1 John 1:5-10; 2:1-6
SS Lesson for 01/04/2026
Devotional Scriptures: Rom 3:21-26
In his Gospel, the apostle John avoided using his own name, instead identifying himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved (John 19:26; 20:2; 21:7). This profound love significantly influenced John’s life and writing. The dozens of uses of the word love found in the Gospel that bears his name exceeds that of the other three Gospels combined! No one knows exactly when John wrote his Gospel and his three epistles. Our best guess is the latter part of the first century. This places John’s writings several decades after he experienced the love of Jesus personally, an experience he wanted others to accept as true (1 John 1:1-5). There are four listings of apostles in the New Testament, and John’s name occurs in the first third of the 12 names in all listings (Matthew 10:2-3; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16; Acts 1:13). Regarding his personal experience with Jesus, John is recognized as having been one of the “inner circle” of disciples. We see this designation in his being one of only three disciples to have witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration. This was a profound experience, as he saw Jesus’ face and attire radiantly shining, emitting a brilliant white light similar to the sun (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-35). Some commentators propose that that event profoundly influenced John’s use of light and darkness metaphors in his writings, including the passage we examine today. While this may be speculation, the profound imagery is no less poignant in John’s writings. In the opening verses of the epistle we call 1 John, the writer emphasizes his tangible interactions with Jesus. This emphasis may be a response to false teachings that were beginning to take shape. One such teaching was Docetism. Docetism taught that Jesus did not possess a physical form but merely appeared to. This belief stemmed from the notion that material substance was inherently evil, making it inconceivable for the divine to be associated with it. But John will have none of this! His in-person interactions with Jesus form the basis of all he has to say in this letter.
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.
(Scriptural Text from the New King James Version; cross-references from the NIV)
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.
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid?
9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
35 Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. 36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
13 For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.
15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD.
12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
13 He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
2:1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
4 He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
16 I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. 17 Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your word. 18 Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.
28 He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.
1 Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD.
34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
24 For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.
3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according his purpose.
8 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
Verse 5
This verse provides a basis for what follows in 1 John 1:6-10 and, in a sense, the whole rest of the letter. One commentator regarded this verse as the main burden of the epistle. [Note: Yarbrough, p. 46.] It gives the standard against which the three following Christian professions fall short.
The "message" is the truth that Jesus Christ, the first "Him," revealed to the apostolic eyewitnesses.
The figure of light that John used to describe God emphasizes His ability to reveal and His ability to deal with what the light of His holiness reveals (cf. John 1:4-5; John 1:7-9; John 3:19-21; John 8:12; John 9:5; John 12:35-36; John 12:46; Revelation 21:23). John elsewhere described God as spirit (John 4:24) and as love (1 John 4:8). All three comparisons of God stress his immateriality and essence. God exposes and condemns sin (called "darkness" in John 1:5; John 3:19; John 12:35 [twice], and in 1 John 1:5-6; 1 John 2:8-9; 1 John 2:11 [twice]). The light figure emphasizes these qualities in God: His splendor and glory, His truthfulness, His purity, His self-communicative nature (cf. Psalms 27:1; Psalms 36:9; Isaiah 49:6; John 1:9), His empowering activity (cf. John 8:12; John 12:35; Ephesians 5:8-14), and His right to demand (cf. John 3:19-21). The light-darkness motif was common in both the Hellenistic and Jewish thought life of John’s day and culture. [Note: Dodd, pp. 18-19; John R. W. Stott, The Epistles of John, p. 70; Theodor H. Gaster, The Dead Sea Scriptures, pp. 46, 49-51.] For John these concepts were mainly ethical (cf. Ephesians 5:8-14).
"Whatever other qualities this metaphorical designation may include, it clearly involves the intellectual and moral-enlightenment and holiness. Just as light reveals and purifies, so by His very nature God illuminates and purifies those who come to Him. His nature determines the conditions for fellowship with Him." [Note: Hiebert, "An Expositional . . .," 145:331.]
"As darkness has no place in God, so all that is of the darkness is excluded from having fellowship with God." [Note: Barker, p. 310. See Westcott, pp. 16-17 for a good discussion of God being light.]
John frequently clarified and emphasized his propositions by restating them in terms of what they are not, as he did here.
"Since the apostle’s expressed concern is that his readers might have fellowship with the apostolic circle and thus also with the Father and the Son (1 John 1:3), it is reasonable to specify what this fellowship is really like. So, as an introductory section to his epistle, John discusses the nature of true fellowship with God" [Note: Idem, The Epistles . . ., p. 57.]
Verse 6
John may have used the "If we claim" phrase in 1 John 1:6; 1 John 1:8; 1 John 1:10 to voice the teaching of false teachers.
"It is probable that these claims were real statements made by people in the church to which John was writing, and that they reflect the outlook of the people who were causing trouble in the church." [Note: Marshall, p. 110. Cf. Barker, p. 310.]
"John is concerned to alert his readers to approaches to human wrong and wrongdoing that are-or are not-commensurate with God’s brilliant character as revealed in his Son." [Note: Yarbrough, p. 59.]
John’s claim here is that the Christian who professes to have fellowship with God who is light (holiness) but disobeys Him is lying. A practicing sinner cannot have close fellowship with a holy God, though he can have a relationship with God (i.e., be a true Christian). God revealed this truth throughout Scripture. Action was a very important part of true knowledge for John, and it must be for us as well (cf. James).
The Greek word translated "fellowship" (koinonia) here means sharing by two or more parties. It does not refer to sharing salvation. Some commentators take the phrases "have fellowship with Him" and "walk in the light" as describing salvation. [Note: E.g., Lloyd-Jones, pp. 130, 142. ] Advocates of this view say that if a Christian does not persevere in the faith he or she is not a Christian. This interpretation may result in back loading the gospel with works. One writer held that "walking in the light" describes the criteria for access to the Father. The criteria for that validation is not good works but believing the revelation of imputed righteousness and forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ, which John defines as "the light" (revelation). Thus, one "walks in the light" if he or she believes in Jesus Christ. If one "walks in darkness," he or she does not believe in Jesus Christ and thus has no access to the Father. [Note: Charles P. Baylis, "The Meaning of Walking ’in the Darkness’ (1 John 1:6)," Bibliotheca Sacra 149:594 (April-June 1992):214-22.]
John earlier said his aim was that his readers, who were Christians (1 John 2:12-14; 1 John 2:21; 1 John 2:27), should enjoy fellowship with the apostolic eyewitnesses that they did not then share (1 John 1:3).
". . . all true ’fellowship’ is predicated on apostolic doctrine." [Note: Zane C. Hodges, "Fellowship and Confession in 1 John 1:5-10," Bibliotheca Sacra 129:513 (January-March 1972):52.]
Verse 7
Walking in the light means walking in the sphere that the light prescribes. The idea is more where we walk than how we walk. Had John said "according to" the light rather than "in" the light, he would have been requiring sinless perfection for fellowship with God. We must be open and responsive to the light that we have, which increases as we grow in our knowledge of God’s will.
"How do we do this? If I enter a lighted room and walk around in it, I am walking in the light; I am moving in a sphere which the light illuminates as it shines not only on me but upon everything around me. If I were to personalize the light, I could also say that I was walking in the presence of the light. Since according to this passage God not only is light (1 John 1:5), but He is also in the light, to walk in the light must mean essentially to live in God’s presence, exposed to what He has revealed about Himself. This, of course, is done through openness in prayer and through openness to the Word of God in which He is revealed.
"By contrast, to ’walk in darkness’ (1 John 1:6) is to hide from God and to refuse to acknowledge what we know about Him." [Note: Idem, The Epistles . . ., pp. 60-61.]
"One another" evidently means God and us rather than our fellow believers and us in view of the context. We share the light in which God dwells. Another view is that John meant that we cannot enjoy fellowship with God if we neglect fellowship with other Christians. [Note: Barker, p. 310; Westcott, p. 20.]
Two things are equally true of believers who walk in the light according to this verse: we enjoy fellowship with God, and we are experiencing cleansing from every sin.
"This ["every sin"] refers to man’s sinful nature in general, although it may include the wrong acts which can occur even when a Christian is living ’in the light.’" [Note: Smalley, p. 24.]
"The thought is not of the forgiveness of sin only, but of the removal of sin. The sin is done away; and the purifying action is exerted continuously." [Note: Westcott, p. 21.]
God cleanses us at conversion in the sense that He will never bring us into condemnation for our sins (cf. Romans 8:1; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Ephesians 1:7). However, we need continual cleansing from the defilement that sinful daily living brings because it hinders our fellowship with God (cf. John 13:10). The "blood of Jesus" is a metonymy for the death of Jesus. [Note: Ryrie, p. 1467.] A metonymy is a figure of speech in which a writer uses the name of one thing for that of another associated with it or suggested by it. It is Christ’s death that cleanses us, not that Jesus’ blood cleanses us like a kind of spiritual soap.
"What John has in mind here is the cleansing of the conscience from guilt and moral defilement which is so insisted on in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 10:2; Hebrews 10:22), and which takes a leading place among the saving benefits of the redemptive self-sacrifice of Christ." [Note: Bruce, p. 44.]
Verse 8
This second claim (cf. 1 John 1:6) is more serious, and its results are worse: we do not just lie, but we deceive ourselves.
If a Christian claims to be enjoying fellowship with God, he may think he is temporarily or permanently entirely sinless. Yet our sinfulness exceeds our consciousness of guilt. We have only a very limited appreciation of the extent to which we sin. We commit sins of thought as well as deed, sins of omission as well as commission, and sins that spring from our nature as well as from our actions.
Some have interpreted the phrase "no sin" to mean no sin nature or no sin principle. [Note: E.g., Smalley, p. 29.] However this seems out of harmony with John’s other uses of "to have sin" (cf. John 15:22; John 15:24; John 19:11). Rather, it probably means to have no guilt for sin. [Note: Robert Law, The Tests of Life: A Study of the First Epistle of St. John, p. 130; Robertson, 6:208.]
God’s truth, as Scripture reveals it, does not have a full hold on us, is not controlling our thinking, if we make this claim. "In us" suggests not that we have the facts in our mental grasp but that they have control over us. They are in us as a thread is in a piece of cloth rather than as a coin is in a pocket. The same contrast exists between intellectual assent and saving faith.
Verse 9
This verse is the converse of 1 John 1:8. Acknowledging the sins of which we are aware is opposite to saying we are not guilty for sinning. The Greek word translated "confess" (homologeo) literally means to say the same thing. Confessing therefore means saying about our sins what God says about them, namely, that they are indeed sins, offenses against Him, and not just mistakes, blunders, or errors. One scholar wrote that this is public confession. [Note: Westcott, p. 23] But there does not seem to be good reason to read that into the text.
"’He who confesses and condemns his sins,’ says Augustine, ’already acts with God. God condemns thy sins: if thou also dost condemn them, thou art linked on to God.’" [Note: A. Ross, The Epistles of James and John, p. 146.]
If we confess our sins, God will then forgive the sins we confess and will, in addition, cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Consequently we do not need to worry that He has failed to forgive us for sins of which we are unaware! Sin incurs a debt to God, but forgiveness (Gr. aphiemi) cancels the debt and dismisses the charge. Sin also pollutes the sinner, but God’s cleansing (katharizo) removes the stain so we can be holy again. God absolutely promises forgiveness that is consistent with His justice (because Jesus Christ paid the penalty for all our sins).
Some expositors teach that this verse cannot apply to Christians since God has already forgiven Christians and therefore we do not need to ask for what we already have. [Note: E.g., Peter E. Gillquist, Love Is Now, p. 64.] This viewpoint fails to distinguish between forensic forgiveness that we receive at conversion and family forgiveness that we need after conversion. For example, a judge could pay his own son’s fine in court but then discipline him when he got home. Jesus instructed His believing disciples to ask the Father for forgiveness (Matthew 6:12; Luke 11:4). The fact that God has removed the penalty for our sins at conversion (1 Corinthians 6:11; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 2:13) does not remove the necessity of confessing our sins frequently. Again, the issue is not acceptance by God but fellowship with God. Conversion (forensic, positional) forgiveness makes us acceptable as members of God’s family. Continual (family, practical) forgiveness enables us to experience intimate fellowship as sons within God’s family.
"Sin interrupts fellowship but cannot change relationship." [Note: The New Scofield Reference Bible, p. 1342.]
"The status just described is analogous to God’s full acceptance of Israel, as expressed in Balaam’s inspired utterance: ’He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen wickedness in Israel’ (Numbers 23:21). Yet, on a practical level, Israel was full of failures!" [Note: Hodges, The Epistles . . ., p. 67. For further discussion of this verse see Ed Glasscock, "Forgiveness and Cleansing in 1 John 1:9," Bibliotheca Sacra 166:662 (April-June 2009):217-31.]
"Confession of sin to God and to one another (James 5:16) is urged throughout the N.T. from John the Baptist (Mark 1:5) on." [Note: Robertson, 6:208.]
Verse 10
The false claim here is that the sin we have committed is not really sin. This is the third and most serious charge (cf. 1 John 1:6; 1 John 1:8). It puts God’s revelation of sin aside and makes man the authority for what is and what is not sin. This claim says God is wrong in His judgment of man and is therefore a liar. The claimant dismisses His Word as invalid (e.g., Psalms 14:3; Isaiah 53:6; John 2:24-25; Romans 3:23).
Each of these three false claims in 1 John 1:6; 1 John 1:8; 1 John 1:10 is a denial of the truth that immediately precedes it in 1 John 1:5; 1 John 1:7; 1 John 1:9 respectively. The corrective to each false claim follows in the verse immediately after it.
Truth False claim
God is light (1 John 1:5). We have fellowship with Him (1 John 1:6).
Walking in the light is necessary for fellowship with God (1 John 1:7). We have no guilt for sin (1 John 1:8).
Confession is necessary to restore fellowship with God (1 John 1:9). We have not sinned (1 John 1:10).
"It would be difficult to find any single passage of Scripture more crucial and fundamental to daily Christian living than 1 John 1:5-10. For here, in a few brief verses, the ’disciple whom Jesus loved’ has laid down for us the basic principles which underlie a vital walk with God." [Note: Hodges, "Fellowship and . . .," p. 48.]
"What then is the principle of fellowship with God? Succinctly stated, it is openness to God and full integrity in the light of His Word." [Note: Ibid., p. 60. Cf. Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, p. 482.]
(Adapted from URL:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dcc/1-john-1.html)
An airline supervisor is required to interact with passengers. Some attempted to board the plane with household pets by falsely claiming they were service animals. With no official registry for service animals, our team had to assess each case based on the animal’s behavior. Disruptions like barking led to denied boarding. This situation is akin to what John addresses in his letter: distinguishing the true claims from the false. John uses a firm, fatherly tone to stress that claiming to live in the light while walking in darkness is deceitful. The message is straightforward: one’s walk must match one’s talk. Jesus highlighted that, on Judgment Day, many will profess to know him by citing a list of their deeds. However, their lack of a genuine relationship with Christ will result in their condemnation (Matthew 7:21-23). This is a powerful reminder! In our spiritual walk, Jesus is our standard. When we compare our lives to Christ’s example, we must ask ourselves whether we see a reflection of him or a contradiction. This self-assessment and willingness to correct our course when necessary is crucial to authentic faith.