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 Living Translation (NLT)If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.

Context of 1 John 1:8

6If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice 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. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

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 1:6If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
• 1 John 3:5And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
• 1 Kings 8:46“When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to the land of the enemy, far or near;
• 2 Chronicles 6:36“When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to a land far or near;
• Job 9:2“Truly I know it is so, But how can a man be righteous before God?
• Job 14:4Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one!
• Job 15:14“What is man, that he could be pure? And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?
• Job 25:4How then can man be righteous before God? Or how can he be pure who is born of a woman?
• Psalms 143:2Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no one living is righteous.
• Proverbs 20:9Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin”?
• Ecclesiastes 7:20For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin.
• Isaiah 53:6All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
• Isaiah 64:6But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.
• Jeremiah 2:22For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, Yet your iniquity is marked before Me,” says the Lord God.
• Romans 3:23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
• James 3:2For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the 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