1 John 3:9-10 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 3:9

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 3:9

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 3:9

Whosoever is born of God - Γεγεννημενος , Begotten of God, doth not commit sin: "that is," say some, "as he used to do, he does not sin habitually as he formerly did." This is bringing the influence and privileges of the heavenly birth very low indeed. We have the most indubitable evidence that many of the heathen philosophers had acquired, by mental discipline and cultivation, an entire ascendency over all their wonted vicious habits. Perhaps my reader will recollect the story of the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 3:10

In this the children of God are manifest - Here is a fearful text. Who is a child of the devil? He that commits sin. Who is a child of God? He that works righteousness. By this text we shall stand or fall before God, whatever our particular creed may say to the contrary. Neither he that loveth not his brother - No man is of God who is not ready on all emergencies to do any act of kindness for the comfort, relief, and support of any human being. For, as God made of one blood an the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 3:9

Verse 9 He says that they sin not who are born of God. Now, we must consider, whether God wholly regenerates us at once, or whether the remains of the old man continue in us until death. If regeneration is not as yet full and complete, it does not exempt us from the bondage of sin except in proportion to its own extent. It hence appears that it cannot be but that the children of God are not free from sins, and that they daily sin, that is, as far as they have still some remnants of their old... read more

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

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 3:9

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 3:9

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 3:10

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 3:9

Group of Brands