1 John 3:8 NIV

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 John 3:8

He that committeth sin - Habitually, willfully, characteristically.Is of the devil - This cannot mean that no one who commits any sin, or who is not absolutely perfect, can be a Christian, for this would cut off the great mass, even according to the belief of those who hold that the Christian may be perfectly holy, from all claim to the Christian character. But what the apostle here says is true in two senses:That all who commit sin, even true believers, so far as they are imperfect, in this... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 John 3:7-10

1 John 3:7-10. Little, or beloved children, let no man deceive you In this important matter, by vain words, however serious and plausible they may seem to be. For a being, himself immutably holy, can never dispense with the want of holiness in his intelligent creatures. The apostle’s words imply, that some pretenders to inspiration had endeavoured to deceive the brethren, by teaching what the apostle here condemns. And as it is a solemn address of the apostle to the disciples, it shows... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 John 3:1-10

3:1-5:5 THE LIFE OF LOVERight behaviour for God’s children (3:1-10)John cannot find words to express his feelings when he considers the great love God has shown in making sinful people his children. They now think and act according to the nature of their heavenly Father, with the result that unbelievers, who think and act according to the world’s standards, cannot understand them (3:1). God’s children know little about the nature of life in the world to come, but they know at least that in some... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 1 John 3:8

from the beginning . See 1 John 1:1 and John 8:44 . Son of God . App-98 . destroy . Greek. luo . Compare John 2:19 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - 1 John 3:8

he that doeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. To this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.The devil ... Any willful or continual commission of deeds which are contrary to the will of God reveals the sinner for what he is, a child of the devil. Significantly, John, like all of the holy apostles, accepted without question Jesus' teaching regarding the malignant ruler of this world's darkness. John's teaching here is... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 1 John 3:8

1 John 3:8. He that committeth sin, &c.— Or, who liveth in sin, says Heylin. The original is a Hebraism, importing a habit of sin. Limborch imagines the phase sinneth from the beginning, to refer to repeated acts of sin, and a continued course of it, which preceded Satan's expulsion from heaven. But it seems that the use of the present tense implies a continuance in a course of sin. See John 8:44-47; John 15:27. The word λυση, rendered, he might destroy, is expressive, and leads us to look... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - 1 John 3:8

8. He that committeth sin is of the devil—in contrast to "He that doeth righteousness," 1 John 3:7. He is a son of the devil (1 John 3:10; John 8:44). John does not, however, say, "born of the devil." as he does "born of God," for "the devil begets none, nor does he create any; but whoever imitates the devil becomes a child of the devil by imitating him, not by proper birth" [AUGUSTINE, Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Homily 4.10]. From the devil there is not generation, but... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 John 3:7-8

Evidently the false teachers were in danger of deceiving John’s readers by telling them the opposite of what the apostles said here. John’s point was two-fold: conduct manifests spiritual relationship (cf. 1 John 2:29), and God hates sin (cf. 1 John 3:5). A sinner’s sinning has its source in the devil."By saying that the person who is a determined sinner (in the sense suggested by 1 John 3:6) ’belongs to the devil,’ John is in the first place drawing on the background of Genesis 3 (1-15), where... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 3:1-24

The Righteousness of God and the Duties and Privileges of Sonship1. The sons of God] RV ’children of God,’ adding the words, ’and such we are.’ The word translated ’children’ here is characteristic of St. John, and implies community of nature, whereas the term ’sons’ as used by St. Paul suggests the privileged condition of heirship. 2. Note changes in RV. 3. This hope] of being hereafter like God in Christ.In him] RV ’set on him.’ Purifieth himself] ’He who looks forward to becoming like God... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - 1 John 3:4-10

(3) THE CONSEQUENCE OF THE DIVINE BIRTH ON HUMAN CONDUCT (1 John 3:4-10).—This paragraph is an expansion of the thought of 1 John 2:3, which was the practical conclusion of the meditation on the divine love as seen in the new birth. In thinking of the nature of righteousness, of the new birth, and of purity, the Apostle is led to dwell on their opposite, lawlessness, the synonym and essence of sin. His object being to bring purity and righteousness into relief, and to determine who are the... read more