Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to 1 John · About this commentary
God Is Light
1 John 1:5-6
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. · WEB
The first of the letter's two definitions of God is given as a message received rather than a conclusion reached, and the first thing it rules out is a claim.
Verse 5 is careful about where the statement came from. This is the message we have heard from him and announce to you — reported, not deduced. The letter will make one other statement of this kind, that God is love 1 John 4:8, and the two together frame everything between them.
The definition is then reinforced by denial: in him is no darkness at all. The Greek doubles the negative, which is emphasis rather than error. A definition stated positively could be shaded; the second clause closes the gap.
Verse 6 immediately applies it, and the form of the application is the letter's characteristic move. If we say — the writer quotes a claim before answering it, and he will do this repeatedly through the opening chapters 1 John 1:8 1 John 1:10 1 John 2:4. The claims being quoted are almost certainly the ones the departed group was making.
The claim here is fellowship with God alongside a life walked in darkness. The verdict has two parts and the second is sharper than the first: we lie, and we do not practice the truth. Truth in this letter is something done, not only something held — which is exactly what a group claiming superior knowledge would find hardest to hear.
settled What this mark means