1 John 1:6

If we say. To win a hearing with those who need his counsel the apostle softens some of his implied rebukes by making them hypothetical (cf. vs. 8, 10; etc.) and by including himself in the statement. He was doubtless aware that many claimed fellowship with the Father but were walking contrary to His will. Yet he uses gentle language in the hope of not antagonizing his readers.

Have fellowship. See on v. 3. The claim to fellowship with God must be demonstrated by its practical results. There will be a two-sided life — thought and action, prayer and work (MH 512). To practice the presence of God is to be conscious at all times of His nearness through His Holy Spirit. Every thought, every word, every act, reflects consciousness of His loving presence and His all-seeing eye. We have come to love Him. We know that He has always loved us, and we are grateful for His care (Ps. 139:1-12; Jer. 31:3). As naturally as a child confidently slips his hand into that of his father at the approach of danger, and keeps it there even when the danger is past, so the child of God walks with his heavenly Father. Such is true “fellowship with him.”

Walk. Gr. peripateo (see on Eph. 2:2; Phil. 3:17).

Darkness. Gr. skotos (see on v. 5). Nothing can flourish in darkness except certain low forms of life that tend to make the darkness more repulsive. Decay progresses rapidly in the absence of life-giving light. Eyes that have grown accustomed to darkness lose their ability to respond to light. Even so with the soul — the darkness of sin prevents spiritual growth, and the continual sin destroys spiritual sight. Yet so wedded are men to sin that they seek darkness in order that they may sin more effectively (John 3:19, 20).

We lie. John highlights the hypocrisy of those who profess to follow the way of light but voluntarily walk in darkness. Since God is light (v. 5), all who fellowship with Him must also walk in the light. Hence, any who claim fellowship with the Father and yet walk in darkness must be lying. Their claims to communion with God prove at least a measure of acquaintance with light, but the darkness that surrounds them reveals that they are either kept from the light by ignorance or have deliberately shut themselves away from it.

Do not the truth. Another illustration of John’s habit of following a positive statement, “we lie,” with its negative counterpart, “do not the truth” (see on v. 5). The idea of “doing truth” is peculiar to John in the NT (see on John 3:21; cf. on ch. 8:32). For “truth” (aletheia) see on John 1:14. In addition to lying with their lips those who “walk in darkness” also fail to carry out the truth in their conduct. Sin first finds expression as a thought in the mind, but the thought is generally translated into a deed. When the activities of everyday life begin to deny the profession made by church attendance, separation from fellowship with God is evident. When religion ceases to be a seven-day matter, God is being shut out of the life, and darkness is closing in.