1 John 1:5-10

^5 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. ^6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ^7 But 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. ^8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ^9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ^10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Commentary

God is light; that is Holy, Pure, Righteous, without sin or inclination towards it. And thus there is no darkness in Him at all (vs. 5). That sets the backdrop for all that the Apostle John is about to say, specifically to believers, who are living, or are to be living in a right relationship with God by likewise seeking to do so (vs. 6-7). And thus the Apostle John says: "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." vs.6

Now in stating this he's not implying that we now as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead must somehow try to live sinless. Or that by living a righteous live someone would enter the Kingdom of heaven. No the point being made here by the Apostle John is not about salvation which we only receive by faith in Jesus and thus we are only justified through the grace of God by His Righteousness, not mans (Rom 3:19-28). No the point being made here by the Apostle John is someone professing to have faith In Jesus Christ but living as though nothing has changed in them. For one can claim to be in fellowship with God if they are living (i.e. wilfully walking) in darkness. If you remember the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18 you might remember that it is the belt of truth that is the principal piece of armor that each and every believer must gird their waist with to withstand the assaults of the Devil. Cast of the belt of truth and the rest of the body armor mentioned their simply falls to the ground and becomes useless for ones defense against Satan's schemes. Therefore believing and obeying the truth; and thus walking and living in the truth, is absolutely critical for a believers well being. And here that truth is being expounded by the Apostle John commanding us all who believe to walk in light as God is light, and thus as children of God reflect the true moral character of God by keeping His commandments. That is to walk in light as God is light; and not in darkness as Satan, sin and all evil is always darkness and abides in the darkness. Those then who are living willingly in their sins are having their eyes blinded to the truth by the darkness; a darkness which darkens heart, soul and mind. Therefore a person who knowingly lives in sins darkness and yet thinks that they are somehow in a right relationship with God is utterly self deceived. For they are not in fellowship with God, but with the darkness and the ruler of it.

Therefore the Apostle John warns us all that if anyone thinks they have fellowship with God by going to church, or Bible studies, or being baptized, or attending worship services or doing whatever "religious" things one might think would approve them to God, but are knowingly living in sin, they are not living in the light as God is light, but are in effect living a terrible lie with eternal consequences for themselves if they continue on in it unrepentant, (Mark 9:42-48). And thus they are leaving a wide open door for Satan (the father of lies) to come into their lives here and now to both use them (for his purposes) as well as abuse them. The antithesis of this being found in 1 John 5:18.

Now in contrast to that very perilous scenario the Apostle John immediately goes on to say: "But 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." vs. 7

And thus Christian fellowship with each other comes by living in the light as He is light, and so the Apostle says the blood of Christ cleanses us from all our sin. Therefore the onus is on us all who believe in Jesus Christ, to walk in light as God is light. Light being the perfect metaphor for living according to all that is Biblically holy, true, just, righteous and sound. In essence having first received the Lord Jesus Christ through the gospel (John 1:12); and thus having our sins washed by the blood of Christ (); we must as a course of life, throughout our new lives, seek to purify our lives from sin, just as God is Pure (1 John 3:2-3). Therefore in living by and in harmony with Jesus Christ's life and Spirit within us we must do so according to His Word. And not according to the worlds ever changing moral standards, which would only make us enemies of God (James 4:4). Nor should we seek to live according to the commandments of men who turn from the truth (Titus 1:14); and thus all manner of legalism and self-imposed restrictions which have nothing to do with obeying God's moral decrees and do even less to keep one from the sinful lusts of the flesh (Col. 2:20-22). But again according to the Lord Jesus Christ's unchanging Words and commandments given in the N.T. by Himself and by His Spirit for us all through the Biblical Apostles. Therefore the promise of God goes out to us all "if we walk in light as He is light we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."

Vs. 8 "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
Now because of the sinfulness of us all; both our sin nature, as well as the sins we commit even after we believe in Jesus and receive the truth of the gospel; the Apostle John gives us this reality check. For though we don't live in darkness (that is sin as a way of life) we will all stumble and sin. And thus there are to extremes present here in these passages. The first being knowingly and unrepentantly living in sins darkness and thus being utterly self-deceived about ones standing with God while doing so. The other is living as though one has no sin, which is the antithesis of the first, but is also perilous, because just as when someone does not see the danger or care about the seriousness of living in sin, so there is a danger in living a lie as if one has no sin, two extremes yet both are dangerous in that they open one's life to Satan the father of lies.

Therefore to say that one has no sin is to deny the reality of one's person, both before redemption and afterwards. For if we had no sin then there would've been no need for the Lord Jesus Christ to suffer crucifixion death for the atonement of all our sins. Or if we say after we have received the truth of the gospel (having placed our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and thus been born-again by His Spirit) that we now have no more sin; and thus implying that we have attained too, or are somehow now sinless, the truth then would not be in us. For that would be to deny both our need for the Lord Jesus Christ first as Savior to save us from our sins; and then deny our ongoing need for His ongoing intercessory work as both our High Priest and Advocate before God the Father (see Heb 4:14-16; 1 John 2:1). Therefore if anyone says they have no sin they are living a lie and truth is not in them. The same should also be said of those who would knowingly advocate for sinless perfection in this life. Though holiness is the goal of every true believer, sinless perfection will not be our nature until we are fully transformed out of this mortal body and into the eternal spiritual bodies that we will have in the presence of God forever. Therefore we are being warned of being self deceived about ourselves or anyone else, whether this happens by comparing oneself to others, or by some other means, the truth of the Scriptures is eternally the same for everyone, before God all are in need of redemption from sin and death, "for all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God" Rom 3:23

This basic premise then is foundational for our seeing our need for the Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel, as well as keeping our dependency on God as we are transformed into Christ-likeness throughout our sojourn in this life. Unfortunately distortions of this reality have gone on to call mankind totally depraved; (though mankind is indeed corrupted by sin (this includes believers) and are given over to degrees of depravity when they reject the illumination of God given them, (Rom. 1:18-32). Not all of mankind is totally depraved; especially those who believe and seek to obey the truth, whose minds and lives are now being renewed and transformed according to it, by the Holy Spirit of God. And thus our hope lies not in ourselves, or in anything inherently good within ourselves, but in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ whose life and person not only saves us, but also indwells us and is transforming us all who believe. And so again to say that one has no sin. Is in effect to say that one has no need for the atoning work of Jesus Christ or the restoring of Spiritual life by Him in us all who believe in Jesus by the Holy Spirit of God.

Vs. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Having acknowledged then that we all have sin the proper response is not to deny this reality (for again that is not walking in truth but a lie and thus opens the door to Satan in one's life) rather the solution for us all is to confess our sins to God. For as the Apostle John says God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness when we do. A great promise of God made available to us all who believe because of Jesus' Crucifixion death by which He paid the penalty of all our sins.

Vs. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Again to say that one has not sinned is to make God a liar, for His Word charges all of humanity with having sinned (Rom 3:19-20, 23), therefore to deny that reality is to make God a liar, and thus His word cannot be said to be in anyone who holds to such heretical notions.

Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1982