Verse 5 says, “And you know that that One was manifested that He might take away sins; and sin is not in Him.” The Greek word for “take away” here is the same as that used in John 1:29. There Christ as the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world, the sin which came into the world through Adam (Rom. 5:12). Here He takes away sins, which are committed by all men. John 1 and Romans 5 deal with sin itself that dwells in men (Rom. 7:17-18). This chapter deals with the fruits of sin, that is, the committing of sins in men’s daily life. Both are taken away by Christ.
In that One who takes away both sin and sins, there is no sin. Hence, He did not know sin (2 Cor. 5:21), He did no sin (1 Pet. 2:22), and He was without sin (Heb. 4:15). This qualified Him to take away both the indwelling sin and the sins committed in men’s daily life.
In verse 6 John continues, “Everyone who abides in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him nor known Him.” To abide in Him is to remain in the fellowship of the divine life and to walk in the divine light (1:2-3, 6-7).
The words “does not sin” mean not to sin habitually. This is also a condition of the life that abides in the Lord. It does not mean that the children of God do not commit sin at all; they may commit sin occasionally. It means that the regenerated believers who have the divine life and live by it do not practice sin. Their character and habit is not to sin, but to abide in the Lord.
Abiding in the Lord is a believer’s living; sinning is a sinner’s life. In this verse John says that everyone who practices sin, living a sinful life, has not seen Him or known Him. Not to have seen or known the Lord is not to have received any vision of Him or to have any realization of Him. This is the condition of an unbeliever. But if we have experienced the Lord, then we have seen Him and known Him. To see and know the Lord is to experience Him.
In verse 7 John says, “Little children, let no one lead you astray; he who practices righteousness is righteous, even as that One is righteous.” To practice righteousness is to live a righteous life, living uprightly under God’s ruling principle. This, according to the following verse, means not to practice sin, and, according to verse 4, not to practice lawlessness.
According to the context, “righteous” here equals “pure” in verse 3. To be righteous is to be pure, without any stain of sin, lawlessness, and unrighteousness, even as Christ is pure. The emphasis of the apostle John is that as long as we are children of God having the divine life and the divine nature, we certainly will habitually live a life of righteousness.
In verse 8 John goes on to say, “He who practices sin is of the Devil, because the Devil sins from the beginning. For this the Son of God was manifested, that He might undo the works of the Devil.” This verse indicates that “practices sin” (v. 4) and “sins” in this book are synonymous, denoting to live in sin, to commit sin habitually. Such a life is of the Devil, whose life is one of sin and who sins habitually from the beginning. Sin is his nature, and sinning is his character.
In verse 8 the preposition “from” is used in the absolute sense, that is, from the time when the Devil began to rebel against God, attempting to overthrow God’s rule.
In this verse John says that the Son of God was manifested for the purpose of undoing the works of the Devil. The Greek word translated “for this” literally means unto this, that is, to this end, for this purpose. The Devil sins continually from ancient times and begets sinners to practice sin with him. Hence, for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might undo and destroy his sinful deeds— that is, condemn, through death on the cross in the flesh (Rom. 8:3), sin initiated by him, the evil one; destroy the power of sin, the sinful nature of the Devil (Heb. 2:14); and take away both sin and sins. On the cross Christ condemned sin, took away sin and sins, and destroyed the power of the Devil.