1 John 3:8-10 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 John 3:4-10

The apostle, having alleged the believer's obligation to purity from his hope of heaven, and of communion with Christ in glory at the day of his appearance, now proceeds to fill his own mouth and the believer's mind with multiplied arguments against sin, and all communion with the impure unfruitful works of darkness. And so he reasons and argues, I. From the nature of sin and the intrinsic evil of it. It is a contrariety to the divine law: Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also (or even)... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 3:3-8

3:3-8 Anyone who rests this hope on him purifies himself as he is pure. Anyone who commits sin commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that he appeared that he might take away our sins and there is no sin in him. Anyone who abides in him does not sin. Anyone who sins has not seen him, and does not know him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He who does sin is of the devil, because the devil is a sinner... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 3:9

3:9 Anyone who has been born of God does not commit sin, because his seed abides in him; and he cannot be a consistent and deliberate sinner, because he has been born of God. This verse bristles with difficulties, and yet it is obviously of the first importance to find out what it means. First, what does John mean by the phrase: "Because his seed abides in him"? There are three possibilities. (i) Frequently the Bible uses the word seed to mean a man's family and descendants. Abraham... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 3:9

Second, this verse presents us with the problem of relating it with certain other things which John has already said about sin. Let us set the verse down, as it is in the Revised Standard Version: No one born of God commits sin; for God's nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. Taken at its face value this means that it is impossible for the man who is born of God to sin. Now John has already said, "if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 3:10-18

3:10-18 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are made plain; anyone who does not do righteousness is not of God, and neither is he who does not love his brother, because the message that we have heard from the beginning is the message that we should love one another, that we should not be like Cain, who was of the Evil One and slew his brother. And why did he slay him? Because his works were evil and his brother's works were just. Do not be surprised, brothers, if the... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 3:10-18

In this passage there is a parenthesis; we return to it now. The parenthesis is 1 John 3:11 and the conclusion drawn from it is in 1 John 3:12 . The Christian must not be like Cain who murdered his brother. John goes on to ask why Cain murdered his brother; and his answer is that it was because his works were evil and his brother's were good. Then he drops the remark: "Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you." An evil man will instinctively hate a good man.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 John 3:8

He that committeth sin is of the devil ,.... Not everyone that sins, or commits acts of sin, then every man is of the devil, because no man lives without the commission of sin; but he who makes sin his constant business, and the employment of his life, whose life is a continued series of sinning, he is of the devil; not as to origin and substance, or by proper generation, as some have literally understood the words; but by imitation, being like him, and so of him their father, doing his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 John 3:9

Whosoever is born of God ,.... In a figurative and spiritual sense; who are regenerated, or born from above; who are quickened by the grace of God, and have Christ formed in them; who are made partakers of the divine nature, and new creatures in Christ; which spiritual birth is not owing to men, to the power and will of men, but to the grace of God; and is sometimes ascribed to the Father, who of his own will and abundant mercy begets souls again to a lively hope, and saves them by the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 John 3:10

In this the children of God are manifest ,.... By regenerating grace, and not sinning, in the sense before explained, in consequence of it: adoption is an act of God's grace and sovereign will; it is secret in his own heart, and is secured in divine predestination, and in the covenant of grace, and is antecedent to regeneration: regeneration and faith do not make men the children of God, but manifest them to be so; adoption makes them the children of God, and entitles them to the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 3:8

He that committeth sin is of the devil - Hear this, also, ye who plead for Baal, and cannot bear the thought of that doctrine that states believers are to be saved from all sin in this life! He who committeth sin is a child of the devil, and shows that he has still the nature of the devil in him; for the devil sinneth from the beginning - he was the father of sin, brought sin into the world, and maintains sin in the world by living in the hearts of his own children, and thus leading them to... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 John 3:4-10

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 3:3-8

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 3:9

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 3:9

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 3:10-18

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 3:10-18

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 John 3:8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 John 3:9

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 John 3:10

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 3:8

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