1 John 3:4 (LSB)

Passage

Everyone who does sin also does lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.

Nearby Context

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not been manifested as yet what we will be. We know that when He is manifested, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.

1 John 3:3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

1 John 3:4 Everyone who does sin also does lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.

1 John 3:5 And you know that He was manifested in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.

1 John 3:6 No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or has come to know Him.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "everyone", "does", and "lawlessness". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "everyone" and "does", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "And everyone who has this hope fixed..." into verse 5's "And you know that He was manifested...", so "everyone" and "does" belong inside that flow. In 1 John context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "everyone" and "does" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.