1 John 3:8 ⁸Everyone who does sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. On account of this, the Son of God has been revealed: in order to destroy the works of the devil.

The present tense substantive participle the one who does (ho poiōn) points out once again the danger of continual, habitual, or intentional sin. John adds further support in this verse for how sin is a serious matter and is to be avoided with the help of God. John connects sinning with the devil, the great deceiver and enemy of humanity. John’s goal in this verse is not to explain the origin of evil or of sin. To what time from the beginning refers is unclear. At some point in time, the devil rebelled against God and sinned. God did not create the devil to sin, which implies some degree of freewill to angelic beings. The point John seems to be making is that ever since the beginning of creation, particularly the story of the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, the devil has been after humanity and has tempted them away from God.

Why would anyone want to be aligned with a being like the devil, who has been warring against God and hurting God’s beautiful creation? To commit a sin puts one under the influence of the devil and takes one away from God’s protective grace and forgiving mercy. John’s goal here is not to describe the events at the beginning but to deal with the present problems facing his readers. The devil lives by the pattern of deceit. He then attempts to get people to follow by believing the lie to be the truth (2 Timothy 2:25-26). By walking in the darkness of deceit, we are following the devil and not the Son. The way of the Son is the light of holy love.

The good news is that we have an escape from the control of sin. The devil will always try to deceive us, but if we look for the truth in the True One, we will find it. The truth of Jesus reveals the deceit of the devil. Jesus shines a new path so that we can escape the darkness. The Son is infinitely more powerful than the devil, so we should have no worries about victory over sin. Jesus came at a specific point in time to end the devil’s campaign against humanity and to resolve the problem of sin. Jesus did both by his death and resurrection. The darkness of the devil cannot overcome the light of Jesus (1:5). The logic of this verse is clear: Since Jesus has been victorious over the devil, why would anyone want to align oneself with the losing team? Be on the winning side!