?

Further Reflection

📖 Ephesians 5:1–21
📖 Hebrews 10:19–24
📖 Psalm 32:3–5
📖 Proverbs 28:13
📖 1 John 3:6–10

Prayer

Holy God,
You are light, and You call me to walk in truth and light.
Keep me from empty confidence and quiet compromise.
Give me a heart that is honest, repentant, and responsive to You.
Thank You that in Christ, forgiveness is sure
and fellowship is sustained by Your grace.
Teach me to live in the light without fear
and to abide in Your truth in love.
Amen.