Bible Study 1 John 1 Walking in the Light Discussion

Here are the additional points brought up in the discussion on

Bible Study 1 John God is Light & Love  &

Bible Study 1 John Chapter 1 Walk in Fellowship with Jesus

1. 1 John does not just talk about Love but also about Light - walking in the light and then have fellowship with God and with one another.
2. God's plan for us is not just a relationship between God and me but also God and me and us. John specifically pointed out that addition of more people into the fellowship with God and them make their joy complete. A true believer does not just live a solo relationship between himself and God. Christianity is the the Church, the many of us, with one other united in Jesus as the head and the church as the body.
3. Light will expose the darkness or the darkness cannot stand the light. Our sin breaks fellowship with God and the only way to mend the fellowship is to confess the sin and seek forgiveness and thereby gaining the fellowship and trust back. We discover a better term "Transparency" as a description of walking in the light. To have good fellowship, we have to be transparent and open to one another. 
4. God transcends time. When Jesus died on the cross, He paid for all our sins - past, present and future. However that does not mean we could forget about confessing our sins. Sins break relationship and unconfessed sins cause us to hide from God and bind us to the sin. Only through facing our sins directly and bringing them to God can we be fully delivered. We cannot over-extend the meaning of forgiveness of God as if there be no consequences for our sins. We consider the example of David, 2 Sam 12:13-14 Nathan told David that God has put away his sin and he did not die (even before his confession, else David would be dead long before) but there are consequences he must suffered for it... the dead of the baby, the historical record of these sins all through history, the murder, rebellion within his family etc. If God forgiveness is to remove all consequences, we will probably not learn anything from it. But the consequences will be different from different people. We don't fully understand but trust God to be the wise and just and Judge. Some convicted murderers were hung after they were saved and some were set free. While we are forgiven for our sins, God also promise to be with us through the consequences.
5. Sharing: A member shared she was trapped in darkness for a few days because of her working environment and the closure of 1.5 year project. She was unhappy because looking back she found there are many things that could be improved. However after reading Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always..., she was enlightened and see the light - the burden was lifted. On hindsight, anyone can always find improvement to past work. We should leave the work at that, we contented that we have given our best then and carry on with new things. We should not be complacent on the other hand. We should not live life passively and in a give-up mode. We should have hope and go after new thing with vitality of life.
6. 
   
   What can we do to have closer fellowship with Jesus?
   The Principle is Walk in the Light.
   In practical terms:
   

   •  Walk transparently with God. No hiding from God. Tell God - our struggles, disappointments, sins, and hope.
   • Bible Study - for guidance and reflection. Bible is a mirror for us to look at ourselves too.
   • Prayer to dialogue with God.
   • Have the presence of God in our heart and other activities, watching movies, tvs, sports, social work, work place etc will be channels for God to speak to us and for us to shine for Him. Have the presence of God in all our daily activities. Liat shared of how God spoke to him and how he made his life time commitment to God, not to forget God when one is successful,  from watch a movie called "The Valley of Dolls".