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 

Vs. 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.” 

The Gospel then is a message of light, revealing that God is light and that there is no darkness in Him at all. Thus, there is no sin in Him or His Son, (no evil thoughts, desires, or intentions), for as light is Radiantly pure so is God. 

Vs. 6 “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” 

Having declared the sinless Perfection of God, the Apostle John now moves to us who have fellowship with Him, saying that if we walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth, that is if we profess to know Him but walk in darkness, (that is continue to live sinful lives), we lie and do not practice the truth. Here then the emphasis is not on our having sinless perfection as God has, (which no of us have, or can attain to), rather here the emphasis is on our daily walk, do we profess to know God and yet live sinful lives? If we do then are our profession is a lie, for then we would not be practicing the truth. For in order to have fellowship with God and His Son one must walk in harmony with them, with His Word. Professing then faith In Jesus Christ while living a sinful life is only to be living a lie. For it is God’s everlasting morals and standards that we are to live by and uphold, not mans every changing and always degenerating morals and worldly values. 

Vs. 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.” 

In contrast then to walking in darkness where unbelief and sin is, where one will always stumble and fall, is to be walking in the light, where God and Christ are (consider Prov. 4:18-19). Therefore, having cast off the darkness (and the works of it) forever, we are now walking in the light as He is light, and so we also have fellowship with one another. For again fellowship with God and His Son and His people requires one to walk in the light. And so, because we believe in Jesus Christ we are living and walking in the light, all according to His Word which guides our feet into all truth and righteousness (Psalm 19:7-11; 119:105; Prov. 6:23 etc.). Therefore “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.” Thus, not only do we have fellowship (peace and harmony with God and each other) but we also have the cleansing Power and Atoning Work of the Blood of Jesus Christ continually washing us clean making us holy and acceptable in His sight. Unbelieving and unrepentant people then do not have, nor will God impute the Atoning Blood and Work of His Son Jesus Christ to them. For in order to have that one must first repent and believe (Mark 1:15). Professing faith in Jesus Christ then while living like the devil is only to be self-deceived. 

Vs. 8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 

Having rebuked living in sin, the Apostle John now says that if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Here then he is referring to those who do not see themselves as they really are, as people who have been born with a sin nature inherited from Adam and Eve, who first sinned and through whom sin entered the world. Therefore, we are all fundamentally corrupted by sin, and whatever we are or do is always tainted by that fact (Isaiah 64:6). No one then can claim to be good in the sight of God, as having no sin, just as the Lord Jesus Christ clearly revealed through the rich young ruler when he asked Him what he must do to be saved, and thus save himself, which no one can do. For he was trusting in his own righteousness as making himself acceptable to God. And yet when he was tested by Jesus, all that was revealed was his own covetous heart which valued his possessions above God in heaven (Matt. 19:16-26). Beware then of all of those who say that they (or we) have no sin, for they do not have the truth in them. For if mankind has no sin then Christ’s suffering death on the Cross to Atone not only for our sins, but also for our sin nature would have been pointless. Therefore, do not follow them in the devils lies and their own self deceptions, which like living sinfully, also ends in eternal destruction. Because unless one sees one’s own need for the Lord Jesus Christ’s suffering death on the Cross for them, they cannot have His eternal salvation. 

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

In contrast then to those who do not face the truth about themselves, here the Apostle John says that confessing our sins to God, allows God who has already provided the Atonement for them through His Son Jesus Christ’s Crucifixion death for them to forgive us of them, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This then is the means by which we can find restored fellowship with God as believers when we sin. For though we have a new Divine Nature inside us (2 Cor. 5:17), we are still a people who must struggle against the old sinful nature as we strive towards and grow in Christlikeness. For its not that we become sinless in nature when we are born again by God’s Spirit, rather we are only sinless in stature before Him by Jesus Christ’s Righteousness now being imputed to us. Therefore, as sins are revealed in us, we are to confess and forsake them and resist the devil and our old sinful nature, for that is our responsibility, and all a part of our journey home (Heb. 12:3-11; James 4:7). 

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

How anyone could ever say that they have not sinned is beyond me, and yet there are those who in their unbelief and self-righteous and self-deceived pride will hold to such lies about themselves (consider Luke 18:9-14). For the Scripture universally reveals and is clear that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). For that is what the Law essentially does reveals sin within us to us. No one then who has ever walked this earth and been born into Adam’s sin can claim to have never sinned. For that alone is the realm of God, and thus the Lord Jesus Christ alone as the Son of God has that distinction here on earth. There is then no justification for anyone claiming or thinking that they have not sinned, for that is only the height of hypocrisy and evil to exalt oneself above the Sinless God and His Sinless Word in heaven. Therefore, if anyone says that they have not sinned they make Him a liar; and they do not have His Word in them. For salvation begins with the truth, first about God, and then about ourselves, and to deny that one has sin or has sinned is to make God a liar because they are basically saying that they do not need His salvation which He has clearly stated the whole world needs. Therefore, by holding to such things they are basically denying their own need for all that God did on Cross to save them (and everyone who believes in Him) from their sins, therefore His Word is not in them. For the whole of Scripture, from the Law of God to the Gospel of God reveals nothing more clearly to us all than our own sinfulness and need for His salvation.

For again God desires truth in the inward man, He wants us to be completely truthful with Him about ourselves. Therefore, to admit to Him what He already sees and knows about us is to only open the door for His grace and His truth to come in to us. However, to deny that one has sinned is only to shut oneself out of the Kingdom of heaven. For the Kingdom of heaven is the dwelling place of all of God’s Ransomed and Redeemed sinners. For everyone there from Abraham to Moses to David to all the Apostles and saints down through the ages all came there by way of Christ’s Cross, that is by confessing that they had sinned, and then by throwing themselves on the mercies of God through Jesus Christ and what He has done to save us all who believe in Him! Therefore, be truthful about yourself with God so that you too may have the salvation of God all by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ Crucified and Resurrected from the Dead for every believing sinner’s redemption (John 3:16).

Scripture Quotations 

New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.