Christian Standard Bible
1 John 3:4
4Everyone who commits sin practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
1 John 3:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
- New International Version (NIV)Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
Context of 1 John 3:4
2Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is. 3And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure. Everyone who commits sin practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 5You know that he was revealed so that he might take away sins, and there is no sin in him. 6Everyone who remains in him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen him or known him.
Read all of 1 John 31 John 3:4 word by word
Πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ τὴν ἀνομίαν ποιεῖ, καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐστὶν ἡ ἀνομία.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 John 3:4
- 1 John 3:8The one who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works.
- 1 Kings 8:47and when they come to their senses in the land where they were deported and repent and petition you in their captors’ land: “We have sinned and done wrong; we have been wicked,”
- 1 Chronicles 10:13Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the Lord because he did not keep the Lord’s word. He even consulted a medium for guidance,
- 2 Corinthians 12:21I fear that when I come my God will again humiliate me in your presence, and I will grieve for many who sinned before and have not repented of the moral impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality they practiced.
- James 5:15The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
- Numbers 15:31He will certainly be cut off, because he has despised the Lord’s word and broken his command; his guilt remains on him.”
- 1 Samuel 15:24Saul answered Samuel, “I have sinned. I have transgressed the Lord’s command and your words. Because I was afraid of the people, I obeyed them.
- 2 Chronicles 24:20The Spirit of God enveloped Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood above the people and said to them, “This is what God says, ‘Why are you transgressing the Lord’s commands so that you do not prosper? Because you have abandoned the Lord, he has abandoned you.’”
- Isaiah 53:8He was taken away because of oppression and judgment, and who considered his fate? For he was cut off from the land of the living; he was struck because of my people’s rebellion.
- Daniel 9:11All Israel has broken your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. The promised curse written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out on us because we have sinned against him.
- Romans 3:20For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.
- Romans 4:15because the law produces wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.
- James 2:9If, however, you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
- 1 John 5:17All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin that doesn’t lead to death.
- Romans 7:7What should we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! But I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet.
Commentaries on 1 John 3:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Sin is the transgression of the law - The spirit of the law as well as of the Gospel is, that "we should love God with all our powers, and our neighbor as ourselves." All disobedience is contrary to love; therefore sin is the transgression of the law, whether the act refers immediately to God or to our neighbor.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law - The law of God given to man as a rule of life. The object of the apostle here is to excite them to holiness, and to deter them from committing sin, perhaps in view of the fact stated in 1 John 3:3, that everyone who has the hope of heaven will aim to be holy like the Saviour. To confirm this, he shows them that, as a matter of fact, those who are born of God do lead lives of obedience, 1 John 3:5-10…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 3-10Verses 3-10 The sons of God know that their Lord is of purer eyes than to allow any thing unholy and impure to dwell with him. It is the hope of hypocrites, not of the sons of God, that makes allowance for gratifying impure desires and lusts. May we be followers of him as his dear children, thus show our sense of his unspeakable mercy, and express that obedient, grateful, humble mind which becomes us. Sin is the rejecting the Divine law. In him, that is…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-10This section explains what it means to live a pure life (3:3). Being part of God's spiritual family requires living a pure life. A life full of sin shows that someone is not truly God's child. Sin is not suitable for the new nature that comes from spiritual birth. John encourages Christians to do what is right to show they are united to Christ and his righteousness. Children of God do not make a practice of sinning. However, this is different from the…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. Sin is incompatible with birth from God (1Jo 3:1-3). John often sets forth the same truth negatively, which he had before set forth positively. He had shown, birth from God involves self-purification; he now shows where sin, that is, the want of self-purification, is, there is no birth from God. Whosoever--Greek, "Every one who." committeth sin--in contrast to 1Jo 3:3, "Every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself"; and 1Jo 3:7, "He that…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 John 3:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 John 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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