This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all: What is the message from the Lord? "God is light." The structure in the Greek indicates that, as to His nature, God is light. Barclay says that light speaks of splendor and glory, purity and holiness, guidance and revelation (30-31). It is true that we usually think of light as referring to knowledge, truth, and purity. In this context, however, we must limit the symbolism to purity or holiness because he uses it in contrast with the darkness of sin in subsequent verses. This is one more attack on the doctrine of the Cerinthian Gnostics who advocated that they could live in fellowship with God and in the practice of sin at the same time.