1 John 3:4-5 The Perfect Savior

The Test of Character: There is No Sin In Christ
1 John 3:4-5

Introductory Thoughts

· We have been referring, right along, to the Greek language, to help us understand many of the nuances of this book, and we have seen many shades of meaning that are lost in the English translations.
· However, in this passage, unless you carefully analyze the verb tenses, you will miss the whole meaning.
· The best English translation for this passage is the NASB, updated edition.
· The King James Version is very misleading here, partly because the translators did not properly understand the tenses at the time the KJV was translated, and partly because the English language has changed since then.
· The key to the entire passage is 3:10, which is the bottom line: “By this, the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother…”
· This entire passage consists of a test to determine if you are a child of God or a child (spiritually) of the Devil.
· Harsh words, but they are simple Biblical Truth!




1. Biblical Context—not everyone is a child of God

a. There are two kinds of people on this earth, but the distinction between the kinds is not racial, it is not linguistic, it is not political, and it is not about economic or social class. It is about whether you are saved or lost. Everyone is on one side or the other.

b. Satan is the ruler of the current world system

(1) John 12:31 ""Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out."
(2) John 14:30 ""I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me."
(3) John 16:11 ""of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."

c. Those who are lost are under the influence of the world system, which is ran by Satan

(1) Eph 2:1-2 "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."
(2) Eph 5:6 "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience."
(3) Col 3:6 "Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,"

d. Those who are lost are (spiritually) considered children of Satan.

(1) Mat 13:38 ""The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one."
(2) John 8:44 ""You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it."
(3) Acts 13:10 "and said, "O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?"

e. Review the Greek Verb tenses

(1) Present tense—present, continuous action, the habit of the life
(2) Perfect tense—an accomplished fact



2. The practice of sin contradicts God’s Law, and by implication, it contradicts the Lawgiver— “…Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness …” (NASB)

a. Two parts to this sentence: the identification of a person and the definition of a fact.

b. The Identification of a Person

(1) “All, the one practicing sin…”

(a) This is a participle, a combination of noun and verb
(b) The subject of this first phrase is a person—it is singular, indicating that it focuses on one person at a time
(c) The word “all” makes it apply to each and every person who fits the description
(d) “Practicing sin” identifies these individuals by their lifestyle. This person is a person whose lifestyle is practicing sin.

(2) “also practices lawlessness…” The person whose lifestyle is sin can also be described as a person whose lifestyle is a practice of lawlessness.
(3) Lawlessness contradicts the Law, and by it the Lawgiver.
(4) Some will say, “...but we are not under law, we are under grace!”

(a) First, believers are not under law for salvation—we are under grace.
(b) Unbelievers, however, are under law in a sense, and not under grace. Grace is available for them until Christ returns, but unless and until they are in Christ, they are judged by their works!

Rev 20:12-13 "And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works."

(c) Second, the New Covenant, the rule for believers in Christ, is not lawless—indeed, it sets a higher standard for behavior than the Law did! The law concentrated on a man’s actions, Christ looks at the heart and motives behind actions—Mat 5

(d) What John is saying here is that a person whose lifestyle is lawless is giving evidence that they are among those who contradict the Lawgiver.

(5) So, the identification is: a person who has an habitual lifestyle of practicing sin, a lawless person who contradicts the lawgiver—this one is not a Christian!

c. The definition—sin is lawlessness!

(1) “Is” è in the present tense
(2) Sin is continually lawless—there is no respite to this definition.


3. The practice of sin contradicts The Savior and His Mission! “…You know that He appeared in order to take away (our) sins; and in Him there is no sin…”

a. Language notes

(1) “Know” is our old friend, oidate, which is innate knowledge in the perfect tense, absolute and settled knowledge.
(2) “He appeared” is aorist—His entire ministry summed up in one dot, one point of time.
(3) “Take away” is aorist—the word means to lift up and carry away—the Old Covenant could not do this, but Christ did!

Heb 10:4 "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins."

Heb 10:11-12 "And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,"

(4) Left out of some translations is “our”. He came to take away “our” sins—the Gospel is personal and individual, particular to each and every one who is a believer. If you are a believer in Christ, He came to take away YOUR sin!
(5) “sins” and “sin”
(a) He died for our sins—harmartias
(b) In Him is no Sin—
(c) Sins è our sins
(d) Sin è the principle of sin

b. Christ came to take away our sins at one point in time!

(1) So, when did He “take away” our sins? A one time event—on the Cross!
(2) Back to basics—1 Cor 15:3-4 "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,"

c. Take away sins—three senses: guilt/penalty, power, presence

(1) When Christ died for our sins, the guilt and penalty was taken away for all and any who would ever come to saving faith in Him

(a) Every professing Christian knows this, and believes this, because this is the ticket out of hell and into Heaven.
(b) If the Blood of Christ has been applied to your account, you are saved for time and eternity—but that is not the end of the story!

(2) When Christ died for our sins, the power of sin was broken for all and any who would ever come to saving faith in Him

(a) This is the aspect of taking our sins away that many want to ignore.
(b) The Power of Sin has been broken in the life of every true believer.
(c) Because of our bodies and minds, sin is still present and is still an aggravation and a pain to us, but if we are born again, we have power over sin! Rom 6:1-15!

(i) The bottom line first—Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

(ii) Is this automatic? NO! We have to fight! Rom 6:11-13 "Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

(iii) Before we were saved, we were slaves to sin and Satan, blind, deaf, dumb, and dead spiritually. We were incapable of understanding the things of God (1 Cor 2:14), let alone able to obey God. Oh, we might have had a form of godliness or morality, or even true religion, but our motives were false, and the show of faith was a ruse.

(3) And when He returns, the very presence of sin will be eliminated from our lives, we shall be like Him—1 John 3:1-2 "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

d. “...And in Him there IS no sin...”

(1) He died for our sins, He took away our sins, and the reason He could do that is that He is the eternal Son of God, the spotless lamb, and even the very principle of sin does not exist in Him at all!
(2) He was tempted, but He never sinned—Heb 4:15 "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."
(3) He was the spotless lamb—1 Pet 1:18-19 "knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."
(4) He never sinned—1 Pet 2:21-22 "For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: 22 "Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth"
(5) He knew no sin—2 Cor 5:21 "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

(a) “Knew No Sin” an aorist active participle of ginosko, to know by experience, to be personally acquainted with. Christ Jesus is the one who never at any time had any personal experience of sin.
(b) “to be” is not in the original, God “treated as sin” the one who had no personal acquaintance with sin. (Robertson)
(c) He made the most astonishing claim with regard to this: John 8:46 ""Which of you convicts Me of sin? " “Convicts” means to confute, admonish:—convict, convince, tell a fault, rebuke, reprove. The verb is in the present tense. He challenged anyone to find any fault in Him. Who but the Son of God could legitimately make that claim?