1 John 1:6 6If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
Verses 6-10 and 2:1 follow a similar pattern of giving a conditional clause (if . . .) followed by the outcome if the condition is met. The conditional statements can be divided into two. Verses 6, 8, and 10 state what someone might say, particularly one who does not know orthodox Christian doctrine. Each situation is answered with an assessment that it cannot be true and is a lie. Verses 7, 9, and 2:1 describe the positive response a seeker and a believer in Jesus should have. God responds positively in the apodoses to the honesty shown in the protases.
The first condition in verse 6 poses the possibility of fellowship with God. The goal of all humans ought to be communing with our Creator, as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden at the beginning. The protasis of the first condition has a second part that poses a contradiction. One cannot fellowship with God while also being in darkness, because God is light. Darkness cannot exist in the overwhelming light of God. Light represents God’s holiness and purity. Darkness represents a life of sin and rebellion. Walk (peripatōmen) is often used in the New Testament, particularly in this letter, to refer to how a person lives. Living in sin is contrary to fellowship with God.
The protasis clearly answers this contradiction by stating that those who think this are deceived and are lying to themselves. The truth is clear that light and darkness cannot coexist. Sin cannot be in God’s presence. The problem can be summarized as lying with false words and living with false practice.
We cannot compromise with sin or anything related to darkness. The temptation to compromise is powerful in a day saturated with perversity and deceit. Two things happen with compromise. Because of social pressure, we hide behind a facade of holiness. We think we can fool people by outward holiness. This leads to deceiving ourselves into thinking that this type of living is acceptable. We justify our actions, thereby ignoring the deeper problem, which John will address in the following verses. We need to recognize our problem of trying to lie to God, to ourselves, and to others about our deep problem. The truth reveals sin. We need to be honest with ourselves and with God about our problem. We do not have the power to live the truth because of the brokenness within us. We need to realize that we cannot fool God, who knows our thoughts and motives.