English Standard Version
1 John 3:4
4Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; 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.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.
Context of 1 John 3:4
2Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either 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 3:8Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
- 1 Kings 8:47yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, 'We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,'
- 1 Chronicles 10:13So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance.
- 2 Corinthians 12:21I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.
- James 5:15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
- Numbers 15:31Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him."
- 1 Samuel 15:24Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
- 2 Chronicles 24:20Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, "Thus says God, 'Why do you break the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.'"
- Isaiah 53:8By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
- Daniel 9:11All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.
- Romans 3:20For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
- Romans 4:15For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
- James 2:9But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
- 1 John 5:17All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
- Romans 7:7What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall 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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries