Verse Lens · Context pointer
1 John 1:6 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 6. 6If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Verse 6 introduces the first false claim: professed fellowship with God while walking in darkness contradicts truth in practice.
Read It With
- 1 John 1:5-10
Read 1 John 1:5–10 as one complete movement. Verse 5 announces the message that God is light. Three paired if-claims in verses 6–10 contrast false claims with walking, cleansing, confession, and divine faithfulness. Verse 2:1 turns directly to 'my little children' and states the preventive purpose of writing.
Read 1 John 1:5–10 together
Why these verses belong together: The light message and three paired counterclaims interpret walking, cleansing, confession, and denial together.
Verse 5. 5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Verse 6. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
Verse 7. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Verse 8. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Verse 9. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Verse 10. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 1 John 1:5–10 — Walking in the Light Requires Truth and ConfessionSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 John 1:5–10, pinned eBible/CrossWire eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, clause relationships, repeated terms, and variation markers used for original-language analysis.
Exact location: Official SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/1John.txt, 1:5–10
Open the 1 John Greek text file ↗