1 John 1:6

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

If: 1 John 1:8, 1 John 1:10, 1 John 2:4, 1 John 4:20, Matthew 7:22, James 2:14, James 2:16, James 2:18, Revelation 3:17, Revelation 3:18

fellowship: 1 John 1:3, Psalms 5:4-6, Psalms 94:20, 2 Corinthians 6:14-16

walk: 1 John 2:9-11, Psalms 82:5, Proverbs 2:13, Proverbs 4:18, Proverbs 4:19, John 3:19, John 3:20, John 11:10, John 12:35, John 12:46

we lie: 1 John 1:10, 1 John 4:20, John 8:44, John 8:45, 1 Timothy 4:2

do not: John 3:21

Reciprocal: Ezekiel 36:27 - cause Zechariah 10:12 - walk John 19:34 - came 1 Thessalonians 2:12 - walk 1 John 2:6 - that saith 1 John 2:22 - Who 2 John 1:4 - walking

Cross-References

Genesis 1:5
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Genesis 1:5
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

Genesis 1:5
God named the light "day" and the darkness "night." Evening passed, and morning came. This was the first day.

Genesis 1:5
God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day.

Genesis 1:5
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night: and the evening and the morning were the first day.

Genesis 1:5
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. There was evening and there was morning, one day.

Genesis 1:5
And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

Genesis 1:5
dai, and the derknessis, nyyt. And the euentid and morwetid was maad, o daie.

Genesis 1:5
and God calleth to the light `Day,' and to the darkness He hath called `Night;' and there is an evening, and there is a morning -- day one.

Genesis 1:5
God called the light "day," and the darkness He called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning-the first day.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

If we say that we have fellowship with him,.... The Alexandrian copy reads, "for if we say": that is, if any profess to be partakers of the divine nature, to be like unto God, and to have communion with him, to have the light of his countenance, and the discoveries of his love:

and walk in darkness; in the darkness of sin, ignorance, and unbelief, or are in a state of unregeneracy and blindness; whose understandings are darkened, and they know not God in Christ, nor have any true sight and sense of themselves, their sin and danger; and are ignorant of Christ and his righteousness, and the way of salvation by him; and are strangers to the Spirit of God, and the work of his grace; and are unacquainted with the truths of the Gospel; and not only so, but go on in darkness more and more; prefer it to the light, love it, and the works of it; have fellowship with them, and choose them; take pleasure in the ways of sin and wickedness, and continue, and walk on in them; if such persons pretend to fellowship with God, they are liars:

we lie; it cannot be, it is a contradiction, the thing is impossible and impracticable; what communion hath light with darkness? or what fellowship can the throne of iniquity, or those in whom sin reigns, have with God? for God is light, and were they partakers of him, or like unto him, or had communion with him, they would consequently be in the light, and not in darkness, and much less walk in it; wherefore they are liars,

and do not the truth: they do not say the truth, nor act according to it; they do not act uprightly or sincerely, but are hypocrites, and pretend to that which they have not; and if they did the truth, they would come to the light, and not walk in darkness; see John 3:21.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

If we say that we have fellowship uith him - If we reckon ourselves among his friends, or, in other words, if we profess to be like him: for a profession of religion involves the idea of having fellowship with God, (compare the notes at 1 John 1:3), and he who professes that should be like him.

And walk in darkness - Live in sin and error. To “walk in darkness” now commonly denotes to be in doubt about our religious state, in contradistinction from living in the enjoyment of religion. That is not, however, probably the whole idea here. The leading thought is, that if we live in sin, it is a proof that our profession of religion is false. Desirable as it is to have the comforts of religion, yet it is not always true that they who do not are not true Christians, nor is it true by any means that they intend to deceive the world.

We lie - We are false professors; we are deceived if we think that we can have fellowship with God, and yet live in the practice of sin. As God is pure, so must we be, if we would be his friends. This does not mean necessarily that they meant to deceive, but that there was an irreconcilable contradiction between a life of sin and fellowship with God.

And do not the truth - Do not act truly. The profession is a false one. Compare the notes at John 3:22. To do the truth is to act in accordance with truth; and the expression here means that such an one could not be a Christian. And yet how many there are who are living in known sin who profess to be Christians! How many whose minds are dark on the whole subject of religion, who have never known anything of the real peace and joy which it imparts, who nevertheless entertain the belief that they are the friends of God, and are going to heaven! They trust in a name, in forms, in conformity to external rites, and have never known anything of the internal peace and purity which religion imparts, and in fact have never had any true fellowship with that God who is light, and in whom there is no darkness at all. Religion is light; religion is peace, purity, joy; and though there are eases where for a time a true Christian may be left to darkness, and have no spiritual joy, and be in doubt about his salvation, yet still it is a great truth, that unless we know by personal experience what it is to walk habitually in the light, to have the comforts of religion, and to experience in our own souls the influences which make the heart pure, and which bring us into conformity to the God who is light, we can have no true religion. All else is but a name, which will not avail us on the final day.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 6. If we say that we have fellowship — Having fellowship, κοινωνια, communion, with God, necessarily implies a partaking of the Divine nature. Now if a man profess to have such communion, and walk in darkness-live an irreligious and sinful life, he lies, in the profession which he makes, and does not the truth-does not walk according to the directions of the Gospel, on the grace of which he holds his relation to God, and his communion with him.

The Gnostics, against whose errors it is supposed this epistle was written, were great pretenders to knowledge, to the highest degrees of the Divine illumination, and the nearest communion with the fountain of holiness, while their manners were excessively corrupt.