NRSV
God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
This can be a tricky passage to learn without a memory strategy so I have put this on a train travelling through Scotland or Switzerland. Use any train sequence from a film e.g. Paddington 2 or Mission Impossible!
the passage breaks down into a first statement about God – God is light and him is no darkness then 3 blocks
Imagine a train that you move through – 4 passenger carriages – then you go up on the roof of 2 carriages and finally climb down into the steam train engine !
Here’s a railway track piece I have written just for fun.
Now follow this pdf to help memorise this passage and the next few verses while you are at it!
If you ‘d like to, please let me know how you got on – what worked – what didn’t that would be very helpful for me!
You might find this big picture view of 1 John helpful. Three themes rotate.