Down an Unfamiliar Road

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NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER THREE (Lesson XXXIII) 08/27/21

^3:6 So if we stay close to Him, obedient to Him, we won’t be sinning either; but as for those who keep on sinning, they should realize this: They sin because they have never really met Him or become His.

Daniel C. Snaddon (1915-2009) accepts what the Apostle John said about those in union with God and do not sin. Because those who practice sin have never met Him and certainly have gotten to know Him, this verse contrasts the true believer with one who has never been born again. The subject here is not isolated acts of sin, but rather its practice. Christians do sin – this breaks our fellowship, but not our relationship. But if we earnestly confess that sin, God is more than happy to forgive us and reconnect us with Him.[1]

Colin G. Kruse (1950) states that since there is no sin in Jesus the Anointed One, it is the basis for the assertion in verse six. The Apostle John uses the present tense forms of the verbs “to remain” and “to sin,” indicating that we can view both the “remaining” and the “sinning” in this statement as ongoing acts. Where John speaks of believers ‘remaining’ in someone, as he does here and in eight other places in this letter, mostly he means staying ‘in God.’[2] In one place, John explicitly speaks of remaining “in the Son and the Father,”[3] and in two locations, we can infer from the context that remaining “in the Son” is intended.[4] The context of verse six seems to indicate that remaining “in the Son” is proposed. But remember, you can’t be in one without being in the other.

The problem is further compounded, says Kruse, by the following statement in verse six: “No one who continues to sin has either met Him or gotten to know Him.” There are no indications that those who left the church would claim that they saw and knew Jesus the Anointed One, for they denied that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God come in the flesh. Yet, as reflected throughout this epistle, they claimed that they knew God, and perhaps this is what John indirectly denies by this statement. Therefore, to interpret verses five and six as saying that in John’s mind, the sinlessness of Jesus the Anointed One (emphasized in verse five) reflects the sinlessness of God. So, their ongoing sinful behavior diminishes any claims by the agitators who left the congregation they are living in or remain in God. On the other hand, for John, staying in God is synonymous with remaining in the Anointed One. John does not always specify one or the other, even when disproving the renegades’ claims because the distinction would have been significant.[5] [6]

Bruce B. Barton (1954) says that the Apostle John argued that those joined in union with the Anointed One should live as He lived – pure, without sin. The Greek word menon in “lives in Him” indicates “abiding” and “remaining.” In his Gospel, John used this same verb about the branches abiding in the vine.[7] So, since a branch is attached to the vine to sustain its life, believers must live in union with the Anointed One to be free from the power of sin. This complete union with the Anointed One and separation from sin portray the ideal Christian. Living in sin and living in God are mutually exclusive, like darkness and light. The sinful deeds that believers commit[8] do not come from or belong to their lives in the Anointed One.

The statement “Christians don’t sin,” notes Barton, presents the ideal lifestyle. In this verse, John purposely used the present-tense verb to denote sin as an ongoing action. He was not saying that one who sins once has never known God, but he insisted that people who continue to sin do not know God. In other words, they do not know God’s character. God’s desire for all believers is that one day they will be completely sinless, even if they cannot attain that perfection here on earth. Then, during their pilgrimage on earth, they can claim God’s power and the help of the Holy Spirit to stay away from sin as they prepare for what God has in store for them.[9]

Daniel L. Akin (1957) notes that verse six logically and necessarily flows from verse five. Because there is no sin in Jesus, no one who abides in Him keeps on sinning. In fact, if one does continue in a pattern or practice of sin, another logical and necessary conclusion must be drawn: “everyone who sins [keeps on sinning] has not met Him or gotten to know Him” in a personal, saving relationship. If the sinless Son of God appeared in history to take away sin, how is it possible to remain in union with Him and live in sin simultaneously? The answer is, you can’t. It is impossible.

Some have understood verses six and nine to affirm sinless perfection in this life, says Akin. Would it, however, contradict what the Apostle John said earlier?[10] No! Using the present tense verb in verses six and nine gives us clarity in what John is saying. Because of the new birth, we have a unique nature. Since the Anointed One took away our sins, we have new liberty and freedom. Sin no longer dominates us or enslaves us. Sin is no longer the character and conduct of our lives. Because we now abide in the Anointed One and the power of His person and work in the Gospel, we may stumble into sin, but we will not go on walking in sin. Breaking God’s law will not become a habit; it will not be our regular practice. We no longer love sin; we hate sin. We no longer delight in sin; we despise sin.[11]

David Guzik (1961) cautions us that it is crucial to understand what the Bible means when it says, “does not sin.” According to the verb tense the Apostle John uses, “does not sin” means does not live a lifestyle of habitual sin. John has already told us, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”[12] The grammar indicates John is speaking about occasional acts of sin. The grammar of verse six suggests that John is speaking of a settled, continued lifestyle of sin. However, John is not teaching the possibility of sinless perfection.[13]

Peter Pett (1966) hears the Apostle John tell us that to continue sinning without regard for staying faithful to God is lawlessness. It is to reject God’s will and refuse to live according to His teachings.  It is to reject His authority. Therefore, sinning without regard to God’s commandments (whether old or new) is lawlessness. For sin is anarchy. And those who live that way are rejecting God, however religious they may be. And the one who receives such a gift of grace and forgiveness cannot be like that. It is impossible.

One reason for this contrast between believers who go on sinning and those who do not, says Pett, is the false teaching of their opponents. Some of them taught that sin was not a problem; it was simply a weakness of the flesh, and they believed the physical acts of a believer were insignificant. One day, the soul would discard the body. That means you can live any way you want. So, you are not doing anything wrong at all. So, they could go on “sinning” as much as they liked.

On the other hand, notes Pett, some sought to deal with the flesh by punishing it, by extreme self-discipline such as flagellation. What mattered was to purify the soul by obtaining mysterious knowledge. Some even taught, “let us continue in sin that grace may abound.”[14] No, says John, those who practice sin and go on sinning without conviction are not of God and directly opposite those who recognize that understanding evil is essential. It is because, although weak and failing, [15] they have done away with sin in union with the Anointed One[16] and seek to do away with rebellion in their lives.[17]

Peter Legge (1969) finds the positive thing here for us in verse six is that there is victory over sin in communion with the Lord Jesus. This is the source, if we abide, have fellowship with Him if we’re in perfect harmony with Him, and there’s nothing between our soul and His heart, we can have victory over sin! Now sonship escorts us into union with the Anointed One, but fellowship brings us into communion with the Lord. So, a Christian who has “union” in sweet communion with their Lord will constantly gain victory over sin.[18]

Douglas Sean O’Donnell (1972) observes that the Apostle John initially makes a negative point. Then, in verse six, he writes, “People who stay one in their hearts with Him won’t keep on sinning. If they do keep on sinning, they don’t know the Anointed One very well because they have never met Him.” Then in verse eight, John adds: “Anyone who keeps on sinning belongs to the devil. He has sinned from the beginning, but the Son of God came to destroy all that he has done.” Finally, in verse ten, John summarizes the negative with a positive: “You can tell God’s children from the devil’s children because those who belong to the devil refuse to do right or to love each other.”[19]

What this tells us is that you can’t turn anything into something just by using words. It takes a transformation. We live in an age when a man says he’s a woman, it’s accepted, or when a white woman claims she is black, people treat her as such. But that does not work when it comes to identifying oneself as a Christian. To achieve that, you must be born all over again to become the creation God wants you to be. So, just by claiming to be a Christian does not make it so.

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[1] Snaddon, Daniel C., Plymouth Brethren Writings, 1 John, op. cit., loc. cit.

[2] 1 John 3:24; 4:12, 13, 15, 16

[3] Ibid. 2:24

[4] Ibid. 2:6, 28

[5] These rebels already believed that the Messiah was two people: Jesus of Nazareth (the man) and Jesus the Anointed One, where as John believed they were two in one – the son of man and the Son of God.

[6] Kruse, Colin G., The Letters of John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, op. cit., Kindle Edition.

[7] John 15:1-8

[8] 1 John 1:8-10; 2:1-2

[9] Barton, Bruce B., 1, 2, & 3 John (Life Application Bible Commentary), op. cit., pp. 66-67

[10] 1 John 1:8, 10

[11] Akin, Dr. Daniel L., Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary), op. cit., Kindle Edition.

[12] 1 John 1:8

[13] Guzik, David – Enduring Word, op. cit., p. 53

[14] Romans 6:1, 15

[15] 1 John 1:8-10

[16] Ibid. 1:7, 9; 2:1-2

[17] Pett, Peter: Truth According to Scripture Commentary, op. cit., loc. cit.

[18] Legge, David: Preach the Word, 1,2,3 John, op. cit., Part 9

[19] O’Donnell, Douglas Sean, 1–3 John (Reformed Expository Commentaries), op. cit., Kindle Edition.

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NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER THREE (Lesson XXXII) 08/26/21

^3:6 So if we stay close to Him, obedient to Him, we won’t be sinning either; but as for those who keep on sinning, they should realize this: They sin because they have never really met Him or become His.

Ernst Dryander (1843-1922) remarks that the Apostle John expresses the terrible nature of sin from three distinct points of view. He says, first of all: “Whoever sins breaks the law.” It means “lawlessness.” They are rebels against God’s holy command. The person that sins sever all connection with the living, holy God. There is no reason to stop now to consider the question of what sin is; we all have the unmistakable testimony of our conscience whether this is pure or impure, whether that is right and godly, or evil and corrupt. But the real questions are, “Do we recognize sins as wickedness? Do we regard wicked thoughts or the heart’s hidden, impure emotions as rebels against God and His Word?”

Of course, notes Dryander, there is a consensus among people that some sins, such as assault and murder, are undeniably wicked and should be punished. However, others, like theft or exceeding the speed limit, are regarded more leniently. People call them shortcomings or weaknesses, about which everyone is answerable to themselves alone and nobody else. John does not think so. Someone lying occurs every day in everyday life, which the world brushes away. Nevertheless, any transgression against God’s holy command is a sin. This envy, hatred, or malice, which is the normal state of many and therefore not regarded as wrong, is a declaration of war flung into the face of God’s commands.[1]

James Morgan (1859-1942) reminds us of all the Anointed One did here on earth to help us to never think about sinning. He points out that as soon as the Anointed One was born, He was given His name by God. It was Jesus (Greek iēsous meaning “Yahweh is Salvation”), “because He will save His people from their sins.” Thus, when His gospel began to be preached, Peter proclaimed its nature in these words, “When God raised His Son from the tomb, He sent Him to you first to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”[2]

And the Apostle Paul, noted Morgan, who had long preached it with power, and entered fully into its spirit, summed up its grand aim by saying, “God has shown us how kind He is by coming to save all people. He taught us to give up our wicked ways and worldly desires and live decent and honest lives in this world. Therefore, we are filled with hope as we wait for the glorious return of our great God and Savior, Jesus the Anointed One, who sacrificed Himself to rescue us from everything evil and make our hearts pure. He wanted us to be His people and eager always to do the right thing.”[3]

Thus, constantly and forcibly, says Morgan, the purpose of our Lord’s mission is represented to be the destruction of sin. And what did He do to accomplish such a purpose? Morgan explains: “We estimate the importance of any object in the eyes of those who pursue it, by what they are willing to do or suffer, that they may gain it.” Let us use this standard to judge and what He estimated the value of salvation to be from sin. We will see that He esteemed it so costly that He willingly suffered and died for it.

Morgan then gives us six purposes for which our Savior was willing to endure to accomplish His mission:

• For this purpose, He was born a human. He took our nature. The Son of God became the Son of man. “Though He was in the form of God, He chose not to cling to equality with God; But He poured Himself out to fill a brand-new vessel; a servant in form and a man indeed. The very likeness of humanity, He humbled Himself, obedient to death – a merciless death on the cross!”^[4]

• For this purpose, He lived as a human. He chose poverty, reproach, and the most harmful treatment because they were in accordance with the design of His mission. “He was hated and rejected; His life was filled with sorrow and terrible suffering. No one wanted to look at Him. We despised Him and said, He is a nobody!”[5] Jesus said, “Foxes have dens, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man doesn’t have a place to call His own.”[6]

• For this purpose, He died on our behalf. “He endured the shame of being nailed to a cross.”[7] “The Lord decided to make His servant’s soul a sacrifice to take away the sin and guilt of others.”[8] “He poured out His soul until it brought Him death.”[9] “An innocent person died for those who are guilty. The Anointed One did this to bring you to God.”[10]

• For this purpose, He rose triumphantly from the grave. “He was handed over to die because of our sins, and He was raised to life to make us right with God.”[11]

• For this purpose, He appears for us at the right hand of God. “He is forever able to save the people He leads to God because He lives on to intercede to God for them.”[12]

• For this purpose, He will come again in His glory and gather His people to Himself. “So, the Anointed One died only once to take away the sins of many people. But when He comes again, it will not be to take away sin. Instead, He will come to save everyone who is waiting for Him.”[13] In a word, “You know that Jesus came to take away our sins because there is no sin in Him.”[14] It was the one grand aim of His glorious life.[15]

Harry Ironside (1876-1957) uses an instance in his life to illustrate how those born of God do not go on sinning. Years ago, when he went to California as a boy, the only oranges known then were the ones with seeds. But then, two of the Washington navel orange trees were brought to Riverside from Brazil and cultivated. Cuttings were taken from these parent trees at Riverside, and orange trees were budded with the Washington navel shoots, and their character was entirely changed. So, a man having a forty-acre orchard and not wanting to be left entirely without fruit would cut off the top half of his trees. Twenty acres would go on bearing the oranges with the seeds. He would cut under the bark of the lopped trees and put in the navel orange cuttings, and in a couple of years, all those trees would have new branches and would be loaded with oranges.

I might say to the owner, says Ironside, “What kind of oranges are these?” “Washington navel oranges,” he would reply. “Is that the only kind of oranges they bear? Don’t they sometimes bear oranges with seeds?” “Oh no,” he would say; “A budded tree does not produce seeded oranges.” But even as he speaks, I stoop down and see a little shoot under the branches coming out of the trunk of the tree, and say, “Look, what is that shoot?” He would snip it off or take out a knife and slice it away, saying, “That’s from below the graft. It must be pruned off.” You see, what is characteristic of the budded tree is that it bears the navel oranges, but if one does not watch, there will be a shoot of the old nature below the grafting. So likewise, as children of God, we cannot go on living in sin. If you ever find a Christian slipping into anything unclean or unholy, you know that this comes from below the graft[16] – it is the old nature manifesting itself![17]

Paul E. Kretzmann (1883-1965) states that our knowledge of the salvation of the Anointed One is living knowledge and living faith. We have fellowship with the Anointed One through this faith and know we are and remain in Him. Therefore, Christians do not sin; they refuse to serve sin to keep their hearts, minds, and thoughts away from sinful things. They refuse to yield their members to be servants of wrongdoing.[18]

On the other hand, notes Kretzmann, everyone who persists in sinning, is lawless, in opposition to God’s holy will, thereby gives evidence that they have never met nor gotten to know the Anointed One by faith. Therefore, if a person is in any way a willing servant of sin and still tries to persuade themselves and others that they are a Christian, they only deceive themselves. Note, these words of the Apostle John do not state, as the so-called perfectionists claim, that a Christian here on earth will reach a stage in which they are a sinless person. On the contrary because we still have our sinful nature to contend with, we Christians are prone to stumble and even fall. According to our spiritual personality, we are pure in the sight of God, for the sake of the Anointed One’s righteousness; according to our regenerated self, we do not sin and keep all our members in subjection in holiness. But our carnal self, the old Adam, transgresses the will of God in countless instances, thus imposing upon us the duty to wage constant warfare against it, as the Apostle Paul has so clearly pictured it.[19] ^[20]

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[1] Dryander, E., A Commentary on the First Epistle of St. John in the Form of Addresses, op. cit., pp. 102-103

[2] Acts of the Apostles 3:26

[3] Titus 1:11-14

[4] Philippians 2:6-8

[5] Isaiah 53:3

[6] Luke 9:58

[7] Hebrews 12:2

[8] Isaiah 53:10

[9] Ibid. 53:12

[10] 1 Peter 3:18

[11] Romans 4:25

[12] Hebrews 7:25

[13] Ibid. 9:28

[14] 1 John 3:5

[15] Morgan, J. (1865), An Exposition of the First Epistle of John, op. cit., pp. 184-185

[16] See John 15:1-8; Romans 11:11-24

[17] Ironside, H. A. Addresses on the Epistles of John (Ironside Commentary Series Book 43), op. cit., p. 30

[18] Romans 6:1-14

[19] Ibid. 7:14-24

[20] Kretzmann, Paul E. Popular Commentary, 1 John, op. cit., p. 558

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NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER THREE (Lesson XXXI) 08/25/21

^3:6 So if we stay close to Him, obedient to Him, we won’t be sinning either; but as for those who keep on sinning, they should realize this: They sin because they have never really met Him or become His.

James Macknight (1721-1800), Scottish minister and theological author, serving at St. Giles Cathedral of Edinburgh, holds the same opinion as other Bible scholars on the Apostle John’s saying that any person in union with the Anointed One does not sin. That means they are not habitual sinners.^[1] That’s why, says Thomas Scott (1747-1821), We can never sufficiently admire the love, which the “Father has placed on us” or rejoice too much in our contentment if indeed we are numbered among the “children of God.” Who and what were we, or what had we done, that the infinite Lord should condescend from heaven to notice and make us unique! “What kind of love is this,” that He would redeem, regenerate, adopt, and bless such worthless worms, such guilty, polluted rebels? Doubtless, it is way beyond human comprehension and incapable of being illustrated by any comparison. May we then be, says Macknight, obedient to Him as His dear children; and in that way show our appreciation for His unspeakable mercy, and express that thankful, grateful, and humble attitude, which is so appropriate for those who are so highly favored and distinguished.^[2]

In this commentary, Joseph Benson (1749-1821) employs the same phraseology that I use related to scriptures that talk about our being “in” the Anointed One. He says, “Whosoever abides in union and fellowship with Him in loving faith and does not sin. That means they do not try to remain Christians while living in sin.” If they constantly break any known law of God, they have never met Him, neither gotten to know Him. Their views and knowledge of Him have been so superficial that they don’t deserve to be called Christians. They have not conquered their love of sin and the frequency of it to be brought into holiness.

Furthermore, says Benson, they have not reached or retained a spiritual level of communion with God. Certainly, when a person sins and violates any known law of God, the loving eye of their soul is not fixed upon Jesus;[3] neither do they know Him on a personal basis. Macknight feels that it is possible some of the heretical teachers, condemned by the Apostle John in this epistle, tried to make their disciples believe that their opinions were derived personally from the Anointed One. They boasted about seeing and conversing with Him during His ministry on earth, consequently that they knew His doctrine perfectly. But the apostle assured his children that if these teachers, who admittedly continued in sin, ever saw or conversed with the Anointed One, they were utterly mistaken about His character and His doctrine because John knew what he was talking about.^[4]

Jewish convert Augustus Neander (1789-1850) talks about what he calls “promoters of externalized and formal Christianity.” He says that this proceeded chiefly from the Jews with their superficial and outward tendencies in religion. Such belief rested in a mere faith by works, public profession, and physical fulfillment of the law. These are the empty words against which the Apostle Paul warns his Ephesian brethren.[5] With such a superficial conception of the Law, the rich young man in the Gospel supposed he had fulfilled all its requirements from his youth.[6] Sadly, the Church has reproduced this concept with the uniform effect of making obedience to the Law easy, of lowering the essentials of Christianity in each one’s life, thus enabling a person to soothe their conscience. John was urging Christians to strive for holiness by shunning all that is sinful. Some were very outspoken about this adverse influence. It was necessary because it lessened their moral earnestness and relaxed moral judgment in the church. Therefore, John is warning his brethren against certain seducers.[7]

Albert Barnes (1798-1890) says that some scholars are of the opinion that what the Apostle John says here teaches the “doctrine of perfection” or that Christians may live entirely without sin. Some accused John of introducing this as a characteristic of the faithful Christian.^[8] But if we look closer at what John said, you can see what he is really saying. John simply implies that anyone truly born of God does not sin, that is, has no intention of sinning, no desire to sin, and does not live to sin. So, it appears that the Apostle is sure that any true believer has no plans of wandering away from God or intentionally breaking His Law. John repeats this same argument in verse nine below.

Robert Smith Candlish (1806-1873) sees four arguments against committing a sin or breaking the law. These are all connected to those whose essential purity is to be a model in purifying ourselves: I. The end or design of His appearing – “to take away our sins.” II. His sinlessness – “in Him is no sin.” III. Our oneness with Him – “whoever abides in Him does not sin.” IV. The incompatibility of sin with any real acquaintance with Him – “whoever sins have not met Him, neither gotten to know Him.” These four may be reduced to two: the first and second being, as it were, doctrinal; the third and fourth experimental: the former turning on what He is to us, as our Savior; the latter, on that, we are in union with Him as His saved ones.[9]

Henry Alford (1810-1871) does a thorough job of deciphering the above verses. And in one instance, as here in verse six, he focuses on the Greek verb menō, which the KJV translates as “abideth.” (“lives in” – NIV). Other translations of this verb include “remain,”[10] “dwell,”[11] “continue,”[12] “tarry,”[13] and “endures.”[14] In his Greek Lexicon, Thayer says that this verb is equivalent to “not to depart, not to leave, to continue to be present.” So today, we would see this as one’s permanent position. So, to take what John says here and paraphrase as “he who permanently stays” in Him (the Anointed One), “does not go on sinning.”^[15]

Brooke Foss Westcott (1825-1901) sees a connection between what the Apostle John says here with what he said in chapter one, verse six. It describes a characteristic – a prevailing habit, not primarily an act.^[16] Each sinful act interrupts fellowship, both with God and with fellow believers. Yet, as much as it may be foreign to a person’s character and not their normal behavior, it still leaves them with a changed personality.^[17] Since sin comes from hostile feelings toward God, its effect violates one’s love for God. That is the essence of a Christian’s character – to love God and each other.^[18]

Joseph Agar Beet (1840-1924) speaks about Christian purity. However, this deliverance does not imply the annihilation of the tendency to sin so that we no longer find it in us as a hostile force against which we have to watch and contend. For, if the Anointed One, by His presence and power in our hearts, gives us complete and constant victory over sinful tendencies within us, so that it no longer consciously molds our acts, words, or thoughts. God saved us from the polluting power of sin. A tendency to do evil is every moment stomped on, will cause us no spiritual shame.

Beet illustrates this exposition by an analogy found in outer space. If the moving force in any planet were to stop, it could carry the planet from its orbit deeper into the universe to oblivion. But, on the other hand, the planet could also fall into the sun with the inherent force removed, thus losing its existence. But under the combined influence of these two forces, each exerting its full influence every moment, moves the planet on its appointed orbit, preserving its individuality, yet subordinate to a body immensely greater than itself. So, we move in absolute devotion to Him, from whom we receive Light and Life and all things.

Similarly, says Beet, we carry in our bodies chemical forces which would destroy us were they not neutralized by the presence of life.[19] Yet, despite these forces, the body may be in perfect health, for the neutralizing power is sufficient to preserve us. Just so the presence of Christ in our hearts holds back our inborn tendencies to evil, aggravated as they are by personal sin, and keeps us from all corruption. Thus, does He save His people from their sins.

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[1] James Macknight: First Epistle of John, op. cit., p. 69

[2] Thomas Scott: First Epistle of John, op. cit., p. 494

[3] Hebrews 12:2

[4] Benson, Joseph: Firsts Epistle of John, op. cit., loc. cit.

[5] Ephesians 5:6

[6] Matthew 17:19

[7] Neander, Augustus: The First Epistle of John, Practically Explained, op. cit., pp. 184-185

[8] Barnes, Albert: New Testament Notes, op. cit., p. 4843

[9] Candlish, R. S., The First Epistle of John Expounded in a Series of Lectures, op. cit., p. 251

[10] 1 John 2:24

[11] Ibid. 4:13

[12] John 2:12

[13] Matthew 26:38

[14] John 6:27

[15] Alford, Henry: Greek NT, op. cit., p. 165

[16] Cf. Titus 3:11; Hebrews 10:26

[17] See 1 John 2:1

[18] Westcott, Brooke: Epistles of John, op. cit., p. 104

[19] So why does the stoppage of respiration and blood flow start the process of decomposition? The answer is all chemistry. Immediately after the heart stops, blood stops flowing through the veins and arteries and begins to pool and spread to the lowest lying areas of the body. This gives the skin a “bruised” appearance. Investigators can use this post mortem (after death) “bruising” to make determinations about the position of the body at the time of death. This process of blood seeping into the peripheral tissues of the body is called livor mortis. Between 3 and 6 hours after the heart stops, a chemical in the body called ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) runs out. ATP requires the intake of oxygen to be produced, so its production ceases with death. This is an important chemical since it is responsible for the flexing of muscle: When ATP is no longer available, the chemical myosin becomes irreversibly locked onto the muscle tissue and the muscle “locks” into place. This is called rigor mortis. The same is true when a person severs their life-giving presence of the Holy Spirit, and their heart no longer beats with love and enthusiasm, and the blood of Jesus no longer washing as their sins, they too will become motionless with no spiritual life.

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NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER THREE (Lesson XXX) 08/24/21

^3:6 So if we stay close to Him, obedient to Him, we won’t be sinning either; but as for those who keep on sinning, they should realize this: They sin because they have never really met Him or become His.

Some Christians believe that if they sin, they are not truly saved. Everyone discovers after they receive the Anointed One that they are not perfect. Some attempt to become Christians again and again only to find out they still sin. Some give up on the Christian life. But the Bible does not teach that a Christian can reach a state of sinless perfection on earth. Christians are not sinless but have less sin. Their spiritual nature goes to war against their human nature. The new creation is free of sin, while the old creature is nothing but sinful. The key to victory in the Christian life is to establish momentum where the reborn spirit through the Anointed One rises by ascending the spiritual ladder. The sinner’s stillborn spirit still lies motionless under the devil’s spell. Take note, those who see and know the Lord in fellowship do not produce sin.  Sinning is not part of abiding in union with Him.  Therefore, whenever we sin, we do not reflect fellowship with the Lord. It does not mean that the Christian must be sinless, [1] but that sin is abnormal to the Christian life[2] and brings grief to the believer.[3]

Notice, we should not say about others, “they sinned because have never met Him, nor gotten to know Him.” No one can detect faith in someone else’s heart. None of us can sit in judgment on someone else. Remember, living in union with the Spirit does not represent what a believer does on their own. That’s because living for God and living in sin are mutually exclusive. Spirituality is dependent upon the Holy Spirit being in control. Christians live according to the will of God and the character of God.  If there is one sin in the conduct of a believer, the Holy Spirit is no longer totally in charge; they control their behavior. Being under the control of the Holy Spirit is at odds with the life of the believer is out of control.[4]

Remember, Jesus is entirely free from sin. And since the Anointed One is perfectly pure and came to take away sins, anyone who genuinely believes in Him does not give themselves to sin. A child of God should never break fellowship with God when they sin. It causes them to stay out of harmony with Him until they confess that sin and allows the Holy Spirit to retake control of their life. During their broken fellowship, their Lawyer, Jesus the Anointed One, the righteous one, defends their case before the Father.[5]  Jesus represents all their cases before the Father. The Father may have to discipline them to put them back into communion with Himself. Just because they are a true believer, they are not protected from the consequences of sin.[6]

COMMENTARY

An early church theologian, Didymus the Blind (313-398 AD), talks about sinners who have no personal relationship with God by pointing out that those who dwell in virtue and true doctrine do not sin out of ignorance. They are not unaware; they know that the one who remains in the Anointed One is righteous and sanctified and does not sin. For how can someone act unrighteous when they are in the company of those living right, and how can they be content to place corruption alongside holiness? Therefore, anyone who sins is outside the Anointed One and has no part or fellowship with Him.[7]

John Gill (1697-1771) says that as the branch in the vine, deriving all light, life, grace, holiness, wisdom, strength, joy, peace, and comfort from the Anointed One; or dwells in fellowship with Him by faith to enjoy communion with Him as a fruit of enjoying union with Him; and stands fast in Him, being rooted and grounded in Him, and lives by His truths and ordinances, take up His rest, and places their security in Him, and perseveres through Him: does not sin; not that they have no sin in them, or lives without sin, but they do not live in sin, nor surrenders to a spiteful attitude in life; for this would be inconsistent with their staying in union with the Anointed One, and to enjoy communion with Him.

Those who sin habitually, says Gill, have never met Jesus, neither gotten to know Him. It’s because they’ve never looked at Him through eyes of faith. That’s why they have never spiritually seen the glory, beauty, fullness, and suitableness of the Anointed One for their needs. Because of this, they do not know how much it cost to pay the price for their salvation. No wonder they have never experienced the joy they have in communion with Him in His presence. So, that leaves the question: What do the people of God have in common with the people of sin? No more than light has with darkness.[8] Consequently, since they’ve never met Him and gotten to know Him as their Savior or experienced His presence in their lives, for though they may profess to know Him in words, they deny Him in the way they live.^[9]

In Jonathan Edwards’ (1703-1758) sermon concerning the perseverance of the saints, he talks about those who might continue in sin after professing to be born again. Those who once truly believed in the Anointed One never fall away and perish. It is because they are now unbelievers and are in a state of condemnation. They are spoken of as those that never believed.[10] Indeed, they did not believe in the name of God’s only begotten Son. It supposes that none of those that believed are now unbelievers or in a state of condemnation.

So again, those who stand condemned on judgment day are those, not only whom the Anointed One will know not, but those He never knew.[11] But is this an accurate representation of those who were once true Christians, known and owned by the Anointed One, but then went astray? Again, listen to what the Apostle Paul said, “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others, I myself might be disqualified.”[12] Paul did nothing other than what he felt needed to be done in certain circumstances, especially when he knew beforehand what might happen. That is why he sent word to the chief captain of the Jews who lay in wait to kill him, to keep from being murdered by them. God revealed to him the night before so that Paul would live to see Rome.[13] That is why he would not allow the sailors to leave the ship.[14] That would have been impossible if Paul had not seen His Light and heard His voice, gotten to know Him, to then fall away into sin.[15]

John Wesley (1703-1791) is preaching on the new birthmarks in a believer. The first, says Wesley, is faith.^[16] But it is not theoretical or speculative faith. It is not a half-hearted acknowledgment that Jesus is the Anointed One, nor trust in a creed or even agreeing that the Bible is holy. And for sure, it is not inactive faith. It is a true living faith that one has been born again of God through the Spirit. Secondly, it is a belief that produces fruit, not only faith such as the fruit of the Spirit but faith that we can overcome outward sin with the indwelling Spirit. This is only possible when the branch remains in union with the vine. 

Wesley says that the Apostle John interprets his words by the tenor of his discourse. In the fifth verse of this chapter, he had said, “You know that He,” the Anointed One, “was revealed to take away our sins; since in Him is no sin.” What is the inference John draws from this? “If you are in union with Him, you don’t sin. But for those who do sin, they have never met Him, neither gotten to know Him.[17] To his enforcement of this critical doctrine, John submits a vital caution: “Dear children, don’t let anyone lead you into the wrong way. The Anointed One always did what was right. So, to be good like the Anointed One, you must do what is right!”[18] [19]

Joseph Bellamy (1719-1790) was an American Congregationalist pastor, author, and theologian in New England. He shows us where true love’s motives to God come from. The Lord’s supernatural perfections are (1) His absolute understanding, whereby He knows Himself and all things possible and is conscious of all things past, present, and future, an all-comprehensive view. So, that from everlasting to everlasting, His knowledge neither increases nor diminishes, nor His views of things experience the slightest variation, being always absolutely complete, and consequently necessarily always the same. (2) His almighty power, by which He can, with immeasurable ease, do anything that He pleases. And His moral perfections are (a) boundless wisdom, whereby He is able and apt to arrange everything orderly in the universe and for the best outcomes, and after the best manner. (b) His perfect holiness, and why He is brave enough to love right and hate wrong, to love righteousness and hate iniquity. (c) His impartial justice, whereby He is unchangeable prone to render to everyone according to their needs. (d) The bottomless goodness that allows Him to give His creatures fantastic favors if it pleases Him. And (e) His truth and faithfulness in fulfilling His will, according to His word. That way, there is an everlasting harmony between His will, His Word, and His works. And His being, supernatural and moral perfections, and glory all result from what is inherently in Himself. Therefore, His essence is authentic; He is infinite, eternal, unchangeable, independent, sovereign, and all-sufficient.^[20]

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[1] 1 John 1:8, 10; 2:1-2

[2] Galatians 5:16-17

[3] Romans 7:20

[4] Galatians 2:19

[5] 1 John 2:1-2

[6] Romans 6:21

[7] Didymus the Blind, Ancient Christian Commentaries, Bray, G. (Ed.), James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude, pp. 197-198

[8] 2 Corinthians 6:14

[9] John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible (Kindle Location 340826)

[10] John 3:18

[11] Matthew 7:23

[12] 2 Corinthians 9:27

[13] Acts of the Apostles 23:12-21

[14] Ibid. 27:31

[15] Works of Jonathan Edwards: Vol. 6, Remarks on Important Theological Controversies, Ch. 7, p. 480

[16] Galatians 3:26

[17] I John 3:6

[18] Ibid. 3:7

[19] Works of John Wesley: Vol. 5, Sermons on Several Occasions, Sermon 18, pp. 280-283

[20] Bellamy, Joseph, the Works of: Volume I, published by Stephen Dodge, New York, 1811, Section II, p. 69

• 

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER THREE (Lesson XXIX) 08/23/21

^3:5 And you know that the Anointed One became a human so that He could take away our sins, and that there is no sin in Him, no missing of God’s will at any time in any way.

Because our predicament was so dangerous, an incredible rescue was required. We know this is why the Anointed One came to be a human: “His revelation was necessary so that He might take away sins.” Listen to John the Baptizer at the Jordan River, heralding to the top of his lungs, “Here is God’s Lamb, who takes away the sins of the world!”[1] By His bloody death on the cross, Jesus lifted, removed, and carried away our sins. The Son of God came to provide complete and everlasting forgiveness of sins to all who trust in Him.[2]

David Guzik (1961) explains what the Apostle John meant when he said that Jesus the Anointed One appeared on earth to carry away our sins. Jesus did this by having the penalty of our sin inflicted on Him. It immediately occurs when one comes by faith to Jesus for salvation. Jesus also accomplished this by neutralizing the power of sin. It is an ongoing work in the lives of those who follow Jesus. And Jesus achieved this by removing sin’s presence. It is a work to be completed when we pass into eternity and glorified with Jesus.[3]

David Legge (1969) says that to keep on sinning is not only a rejection of the Anointed One’s character, but the Apostle John tells us it is a denial of the Anointed One’s accomplishment on the cross. It is why the Anointed One came into the world, as John says here in verse five. John also states that the Anointed One came to take away our sins. Doesn’t the Scripture say that He was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world?[4] So, the first time John the Baptizer lays eyes on Him, what does the Baptizer say? “Here He is, God’s Passover Lamb! He atones for all the world’s sins!”[5]

Now, I think it’s on a Friday, says Legge; we get our trash bins emptied, and you know what happens when the garbage truck comes by your house. In today’s terminology, the people who empty the garbage cans are “waste disposal technicians.” They gather up the rubbish, and then throw it into the back of the truck, and haul it off to the dump for you, and you never need to see it again. It’s terrific, they throw all your garbage into a crushing vehicle, and it disappears.

That is the sense here, notes Legge. The Anointed One lifted our sins out of the garbage bin of our lives and hauled them away forever. That is what the Lord Jesus did when He died on the cross and shed His precious blood. Here’s the wonderful thing: we don’t need to look for Him to return week after week to do the same thing. But better than that: when and where the Anointed One hauls off our moral trash, the devil can’t find it and carry it back.[6]

Douglas Sean O’Donnell (1972) says that several pastoral concerns arise from this text. Here we have a passage that has no precise, straightforward momentum and repeats its point in at least seven verses that sound similar. For the Apostle John, this is a “big idea.” The word “manifested” is vital to our text. John uses it five times, and four of those usages describe the two appearances of the Anointed One. The first appearance was the incarnation when the preexistent sinless Son of God “appeared [in order] to take away sins”[7] That perspective – the self-disclosure of God in His Son to deal with humanities’ sin – stretches from the preexistence of the Anointed One reinforced by the verb “appeared” or “manifested,” which implies preexistence. The second appearance showed, His being from eternity is supported by the title “Son of God,” used for the first time in verse three,[8]  along with the phrase “in Him, there is no sin.”[9] Thus, the Anointed One is“the Righteous One,”[10] “the Pure One,”[11] and “the Sinless One.”[12] [13]

3:6 So, anyone who lives in union with the Anointed One does not go on sinning. Anyone who continues sinning has never really understood who the Anointed One is and has never gotten to know Him personally.

EXPOSITION

This teaching did not come out of the Apostle John’s thinking but contained in the lectures he heard from Jesus the Messiah. The only way a Christian can be like Jesus is when Jesus’ Spirit lives within them. That way, it isn’t the believer’s responsibilty to go looking for the right thing to do, but the Anointed One accomplishes it through them because He is in charge of their heart, body, soul, mind, and spirit.^[14]

So, it makes sense that whoever is still living in sin has never met the Anointed One and gotten to know Him on a personal basis, says John. That certainly harmonizes with what the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians: there is no longer a veil over their eyes.[15] As His followers, our faces became mirrors that reflect the glory of the Lord to the world around us. We did not do this by our strength or means, but the Spirit of the Lord dwelling within us makes this happen as we become more and more like Him.^[16] In fact, the more we become like Him, the brighter His glory is displayed in our faces. If God could light up the world by saying, “Let there be Light,” He can light up our lives by asking us through His Spirit to “Receive the Light,” who is His Son, the Anointed One.^[17]

Now, as long as we stay in an unbreakable union with the Anointed One, our sinful tendencies will not have the power that persuades us to sin. However, if we sin, we no longer are protected by His love. Or it may mean that whoever remains in union with the Anointed One cannot deliberately and habitually sin. But then, would not John have written, “Those who abide in the Anointed One stays free from?” So, in what sense is it true that everyone that sins has not become acquainted with the Anointed One? Here are two explanations that offer us help.

(1) The Greek perfect tense expresses the present and permanent result of past action and is often equivalent to present tense. No doubt all would be easy if we had only to deal with the Greek verb, ginōskō, which means “he has known,” equivalent to “he knows.” The Apostle John simply means that whoever sins ceases to commune and know the Anointed One.

(2) Mankind’s sinning proves that their perception and knowledge have been imperfect, if not superficial, or even imaginary, just as Christians forsaking the Church proves that they never were sincere members.[18] This explanation is preferable. In verse two, we read that seeing God causes us to be more like God; similarly, seeing and knowing the Anointed One makes us look more like Jesus. Whoever is unlike the Anointed One, to that extent, has not seen nor come to know Him. For the best of us, it may be, we’ve only glimpsed the hem of His garment.[19]

Verse six says that a faithful Christian “does not sin.”  Verse nine says that they “cannot sin.”  However, in previous statements, the Apostle John says that Christians “do sin.”[20] These contrasting statements are challenging to resolve no matter what doctrinal position one holds. Verses six and eight seem to contradict each other. Some people believe that the phrase “does not sin” refers to sin as a habit.  The Greek present tense does not support this interpretation without backing from other words that may convey that meaning.  John’s point is simply that sin and God are incompatible.  The believer who “abides in Him” is a Christian in fellowship or filled with the Spirit. The phrases “whoever commits sin” and “whoever abides in Him” are in sharp contrast. Nevertheless, there is a clear difference between these opposites. Some are morally indifferent, and those who recognize the impact of sin on their fellowship with the Lord. So, the basic principle here is, the believer cannot sin while under the Holy Spirit’s control.

How, then, do we apply this to our everyday Christian living? As long as the Holy Spirit controls us, we cannot sin.  The only way we can sin is to grab the reigns of our lives away from the Holy Spirit. We chose to go independent from God somewhere along the line because relying on the Holy Spirit is codependency on God.

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[1] John 1:29

[2] Akin, Dr. Daniel L., Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary), op. cit., Kindle Edition.

[3] Guzik, David – Enduring Word, op. cit., p. 52

[4] 1 Peter 1:19-20; Revelation 13:8

[5] John 1:29

[6] Legge, David: Preach the Word, 1,2,3 John, op. cit., Part 9

[7] 1 John 1:5

[8] Ibid. 3:8 then in 4:15; 5:5, 10, 12, 13, 20

[9] Ibid. 3:5

[10] Ibid. 2:29

[11] Ibid. 3:3

[12] Ibid. 3:5

[13] O’Donnell, Douglas Sean, 1–3 John (Reformed Expository Commentaries), op. cit. Kindle Edition.

[14] John 15:4-7

[15] Isaiah 44:18; 2 Corinthians 3:14

[16] 2 Corinthians 3:18

[17] Ibid. 4:6

[18] 1 John 2:19

[19] Matthew 9:21

[20]See 1 John 1:6, 8, 10; 2:1, 2

• 

PROLONGED TRIALS

Why do we rebel against our trials lasting longer than we think they should? Because of self-pride, and it is that very self-pride that God purposes to destroy. He cannot complete His work as long as we cling to “self-pride.”

What are we complaining about? Was our excessive attachment to the world and, above all, to self, something we treasured? God orders a series of events that first of all detaches us gradually from the world, and finally from the self also. The operation is painful, but our corruption nukes it necessary. If the flesh were healthy, the surgeon would not need to make an incision. He uses his surgical tools only in proportion to the depth of the disease and the extent of its infection. If the operation is painful, it is because the disease is active. Is it cruelty that makes the surgeon dig deep? No, quite otherwise – it is skill and kindness; he would do the same with his only child.

It is the same way God treats us. He never willingly puts us through any pain. His fatherly heart does not desire to grieve us, but the Lord spares nothing so that He may remove the tumors of self-pride from our spiritual being. He must tear from us what we love wrongly, unreasonably, or excessively, the thing that hinders His love. In so doing, He causes us to cry out like a child from whom one takes away a pair of scissors with which it could injure itself. We cry loudly in our despair and murmur against God, just as the irritable child complains against its mother. But He lets us cry while He’s saving us!

God afflicts us only for our correction. Even when He seems to overwhelm us, it is for our good to spare us the greater evil we would do to ourselves. The things for which we weep would have caused us eternal distress; what we count as forfeiture was actually lost when we imagined that it belonged to us. God has stored it away to return it to us in eternity. He only deprives us of the things we prize because He wants to teach us to love them purely, honestly, and correctly to enjoy them forever in His presence and because He wants to do things a hundred times better than we can or even desire for ourselves.

Nothing can happen in the world except by God’s permissive will. He does everything, arranges everything, makes everything to be as it is. The Almighty counts the hairs on every head, the leaves of every tree, every grain of sand on the seashore, and the drops of water in the mighty ocean. When He made the world, His wisdom weighed and measured every atom He constructed. Every moment He renews and sustains the breath of life. He knows the number of our days; He holds the strings of life or death. So, what seems most valuable is nothing in God’s eyes or a little longer or shorter life matters nothing to Him? So what does it matter whether this frail vessel, this poor clump of clay, will be thrown aside a little sooner or later? How shortsighted and blundering, we are in believing this!

We are stunned at the death of someone in the blossoming age of their life. “What a sad loss!” we cry out. But to whom is the loss? What does the person who died loose? – a few years of self-importance, delusion, and risks. God calls that person away from evil and saves them from their weakness and the world’s wickedness. What do those lose who love God? – danger of earthly happiness, a treacherous delight, a snare that caused them to forget God and their welfare. But in truth, they gain the blessing of detachment through the cross. That same blow by which someone dies saves them; it leaves those behind to find salvation in hope. Surely, then, it is true that God is very good, very loving, very full of compassion concerning our real needs, even when He seems to overwhelm us, and we are tempted to think of Him as hardhearted.

The sensitiveness of self-love makes us keenly alive to our condition. The sick person who cannot sleep thinks the night is endless, yet it is no longer than any other night. In our cowardice, we exaggerate all we suffer. Our pain may be severe, but we make it worse by shrinking under it. The natural way to get relief is to give ourselves up heartily to God, to accept suffering because God sends it to purify us and make us better servants for Him.

The world;y lifestyle smiled at you and was like a poison to your soul. Would you wish to go on, right up to the hour of death, in ease and pleasure, in the pride of life and soul-destroying luxury, clinging to the world – which is Christ’s enemy, and rejecting the cross – which alone can make you holy? The world will turn away and forget, despise, and ignore you. Are you surprised at that since the world is unjust, deceitful, and treacherous? Yet, you are not ashamed to love this world, from which the Messiah came to snatch you to deliver you from its bondage and set you free.

You’d complain if God took you too soon. You are your worse enemy when you are so alive to the world’s meaninglessness, and you cannot endure what is for your real good. In fact, you deeply regret losing touch with what is fatal to you. It is the source of all your grief and pain.

Written over 450 years ago

by François Fénelon

Vocabulary redacted by Dr. Robert R Seyda

• 

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER THREE (Lesson XXVIII) 08/20/21

^3:5 And you know that he became a man so that he could take away our sins, and that there is no sin in him, no missing of God’s will at any time in any way.

COMMENTARY

English pastor George Fisk (1833-1910) addresses John’s claim about those called “children of the devil.” He says that the unregenerate sinner, living with the habitual practice of sinning, is under Satanic control because they want to harmonize with what the devil wants them to do. Therefore, it follows that all the powers and abilities they possess, influential as they are upon their associates, become instrumental to the working out of the dictates of Satan’s will rather than God’s will. Such people may be members of a free society, but their heart, intellect, and body are united in being submissive to Satan. They must, if unclaimed by sovereign grace, share in Satan’s final destiny. If they are of the devil in sinning, they must join the devil in suffering.^[1]

In Dwight L. Moody’s (1837-1899) writings, he mentions that we should know a number of things. First, it was the Apostle John who wrote this first epistle. The second is what John says here in verse five: “You know that the Son of God became a man so that He could take away our sins, and that there is no sin in Him, no missing of God’s will at any time in any way.” So, it’s not what WE have done, but what HE has done. Has He failed in His mission? Can He not do what He came to do? Did any heaven-sent messenger ever fail? And could God’s own Son fail? No! That’s why He came in the first place, to take away our faults and failures.^[2]

Eric Haupt (1841-1926) comments on what John says here about how our Lord Jesus dealt with immorality. Haupt writes that “take away our sins” has three meanings: either that the Anointed One now carries our misdeeds, that He took them upon Himself, or that He has removed them completely. It is plain to see that these three interpretations are substantially very similar. If Jesus took our transgressions upon Himself, that could be only in order to carry them; and if He did this, it was, however, for the sake of taking them away. On the other hand, if the term signifies that He transported them away, other Scriptures offer ample reasons that He accomplished this by removing them. Nevertheless, the decision on this point is not a matter of insignificance, for John must have had expressly stated these elements one way or the other. Therefore, we must give up on making the word “carrying” so important. Moreover, John never elsewhere uses the Greek airo (“to lift and carry along or away” [to transport]) in this way. Consequently, it would be necessary to resort to it only if the ordinary meaning was not sufficient.^[3] It is not so much that He took our misdeeds upon Himself as it is that He took it upon Himself to carry our guilt to the cross.[4]

William Sinclair (1850-1917) also focuses on the words “To take away.”[5] (For the use of the phrase “‘take away,” compare John 11:48; 15:2; 17:15; 19:31, 38.) The idea of sacrificial substitution was very significant back in verse two. But here, it is “sanctification.” Yet, the other meaning is still valid. The two are always connected in the Apostle John’s mind.[6] The purpose of the Anointed One’s coming was not to teach a new doctrine, but to produce a new life; the first idea was the means to the second.^[7]

G. Campbell Morgan (1863-1945), in his writing on the purpose of the incarnation, references verse five here and says that in this context, we get nearer to an understanding of the purpose of the Incarnation as it touches our human need. First, the all-inclusive and straightforward theme suggests that the purpose of the Incarnation was to take away sins. Secondly, the process of accomplishment is that of the Incarnation.[8]

Daniel Snaddon (1915-2009) says that this fifth verse tells us why the Anointed One came into this world “to take away our sin.” For a Christian to continue indulging in sin would be a denial of the purpose for which the Anointed One came. Furthermore, Christians cannot live in sin because it would deny the one whose name they bear because “In Him was no sin.” The Apostle Peter tells us that “He did no sin.”[9] And the Apostle Paul states, “He knew no sin.”[10] Our Lord was sinless. And similar to when God sent manna to the Israelites who were in the Sinai desert, it came down on the dew.[11] So, for anyone to call themselves a believer without sanctification and continue in the same old ways of sinful living is just dew drops with no manna.[12]

Robert W. Yarbrough (1948) feels that what the Apostle John wants his readers to “know,” that the revealing of the Anointed One “had already taken place.” This epistle has the seventh of nine occurrences of the Greek verb phaneroō (“to appear”).[13] It can mean simply to be evident or manifest, as in 2:19.[14] However, most often, it suggests the activity of divine revelation. Without that, the truth would not be relevant in redemption and perhaps not even seen. Things “revealed” in this Epistle include eternal life, [15] God’s Love in His Son, [16] and to speak of the incarnation.[17]

Readers not only know that but why the Anointed One came, says Yarbrough: they also see that purity marked His character. Jesus asked His detractors, “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?”[18] The unspoken answer is “No,” at least from John’s point of view. In contrast to humans, who will “die in their sins . . . if they do not believe that” the Anointed One is who He claimed to be.[19] Jesus lived without sin so that He could destroy it. To put this in modern terms, Jesus was a disinfectant for sin’s contamination. This same conviction of Jesus’s purposeful sinlessness underlies what the Apostle John says here in verse five, “there is no sin in Him.”[20] As the sacrificial lamb must be unblemished, so must the Lamb of God be as well. Sinlessness was the necessary precondition of His atonement’s effectiveness. A prophecy of Isaiah hints at this in speaking of the Suffering Servant as one who “He never did anything wrong and had never deceived anyone.”[21] [22]

Colin G. Kruse (1950) notes that the Apostle John shifts his attention from the one who commits violations of God’s law and the One who came to erase them. John uses “sins” in the plural, indicating that he is thinking of the Anointed One’s appearance to deal with the consequences of the sinful acts of all people. For John, it is always Jesus the Anointed One, God’s Son, who dealt with human errors by His appearance and death. God sent Him to be the atoning sacrifice for our evil deeds, [23] and it is His “blood” that cleanses us from all sin.[24] To “take away sins” is understood here as making forgiveness available by offering Himself to pay the penalty for those offenses. Thus, John can say that God, in the light of Jesus’ shedding His blood, is faithful and just when He forgives our transgressions.[25] Therefore, our wrongdoings are forgiven “in the name of Jesus our Savior.”[26] John can also say to his readers that “you know” these things because they stand at the heart of the Gospel message you heard from the beginning.[27]

Bruce B. Barton (1954) says that sin is rebellion against God. Therefore, Christians should not sin because Jesus came to take sin away. To know of His martyrdom and then keep sinning denigrates His unselfish surrender. Under the First Covenant sacrifice system, Jews offered a lamb without any imperfection as a sacrifice for sin. Jesus is “the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”[28] Because Jesus lived a perfect life and sacrificed Himself to pay the penalty for sin, people who confess and repent receive complete forgiveness.[29] He suffered for their sake, bearing their sins to make them acceptable to God. Only He could bridge the gap between the sinless God and sinful people. Jesus died on the cross on our behalf, taking all our wrongdoing upon Himself, saving us from the ultimate consequences of our sin – eternal separation from God.[30]

Daniel L. Akin (1957) observes a universal truth the Apostle John sets before us: “Everyone who sins also breaks the law.” Sin is lawlessness, rebellion, a defiant disregard, and rejection of God’s rightful rule as Lord over our lives. In our sinful practices, we rebel against our rightful King as a way of saying, “I hate Your law.” Sin is nothing less than personal treason against the Sovereign of the universe. And sin is not a one-time offense. It is the habitual and settled disposition of our heart and life that makes us what we are. As we have mentioned before, “an outlaw against God.”

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[1] Fisk, George: Biblical Illustrator, First Epistle of John, op. cit., p.20

[2] Moody, Dwight L. Way to God, Ch. 8, p. 83

[3] See 1 Peter 2:24; cf. Isaiah 53:4

[4] Haupt, E., The First Epistle of St. John, op. cit., p. 175

[5] See John 1:29

[6] Cf. 1 John 1:7; 4:9, 10, 11

[7] Sinclair, William: First Epistle of John, op. cit., p. 483

[8] The Fundamentals: R. A. Torrey, Editor, Vol. 3, Ch. 25, p. 291

[9] 1 Peter 2:22

[10] 2 Corinthians 5:21

[11] Numbers 11:9

[12] Snaddon, Daniel: Plymouth Brethren Writings, 1 John, op cit., loc. cit.

[13] Cf. 1 John 1:2, 19, 28; 3:2, 5, 8; 4:9

[14] Cf. John 3:21; 7:4

[15] 1 John 1:2

[16] Ibid. 4:9

[17] Ibid. 3:5, 8

[18] John 8:46

[19] Ibid. 8:24

[20] See Matthew 3:14; Acts of the Apostles 2:27; 3:14; 4:30; 7:52; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 7:26; 1 Peter 1:19; 2:22

[21] Isaiah 53:9

[22] Yarbrough, Robert W., 1-3 John (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament), op. cit., pp. 185-186)

[23] 1 John 2:2; 4:10

[24] Ibid.  1:7

[25] Ibid. 1:9

[26] Ibid. 2:12

[27] Kruse, Colin G., The Letters of John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, op. cit., Kindle Edition.

[28] John 1:29

[29] 1 John 2:2

[30] Barton, Bruce B.,1, 2, & 3 John (Life Application Bible Commentary), op. cit., pp. 65-66

• 

Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD) states that by the Apostle John saying here that “God is light,” He does not express God’s divine essence but declares God’s majesty. It is because he has implied Holiness, which is the most excellent attribute in the view of mankind. It’s the same when the Apostle Paul speaks of “light inaccessible.”[1] But John also in this same Epistle says, “God is love:” pointing out the excellencies of God, that He is kind and merciful; and because He is light, makes people righteous, according to the advancement of the soul, through charity. God, then, who is overwhelming respecting His substance, which is Light.

And that is because, says Clement, “in Him is no darkness at all,”[2] — that is, no immoral passions, no thoughts of evil against anyone. On the contrary, He destroys no one but gives salvation to all. Moreover, Light signifies either the principles of the Law, faith, or doctrine. Darkness is the opposite of these things. Not as if there were another way, since there is only one way according to God’s Word. For the work of God is unity. Double-mindedness and all else that exists, except unity, arises from stubbornness on its own.^[3]

In his message on salvation by faith, John Wesley (1703-1791) made it clear that all of God’s grace, bounty, and favor are altogether underserved. That’s because no person has the means to atone for their sins, not even through works. Becoming right before God is the only way for any person to secure justification and redemption. But it only comes through God’s grace and mercy. And that becomes a reality once a person puts their faith in Jesus the Anointed One and His work on Calvary.

Again, says Wesley, they are saved from the power and guilt of sin through this faith. So, the Apostle John declares, “You know that the Anointed One appeared in order to take away sins, and that sin does not exist in Him. So, everyone who lives in union with the Anointed One does not go on sinning. But if they do, it means they never met Him and know nothing about Him. Don’t let anyone betray you, my children! In God’s eyes, every person who lives upright is right, just as the Anointed One is righteous. Those who continue to sin belong to the Devil because the Devil sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this very reason, to destroy what the Devil had done.  Those who are God’s children do not continue to sin, for God’s very nature is in them, and because God is their Father, they cannot continue to sin.[4] Let me say that again, none of God’s loyal children keeps on sinning, for the Son of God keeps them safe, and the Evil One cannot harm them.[5] [6]

James Macknight (1721-1800) points out that the term “take away sins” signifies to procure the pardon of sin under the First Covenant.^[7] But here, in this fifth verse, the Apostle John seems to attach a broader meaning to the phrase, “take away our sins.” It certainly applies to the substance that our sins, like a heavy load, are lifted off the one crushed beneath it. By the manner in which John introduces it here, it seems apparent that it implies that the Anointed One was purposely manifested in the flesh and died in the flesh to take away the power and the punishment of sin.^[8] Therefore, says Macknight, assured hope of a pardon made possible by the atonement made for sin by the death of the Anointed One should be a strong encouragement for sinners to repent in order to escape everlasting punishment and receive eternal life.^[9]

William E. Jelf (1811-1875) has quite a bit to say about verse five. For him, this does not mean that it is impossible for one who is in union with the Anointed One to sin. We cannot limit the Greek word hamartia to willful sin. Such random limitations lead us from the real sense of the passage and are founded on a principle of interpretation that destroys Revelation. We find the key to the whole narrative in the Greek verb ménein, which means “to stay or abide.” The solution, says Jelf, is provided by Augustine, “in quantum in Christo manet, in tantum non peccat” (“in so far as he remains in Christ, in that proportion does not sin”). In this way, the Greek noun hamartia (“errors, mistakes, missing the mark”) has a natural sense of continuous sinning.

It means that even after a person has become a Christian by being made a new creature by the indwelling of the Anointed One and the presence of His Spirit, they can allow an inward desire to develop itself into actual sin. It results from encouraging instead of resisting the urge or being comfortable while tolerating the passion. Secretly, they may be wishing that they might sin without offending God, or in some such way let go their fellowship with the Anointed One, despite the Spirit of Grace. They might have resisted and stifled the desire through such grace before it developed into an act. And in proportion to the seriousness of the sin, they must have departed, severed their union with the Anointed One, ceasing to be a spiritually motivated Christian.

It is in perfect harmony with the rest of the Gospel scheme. Self-experience establishes what the Apostle John says: that the Christians’ external behavior is a sure and accurate index of their internal state, expressed in verse seven. In the past, some people taught that outward conduct is no evidence of the inward conditions; God’s chosen may break the law without any fear for decreased assurance of their state of grace. Some conclude that a loyal Christian does not sin on purpose, but instead makes mistakes because they misinterpret the same teaching. It is true that the Christian’s will is against sin and still does wrong despite their Christian nature. But still, it is the person who sins. God will judge each individual for breaking His Law. The question is whether the Christian element of faith, the Christian principle of remaining in union with the Anointed One, is the strongest and most natural in them, and their practical acts decide this.[10]

Richard Tuck (1817-1868) mentions that in the Apostle John’s day, there were so-called disciples of the Anointed One who so emphasized personal refinement and meticulousness that they thought it was impossible for anything of a spiritual nature to inhabit a human. They could not believe that anything divine could be housed in sinful human flesh. What makes this so ironic is that these very same individuals who claimed to be so highly spiritual were, in fact, living the most immoral and depraved lives. That’s why they refused to accept that the Son of God became a son of man. However, here is John, the most spiritual of all the original Apostles, insisting on the human nature of our Lord. However, His incarnation was nothing to be ashamed of because there is very little for a person to be ashamed of except sin. But, on the other hand, there is nothing nobler than a sanctified human nature.^[11]

John Stock (1817-1884) shares his view that the holiness of our Lord proves His deity, more so than do His miracles. Humanity since the fall was never holy.  Only Jesus rightly claimed equality with God. No one could convince Him of sin, in so doing, though for such a clean life, dirty hands crucified Him.^[12] Our Lord indeed had the “semblance of a sinner; was made in the likeness of sinful flesh; and for sin, God condemned sin in His flesh:”^[13] “He did not take on Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham,”^[14] “and made like us, His brothers and sisters, in every way.”[15] He had all our sinful infirmities, knew our human necessities, and was capable of death, but yet, He was in His birth a holy thing, and sin was ever at an immeasurable distance from Him. Satan had no power over Him,^[16] and though a friend of publicans and sinners, He was no patron of their acts; but came to save His people from their sins, saying, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”^[17] Oh! How pure is the Anointed One! How great is His glory in this, as in all things! So great is the honor is to be His follower and, in any way, be conformed to the image of God’s only Son.^[18] He is the firstborn among many brethren; and who gave Himself for us, to rescue us from constant falling into sin and make us His very own people, with cleansed hearts and genuine enthusiasm for doing kind things for others.^{[19] [20]}

---

[1] 2 Corinthians 4:4

[2] 1 John 1:5

[3] Fragments of Clemens Alexandrinus, Comments on the First Epistle of John, p. 1160

[4] 1 John 3:5-9

[5] 1 John 5:18

[6] Works of John Wesley: Vol. 5, Sermon 1, p. 69

[7] See John 1:29; 1 Peter 2:24

[8] See Titus 2:14

[9] James Macknight: First Epistle of John, op. cit., p. 68

[10] Jelf, W. E., Commentary on the First Epistle of St. John, op. cit., pp. 42-43

[11] Tuck, Richard: A Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary, op. cit., p. 295

[12] Acts of the Apostles 2:23

[13] Romans 8:3

[14] Hebrews 2:16

[15] Ibid. 2:17

[16] John 14:30

[17] Matthew 1:21; 9:13

[18] Romans 8:29

[19] Titus 2:14

[20] Stock, John: An Exposition of the First Epistle General of St. John, op. cit., pp. 252-253

• 

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER THREE (Lesson XXVI) 08/18/21

^3:4 But those who keep on sinning are against God, for every sin is contrary to God’s will.

Fr. Lawrence R. Farley (1958) asks, “Have you ever seen someone who is having trouble fixing something, mending something, hooking up something, and they seem frustrated, so you asked them, ‘Do you know what you are doing?’” Farley tells us that before we ask such a question, it is helpful to look carefully at the Apostle John’s words. He sometimes uses the Greek, verb amartano (“to sin”), but also the Greek phrase amartian (“doing the sin”).[1] This phrase is parallel to other terms such as “doing the truth,”[2] “doing the righteousness,”[3] “doing the lawlessness,”[4] “doing the things pleasing before Him.”[5] In his Gospel, John speaks of “doing the truth,”[6] which seems to be paired with its opposite, “practicing evil things;” (Greek prasson phaula). By using the word “doing” (Greek poieo), John seems to have in mind something habitual, parallel with “practicing” (Greek prasso).[7] It confirms John’s statement: Christians do not live sinful lives, as worldlings do because it is contrary to their new nature in union with the Anointed One and His presence in them. However, it does not mean that they cannot sin on occasions. Throughout this chapter, John is contrasting the lifestyles of the Christian Church with worldly society.[8]

David Legge (1969) sees the flow of the Apostle John’s argument this way: to live a sinful life is to live lawlessly. To pursue a life filled with sin is anarchy. John makes that clear in verse four, all who indulge in sinful living are outlaws, for sin is a significant departure from God’s ordinances. The King James Version says, “sin transgresseth also the law.” It would be better translated as “sin is lawlessness.” The Apostle John says that to live a sinful lifestyle is the behavior of an outlaw. Of course, he’s taking us back to Exodus chapter twenty, where God’s law, the ten commandments, were given, and God was showing mankind the standard that He required of them. But don’t fall into making the mistake that many do in our world today, even religious people, thinking that God gave the ten commandments as a ladder of rules up which we must climb to reach heaven by ethical and moral standards.

^3:5 You know that the Anointed One came to take away people’s sins. There is no sin in the Anointed One.

EXPOSITION

Almost without notice, the Apostle John inserts an essential factor in understanding what he says here. Twice, we see a reference to the Anointed One. He did this, perhaps because when speaking of Jesus, the audience might be thinking of Him as a man. And to say that He was sinless, how impossible that sounds. But John is not talking about just anyone; he’s referring to the Son of God. Once they realize that, then it makes more sense.

The Apostle Peter had no problem with that. When Jesus asked who the disciples thought He was, Peter immediately said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”[9] Also, when the Apostle Philip told the Ethiopian he was riding, he would baptize him if he believed with all his heart what Philip told him about Jesus. The Ethiopian replied, “I believe that Jesus the Anointed One is the Son of God.” [10]

It seemed to be a typical response before baptizing anyone. The Apostle Paul used a similar phrase in his letter to the Roman believers, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”[11]  Paul did this to remind them that to be saved, you must believe in your heart that you are made right with God and openly declare it as your faith.

And then the Apostle James points out the reason for this, in that it was a happy day for God when He gave us our new lives through the truth of His Word, and we became, as it were, the first children in His new spiritual family.[12]

And the Apostle Peter preached the same message. He told his readers that all honor belongs to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One, for it is His boundless mercy that gave us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God’s family. Now we live in the hope of eternal life because the Anointed One rose again from the dead.[13] Peter goes on to say that we make ourselves pure by obeying the truth. Now we can have a genuine love for our brothers and sisters. So, love each other deeply – with all your heart. You have been born again. This new life did not come from something that dies. It came from something that cannot die. You were born again through God’s life-giving message that lasts forever.[14]

There are two additional reasons for the absolute separation of the children of God from sin. (1) They knew well that the Son of God was manifested in the flesh to take away the sins of the world.^[15] But some say not for occasional “sins,” one here and one there, but the “sins,” meaning whatever sins existed. However, though strongly supported, it is probably not genuine. The Greek verb airō in itself does imply that the Anointed One took them upon Himself, but He “took them away.” That expresses the elimination rather than the manner of removal. It is similar to the Hebrew word sûr, which combines the two meanings.^[16] (2) The Son of God was separated from sin.

There were two reasons for the Anointed One to come into this world. To take away sins[17] and to destroy the works of the devil.[18] Undoubtedly John’s readers knew something about the purpose of the Anointed One’s coming; they did not assume it.  The Greek verb eidō implies that they came to “a settled knowledge of this.” There is no room for speculation about the subject of salvation. John appeals to something that his readers understood – the historical fact of the incarnation. The phrase “He was manifested” refers to the arrival of Jesus into the world from eternity. Jesus’ coming assumes His preexistence. He came from the glory He had with the Father.[19]

The principle involved is that any sin Christians commit is unwarranted because of the wonderful work of the Anointed One on the cross. So, how do we apply this to our lives? Many Christians do not appreciate the price Jesus paid for their sin. The commission and mission of the Anointed One were for the removal of our sin.  He paid the price of death as a sinless sacrifice on the cross, so we could have a personal relationship with God. By the Anointed One’s work on Mt. Calvary, He saved us from the penalty of sin.  Later, by His work as the ascended and seated Son of God on the Throne in heaven, He saves us from the power of sin.[20]  Finally, by His return, He will save us from the very presence of sin. Any exercise of sin by the Christian is unwarranted in light of the great price that Jesus paid. Our lives should correspond to the purpose of His work and manifest in our character. It’s because of the magnitude of His wonderful work on Golgotha.[21]

Furthermore, the motive behind all this is that His mission in coming was to remove any power sin had over us. The words “take away” mean to lift, carry, take up or away, eradicate. Jesus paid the price for our guilt. He took away the penalty for our sins – which is spiritual death. Thus, His coming into the world has a purpose. Jesus came into the world manifested as a man with the commission to eliminate sinful passions as a threat to our spiritual lives.[22]

What qualified Him to do that? It was because there were no sinful tendencies in Him. Jesus the Anointed One is our sinless Redeemer. He did not possess a sinful nature. Sin is incompatible with a relationship with Him. He and He alone was able to pay for our sins due to His sinless life. No one ever found one speck of evil in the Son of God. He is a sinless, spotless, stainless Savior.[23] The driving force behind His assault on sin and its power is that He never intended to sin. Thus, the same can be true of a Christian. Sin brings guilt. So, He not only takes away the sin that held us in its power, but our guilt as well.

So, what does that mean to us today? Jesus took our sins so far away that we will never face them again. Jesus removed all the findings of guilt from us. All liability is gone. Our record is spotless before God. Sins should never haunt us or hound us again.[24] 

---

[1] 1 John 3:4, 8, 9

[2] Ibid. 1:6

[3] Ibid. 2:29; 3:7, 10

[4] Ibid. 3:4

[5] Ibid. 3:22

[6] John 3:21

[7] Ibid. 3:20

[8] Farley, Lawrence R., Universal Truth: The Catholic Epistles of James, Peter, Jude, and John, op. cit., (Kindle Locations 2706-2713)

[9] Matthew 16:16

[10] Acts of the Apostles, 8:37

[11] Romans 10:9

[12] James 1:18

[13] 1 Peter 1:3

[14] Ibid. 1:22-23

[15] John 1:29

[16] See Leviticus 10:17; 24:15; Isaiah 53:12

[17] 1 John 3:4-6

[18] Ibid. 3:7-8

[19] John 3:17; cf. 5:37; 8:18; 1 John 4:10

[20] Hebrews 7:24

[21] 2 Timothy 1:10; Hebrews 9:26

[22] John 1:29; Hebrews 10:12

[23] John 8:46-47; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 1:19; 2:22

[24] Psalm 103:12; Isaiah 44:22; Micah 7:19; Acts of the Apostles 13:38-39; Galatians 1:3-5; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 1:3; 10:17; 9:27-28; 1 Peter 2:24

• 

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER THREE (Lesson XXV) 08/17/21

^3:4 But those who keep on sinning are against God, for every sin is contrary to God’s will.

Henry Sawtelle (1868-1934) points out that in contrast with the person seeking purity is the one still wallowing in pollution. This individual’s nature and character are just like a rotten tree that produced bad fruit. They live in the sphere of sin. When they go against the law, they are lawless. The sinning of the heart, or the body, can be of any sort, small or significant. It is more than something terrible in itself; it is also in every instance a transgressing of God’s law, a violation of His will, an affront to God. A person may plead that they are only insignificant sinners; that although they fail God, He removes any conviction from their conscience. But John will not let a person be a peace with this. He declares that any sin is breaking the law, a criminal in God’s eyes. We are under the divine government, and it is a universal law. Thus, a sinner is a rebel against it. Both the offense and the condemnation are punishable.[1]

Taiwanese preacher and hymn writer Witness Lee (1905-1997) asks, “Now that we are born again, do we still have sinful tendencies active in us?” Regarding this, there has been much debate among Bible teachers. Years ago, there was widespread teaching that claimed sin had been eradicated from believers. Those teaching this use certain verses from First John as their basis, [2] saying that these verses prove that sin has been rooted out of our being.[3]

Daniel Snaddon (1915-2009) gives what he feels is a better translation of verse four: “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness because that is what sin is.” It is a clear picture of an unbeliever. However, it is the opposite of what was taught by the Apostle John.

D. Edmond Hiebert (1928-1995) explains why the Anointed One came to “take away sins.” The Greek verb airō means either “to lift and bear” or “to take away.” The latter is the meaning here. That this involved His redeeming sacrifice on the cross is certain, but that is not the point here. In view is the effect of the atonement on human character and living. The stated purpose here is parallel to the definition in verse eight, “that He might destroy the works of the devil.”^[4] How clear that makes the fact that He helps conquer the sinful tendencies in sinners. We are not to cleanse ourselves once or twice a year through rites, rituals, or ceremonies, but constantly through active sanctification. It also helps us understand what John said about the devil, in verse eight, about having sinned from the beginning through Adam and Eve.

Current scholar John W. (Jack) Carter (1947) instructs us that as we venture into these verses, it may be instructive to be reminded that the Greek New Testament manuscripts contain at least eight different words that are rendered “sin” in the English versions. The variety of meanings is essential in our understanding of this passage.  If the same word is applied throughout, we can develop doctrines contrary to the overall biblical narrative. The original Greek New Testament manuscripts include:

• Hamartia – missing the mark. The idea is that one desires to be obedient, but fails in the attempt. (Romans 4:7 “sins”) [KJV, NIV]

• Hettema – Diminishing that which should have been given full measure. (Romans 11:12 “diminishing” [KJV]; “loss” [NIV]; 1 Corinthians 6:7 “fault”) [KJV]; “completely defeated” [NIV]

• Paraptoma – Falling when one should have stood. (Romans 5:15 “offense”) [KJV]; “trespass” [NIV]

• Agnoema – Ignorance when one should have known. (Hebrews 9:7 “errors”) [KJV]; “sins” [NIV]

• Parakoe – To refuse to hear and heed God’s Word. (Romans 5:19 “disobedience”) [KJV, NIV]

• Parabasis – To intentionally cross the line. (Galatians 3:19 “transgressions”) [KJV, NIV]

• Anomia – Willfully breaking the laws that have been set down. (Romans 4:7 “iniquities” [KJV], “transgressions” [NIV].

• Paranomia – Purposefully breaking the law. (2 Peter 2:16 “iniquity”) [KJV]; “wrongdoing” [NIV]

Just as there are different words for sin, Greek grammar has different shades of meaning. For example, hamartia can range from a simple mistake to a continual lifestyle.  Both ends of this spectrum of meanings is utilized in the following verses.[5] This is why all serious Bible scholars should obtain a Concordance to help them see how words are used in any given context.

Colin G. Kruse (1950) notes that the Apostle John returns to his treatment of the central theme – the fundamental connection between knowing God and doing what God says.[6] It was only interrupted by an appeal to consider the greatness of God’s Love, the immense privilege of being His children, and the hope of being made like the Anointed One at His appearing.[7] In contrast to those who do what is right[8] and purify themselves, [9] John now turns his attention to those who continue in sin: Everyone who sins breaks the law. In fact, sin is lawless living. The Greek noun anomia, translated as (“transgression of the law” – KJV), is found only in verse four. It does not carry the idea of breaking the law, for the whole law question is absent from this letter. We do not find the Greek noun nomos (“law”) at all in First John.[10]

Contemporary Chinese pastor, theologian Vincent Cheung (1952) points out that the Bible defines sin as violating God’s moral law. Thus, a person sins when they fail to do what God commands them to do or not to do. Since sin breaks God’s moral law, a particular action must be defined by its relation to this law, that is, in order to determine whether a violation indeed occurred.[11]

Gary M. Burge (1952) states that the Final Covenant contains many descriptions of sin, its character, and compulsions.[12] But few passages are as clear as verses four to ten. The Apostle John’s firm condemnation of evil suggests that he has in mind the secessionists, who claimed to be sinless.[13] Paul confronted the same problem in the Roman congregation, where some believers viewed sinfulness as an opportunity to exercise the grace of God more fully.[14] John is not only affirming the universality of sin once more but is describing its inner character. Sinners break the law. John uses the term lawlessness in verse four (anomia) in two ways. First, he may be referring to the moral quality of sin as breaking some divine command. Indeed, this is true. To sin is to offend a rule or word given by God. Many read the verse in this light and believe that John is describing the essence of sin. John’s heretics were viewing immorality with indifference, and he writes to confront them. In this sense, lawlessness and sinfulness are virtually synonymous and interchangeable.[15]

Since God’s law addresses all areas of human life either by declaration or inference, our thoughts and actions are never morally neutral.^[16] It sets up the next principle of deciding whether breaking God’s law is worthy of death. We can look at it this way: God has established moral laws to govern what the Apostle Paul defined as “works of the flesh.”^[17] These can be forgiven because we have an advocate as a mediator. But there are spiritual laws that oversee our retention in the kingdom of God and our gift of eternal life. These cannot be forgiven because they involve the rejection of the Advocate as a Savior and Redeemer.

Bruce B. Burton (1954) states that after the Apostle John describes purity, he then defines sin by presenting negatively the same truth he expressed positively.[18] Since being born of God demands self-purification, then a life of sin, or a continual lack of moral cleanliness, demonstrates that one cannot be God’s child. Sin cannot coexist with the new nature derived from the new birth. Sin as lawlessness provides a basic definition of sin. The Greek word for “sin” (hamartia) means “missing the mark,” and God’s law gives people this mark or standard. If God does not tell his people what they should be like, they would never realize how sinful they are. One can see how crooked a line is by putting it next to a straight edge. The Greek expression behind “lawlessness” means “opposes the law of God.” Lawlessness means more than an absence of law; it conveys an active rebellion against the rules. Those who keep on sinning are active rebels against God.[19]

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[1] Sawtelle, Henry. A., Commentary on the Epistles of John, op. cit., p. 36

[2] 1 John 3:9; 5:18

[3] Witness Lee. Life-Study of the Epistles of John and Jude (Life-Study of the Bible) (Kindle Locations 1831-

[4] Bultmann, Rudolf: The Johannine Epistles, p. 51

[5] Carter, Dr. John W. (Jack). 1,2,3, John & Jude, op. cit., pp. 75-76

[6] 1 John 2:29-3:10

[7] 1 John 3:1-3

[8] Ibid. 2:29

[9] Ibid. 3:3

[10] Kruse, Colin G., The Letters of John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, op. cit., Kindle Edition.

[11] Cheung, Vincent. Systematic Theology, op. cit., (Kindle Locations 3378-3382)

[12] Romans. 1:18–3:20; James 4:17; 1 John 5:17; etc.

[13] See 1 John 1:8-10

[14] Romans 6:1

[15] Burge, Gary M., The Letters of John (The NIV Application Commentary), op. cit., p. 148

[16] See 1 Corinthians 10: 31

[17] Galatians 5:19-21

[18] 1 John 3:1-3

[19] Barton, Bruce B., 1, 2, & 3 John (Life Application Bible Commentary), op. cit., p. 65