1 John 1:6

Translations

Modern

If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

Traditional

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

Literal

If we should say that we have fellowship with Him and should walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

Latin

Si dixerimus quoniam societatem habemus cum eo, et in tenebris ambulamus, mentimur, et veritatem non facimus.

Original

Greek

English

If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

Notes

1 John 1:6

This is the first of several times when John challenges the claims of the Gnostics. These teachers had separated themselves from the fellowship of the apostles, so they were living in spiritual darkness. They claimed to have fellowship with God, but they did not show God’s character, which is light.

Jesus warned the Jewish leaders of his day not to let the light they believed they had become darkness (Matthew 6:23). Their religious beliefs kept them from receiving the true spiritual light that Christ offered. In the same way, the Gnostic teachers believed they were enlightened, but their teachings actually led them into darkness.

They claimed to receive spiritual experiences from God. Yet they rejected fellowship with the apostles, who had truly seen God in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.

1 John 1:5–2:6

Here John focuses on the first part of living in fellowship with God. To live in the light means that Christians see that they are sinners. It also means they understand that Jesus is their Advocate, the one who speaks for them and makes them right with God (see Ephesians 5:6–13).

Theme notes and profiles

Darkness and Light Faith and Good Deeds

Related verses

1 John 2:4
If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1 John 4:20
If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
John 3:19–21
And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.
John 8:12
Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Proverbs 4:18–19
The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
1 John 1:10
If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.
Proverbs 2:13
…from those who leave the straight paths to walk in the ways of darkness,
John 12:35
Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
2 Corinthians 6:14–16
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
John 12:46
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.
Psalm 5:4–6
For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; no evil can dwell with You.
James 2:14
What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

1 John 1:6

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