"Here, then is the message we heard Him give. GOD IS LIGHT, and not
the faintest shadow of darkness can exist in Him.... If we really are living in the same light in
which He eternally exists, then we have true fellowship with each other" (Translation by J. B.
Phillips). Fellowship with each other is contingent upon living in the same light in which the
Lord eternally exists. God is light! To be in the light is to be in God. This is the state to
which we are called by the gospel of His grace. All who are in God are in fellowship. This does
not mean they have perfect understanding of His will, or that they all understand it alike.
Agreement in these areas is the result of study and growth. Fellowship is not a condition to be
arrived at as a result of perfect understanding or agreement. These are goals for which those in
fellowship should strive. Many are in God, and thus in the light, whose understanding is faulty.
Not every one in the light is full grown. Some are weak, childish, immature and feeble. If living
in the light depended upon a certain degree of knowledge, or correctness of interpretation, many
who are in it would not be there, including a considerable number who demonstrate their lack of
knowledge of this very passage. In their zeal to restrict others from fellowship, they set up an
interpretation which would debar us all. It is very difficult to define light, but we can live in it!
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