Book of 1 John Chapter 3 Vs. 4

 Father hath Bestowed.

Verses 4 - 10 deal with the Christian’s incompatibility with sin. The false teachers that John combated, because of their Gnostic-like concepts, discounted the significance of sin and the need for obedience. Because of their philosophical dualism, they viewed matter as inherently bad, and as a result, any sins committed in the physical realm as inconsequential.

In this section, John gives 4 reasons why true Christians cannot habitually practice sin (John 8:31, 34-36; Rom. 6:11; 2 John 9).

I John 3:4 "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."

Whosoever committeth sin... Whoever sins breaks the law and incurs the death penalty (Eze. 18:4; Rom. 6:23; 8:12-13).

This verse begins speaking of committeth sin which the verb in the Greek conveys the idea of making sin a habitual practice. Although genuine Christians have a sin disposition (1:8) and do commit and need to confess sin (1:9; 2:1), that is not the unbroken pattern of their lives. A genuinely born-again believer has a built-in check or guard against habitual sinning due to a new nature born of God – verse 9, Rom. 6:12).

Whosoever committeth sin (πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν)

Rev., better, every one that doeth sin. See on 1Jhn. 3:3, every man that hath, and note the frequent repetition of this form of expression in the present chapter. Compare πᾶς ὁ ἁμαρτάνων whosoever sinneth (1Jhn. 3:6). The phrase to do sin regards sin as something actually realized in its completeness. He that does sin realizes in action the sin note the article τὴν that which includes and represents the complete ideal of sin. Compare do righteousness, 1Jhn. 2:29.

transgresseth also the law (καὶ τὴν ἀνομίαν ποιεῖ)

Rev., more accurately, doeth also lawlessness. Compare Mat. 13:41, and the phrase οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν ye that work iniquity (Mat. 7:23).

for (καὶ)

Rev., correctly, and. This and the preceding clause are coordinated after John's manner.

sin is the... Sin in man is twofold:

1. Transgression of the law (1Jhn. 3:4)

2. The spirit and nature of the devil in sinners (see, 2Cor. 5:17)

is the transgression of the law (ἐστὶν ἡ ἀνομία)

Rev., correctly, is lawlessness. Sin is the violation of the law of our being, the law which includes our threefold relation to God, to the men and things around us, and to ourselves. Compare Jas. 1:14; 4:17.

The first reason why Christians cannot practice sin is because sin is incompatible with the law of God which they love (Psm. 119:34, 77, 97; Rom. 7:12, 22). The term transgresseth or lawlessness conveys more that transgressing God’s law. It conveys the ultimate sense of rebellion, i.e., living as if there was no law or ignoring what laws exist (Jas. 4:17).

John turns from stress on Christ’s and Christian purity to the need for believers to abstain from sin. The verse means: Everyone who sins is indulging in unlawful behavior; sin is in fact lawlessness.

This does not specifically mean the old Mosaic Law. This is that law that God has placed in the heart of the believer. Anything we do in disobedience to God is sin. The law of God for the Christian is to love God with everything within us, and to love our neighbor as our self. If we do that, we will be pleasing God. To live in sin, is to turn away from God.

John now wrote about sin which stands in opposition to the purity he had just referred to in 1Jhn. 3:3. The NIV renders his statement: Everyone who sins breaks the law tēn anomian poiei, does lawlessness; in fact, sin is lawlessness anomia. Usually in the Greek New Testament anomia is a general term like the English word wickedness, which has some prominence in eschatological contexts (cf. Mat. 7:23; 13:41; 24:12; 2Thes. 2:7). So, its use here so soon after the references to the antichrists may be significant. The writer probably intended it to be a strongly pejorative description of sin. It seems likely, in view of 1Jhn. 3:7, that the antichrists had a softened view of sin which John wished to refute. A person who sins does what is wicked, and sin is wickedness, John was insisting. Lit., the first clause in 1Jhn. 3:4 is, everyone who commits wickedness. Sin must not be taken lightly.