1 John 3:5

That sin is incompatible with Divine birth is still further enforced by two facts respecting the highest instance of Divine birth. The Son of God (1) entered the world of sense to put away all sin, (2) was Himself absolutely free from sin.

ye know The Apostle once more (1 John 2:21; 1 John 3:2) appeals to the knowledge which as Christians they must possess.

that he was manifested See on 1 John 2:28: the rendering here should govern the rendering there and in 1 John 3:2. Here, as in 1 John 3:8 and 1 John 1:2, the manifestation of the Word in becoming visible to human eyes is meant; the Incarnation. The expression necessarily implies that He existed previous to being made manifest.

to take away our sins Literally, to take away the sins, i.e. all the sins that there are. If -our sins" means -the sins of us men" and not -the sins of us Christians", the rendering is admissible, even if the addition -of us" (א C Thebaic) is not genuine. As already stated, the article is often used in Greek where in English we use a possessive pronoun. -To take away" (αἴρειν) is the safest rendering; for this is all that the Greek word necessarily means (see on John 1:29). Yet it is not improbable that the meaning of -to bear" is included: He took the sins away by bearing them Himself(1 Peter 2:24). This, however, is not S. John's point. His argument is that the Son's having become incarnate in order to abolish sin shews that sin is inconsistent with sonship: the way in which He abolished it is not in question.

in him is no sin This is an independent proposition and must not be connected with -ye know that". The order of the Greek is impressive; sin in Him does not exist. Christ not merely was on earth, but isin heaven, the eternally sinless One. He is the perfect pattern of what a son of God should be. This, therefore, is yet another proof that sin and sonship are incompatible. Comp. John 7:18.