1 Yohanes 1:6

1:6 If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking ¹  in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing ²  the truth.

Yohanes 9:41

9:41 Jesus replied, ³  “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, ⁴  but now because you claim that you can see, ⁵  your guilt ⁶  remains.” ⁷ 

Roma 2:18-21

2:18 and know his will ⁸  and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law, ⁹  2:19 and if you are convinced ¹⁰  that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 2:20 an educator of the senseless, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the essential features of knowledge and of the truth – 2:21 therefore ¹¹  you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?

¹ tn The context of this statement in 1:6 indicates clearly that the progressive (continuative or durative) aspect of the present tense must be in view here.

sn The relationship of the phrase keep on walking to if we say is very important for understanding the problem expressed in 1:6. If one should say (εἴπωμεν, eipwmen) that he has fellowship with God, and yet continues walking (περιπατῶμεν, peripatwmen) in the darkness, then it follows (in the apodosis, the “then” clause) that he is lying and not practicing the truth.

² tn Or “living according to…”

³ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

⁴ tn Grk “you would not have sin.”

⁵ tn Grk “now because you say, ‘We see…’”

⁶ tn Or “your sin.”

⁷ sn Because you claim that you can see, your guilt remains. The blind man received sight physically, and this led him to see spiritually as well. But the Pharisees, who claimed to possess spiritual sight, were spiritually blinded. The reader might recall Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in 3:10, “Are you the teacher of Israel and don’t understand these things?” In other words, to receive Jesus was to receive the light of the world, to reject him was to reject the light, close one’s eyes, and become blind. This is the serious sin of which Jesus had warned before (8:21-24). The blindness of such people was incurable since they had rejected the only cure that exists (cf. 12:39-41).

⁸ tn Grk “the will.”

⁹ tn Grk “because of being instructed out of the law.”

¹⁰ tn This verb is parallel to the verbs in vv. 17-18a, so it shares the conditional meaning even though the word “if” is not repeated.

¹¹ tn The structure of vv. 21-24 is difficult. Some take these verses as the apodosis of the conditional clauses (protases) in vv. 17-20; others see vv. 17-20 as an instance of anacoluthon (a broken off or incomplete construction).