This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- KJV This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
- BSB And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
- NKJV This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
- NASB This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The core message is that God is light, perfectly holy and pure, with no darkness in him. His character sets the standard for fellowship with him.
Overview
John summarizes the apostolic message: 'God is light.' Light signifies God's holiness, truth, and moral purity, utterly free of sin or evil ('darkness'). This declaration grounds the moral tests that follow: those who claim fellowship with a holy God must walk in holiness. It points to Christ, the true light who reveals God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- John 8:12Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
- Jas 1:17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow.
- Isa 60:19The sun will be no more your light by day; nor will the brightness of the moon give light to you, but Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.
- Ps 27:1By David. Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Yahweh is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?
- John 1:9The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.
- John 1:4In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
- Rev 22:5There will be no night, and they need no lamp light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.
- Rev 21:23The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moon, to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
- John 12:35–36Jesus therefore said to them, “Yet a little while the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, that darkness doesn’t overtake you. He who walks in the darkness doesn’t know where he is going.
- John 9:5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
- 1 Tim 6:16who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.
- Ps 36:9For with you is the spring of life. In your light shall we see light.
- Ps 84:11For Yahweh God is a sun and a shield. Yahweh will give grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly.
- 1 Jn 3:11For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;
- 1 Cor 11:23For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Jesus is the Word of life made manifest, the propitiation for our sins, the Son in whom is eternal life — 'that you may know that you have eternal life.'
How 1 John 1:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.