Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever 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. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:4-10
Everyone who practices casually and brazenly sinning not only practices sin but is also practicing lawlessness. Lawlessness (Greek anomia) refers to a more heinous and diabolical level of sin than we might think of as ordinary daily infractions against the Lord, which John has already addressed.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 John 1:7-10
John has acknowledged that those who regularly walk in the light do still inadvertently sin. These folks, however, are not accused of lawlessness. John’s expectation of these is that they want to walk in the light and will, therefore, confess their sins to receive forgiveness. They are not given over to continual brazen sin, as those identified as practicing lawlessness.
For example, consider David, a man who sinned badly but also repented deeply. Those with a heart to walk with and love God will readily repent when they fail to walk in the light. These do not go on to lawlessness.
This short passage is packed with absolutes to which we must pay attention.
“You know that he (Jesus) appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.” “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” The purpose of the coming of Jesus is two-fold: to take away sins and to destroy the works of the devil. Those who abide in Jesus will manifest these characteristics: freedom from sin that leads to lawlessness and freedom from the works of the devil.
What’s the big deal about lawlessness? Jesus pronounces eschatological judgment on workers of lawlessness.
‘…And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Matthew 7:31
The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers (anomia, those who practice lawlessness), and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 13:41-42
In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, anomia is used sixteen times in Psalms. It always refers to those who have resolutely turned away from God to the point that they can no longer be regarded as his people but are, in fact, his enemies.1 (Psalms 5:5; 6:8; 14:4; 36:12; 53:4; 59:2,5; 64:2; 92:7,9; 94:3,15; 119:3; 125:5; 141:4,9.).
“…no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.”
In last week’s commentary, I opened with the statement, “God’s great and glorious love produces results in us that can only really be seen or understood by divine revelation.” To “see” the Lord requires divine revelation. To see him logically precedes knowing him, so both seeing and knowing the Lord requires the revelatory work of the Holy Spirit. In context, the idea of one who keeps on sinning refers to one who, having not seen or known him, is on his way to lawlessness. Continual sinning leads to lawlessness and the eschatological judgment mentioned above.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Corinthians 2:14
The flip side of this fact that no one who keeps on sinning has seen him or known him is: “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning.” For my purposes today, this is the key thought. The point is that abiding in Christ and continuing in sin are mutually exclusive; the two states are incompatible. Christ came to do away with sin and destroy the works of the devil. We can participate in these areas of victory and freedom by abiding in Christ, not by gritting our teeth and fighting against sin.
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
1 John 3:8
One who practices sinning is of or motivated by the devil. This is the character of the devil. He has sinned from the beginning with his first successful effort to motivate a human into sin with his simple question, which he still uses successfully today, “Has God said…?” He questioned God’s word. John is trying to protect his disciples from false teaching in this epistle. Getting people to question God in a manner that doubts God is a significant step toward apostasy and lawlessness, followed by eschatological judgment.
By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:10
This final statement is phrased as a negative, which is unusual for our present-day American language. But it is a binary statement. We are all in one camp or the other camp. We can’t straddle the fence. John identifies the evidence that makes it clear whether we are children of God or children of the devil. If I don’t practice righteousness, I am not of God, which means I am of the devil. Additionally, if I do not love my brother, I have put forth evidence that I am not of God. Stated a little differently, evidence that I love God is that I usually practice righteousness and normally love my brethren.
My ability to do righteousness and love my brother is determined by my being and abiding in Christ. He is the vine, and I am the branch. It is the sap flowing through the vine that produces the fruit. I cannot do that by myself. I must remain in him. He is the source of my life. So, too, for you. Abide in Christ.
