Whoever remains in him doesn’t sin. Whoever sins hasn’t seen him and doesn’t know him.
Parallel translations
- KJV Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
- BSB No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him.
- NKJV Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
- NASB No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him.
- NLT Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Whoever abides in Christ does not keep on sinning; persistent sin shows one neither knows nor has seen him. True abiding breaks the dominion of sin.
Overview
John speaks of habitual, unrepentant sin as incompatible with abiding in Christ. He is not teaching sinless perfection (see 1:8 to 2:1) but that those truly united to Christ no longer live in the practice of sin. Continuing in sin betrays a lack of genuine knowledge of Christ. Faithful readers understand this of a settled pattern, not occasional failure.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 3 Jn 1:11Beloved, don’t imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good is of God. He who does evil hasn’t seen God.
- 1 Jn 3:9Whoever is born of God doesn’t commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can’t sin, because he is born of God.
- 1 Jn 2:4One who says, “I know him,” and doesn’t keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn’t in him.
- 1 Jn 4:8He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love.
- John 15:4–7Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.
- 1 Jn 5:18We know that whoever is born of God doesn’t sin, but he who was born of God keeps himself, and the evil one doesn’t touch him.
- 1 Jn 3:2Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is.
- 2 Cor 4:6seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
- 1 Jn 2:28Now, little children, remain in him, that when he appears, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
- 2 Cor 3:18But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Jesus is the Word of life made manifest, the propitiation for our sins, the Son in whom is eternal life — 'that you may know that you have eternal life.'
How 1 John 3:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.