If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
εαν ειπωμεν οτι κοινωνιαν εχομεν μετ αυτου και εν τω σκοτει περιπατωμεν ψευδομεθα και ου ποιουμεν την αληθειαν
12 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Therefore, when we receive you into fellowship with God, Who is light, and in this light, as has been shown, there can be no darkness, then we also, as partakers of the light, must not receive darkness into ourselves. Otherwise we shall suffer punishment for falsehood, and with falsehood be cut off from fellowship with the light.
See verse 5. Behold, the apostle Paul also says to you: “What communion has light with darkness?” (2 Cor 6:14). You say that you are in communion with God, but you walk in darkness. Yet God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. What communion, then, has light with darkness?
Then a man may say to himself, “What shall I do? How shall I become light? I live in sins and iniquities.” Here a certain despair and sorrow seem to creep into the soul. There is no salvation except in communion with God. Yet our sins are darkness. For this reason the apostle Paul calls the devil and his angels the rulers of darkness (cf. Eph 6:12). He called them “rulers of darkness” precisely in the sense of “rulers of sinners,” masters of the lawless.
What then shall we do, my brothers? We must be in communion with God. There is no other hope of obtaining eternal life. But God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. Our iniquities are darkness. They weigh us down and prevent us from being in communion with God. What hope can we have?
Did I not promise that in these days I would say something that brings joy? If I do not present what was promised, there is nothing here but sorrow. God is light. In Him there is no darkness at all. Our sins are darkness. What will become of us?
Let us listen, to see whether He will comfort us, help us rise, and give hope, so that we may not faint on the way. For we are running, and we are running toward our homeland, that is, the heavenly Jerusalem. If we despair of reaching the goal, we will faint in that despair. But He who desires us to reach the goal nourishes us on the way, so that He may keep us in the homeland.
Therefore let us listen: “If we say that we have communion with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not do the truth.” Let us not say that we are in communion with Him if we walk in darkness.
Falsehood is not joined to truth, just as darkness is not joined to light. Rather, the presence of one excludes the other.
"And do not practice the truth," because truth is light. But if we practice the truth, we are partakers of the light.
John says: if we sin, we have no fellowship with Him. But if we perform the works of light, then we have fellowship with one another.
By darkness he means sins, heresies, and enmity. One confession of faith is not sufficient for salvation if there is not also the witness of good works. Yet righteous works are useless without faith and the simplicity of love. For whoever in any way falls under the power of darkness cannot have fellowship with Him in Whom there is no blemish at all.
Take heed, brothers. Never, while counting on being in God and thinking that you have fellowship with Him, be found separated from Him because you no longer behold His light.
Thus the apostle rebukes the false teachers of his time. Calling themselves Christians, thinking that they were in communion with God, and regarding themselves as true worshipers of God, they in fact surrendered themselves to various vices. By word and example they taught others that such a life did not hinder them from being in communion with God.
Maintaining modesty in rebuke, the Theologian applies the words of rebuke to himself: “If we say that we have communion with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not act according to the truth.” The apostle’s thought may be explained more clearly thus. If we say that we know God and abide in communion with Him, yet at the same time surrender ourselves to sins and live viciously, then we speak falsehood and act not according to the truth. We do not live as the truth teaches.
God is light, or holy and righteous and all-perfect. Therefore one must live before Him in holiness and strive with the whole soul toward true perfection, keeping His commandments. Sins or vices are darkness, and they are incompatible with divine holiness, just as outward darkness is incompatible with visible light. For “what communion has righteousness with lawlessness? What fellowship has light with darkness?” (2 Cor 6:14), says the apostle Paul.
Thus the Theologian teaches concerning the inner, spiritual communion of believers with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This communion consists not in words, nor only in visible relations of believers to the Church of Christ. It consists in inward communion with God, in union with Him through faith, hope, and love.
“If we say that we have communion with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not act according to the truth.” If we say or think that we are close to God. Yet do not have living faith and love for God in our soul, and do not fulfill God’s commandments, but follow our vicious desires and passions, then we deceive ourselves. We do not act according to the truth. We do not draw near to God, but withdraw from Him.
“If we say that we have communion with Him, and walk in darkness. We lie and do not do the truth.” Here again the apostle expresses his thought in two ways: “we lie” and “we do not do the truth.” From the concept of God as light it naturally follows that all who are in communion with Him must be filled with His light. They themselves must become luminous, or, as the Savior Himself said, they must be “sons of light” (Jn 12:36).
They must be secondary lights, as the Church also calls the angels in the stichera and canon to the bodiless Powers. This is because of their nearness to God the Light, their constant standing before the throne of God, and their moral and intellectual purity and brightness. Besides this, being in communion with God, believers must also be in communion, or love, with one another.
“If we say,” and so forth. The force, decisiveness, and certain sharpness of the word seem to show that the apostle has false teachers in view. They distorted the truth about the communion of believers with God and remained in darkness, though they imagined themselves to be in light. That is, they surrendered themselves to sins and vices, though they dreamed that they fulfilled the law of God.
Yet, softening the rebuke and as though covering those who err, the apostle places himself as it were alongside his readers and uses the expression, “if we say,” and so forth. The apostle’s thought is this. Whoever says that he has communion with God, regards himself as a Christian and a member of the Kingdom of Christ, yet surrenders himself to sins and vices, consciously turning away from truth and holiness, is lying. He deceives himself and does not act according to the truth. He lives and acts not as the truth teaches one to live and act.
“Therefore, when we receive you into communion with God, who is light, and in this light, as has been shown, there is and can be no darkness, then we, as sharers of the light, must not receive darkness into ourselves. Otherwise we will suffer punishment for falsehood and, together with falsehood, be torn away from communion with the light” (Theophylact).
Deep sinful depravity is meant here. It is conscious false stubbornness, hardening in sin, and lack of repentance for it, since repentance wipes away sins (1 Jn 1:9). This deep sinful depravity is characterized by the strong word “we lie” and by the expression connected with it, “we do not act according to the truth.”
According to the word of Christ (Jn 8:44 and note), the father of lies is the devil, who did not stand in the truth and does not act according to the truth. The kingdom of truth is closed to him. Falsehood is his vital principle, the necessary sphere in which alone he can live and act. Falsehood constitutes his inner being. Therefore only falsehood belongs to him, and there is no truth in him.
Such also is the one who says that he has communion with God while he himself walks in darkness. Like the devil, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. He has devilish inclinations, devilish vices, and devilish sinfulness. Truth is foreign and contrary to him.
Having called God holy and foreign to any imperfection, the apostle accordingly calls life according to God an abiding in light, or in communion with God and with all believers. When we abide in communion with God, or, otherwise, walk in spiritual light, then the saving action of the redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ continually extends to us through all the mysteries. It does so especially through the Mystery of the Lord’s Body and Blood.
If, however, we cling to evil and abide in spiritual darkness, then we naturally fall into delusions and depart from the truth of Christ’s teaching and life. In the Gospel of John, in the passages cited above, the good life is very often represented as walking in the light, and the evil life as abiding in darkness. “Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you,” Jesus Christ Himself said (Jn 12:35; cf. 2 Pet 1:4).
By the expression in verse 6, “if we say,” which often occurs afterward, the apostle probably hints that the wrong thoughts he cites were being expressed by certain false teachers. He refutes them, yet without clearly setting forth the teachers themselves, dealing only with their false teaching. Out of humility, he expresses all the thoughts as though even from himself, so as to draw to himself the hearts not only of the upright, but also of those who err.
By darkness is meant here the habit of a sinful life. It darkens the mind and conscience to the point of forgetting the danger of eternal perdition. Sometimes it brings one to forget the difference between good and evil, sin and what is not sin, honor and dishonor. Sometimes it brings one to hatred of truth and goodness.
“Everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed, because they are evil” (Jn 3:20). Yet there are people who imagine that sinful darkness does not hinder communion with God. They think that the merciful Lord will not call careless and unrepentant sinners to account for their sins. This is destructive self-deception.
“What communion has righteousness with lawlessness? What fellowship has light with darkness?” (2 Cor 6:14). Those who imagine that one can have communion with God while not ceasing to live in sinful darkness are lying. They deceive themselves and others, and they do not act according to the truth. The light of truth is closed to them.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 18 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS