New English Translation
1 John 3:4
4Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; indeed, 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 whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is. 3And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure). Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; indeed, sin is lawlessness. 5And you know that Jesus was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6Everyone who resides in him does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor 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 practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil.
- 1 Kings 8:47When your people come to their senses in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, ‘We have sinned and gone astray; we have done evil.’
- 1 Chronicles 10:13So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord and did not obey the Lord’s instructions; he even tried to conjure up underworld spirits.
- 2 Corinthians 12:21I am afraid that when I come again, my God may humiliate me before you, and I will grieve for many of those who previously sinned and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and licentiousness 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 must be completely cut off. His iniquity will be on him.’”
- 1 Samuel 15:24Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have disobeyed what the Lord commanded and what you said as well. For I was afraid of the army, and I followed their wishes.
- 2 Chronicles 24:20God’s Spirit energized Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why are you violating the commands of the Lord? You will not be prosperous! Because you have rejected the Lord, he has rejected you!’”
- Isaiah 53:8He was led away after an unjust trial – but who even cared? Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded.
- Daniel 9:11“All Israel has broken your law and turned away by not obeying you. Therefore you have poured out on us the judgment solemnly threatened in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you.
- Romans 3:20For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
- Romans 4:15For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression either.
- James 2:9But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators.
- 1 John 5:17All unrighteousness is sin, but there is sin not resulting in death.
- Romans 7:7What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else 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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