1 John 1:5

Contextual Overview

⁵ We heard the true teaching from God. Now we tell it to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness. ⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. ⁵ And this is the tydynges which we have hearde of him and declare vnto you that god is lyght and in him is no darknes at all ⁵ 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. ⁵ This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.⁵ Here is the message we have heard from Christ and now announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. ⁵ And 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. ⁵ This then is the message which we have heard from him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁵ 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. ⁵ And this is the message which we have heard of him and declare to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the message: 1 John 3:11, 1 Corinthians 11:23

that God: Psalms 27:1, Psalms 36:9, Psalms 84:11, Isaiah 60:19, John 1:4, John 1:9, John 8:12, John 9:5, John 12:35, John 12:36, 1 Timothy 6:16, James 1:17, Revelation 21:23, Revelation 22:5

Reciprocal: Genesis 1:3 - Let Psalms 94:20 - fellowship Psalms 104:2 - with light Isaiah 9:2 - walked Daniel 2:22 - and the Daniel 7:9 - whose Matthew 5:16 - your light Luke 1:79 - give Romans 13:12 - works 2 Corinthians 6:14 - and what 1 John 1:3 - declare 1 John 1:7 - as 1 John 4:8 - God is

Cross-References

Genesis 1:8
And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

Genesis 1:8
And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Genesis 1:8
God named the air "sky." Evening passed, and morning came. This was the second day.

Genesis 1:8
God called the expanse "sky." There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

Genesis 1:8
And God called the firmament Heaven: and the evening and the morning were the second day.

Genesis 1:8
God called the expanse sky. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Genesis 1:8
God called the expanse [of sky] heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Genesis 1:8
And God clepide the firmament, heuene. And the euentid and morwetid was maad, the secounde dai.

Genesis 1:8
And God calleth to the expanse `Heavens;' and there is an evening, and there is a morning -- day second.

Genesis 1:8
God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning-the second day.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

This then is the message,.... Of God by his Son the Word, or from Christ by his apostles. The Syriac version renders it, "this is the Gospel"; which is good news from a far country, a message sent from the King of kings to sinful men: or this is the annunciation, or declaration; that is, the thing declared, or showed. Some render it, "this is the promise", that whereas God is light, such who walk in the light shall have communion with him, and others shall not:

which we have heard of him; of Christ, who has declared him, that he is light without any mixture of darkness; that is a pure Spirit, and must be worshipped in a spiritual way; and that only spiritual worshippers are such as he seeks, and admits to communion with him. Moreover, they might hear and learn this of Christ, by his telling them that he himself was light, who is the image of the invisible God, insomuch, that he that has seen the Son, has seen the Father also. Wherefore, if the one is light, the other must be likewise; nor is there any coming to the Father, and enjoying communion with him, but through Christ; all which our Lord told his disciples. The Ethiopic version reads, "which ye have heard", very wrongly; for the words regard the apostles, who made a faithful declaration of the message they heard, and had from Christ, which is as follows:

and declare unto you that God is light; that is, God the Father, as distinguished from "him", Christ, of whom they had heard this message, and from Jesus Christ his Son, 1 John 1:7, what is declared of him, agreeably to the report of Christ, is, that he is "light"; that is, as light is opposed to the darkness of sin; he is pure and holy in his nature and works, and of such pure eyes as not to behold iniquity; and so perfectly holy, that angels cover their times before him, when they speak of his holiness: and as light is opposed to the darkness of ignorance, he is wise and knowing; he knows himself, his own nature, being, and perfections, his Son and Spirit, and their distinct modes of subsisting; he sees clearly all things in himself, all things he could do, or has determined shall be done; he has perfect knowledge of all creatures and things, and the darkness and the light are alike unto him, nor can the former hide from him: he is knowable, and to be discerned; he is clothed with light, and dwells in it; he may be known by the works of creation and providence; even the invisible things of him, his eternal power and Godhead, may be clearly seen and understood by them, and especially in his word, and most clearly in his Son; it is owing to the darkness of men, and not to any in and about God, who is light, that he is so little known as he is: and, like the light, he illuminates others; he is the Father of lights, the author and giver of all light; of the light of reason to men in general; and of grace here, and glory hereafter, to his own people, which are both signified by light; in whose light they see light; and he refreshes and delights their souls with the light of his countenance now, and with his glorious presence in the other world:

and in him is no darkness at all; no darkness of sin; nothing is more contrary to him, or more distant from him: nor any darkness of error and ignorance; what is unknown to men, as the times and seasons; what angels were ignorant of, and even Christ, as man, as the day and hour of Jerusalem's destruction, were known to the Father; in him is no ignorance of anything whatever; nor is there any variableness or shadow of turning in him, as there is in the luminous body of the sun; but God is always the same pure and holy, wise and knowing Being. It is usual with the Cabalistic Jews e, to call the supreme Being אור, light the most simple light, hidden light, and infinite light, with respect to his nature, glory, and majesty, and with regard also to his grace and mercy, justice and judgment; though, as R. Sangart says f, this is to be understood of him figuratively.

e Lex. Cabalist, p. 63, 64. f Sepher Cosri, par. 2. sect. 2. fol. 61. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This then is the message which we have heard of him - This is the substance of the announcement (ἐπαγγελία epangelia) which we have received of him, or which he made to us. The message here refers to what he communicated as the sum of the revelation which he made to man. The phrase “of him” (απ ̓ αὐτου ap' autou) does not mean respecting him, or about him, but from him; that is, this is what we received from his preaching; from all that he said. The peculiarity, the substance of all that he said, may be summed up in the declaration that God is light, and in the consequences which follow from this doctrine. He came as the messenger of Him who is light; he came to inculcate and defend the truths which flow from that central doctrine, in regard to sin, to the danger and duty of man, to the way of recovery, and to the rules by which men ought to live.

That God is light - Light, in the Scriptures, is the emblem of purity, truth, knowledge, prosperity, and happiness - as darkness is of the opposite. John here says that “God is light” - φῶς phōs - not the light, or a light, but light itself; that is, he is himself all light, and is the source and fountain of light in all worlds. He is perfectly pure, without any admixture of sin. He has all knowledge, with no admixture of ignorance on any subject. He is infinitely happy, with nothing to make him miserable. He is infinitely true, never stating or countenancing error; he is blessed in all his ways, never knowing the darkness of disappointment and adversity. Compare the James 1:17 note; John 1:4-5 note; 1 Timothy 6:16 note.

And in him is no darkness at all - This language is much in the manner of John, not only affirming that a thing is so, but guarding it so that no mistake could possibly be made as to what he meant. Compare John 1:1-3. The expression here is designed to affirm that God is absolutely perfect; that there is nothing in him which is in any way imperfect, or which would dim or mar the pure splendor of his character, not even as much as the smallest spot would on the sun. The language is probably designed to guard the mind from an error to which it is prone, that of charging God with being the Author of the sin and misery which exist on the earth; and the apostle seems to design to teach that whatever was the source of sin and misery, it was not in any sense to be charged on God. This doctrine that God is a pure light, John lays down as the substance of all that he had to teach; of all that he had learned from him who was made flesh. It is, in fact, the fountain of all just views of truth on the subject of religion, and all proper views of religion take their origin from this.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 John 1:5. This then is the message — This is the grand principle on which all depends, which we have heard of απαυτου, FROM him; for neither Moses nor the prophets ever gave that full instruction concerning God and communion with him which Jesus Christ has given, for the only-begotten Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, has alone declared the fulness of the truth, and the extent of the blessings, which believers on him are to receive. See John 1:18.

God is light — The source of wisdom, knowledge, holiness, and happiness; and in him is no darkness at all-no ignorance, no imperfection, no sinfulness, no misery. And from him wisdom, knowledge, holiness, and happiness are received by every believing soul. This is the grand message of the Gospel, the great principle on which the happiness of man depends. LIGHT implies every essential excellence, especially wisdom, holiness, and happiness. DARKNESS implies all imperfection, and principally ignorance, sinfulness, and misery. LIGHT is the purest, the most subtile, the most useful, and the most diffusive of all God's creatures; it is, therefore, a very proper emblem of the purity, perfection, and goodness of the Divine nature. God is to human soul, what the light is to the world; without the latter all would be dismal and uncomfortable, and terror and death would universally prevail: and without an indwelling God what is religion? Without his all-penetrating and diffusive light, what is the soul of man? Religion would be an empty science, a dead letter, a system unauthoritated and uninfluencing, and the soul a trackless wilderness, a howling waste, full of evil, of terror and dismay, and ever racked with realizing anticipations of future, successive, permanent, substantial, and endless misery. No wonder the apostle lays this down as a first and grand principle, stating it to be the essential message which he had received from Christ to deliver to the world.