1 John 1

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¹What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— ✦ ²and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was revealed to us— ✦ ³what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. ✦ ⁴These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. ✦ ⁵This 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. ✦ ⁶If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; ✦ ⁷but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. ✦ ⁸If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. ✦ ⁹If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ✦ ¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

1 Jn 1 ·14 1 Jn 2 ·10 John 1 ·7 1 Jn 5 ·7 John 17 ·6 John 8 ·5 2 Jn 1 ·4 Rev 1 ·4

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — 1 John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on 1 John 1YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — 1 John 1David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on 1 JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — 1 John 1Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

1 John 2 →