He Appeared in Order to Take Away Sins

Believers look forward to the day when they will see Christ as He is, and in that day they will be like Him. In the meantime, with a view to that glory to be revealed, they strive to live lives of holiness (1 John 3:2–3). In today’s passage, the Apostle takes up the opposite case, the life of habitual sin, and sets it in stark contrast to the new life of those who have been born of God.

John begins with a definition: “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness” (v. 4). To sin is not merely to break a social convention or to fall short of one’s own ideals. It is to violate the law of God, to set oneself against the holy will of the Lawgiver. The English word lawlessness reflects the Greek anomia, which carries the sense of opposition to or disregard for divine law. Sin is, at its root, rebellion against the law of God.

This definition has consequences for how we understand both sin and the work of Christ. If sin is lawlessness, the cross was no minor remedy. Christ came to deal with rebellion against God, the most grievous offense that the universe has ever known. John makes the point in the next verse: “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin” (v. 5). The eternal Son took on flesh and walked among us with a mission: to remove the sins of His people by bearing them in His own body on the tree. He came as One who Himself had no sin, qualified to bear the sin of others.

From these foundations, John draws a sharp practical conclusion: “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him” (v. 6). The verb “keeps on sinning” suggests habitual practice rather than isolated failures. John has already taught that Christians do continue to sin in the present age and need ongoing forgiveness (1:8–10). His point here is different. The settled, unrepentant pattern of life shaped by sin is incompatible with abiding in Christ. The one who has truly seen and known the One who came to take away sins cannot be at home in those very sins.

This is hard teaching for any age, including our own, that prefers easier readings of Christianity. But John is unyielding. Christ came not to leave His people in their sin but to take their sin away. Those who make a practice of lawlessness, however vigorous their profession, have not yet beheld the Christ whom John proclaims.