1 John 3:6

Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Christ's entire separation from sin implies that those in Him must also be separate from it. ABIDETH IN HIM - as the branch in the vine, by vital union, living by His life. SINNETH NOT. So far as he abides in Christ, he is free from all sin. The ideal of the Christian. The life of sin and the life of God exclude one another, as darkness and light. In matter of fact, believers do fall into sins (1 John 1:8; 1 John 1:10; 1 John 2:1); but all sins are alien from the life of God, and need Christ's cleansing blood, without application to which the life of God...

6_Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him. _According to his usual manner he added the opposite clause, that we may know that faith in Christ and knowledge of him are vainly pretended, except there be newness of life. For Christ is never dormant where he reigns, but the Spirit renders effectual his power. And it may be rightly said of him, that he puts sin to flight, not otherwise than as the sun drives away darkness by its own brightness. But we are again taught in this place how strong and efficacious is the knowledge of Christ; for it transforms us into his image. So by _seeing _and _knowing _we are to understand no other thing than faith....

3-10 The sons of God know that their Lord is of purer eyes than to allow any thing unholy and impure to dwell with him. It is the hope of hypocrites, not of the sons of God, that makes allowance for gratifying impure desires and lusts. May we be followers of him as his dear children, thus show our sense of his unspeakable mercy, and express that obedient, grateful, humble mind which becomes us. Sin is the rejecting the Divine law. In him, that is, in Christ, was no sin. All the sinless weaknesses that were consequences of the fall, he took; that is, all those infirmities of mind or body which subject man to suffering, and expose him to temptation. But our moral infirmities, our proneness to sin, he had not. He that abides in Christ, continues not in the practice of sin. Renouncing sin is the great proof of spiritual union with, continuance in, and saving knowledge of the Lord Christ. Be...

Verse 6. _WHOSOEVER ABIDETH IN HIM_] By faith, love, and obedience. _SINNETH NOT_] Because his heart is purified by faith, and he is a worker together with God, and consequently does not receive the grace of God in vain. See note on 1 John 3:3. _HATH NOT SEEN HIM_] It is no unusual thing with this apostle, both in his gospel and in his epistles, to put occasionally the _past_ for the _present_, and the _present_ for the _past_ tense. It is very likely that here he puts, after the manner of the Hebrew, the _preterite_ for the _present_: He who sins against God _doth not_ _see him, neither doth he know him_-the eye of his faith is darkened, so that he cannot see him as he formerly did; and he has no longer the experimental _knowledge_ of God as his Father and portion....

WHOSOEVER ABIDETH IN HIM - See 1 John 2:6. The word here employed (μένων menōn) properly means to remain, to continue, to abide. It is used of persons remaining or dwelling in a place, in the sense of abiding there permanently, or lodging there, and this is the common meaning of the word, Matthew 10:11; Matthew 26:38; Mark 6:10; Luke 1:56, “et saepe.” In the writings of John, however, it is quite a favorite word to denote the relation which one sustains to another, in the sense of bei

EXPOSITION 1 JOHN 3:1 TO 1 JOHN 5:12 3. SECOND MAIN DIVISION. _God is Love._ 1 JOHN 3:1 (1) The _evidence of sonship. _Righteousness. 1 JOHN 3:1 The Divine birth is the outcome of the Divine love. 1 JOHN 3:1 BEHOLD WHAT MANNER OF LOVE! Ποταπός;_ _literally, "of what country," in the New Testament always implies amazement; but,

WHOSOEVER ABIDETH IN HIM,.... As the branch in the vine, deriving all light, life, grace, holiness, wisdom, strength, joy, peace, and comfort from Christ; or dwells in him by faith, enjoys communion with him as a fruit of union to him; and stands fast in him, being rooted and grounded in him, and abides by him, his truths and ordinances, takes up his rest, and places his security in him, and perseveres through him: SINNETH NOT; not that he has no sin in him, or lives without sin, but he does not live in sin, nor give up himself to a vicious course of life; for this would be inconsistent with his dwelling in Christ, and enjoying communion with him: WHOSOEVER SINNETH; which is not to be understood of a single action, but of a course of sinning: HATH NOT SEEN HIM, NEITHER KNOWN HIM; that is, he has never seen Christ with an eye of faith; he has never truly and spiritually seen the glory,...

I have read this chapter many times in your hearing, but we cannot read it too often, for it is full of the deepest and most important instruction. God grant that fresh light from above may shine upon it as we listen once more to the familiar words! 1 John 3:1. _Behold,_ If you never used your eyes to good purpose before, use them so now: 1 John 3:1. _What manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:_ Let the truth of our adoption amaze us, the adoption of such unworthy ones as we were to so high a relationship «that we should be called the sons of God.» 1 John 3:1. Therefore the world knoweth not, because it knew him not.

IV. RIGHTEOUSNESS AND LOVE AS MANIFESTED BY THE CHILDREN OF GOD Chapter S 2:28-3:18 __ 1. The children of God and their coming manifestation (1 John 2:28 -1 John 3:3) 2. Sin and the new nature (1 John 3:4) 3. Righteousness and love (1 John 3:10) 1 John 2:28 -1 John 3:3 . The address to the babes in Christ ended with the 27th verse, and now once more he speaks of the teknia, the little children, by which all believers are meant. The exhorta

To commit sin is a breach of God's law, a frustration of God's work of redemption, and the manifestation of a principle which betrays kinship with the devil. A man begotten of God will be in moral affinity with God, for which reason righteousness and brotherly love will characterise him. 1 JOHN 3:4. SIN IS LAWLESSNESS: _ i.e._ not the absence of law, but opposition to it. Law does not cease to exist for the Christian, and all opposition to it, so far from being morally unimportant, is rebellion. 1 John 3:5. he was manifested: _ i.e._ at His Incarnation. Righteous Himself, the work of Christ is to make us righteous too (_cf._ 1 John 3:8)....