1 John 1:6

1 John 1:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
• New International Version (NIV)If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.
• English Standard Version (ESV)If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
• New King James Version (NKJV)If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

Context of 1 John 1:6

4We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. 5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him. If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. 7If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

1 John 1:6 word by word

ἐὰν εἴπωμεν ὅτι κοινωνίαν ἔχομεν μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν τῷ σκότει περιπατῶμεν, ψευδόμεθα καὶ οὐ ποιοῦμεν τὴν ἀλήθειαν·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Ifἐάνean · ifG1437
• we sayλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• we haveἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• fellowshipκοινωνίαkoinōnia · participationG2842
• withμετάmeta · with/afterG3326
• himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• walkπεριπατέωperipateō · to walkG4043
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• darknessὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• darknessσκότοςskotos · darknessG4655
• we lieψεύδομαιpseudomai · to lieG5574
• doποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• notοὐou · noG3756
• the truthἀλήθειαalētheia · truthG225

Cross-references for 1 John 1:6

• 1 John 1:8If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
• 1 John 2:4The one who says, “I have come to know him,” and yet doesn’t keep his commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
• 1 John 4:20If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
• Matthew 7:22On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’
• James 2:14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?
• Revelation 3:17For you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ and you don’t realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
• 1 John 1:3what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
• Psalms 5:4For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil cannot dwell with you.
• Psalms 94:20Can a corrupt throne be your ally, a throne that makes evil laws?
• 2 Corinthians 6:14Do not be yoked together with those who do not believe. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
• 1 John 2:9The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now.
• Psalms 82:5They do not know or understand; they wander in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
• Proverbs 2:13from those who abandon the right paths to walk in ways of darkness,
• Proverbs 4:18The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
• John 3:19This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.
• John 11:10But if anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him.”

Commentaries on 1 John 1:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6If we say that we have fellowship - Having fellowship, , 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6If 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…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-10Verses 5-10 A message from the Lord Jesus, the Word of life, the eternal Word, we should all gladly receive. The great God should be represented to this dark world, as pure and perfect light. As this is the nature of God, his doctrines and precepts must be such. And as his perfect happiness cannot be separated from his perfect holiness, so our happiness will be in proportion to our being made holy. To walk in darkness, is to live and act against religion…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6This 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…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. say--profess. have fellowship with him--(1Jo 1:3). The essence of the Christian life. walk--in inward and outward action, whithersoever we turn ourselves [Bengel]. in darkness--Greek, "in the darkness"; opposed to "the light" (compare 1Jo 2:8, 11). lie--(1Jo 2:4). do not--in practice, whatever we say. the truth--(Ep 4:21; Joh 3:21).Read the comment

Topics related to 1 John 1:6

• Blindness
• Confession
• Darkness
• Fellowship
• Holiness
• Hypocrisy
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Deceive
• Fellowship
• Forgiveness of sin
• Light
• Unction
• Walk
• Johannine Theology
• John, the Epistles of
• John, the First Epistle General of

Commentaries on 1 John 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings