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To address this question, we'll begin by examining its context and reviewing insights from leading commentators.
1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
Barnes - "Live in sin and error." "The leading thought is, that if we live in sin, it is a proof that our profession of religion is false." "To do the truth is to act in accordance with truth;"
Gil - "in the darkness of sin, ignorance, and unbelief, or are in a state of unregeneracy and blindness; whose understandings are darkened, and they know not God in Christ, nor have any true sight and sense of themselves, their sin and danger; and are ignorant of Christ and his righteousness, and the way of salvation by him; and are strangers to the Spirit of God, and the work of his grace; and are unacquainted with the truths of the Gospel; and not only so, but go on in darkness more and more; prefer it to the light, love it, and the works of it; have fellowship with them, and choose them; take pleasure in the ways of sin and wickedness, and continue, and walk on in them; if such persons pretend to fellowship with God, they are liars:" "They do not say the truth, nor act according to it; they do not act uprightly or sincerely, but are hypocrites, and pretend to that which they have not;..."
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Gil - "as he is in the light; according to the light which he has given, who is light itself, is in it, and dwells in it. This "as" denotes not equality, but likeness:"
1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Barnes - "Some have supposed that the allusion is to the sect of the Nicolaitanes..." "It is not certain, however, that the allusion is to them, and it is not necessary to suppose that there is reference to any particular sect that existed at that time. The object of the apostle is to show that it is implied in the very nature of the gospel that we are sinners, and that if, on any pretense, we denied that fact, we utterly deceived ourselves."
Henry - "Here, the apostle, having supposed that even those of this heavenly communion have yet their sin, proceeds here to justify that supposition, and this he does by showing the dreadful consequences of denying it..." "We must beware of deceiving ourselves in denying or excusing our sins. The more we see them the more we shall esteem and value the remedy. If we deny them, the truth is not in us, either the truth that is contrary to such denial (we lie in denying our sin), or the truth of religion, is not in us. The Christian religion is the religion of sinners, of such as have sinned, and in whom sin in some measure still dwells."
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
JFB - "If thou shalt confess thyself a sinner, the truth is in thee; for the truth is itself light. Not yet has thy life become perfectly light, as sins are still in thee, but yet thou hast already begun to be illuminated, because there is in thee confession of sins." [Augustine]
that we have no sin - "HAVE," not "have had," must refer not to the past sinful life while unconverted, but to the present state wherein believers have sin even still. Observe, "sin" is in the singular; "(confess our) sins" (1Jo_1:9) in the plural. Sin refers to the corruption of the old man still present in us, and the stain created by the actual sins flowing from that old nature in us. To confess our need of cleansing from present sin is essential to "walking in the light"; so far is the presence of some sin incompatible with our in the main "walking in light." But the believer hates, confesses, and longs to be delivered from all sin, which is darkness. "They who defend their sins, will see in the great day whether their sins can defend them."
Conclusion
It appears that the apostle, in discussing the confession of sins, is not referring solely to individual transgressions but also to an acknowledgment of being sinners and to confessing specific sins as they become known. This interpretation is supported by the apostle's subsequent statements, indicating that if we do not deny our sins but instead acknowledge them, God will forgive us and "cleanse us from all unrighteousness." If 1 John refers only to confessing specific sins, why state that God cleanses us from ALL unrighteousness? This suggests that not every sin must be individually confessed to be forgiven.
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