1 John 1:8

1 John 1:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
• New International Version (NIV)If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
• English Standard Version (ESV)If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
• New King James Version (NKJV)If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Context of 1 John 1:8

6Do you say that you share in the life that God gives? If you say that, but if you still live in the dark, you are telling a lie. You are not living in God's true way. 7But when we live in a right way, it is like living in the light. God is always in the light. So, if we live in the light, we share together in the life which God gives. And when Jesus, the Son of God, died on the cross, he saved us from all our sins. The blood of his sacrifice makes us clean. If we say that we never do any wrong thing, we are deceiving ourselves. Even though we may think it is true, it is a lie. 9Instead, we should agree that we have done wrong things and tell that to God. Then God will forgive us for our sins. He always does what he has promised to do. He always does what is right. He will forgive us and he will make us clean again, whatever bad things we may have done. 10God says that all people have done wrong things. So, if we say that we have not done any wrong thing, we are saying that God tells lies. It shows that we have not accepted his message at all.

1 John 1:8 word by word

ἐὰν εἴπωμεν ὅτι ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἔχομεν, ἑαυτοὺς πλανῶμεν καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἡμῖν.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Ifἐάνean · ifG1437
• we sayλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• we haveἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• noοὐou · noG3756
• sinἁμαρτίαhamartia · sinG266
• we deceiveπλανάωplanaō · to lead astrayG4105
• ourselvesἑαυτοῦheautou · themselfG1438
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• the truthὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the truthἀλήθειαalētheia · truthG225
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• usἐγώegō · I/weG1473

Cross-references for 1 John 1:8

• 1 John 1:6Do you say that you share in the life that God gives? If you say that, but if you still live in the dark, you are telling a lie. You are not living in God's true way.
• 1 John 3:5You know that Jesus came into the world so that he might take away our sins. He himself is completely clean from sin.
• 1 Kings 8:46There is nobody who never does a wrong thing. So when your people do not obey you, you will be angry with them. You will put them under the power of their enemies. Those enemies will take them as prisoners to their own country. Perhaps it will be a country that is far away. Perhaps it will be near.
• 2 Chronicles 6:36There is nobody who never does a wrong thing. So when your people do not obey you, you will be angry with them. You will put them under the power of their enemies. Those enemies will take them away as their prisoners. Perhaps they will take them to a country that is far away. Perhaps it will be near.
• Job 9:2‘The things that you have said are true. But nobody can show God that he is completely good.
• Job 14:4People are not clean and pure. Nobody can change them to become pure.
• Job 15:14No one who is human can be truly pure and righteous.
• Job 25:4No human is righteous when he stands in front of God. He cannot be pure.
• Psalms 143:2Do not judge me, your servant. Nobody is righteous when they stand in front of you.
• Proverbs 20:9Nobody can say, ‘My thoughts are completely pure. There is no sin in me.’
• Ecclesiastes 7:20There is nobody on the earth who is so righteous that they always do what is right. There is nobody who never does a wrong thing.
• Isaiah 53:6We have all turned away, like sheep that take the wrong path. Each of us has turned to follow our own way. But the Lord has taken all our sins and put the punishment on him.
• Isaiah 64:6Our sins have made us all like unclean people, who cannot worship you. Even the good things that we try to do are like dirty bits of cloth. Our sins will blow us all away, as the wind blows away dead leaves.
• Jeremiah 2:22You may use strong soap to make yourselves clean. But I still see the dirt of your sins.’ That is what the Almighty Lord says.
• Romans 3:23All people have done wrong things. Nobody can be good and great, as God wanted them to be.
• James 3:2We all make many mistakes. So, if someone never says anything that is bad, that person is completely good. It shows that he has authority over his whole body.

Commentaries on 1 John 1:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8If we say that we have no sin - This is tantamount to 1 John 1:10; : If we say that we have not sinned. All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; and therefore every man needs a Savior, such as Christ is. It is very likely that the heretics, against whose evil doctrines the apostle writes, denied that they had any sin, or needed any Savior. In deed, the Gnostics even denied that Christ suffered: the Aeon, or Divine Being that dwelt in the man…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8If we say that we have no sin - It is not improbable that the apostle here makes allusion to some error which was then beginning to prevail in the church. Some have supposed that the allusion is to the sect of the Nicolaitanes, and to the views which they maintained, particularly that nothing was forbidden to the children of God under the gospel, and that in the freedom conferred on Christians they were at liberty to do what they pleased, Revelation 2:6…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. 8If we say we have no sin: This is the second false claim of the Gnostics (see 1:6). They trusted they could be free from sin because Christ had removed their sins forever. They believed that their special knowledge put them in a position where sin no longer mattered. But Christians do still sin when they live in their old nature (see Romans 7:14–25). A true Christian both acknowledges this sin and trusts Christ to take it away (1 John 1:9).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. The confession of sins is a necessary consequence of "walking in the light" (1Jo 1:7). "If thou shalt confess thyself a sinner, the truth is in thee; for the truth is itself light. Not yet has thy life become perfectly light, as sins are still in thee, but yet thou hast already begun to be illuminated, because there is in thee confession of sins" [Augustine]. that we have no sin--"Have," not "have had," must refer not to the past sinful life while…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 John 1:8

• Blindness
• Depravity of Man
• Sin
• Sinlessness

In the dictionaries

• Deceive
• Fellowship
• Forgiveness of sin
• Light
• Sanctification
• Unction
• Walk
• Johannine Theology
• John, the Epistles of
• Proverbs, Book 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