1 John 1:6 (WEB)

Passage

If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and don’t tell the truth.

Nearby Context

1 John 1:4 And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled.

1 John 1:5 This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and don’t tell the truth.

1 John 1:7 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.

1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "darkness", "fellowship", "walk", "tell", and "truth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "darkness" and "fellowship", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "This is the message which we have..." into verse 7's "But if we walk in the light...", so "darkness" and "fellowship" belong inside that flow. In 1 John context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "darkness" and "fellowship" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.