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 you may fully share our joy. 5This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 7But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.

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 claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.
• 1 John 2:4If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.
• 1 John 4:20If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?
• Matthew 7:22On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’
• James 2:14What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?
• Revelation 3:17You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
• 1 John 1:3We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
• Psalms 5:4O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness; you cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked.
• Psalms 94:20Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side— leaders whose decrees permit injustice?
• 2 Corinthians 6:14Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?
• 1 John 2:9If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness.
• Psalms 82:5But these oppressors know nothing; they are so ignorant! They wander about in darkness, while the whole world is shaken to the core.
• Proverbs 2:13These men turn from the right way to walk down dark paths.
• Proverbs 4:18The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.
• John 3:19And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.
• John 11:10But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light.”

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