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The principle of fellowship by walking in the light is used to refute three false claims made by the teachers who are the opponents of the Gospel. These are addressed in 1:6-2:2, each one introduced by the phrase If we claim and then refuted.
False claim one (1:6): The claim to have fellowship while continuing in darkness (sin). Theologically this is known as antinomianism, a perversion to which the Christian Gospel is always susceptible (cf. Ro 6:1ff.). In this particular situation, it may have resulted from gnostic presuppositions that the spirit remains pure, even though the body, which is evil by nature, engages in immorality.
We lie is not falsehood in the sense of telling something contrary to fact, but “active hostility to the truth” (Brown, 199). As in the Dead Sea Scrolls, it refers to those who do not keep the law. Notice the distinctive designations, “doing a lie” and “doing the truth.” This is why it can be said in 2:21, No lie comes from the truth. One cannot be “doing” both at the same time.
False claim two (1:8): The denial of the principle of sin in our nature. The meaning here goes beyond the guilt of transgression and refers to the inherited principle of sin, best defined as selfcenteredness. The biblical writers, both OT and NT, recognized the human predicament as twofold, involving both acts of transgression and inward defilement. There is consequently a recognition that a twofold remedy is needed. It is hoped for in the OT (e.g., Ps 51:2; Zec 13:1) and proclaimed in the NT as presently available.
False claim three (1:10): The denial that one has sinned. This entails the denial of any need for atonement. Such a claim runs counter to both revelation and experience and could be made only on faulty presuppositions about either sin or human nature.
John counters each of these claims of the false teachers with a declaration of the true Gospel as revealed in Jesus Christ.