1 John 1:8
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →To deny that we have sin is self-deception, and the truth has no place in such a heart.
What Does 1 John 1:8 Mean?
John confronts another false claim: to say we have no sin. The one who says this is not deceiving God or others so much as himself. And where such a denial reigns, the truth is not in us.
Honesty about sin is the doorway to mercy. To imagine ourselves already clean shuts that door and leaves us in illusion. The gospel meets us not in our pretended innocence but in our acknowledged need. John writes so that no reader will hide behind a comfortable lie when grace stands ready for those who tell the truth about themselves.
In the Original Language
hamartia (ἁμαρτία), 'sin' -- here the inner reality of sin we are tempted to deny, literally a missing of the mark.