TRV
Translation
King James Version
¶ We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
Complete Jewish Bible
We know that everyone who has God as his Father does not go on sinning; on the contrary, the Son born of God protects him, and the Evil One does not touch him.
Berean Standard Bible
We know that anyone born of God does not keep on sinning; the One who was born of God protects him, and the evil one cannot touch him.
American Standard Version
We know that whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not; but he that was begotten of God keepeth himself, and the evil one toucheth him not.
World English Bible Messianic
We know that whoever is born of God doesn’t sin, but he who was born of God keeps himself, and the evil one doesn’t touch him.
Geneva Bible (1599)
We know that whosoeuer is borne of God, sinneth not: but he that is begotten of God, keepeth himselfe, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
Young's Literal Translation
We have known that every one who hath been begotten of God doth not sin, but he who was begotten of God doth keep himself, and the evil one doth not touch him;
In the KJVVerse 30,643 of 31,102
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Commentary on 1 John 5 verses 18–21
18 ¶ We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Here we have,
I. A recapitulation of the privileges and advantages of sound Christian believers. 1. They are secured against sin, against the fulness of its dominion or the fulness of its guilt: We know that whosoever is born of God (and the believer in Christ is born of God, Jo1 5:1) sinneth not (Jo1 5:18), sinneth not with that fulness of heart and spirit that the unregenerate do (as was said Jo1 3:6, Jo1 3:9), and consequently not with that fulness of guilt that attends the sins of others; and so he is secured against that sin which is unavoidably unto death, or which infallibly binds the sinner over unto the wages of eternal death; the new nature, and the inhabitation of the divine Spirit thereby, prevent the admission of such unpardonable sin. 2. They are fortified against the devil's destructive attempts: He that is begotten of God keepeth himself, that is, is enabled to guard himself, and the wicked one toucheth him not (Jo1 5:18), that is, that the wicked one may not touch him, namely, to death. It seems not to be barely a narration of the duty or the practice of the regenerate; but an indication of their power by virtue of their regeneration. They are thereby prepared and principled against the fatal touches, the sting, of the wicked one; he touches not their souls, to infuse his venom there a he does in others, or to expel that regenerative principle which is an antidote to his poison, or to induce them to that sin which by the gospel constitution conveys an indissoluble obligation to eternal death. He may prevail too far with them, to draw them to some acts of sin; but it seems to be the design of the apostle to assert that their regeneration secures them from such assaults of the devil as will bring them into the same case and actual condemnation with the devil. 3. they are on God's side and interest, in opposition to the state of the world: And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness, Jo1 5:19. Mankind are divided into two great parties of dominions, that which belongs to God and that which belongs to wickedness or to the wicked one. The Christian believers belong to God. They are of God, and from him, and to him, and for him. They succeed into the right and room of the ancient Israel of God, of whom it is said, The Lord's people is his portion, his estate in this world; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance, the dividend that has fallen to him by the lot of his own determination (Deu 32:9); while, on the contrary, the whole world, the rest, being by far the major part, lieth in wickedness, in the jaws in the bowels of the wicked one. There are, indeed, were we to consider the individuals, many wicked ones, many wicked spirits, in the heavenly or the ethereal places; but they are united in wicked nature, policy, and principle, and they are united also in one head. there is the prince of the devils and of the diabolical kingdom. There is a head of the malignity and of the malignant world; and he has such sway here that he is called the god of this world. Strange that such a knowing spirit should be so implacably incensed against the Almighty and all his interests, when he cannot but know that it must end in his own overthrow and everlasting damnation! How tremendous is the judgment of God upon that wicked one! May the God of the Christian world continually demolish his dominion in this world, and translate souls into the kingdom of his dear Son! 4. They are enlightened in the knowledge of the true eternal God: "And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given as an understanding, that we may know him that is true, Jo1 5:20. The Son of God has come into our world, and we have seen him, and know him by all the evidence that has already been asserted; he has revealed unto us the true God (as Joh 1:18), and he has opened our minds too to understand that revelation, given us an internal light in our understandings, whereby we may discern the glories of the true God; and we are assured that it is the true God that he hath discovered to us. He is infinitely superior in purity, power, and perfection, to all the gods of the Gentiles. He has all the excellences, beauties, and riches, of the living and true God. It is the same God that, according to Moses's account, made the heavens and the earth, the same who took our fathers and patriarchs into peculiar covenant with himself, the same who brought our ancestors out of Egypt, who gave us the fiery law upon mount Sinai, who gave us his holy oracles, promised the call and conversion of the Gentiles. By his counsels and works, by his love and grace, by his terrors and judgments, we know that he, and he alone, in the fulness of his being, is the living and true God." It is a great happiness to know the true God, to know him in Christ; it is eternal lie, Joh 17:3. It is the glory of the Christian revelation that it gives the best account of the true God, and administers the best eye-salve for our discerning the living and true God. 5. They have a happy union with God and his Son: "And we are in him that is true, even (or and) in his Son Jesus Christ, Jo1 5:20. The Son leads us to the Father, and we are in both, in the love and favour of both, in covenant and federal alliance with both, in spiritual conjunction with both by the inhabitation and operation of their Spirit: and, that you may know how great a dignity and felicity this is, you must remember that this true one is the true God and eternal life" or rather (as it should seem a more natural construction), "This same Son of God is himself also the true God and eternal life" (Joh 1:1, and here, Jo1 1:2), "so that in union with either, much more with both, we are united to the true God and eternal life." Then we have,
II. The apostle's concluding monition: "Little children" (dear children, as it has been interpreted), "keep yourselves from idols, Jo1 5:21. Since you know the true God, and are in him, let your light and love guard you against all that is advanced in opposition to him, or competition with him. Flee from the false gods of the heathen world. They are not comparable to the God whose you are and whom you serve. Adore not your God by statues and images, which share in his worship. Your God is an incomprehensible Spirit, and is disgraced by such sordid representations. Hold no communion with your heathen neighbours in their idolatrous worship. Your God is jealous, and would have you come out, and be separated from among them; mortify the flesh, and be crucified to the world, that they may not usurp the throne of dominion in the heart, which is due only to God. The God whom you have known is he who made you, who redeemed you by his Son, who has sent his gospel to you, who has pardoned your sins, begotten you unto himself by his Spirit, and given you eternal life. Cleave to him in faith, and love, and constant obedience, in opposition to all things that would alienate your mind and heart from God. To this living and true God be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 18–21. Public domain.
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TertullianAD 220
On Repentance
Chapter V.-Sin Never to Be Returned to After Repentance.
Didymus the BlindAD 398
COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN
If it is true that when someone does what is righteous his power to do so comes from God, and if it is also true that righteousness and evil cannot live together, then it is perfectly clear that as long as a person does such things he is righteous and does not sin. But because this ability is given by grace and is not natural, John adds that the righteous person must watch out, so that evil will not touch him.
Andreas of CaesareaAD 614
CATENA
It may be true that the righteous person does not sin, but no one is a child of God by nature. This is why we avoid sin, not by the way in which we were made, which would make sin impossible for us, but by watching out that we do not fall into it.
BedeAD 735
Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
We know that we are born of God, etc. We are of God, regenerated by His grace and baptism through faith, and saved so that we may endure in faith. However, the lovers of the world are subjected to the enemy, either never freed from his dominion by the wave of regeneration, or after the grace of regeneration, returned again to his dominion by sinning. Not only the lovers of the world but also those who are recently born and do not yet have discernment of good and evil, because of the guilt of the first violation, belong to the kingdom of the evil enemy unless by the grace of the kind Creator they are rescued from the power of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the Son of His love (Colossians 1). Hence, he did not simply say that the world is in the evil one but added, And (he says) the whole world is placed in the evil one. For as blessed Ambrose says: "We are all born under sin, whose very birth is in defect." And Pelagius strives in vain to affirm that infants recently born have no need of the grace of baptism to be reborn, because they are said to be born as clean from all stain of sin as Adam was created in paradise, deriving no stain of original guilt from him, and being guilty of nothing until they begin to sin by their own will. But as for us, setting aside the poisons of the Antichrists, which are condemned and expelled from the Church all through this Epistle by the one who drank from the breast of the Lord, the fountain of life, let us hear in the closure the good word of salvation which he pours out for us. Let us observe the works of the supreme King which he tells of. The following ensues:
BedeAD 735
Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
But the generation of God preserves him, etc. The grace of Christ, by which the faithful are reborn, preserves those who are called holy according to the purpose, so that they do not commit sin leading to death; and if they err in anything due to the frailty of human condition, it protects them from being touched by the malignant enemy. Furthermore, it must be said, we remain in the generation of God as long as we do not sin; indeed, those who persevere in the generation of God cannot sin, nor be touched by the malignant. For what communion has light with darkness, Christ with Belial (II Cor. VI)? Just as (he says) day and night cannot be mixed, so righteousness and iniquity, sin and good works, Christ and Antichrist, the malignant one and the generation of God.
BedeAD 735
Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
We know that everyone who is born of God does not sin. Sin, namely unto death. This can be understood about all mortal crimes, and specifically that which violates brotherhood, as we have explained above. But also, the sin unto death can be said to be rightly understood as the sin prolonged up to the time of death, which everyone born of God does not commit. After all, King David committed a mortal crime. For who does not know that adultery and murder deserve eternal death? But yet David, because he was born of God, because he belonged to the society of the children of God, he did not sin unto death, because he immediately obtained forgiveness for his guilt by repenting.
OecumeniusAD 990
Commentary on 1 John
We know that whoever is born of God does not sin, but he who has been born of God guards (τηρεῖ) himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Having declared this, he subsequently indicates whose sin is the sin leads to death; and he says that whoever is born of God does not sin. For when he has once entrusted himself to the one dwelling in him through adoption in Christ, he remains inaccessible to sin. However, lest anyone think that such a nature has been completely changed, so that he can no longer be seized by sin, he adds:
"He guards himself," as if to say: Unless he were to keep and guard himself from the evil one, he would certainly sin. Therefore, it is not nature that leads to perfection, but rather the glory of God, who, because He has adopted us, has deemed us worthy of such grace: that by keeping and guarding what has been given to us by Him, we may also have it, so that we do not sin. For unless it were so, since the world is established in evil (and the world refers to those who have not committed themselves to God through good works), nothing would prevent us from being examined along with those who perish: because the mind of man is continually inclined to evil from early youth, as God revealed during the time of the flood. (Gen. 8:22) But since, John says, the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding by which we may know the true God through internal understanding, and be in His true Son Jesus Christ: we have come to know through this glory that He is the true God and eternal life, and by knowing we are safe from the onslaught of evil and its offenses. "This is the true God." This, also, serves as a demonstrative article. Here, the article indicates relationship. "keep yourself from idols." Some have questioned: If John writes this to the perfect, why does he now command them to beware of idols? We therefore say that because he wrote to the whole Church, which was not made up of a select people, but there were also some among them who were less affected. Therefore, he commands all these, looking at their slippery nature.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
First John 5:18 offers profound assurance to believers, declaring that those truly born of God do not live in habitual sin. Instead, the one who has received divine life actively guards their spiritual walk, empowered by God's grace. This commitment to righteousness is coupled with the promise that "the wicked one" – Satan – cannot ultimately seize or spiritually harm the child of God, underscoring the security and transformative power of the new birth.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: This verse appears in the concluding section of John's first epistle, a letter deeply concerned with the assurance of salvation and the practical outworking of true faith. Immediately preceding it, John has emphasized the divine witness concerning Jesus Christ, God's Son, and the resultant eternal life granted to believers (1 John 5:9-13). Verse 18 serves as a powerful summary statement, reinforcing the implications of this new life in Christ: a fundamental change in one's relationship to sin and a secure position against spiritual adversaries. It echoes earlier themes in the epistle, particularly the contrast between children of God and children of the devil (1 John 3:7-10) and the necessity of righteous living as evidence of genuine faith.
Historical & Cultural Context: John's epistle was written to a community facing internal strife and external pressures, likely from proto-Gnostic teachers who denied the full humanity of Christ and often promoted antinomian (anti-law) ethical views, claiming spiritual superiority while indulging in sin. In this environment, John's emphasis on "knowing" (a recurring theme, e.g., 1 John 2:3) and the tangible evidence of a transformed life—namely, not practicing sin and loving one another—was crucial. The concept of being "born of God" was not merely a theological abstraction but a call to a distinct way of life that contrasted sharply with the prevailing moral relativism or spiritual pride of the false teachers. The mention of "the wicked one" also highlights the reality of spiritual warfare, a common understanding in the ancient world, but John clarifies the believer's protected status.
Key Themes: The verse powerfully encapsulates several overarching themes of 1 John. The primary theme is the New Birth and its Nature, emphasizing that true spiritual regeneration fundamentally alters a person's identity and allegiance, moving them from darkness to light (1 John 2:9-11). This leads directly to the theme of Sin and Righteousness, where John clarifies that while believers may stumble (as acknowledged in 1 John 1:8-9), they do not habitually practice sin as a lifestyle. Their new nature is averse to it. Furthermore, the verse speaks to Assurance, providing a practical test for believers to confirm their spiritual standing. Finally, it addresses Spiritual Warfare and Divine Protection, affirming that despite the active presence of "the wicked one," those born of God are safeguarded from his ultimate destructive power, remaining secure in their relationship with God.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
John employs several effective Literary Devices in this verse to convey his message. Repetition is prominent with the phrases "born of God" and "begotten of God," which serve to emphasize the divine origin and nature of the believer's new life, reinforcing its foundational importance. There is a clear Contrast established between the state of habitually sinning and the active "keeping" of oneself, as well as between the believer's secure state and the limited power of "the wicked one." The phrase "the wicked one" is a form of Personification, giving a personal identity to the evil force opposing God, namely Satan. Furthermore, the statements "sinneth not" and "toucheth him not" can be understood as Figurative Language or even a form of Hyperbole (a deliberate exaggeration for emphasis), as they do not imply absolute sinless perfection or total immunity from all forms of satanic influence, but rather a decisive break from sin's dominion and ultimate spiritual security against Satan's destructive power.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
1 John 5:18 stands as a pivotal statement on the nature and security of the regenerated life. It underscores the profound theological truth that being "born of God" is not merely a change in status but a fundamental transformation of one's inner being, resulting in a new disposition towards sin. This new birth initiates a process of sanctification where habitual sin is incompatible with one's divine nature. While human responsibility to "keep oneself" is affirmed, this is always understood within the framework of God's enabling grace and protective power. The verse thus speaks to both divine sovereignty in salvation and human accountability in living out that salvation, culminating in the comforting assurance of God's ultimate guardianship against the forces of evil.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
First John 5:18 offers a powerful blend of assurance and challenge for the believer. It reassures us that our spiritual parentage in God provides a fundamental protection against the ultimate power of evil. If we are genuinely "born of God," our lives will bear witness to a changed relationship with sin—a turning away from its habitual practice, even if we still stumble. This truth should not lead to complacency but to a diligent "keeping" of ourselves, actively pursuing righteousness and guarding our hearts and minds in Christ. This "keeping" is not a work of self-salvation but a joyful response to the divine nature we have received, empowered by the Holy Spirit. It calls us to vigilance, to resist temptation, and to live in light of our new identity, trusting in God's unwavering protection against the adversary.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does "sinneth not" mean a Christian never sins?
Answer: No, the Greek verb for "sinneth" (G264, hamartánō) is in the present active indicative, which denotes continuous or habitual action. Therefore, "sinneth not" means that a true believer does not live in a continuous, unrepentant practice of sin as a lifestyle. It does not imply absolute sinless perfection, which would contradict other scriptures like 1 John 1:8, where John explicitly states, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Rather, it signifies that the new nature imparted at conversion is fundamentally opposed to sin's dominion, and the believer's life trajectory is one of pursuing righteousness, not indulging in sin.
How does "he that is begotten of God keepeth himself" relate to God's keeping us?
Answer: This phrase highlights the believer's active responsibility in their spiritual walk, but it is not a self-sufficient act. It represents a synergy between divine grace and human response. God, through the new birth and the indwelling Holy Spirit, empowers the believer with a new nature that desires righteousness. The believer then responds by actively "keeping" or guarding themselves through obedience, vigilance, prayer, and reliance on God's Word. This "self-keeping" is enabled by God's power, as seen in passages like Philippians 2:12-13, where believers are told to "work out your own salvation... for it is God who works in you." Ultimately, God is the primary Keeper, but He calls us to participate in our sanctification.
Does "that wicked one toucheth him not" mean believers are immune to temptation or suffering?
Answer: No, this promise does not mean believers are immune to temptation, spiritual attacks, suffering, or physical harm from Satan. The "touch" (G680, háptomai) here refers to a decisive, destructive grasp or seizure. It signifies that Satan cannot ultimately claim, possess, or spiritually destroy one who is truly born of God. He cannot sever their relationship with God or snatch them from Christ's hand (John 10:28-29). While Satan may tempt and afflict, his power over the regenerated believer's eternal security and spiritual identity is nullified. Believers remain secure in Christ, protected by God's sovereign power, even amidst spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10-18).
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
The profound truths of 1 John 5:18 find their ultimate fulfillment and foundation in Jesus Christ. It is through His atoning sacrifice and resurrection that the new birth, spoken of as being "born of God," becomes a reality for humanity (John 1:12-13). Christ's finished work on the cross breaks the dominion of sin, enabling believers to no longer live in habitual transgression, for they are now "dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11). The ability of the one "begotten of God" to "keep himself" is not a self-generated strength but a direct outflow of Christ's indwelling Spirit, who empowers believers to walk in obedience and holiness (Galatians 5:16). Furthermore, the assurance that "that wicked one toucheth him not" is a direct consequence of Christ's victory over Satan at the cross, where He disarmed principalities and powers (Colossians 2:15) and delivered us from the domain of darkness into His kingdom (Colossians 1:13). Our security and transformation are entirely rooted in Christ's person and work, making Him the source and sustainer of our new life and our ultimate Protector from all evil.