This first epistle of John was written to give the basis of a person knowing that they believed. But sometimes, due to misunderstanding the text, these verses have the opposite effect. Thus this commentary is so helpful to the doubting saint.
Verse 4–Every one that doeth sin
Here the tense is the present continuous and expresses a practice and not an act. The AV “committeth” is misleading. Neither here nor anywhere in this passage is the committal of an act in view. The apostle is dealing with that which characterizes the life. The purpose is to contrast the children of God with those who are not (see v. 10). It would be well always to avoid using the verb “commit” in this passage. In the original the contrast is clearly marked between this phrase and that in 2:29, “every one that doeth righteousness.” As righteousness was there marked as a characteristic of one who was born of God, so here the opposite is expressed.
doeth also lawlessness
Again the AV “transgresseth the law” is misleading, as suggesting an act. The parallelism between the phrases should be maintained. The order in the original is chiasmic, or crosswise–verb, noun, noun, verb–“every one doing sin, lawlessness also doeth.” John’s use of the present tense of the verb poieo “to do,” expressed the meaning of the alternate verb prasso, “to practice.” The manner of life which is described by the phrase “doeth lawlessness,” which is constant disregard of the law of God. As, then, doing righteousness is an evidence of the new birth, so doing lawlessness is an evidence of not being born of God.
and sin is lawlessness
Sin and lawlessness are different aspects of the same thing. A section of the Gnostic teachers taught that a certain attainment of knowledge placed a person above moral law, in which case one was rendered neither better for keeping it nor worse for breaking it. The teaching of this passage therefore strikes a blow against such error. The practice of sin is shown to be entirely incompatible with being a child of God.
Verse 5–And ye know
Oidate, “ye know as a fact essential to the Christian faith.” The apostle’s constant appeal to the knowledge possessed by believers is a set-off against the knowledge in which the Gnostics boasted.
that He was manifested
This, which refers to Christ’s Incarnation, assumes His pre-existence. From the glory where He had been with the Father He came to earth, becoming incarnate, and so manifested to men. This the Lord speaks of as His mission from the Father (Jn. 5:37; 8:18, where the verb is pempo, “to send,” and cp. 4:34; 6:38). He also speaks of it as a sending involving a commission (see Jn. 3:17; 10:36, where the word is apostello as also in 1 Jn. 4:10). His coming is spoken of again simply as an historical event (see Jn. 1:11; 8:42) and as that which has had abiding effects (see Jn. 3:19; 8:14; 8:42; 1 Jn. 5:20).
to take away sins
Airo means “to remove by lifting,” cp.1 Peter 2:24, “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree”–not “unto” but “upon.” The point in the present passage, however, is not the mode in which Christ took away sins but the fact that His having become incarnate in order to take them away shows that sin is incompatible with the divine relationship of being children of God; in other words, not the nature of the atonement is here in view but the effect of it in the life.
and in Him is no sin
Lit. “and in Him sin is not.” He is essentially and eternally the sinless One, and this has been proved in the days of His flesh. This statement is not put as what believers know in addition to the preceding fact, though that is so; rather it is a truth independently expressed, and by it the apostle confirms His argument that sin is incompatible with relationship with God. The members of the heavenly family, so far from continuing in sin, as before they became children of God, are united to One who Himself both was the Bearer of sins and is essentially sinless. There is this, also, that the approved sinlessness of Christ showed that He, and He alone, was fit and competent to take away sins.
Verse 6–Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not
The “whosoever” represents the same phrase in the original as “every one” in 2:29; 3:3 and 3:4 (RV). Both verbs “abideth” and “sinneth” are in the pres-ent continuous tense and express the normal state. Abiding in Christ and continuance in sin are incongruous. It is true that even an act of sin is inconsistent with abiding in Christ, but, as elsewhere in this passage, the apostle is dealing with characteristics and habits, and not acts. He spoke of acts of sin in 1:8-10. To abide in Christ involves the habit of communion with God and the habitual fulfillment of His will. This passage is not to be explained by Romans 7:20. Paul there is dealing with another aspect of the truth.
Whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither knoweth Him
This alone is sufficient to make clear that practice is in view, and not the committal of an act. Every believer does sin, see 1:8. Yet the believer is one who has seen Christ, by faith, and does know Him. What is implied here, then, is a ruling principle of the life. He who, being a believer, has seen Christ and knows Him, does not continue in sin. Possibly the apostle is making an allusion to some who claimed a certain measure of superiority because of having seen Christ in the flesh. The sight to which he refers, however, is the spiritual sight of faith, the faith which appropriates Him by spiritual experience and produces the consciousness of His presence, and so imparts a knowledge of Him. To know Him is to acknowledge and appreciate His character and to live in the practical enjoyment of relationship to Him.
We might have expected, by way of contrast to the preceding statement, “every one that sinneth abideth not in Him,” but the apostle’s manner in expressing antitheses is to strengthen and extend the thought of the preceding statement.
Verse 7–My little children
The reiteration of this mode of address now carries with it a note of tender solemnity. The apostle is reaching the height of this part of His subject.
let no man lead you astray
The warning enforces the gravity of the error with which he is dealing, namely, that it is possible, though living in sin, to have spiritual life, and that as long as a man believes himself to be spiritual he is above condemnation. The verb, planeo, to lead astray, is the same as in 1:8.
he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous
That is to say, “he who does righteousness habitually.” To fulfill righteousness in its completeness, as a manner of life, is evidence of identification with “Jesus Christ the righteous.” No matter how much one may claim to have a knowledge of divine truth, it goes for nothing unless the life is in accordance with the truth, and therefore with the character and walk of Him who Himself was and is the Truth. The “He” in the last clause of the verse is Christ, and in the original the pronoun used carries emphasis. The Epistle of James stresses the deadness of faith without works.
Verse 8–He that doeth sin is of the devil
For the phrase “he that doeth sin” as set in contrast to the doing of righteousness, see v. 4. Again, the apostle does not give the exact contrasting parallel with what he has just stated, which would have been “he that doeth sin is unrighteous even as the devil is unrighteous.” He goes further and expresses definitely the spiritual relationship, in contrast to the divine relationship of his readers. Not that the devil is the source of anyone’s existence, for, as Augustine says, “The devil made no man, begat no man, created no man.” The devil is the source of sin, and therefore the one who leads a sinful life is spiritually connected with him. Not that man is helpless in his continuance of evil, as if he were void of responsibility in the matter, but that inasmuch as the habit of his life is the same as that which characterizes the devil, a spiritual relationship exists between them.
for the devil sinneth from the beginning
There is stress upon the phrase “from the beginning.” Sin began when Satan first sinned. The use of the present tense in the statement, instead of the past “has sinned,” marks the fact that he himself is sinful and his course is unceasingly one of sin. By his misrepresentation of God, which is implied in the title “devil,” he has ever sought to attack the soul of man, endeavoring to instill reasons for doubt and distrust of God. That is the evidence of the Scripture from the first to the last, cp. Jn. 8:44.
To this end was the Son of God manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil
The full title, “the Son of God,” is mentioned here for the first time in the epistle. Previously He has been spoken of as “the Son.” While, in this epistle, as the Son, He is made to stand out distinctly from the children of God. Here in the full title He also stands out as the One who, being possessed of essential, unoriginal relationship with the Father, came forth from the Father and came into the world in order to destroy the works of God’s opponent. Further, in the mention of this title Christ is set in contrast to those who in their deliberate habit of evil doing are spiritual children of the devil.
While the verb luo, to destroy, literally means “to loose,” the literal meaning must not be pressed here. The word is used of that method of destruction by which a thing is broken and nullified, and this is the effect of Christ’s work on the Cross upon the works of the devil. These works are the operation of the Evil One upon the human heart, by which man, yielding to his suggestions and influence, has fallen into sin and continues therein.
This verse does not provide ground for the assumption that all mankind will eventually be delivered from the effects of sin. What is stated is the means God has taken, the provision He has made, for the accomplishment of the end in view. The whole tenor of the passage stresses the fact that man by continuing in sin may refuse to avail himself of the effects of the work of Christ. This statement in v. 8 resumes that in v. 5, setting forth the subject as in connection with God’s adversary, and not merely with sin, and thus preparing the way for the statements of vv. 9 and 10.
Verse 9–Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin
This is set in contrast to the beginning of v. 8. The phrase rendered “is begotten” in the perfect tense, “has been begotten;” in other words, “has become and therefore remains a child of God.” The phrase “to be begotten of God” is, in the New Testament, confined to the writings of the Apostle John.
The statement here again conveys the thought of sinning as a practice, a habit. The better and accurate rendering would be “doeth not sin.” “Doeth no sin” expresses what is not a fact, for it suggests that no sin is committed by such. What is here taught is not that it is only the old nature, the flesh, that sins; the fact is that the apostle is still distinguishing between the child of God and the unregenerate.
because his seed abideth in him
It is possible to understand this as meaning that one who is a child of God (God’s seed) abides in Him. Probably, however, the seed signifies the divine principle of imparted life in the believer, and this, once it is imparted, is unalterable; it remains in the believer. The child of God stands eternally related to Christ. The one who goes on doing sin (in other words, lives in sin), has never become a child of God. He has not the principle of life in Christ in him. There are other interpretations, but this seems to be in accordance with the general tenor of the epistle and the immediate context, both preceding and succeeding.
as he cannot sin, because he is begotten of God
Here again, not the committal of an act is in view, but continuance in sin. It is not a case merely of moral impossibility; relationship to God, once it is established, not only abides forever but precludes the possibility of continuance of sin as a practice of the life.