1 John 1:7 NIV

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 John 1:7

But if we walk in the light - Compare the notes at 1 John 1:5. Walking in the light may include the three following things:Leading lives of holiness and purity; that is, the Christian must be characteristically a holy man, a light in the world, by his example. (2)Walking in the truth; that is, embracing the truth in opposition to all error of paganism and infidelity, and having clear, spiritual views of truth, such as the unrenewed never have. See 2 Corinthians 4:6; 1 Corinthians 2:9-15;... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 John 1:5-7

1 John 1:5-7. This then is the message That is, one part of it; which we have heard of him The Son of God; that God is light The light of truth, wisdom, holiness, glory. What light is to the natural eye, that God is to the spiritual eye; and in him is no darkness at all Not the least mixture of ignorance or error, of folly, sin, or misery; if we say Either with our tongue, or in our heart; if we endeavour to persuade ourselves and others, that we have fellowship with him If we... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 John 1:1-10

1:1-2:17 LIVING IN THE LIGHTFellowship with God (1:1-2:6)In the opening few words of his letter, John states clearly certain facts about Jesus Christ that are basic to Christianity. Jesus Christ is the eternal God and he became a real man whom John and his fellow apostles have seen, heard and touched (1:1-2). John’s joy will be complete if he knows that he and his readers share together in the eternal life that comes to them through Jesus Christ. This life unites them to one another as well as... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 1 John 1:7

as He . This refers to the Father. Compare 1 John 2:6 . one with another = with one another. Not with fellow-believers, but with the Father and the Son. Jesus Christ . The texts read "Jesus". sin . App-128 . Here is the Figure of speech Metalepsis. App-6 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - 1 John 1:7

but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sinIf we walk in the light ... When the light from God, as revealed in Christ Jesus and the preaching of the apostles, is entered and walked in by the Christians, "Walking in the light shows up their sins and frailties, revealing the need for constant cleansing."[32]Roberts pointed out that John's teaching here "implies that only the sinless can have... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 1 John 1:7

1 John 1:7. But if we walk in the light, &c.— "But if, on the other hand, we walk in the light of holiness, as he himself is ever in the light of it, and surrounded with it as his brightest glory, we have then communion with him, and withone another in him; and though we are indeed conscious to ourselves of many past offences, for which so holy a God might for ever banish us from his presence, and of many remaining imperfections which might discourage our approaches to him, we have this... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - 1 John 1:7

7. Compare Ephesians 5:8; Ephesians 5:11-14. "WE WALK"; "God is (essentially in His very nature as 'the light,' 1 John 1:5) in the light." WALKING in the light, the element in which God Himself is, constitutes the test of fellowship with Him. Christ, like us, walked in the light (1 John 2:6). ALFORD notices, Walking in the light as He is in the light, is no mere imitation of God, but an identity in the essential element of our daily walk with the essential element of God's eternal being. we... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 John 1:5-11

II. LIVING IN THE LIGHT OF FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD 1:5-2:11"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.] read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 John 1:7

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... read more

John Darby

Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament - 1 John 1:7

1:7 walk (e-4) In all these cases the verb is in the subjunctive, and puts the case of so doing. I should have translated them 'if we should say,' &c., but that it is the case in ver. 9 also, where it cannot be done. all (f-31) Or 'every.' read more