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

4And these things write we to you that your joy may be full. 5And this 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. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not practise the truth. 7But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive 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

• sayλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• fellowshipκοινωνίαkoinōnia · participationG2842
• walkπεριπατέωperipateō · to walkG4043
• darknessσκότοςskotos · darknessG4655
• lieψεύδομαιpseudomai · to lieG5574
• truthἀλήθειαalētheia · truthG225

Cross-references for 1 John 1:6

• 1 John 1:8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
• 1 John 2:4He that says, I know him, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
• 1 John 4:20If any one say, I love God, and hate his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
• Matthew 7:22Many shall say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied through thy name, and through thy name cast out demons, and through thy name done many works of power?
• James 2:14What [is] the profit, my brethren, if any one say he have faith, but have not works? can faith save him?
• Revelation 3:17Because thou sayest, I am rich, and am grown rich, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art the wretched and the miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked;
• 1 John 1:3that which we have seen and heard we report to you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship [is] indeed with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
• Psalms 5:4For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness; evil shall not sojourn with thee.
• Psalms 94:20Shall the throne of wickedness be united to thee, which frameth mischief into a law?
• 2 Corinthians 6:14Be not diversely yoked with unbelievers; for what participation [is there] between righteousness and lawlessness? or what fellowship of light with darkness?
• 1 John 2:9He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in the darkness until now.
• Psalms 82:5They know not, neither do they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are moved.
• Proverbs 2:13[from those] who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
• Proverbs 4:18But the path of the righteous is as the shining light, going on and brightening until the day be fully come.
• John 3:19And this is the judgment, that light is come into the world, and men have loved darkness rather than light; for their works were evil.
• John 11:10but if any one walk in the night, he stumbles, 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