He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
All Commentaries on 1 John 3:8 Go To 1 John 3
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
ye know what he means: by imitating the devil. For the devil made no man, begot no man, created no man: but whoso imitates the devil, that person, as if begotten of him, becomes a child of the devil; by imitating him, not literally by being begotten of him. In what sense are you a child of Abraham, not that Abraham begot you? In the same sense as the Jews, the children of Abraham, not imitating the faith of Abraham, have become children of the devil: of the flesh of Abraham they were begotten, and the faith of Abraham they have not imitated. If then those who were thence begotten were put out of the inheritance, because they did not imitate, you, who art not begotten of him, art made a child, and in this way shall be a child of him by imitating him. And if you imitate the devil, in such wise as he became proud and impious against God, you will be a child of the devil: by imitating, not that he created you or begot you.
Unto this end was the Son of God manifested. Now then, brethren, mark! All sinners are begotten of the devil, as sinners. Adam was made by God: but when he consented to the devil, he was begotten of the devil; and he begot all men such as he was himself. With lust itself we were born; even before we add our sins, from that condemnation we have our birth. For if we are born without any sin, wherefore this running with infants to baptism that they may be released? Then mark well, brethren, the two birth-stocks, Adam and Christ: two men are; but one of them, a man that is man; the other, a Man that is God. By the man that is man we are sinners; by the Man that is God we are justified. That birth has cast down unto death; this birth has raised up unto life: that birth brings with it sin; this birth sets free from sin. For to this end came Christ as Man, to undo the sins of men. Unto this end was the Son of God manifested, that He may undo the works of the devil.
The rest I commend to your thoughts, my beloved, that I may not burden you. For the question we labor to solve is even this— that we call ourselves sinners: for if any man shall say that he is without sin, he is a liar. And in the Epistle of this same John we have found it written, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. 1 John 1:8 For you should remember what went before: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. And yet, on the other hand, in what follows you are told, He that is begotten of God sins not: he that does sin has not seen Him, neither known Him.— Every one that does sin is of the devil: sin is not of God: this affrights us again. In what sense are we begotten of God, and in what sense do we confess ourselves sinners? Shall we say, because we are not begotten of God? And what do these Sacraments in regard to infants? What has John said? He that is begotten of God, sins not. And yet again the same John has said, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us! A great question it is, and an embarrassing one; and may I have made you intent upon having it solved, my beloved. Tomorrow, in the name of the Lord, what He will give, we will discourse thereof.
