He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
for the devil sinneth from the beginning: In John 8:44, quoted above, Jesus went on to say, "He (the devil) was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him." The same kind of language is used here by this disciple of Jesus as he warns against the practice of sin. "Sinneth" is present tense here; therefore, sin is the habitual practice of the devil, and he has been sinning since he first introduced sin. Vincent says, "He sinned in the beginning, and has never ceased to sin from the beginning, and still sinneth" (348). One who engages in constant sinning is of the devil because the devil is sin’s source.