1 John 3:4

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

2Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 5You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. 6No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him.

1 John 3:4 word by word

Πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ τὴν ἀνομίαν ποιεῖ, καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐστὶν ἡ ἀνομία.Read the interlinear

• Everyoneπᾶςpas · allG3956
• who practicesποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• sinἁμαρτίαhamartia · sinG266
• alsoκαίkai · andG2532
• lawlessnessἀνομίαanomia · lawlessnessG458

Cross-references for 1 John 3:4

• 1 John 3:8the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
• 1 Kings 8:47if they take it to heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and implore Your favor in the land of those who have taken them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong, we have acted wickedly’;
• 1 Chronicles 10:13So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of her,
• 2 Corinthians 12:21I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and indecent behavior which they have practiced.
• James 5:15and the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
• Numbers 15:31Since he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt will be on him.’”
• 1 Samuel 15:24Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have violated the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.
• 2 Chronicles 24:20Then the Spirit of God covered Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest like clothing; and he stood above the people and said to them, “This is what God has said, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the Lord and do not prosper? Because you have abandoned the Lord, He has also abandoned you.’”
• Isaiah 53:8By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off from the land of the living For the wrongdoing of my people, to whom the blow was due?
• Daniel 9:11Indeed, all Israel has violated Your Law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has gushed forth on us, along with the oath which is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him.
• Romans 3:20because by the works of the Law none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes knowledge of sin.
• Romans 4:15for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.
• James 2:9But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as violators.
• 1 John 5:17All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.
• Romans 7:7What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Far from it! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting 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

• Law
• Sin
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Appear
• Assure
• Condemn
• Pleasing
• Sin
• Word
• Commit
• Ethics
• Johannine Theology
• John, the Epistles of

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