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Biblical Definition Of Lawlessness In 1 John

The Greek word for "lawlessness" in 1 John 3:4 is ἀνομία (anomia) [5]. This term is derived from the Greek negative particle "a" and the word for "law," νόμος (nomos), literally meaning "without law" or "not subject to law" [4]. In 1 John 3:4, the apostle states, "Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness" [1]. This verse directly equates sin with lawlessness, indicating that any act of sin is, by its nature, a transgression against divine law.

The lexical range of ἀνομία (anomia) extends beyond simply being "without law" to encompass "lawless conduct" and "wickedness" [5, 4]. It is often contrasted with "righteousness" (δικαιοσύνη) [5]. The related term ἄνομος (anomos), an adjective, describes someone who is "lawless, impious" [8], or "wicked" [4]. This concept of lawlessness is not merely the absence of adherence to a legal code, but an active defiance or disregard for established order, whether human or divine [10]. For instance, the Jamieson, Fausset & Brown Commentary on 2 Peter 2:7 describes the "wicked" as "lawless," meaning those "who set at defiance the laws of nature, as well as man and God" [10].

The concept of lawlessness is deeply rooted in biblical thought. The Torrey's Topical Textbook defines sin as "the transgression of the law" [3], directly echoing 1 John 3:4. This understanding aligns with the broader biblical portrayal of sin as rebellion against God's commands [3]. The Hebrew words עָוֹן ('avon) and עַוְלָה ('avlah), often translated as "iniquity" or "unrighteousness" [6, 7, 9], carry similar connotations of deviation from what is right or lawful in God's eyes.

The apostle John further clarifies the scope of sin by stating, "All unrighteousness is sin" in 1 John 5:17 [2]. This reinforces the idea that any action or attitude contrary to God's righteous standards falls under the umbrella of sin and, by extension, lawlessness. The Jamieson, Fausset & Brown Commentary on Revelation 22:11 distinguishes between "unjust" (unrighteous in relation to fellow humans) and "filthy" (unclean before God), but the underlying principle of deviation from divine order remains [15].

The term "lawless" (ἄνομος) is also used in other New Testament contexts. For example, in 1 Timothy 1:9–10, the law is said to be "not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine" [13, 14]. This passage highlights that the law serves to expose and condemn those who act in defiance of God's moral order. The Jamieson, Fausset & Brown Commentary on 1 Timothy 1:11 connects this exemption of the righteous from the law as a means of justification and sanctification to the "Gospel of the glory of the blessed God," which manifests God's glory in accounting believers righteous through Christ's righteousness [14].

Historical and intertestamental literature also reflects this understanding of lawlessness. The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs describes priests in the seventh week as "idolaters, adulterers, lovers of money, proud, lawless, lascivious, abusers of children and beasts," indicating a comprehensive moral corruption [16]. John Gill, in his commentary on Proverbs 6:11, describes a "man of Belial" as "one that is lawless, that has thrown off the yoke of the law, and will not be subject to it" [12]. Similarly, in his commentary on 1 Samuel 1:16, Gill explains "daughter of Belial" as a "yokeless, a lawless, impudent, and abandoned creature" [11]. These interpretations underscore that lawlessness is not merely ignorance of the law but a deliberate rejection of its authority and a pursuit of unrighteous conduct.

Sources

  1. 1 John “Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. -- 1 John 3:4”
  2. 1 John “All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death. -- 1 John 5:17”
  3. Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Sin — Is the transgression of the law -- 1Jo 3:4. Is of the devil -- 1Jo 3:8; Joh 8:44. All unrighteousness is -- 1Jo 5:17. Omission of what we know to be good is -- Jas 4:17. Whatever is not of faith is -- Ro 14:23. The thought of foolishness is -- Pr 24:9. All the imaginations of the unrenewed heart are -- Ge 6:5; 8:21. Described as Coming from the heart. -- Mt 15:19. The fruit of lust. -- Jas 1:15. The sting of death. -- 1Co 15:56. Rebellion against God. -- De 9:7; Jos 1:18. Works of darkness. -- Eph 5:11. Dead works. -- Heb 6:1; 9:14. The abominable thing that Go”
  4. Strong's Greek Dictionary “[G459] ἄνομος (ánomos) — Definition: lawless, i.e. (negatively) not subject to (the Jewish) law; (by implication, a Gentile), or (positively) wicked | Derivation: from G1 (Α) (as a negative particle) and G3551 (νόμος); | KJV usage: without law, lawless, transgressor, unlawful, wicked”
  5. TFLSJ (Liddell-Scott-Jones) “[G0458] ἀνομία — lawlessness: <b> ἀνομ-ία</b>, <br /> <i>Ionic dialect</i> -ιη, ἡ, <b>lawlessness, lawless conduct,</b> opposed to δικαιοσύνη, [<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=" 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 1.96, 97; ἀ. νόμων κρατεῖ 5th c.BC: Euripides Tragicus “Iphigenia Aulidensis” 1095 (Lyric poetry); ἀ. ἀμύνειν 5th c.BC: Antipho Orator 4.1.7; ἀ. ὀφλισκάνειν 5th c.BC: Euripides Tragicus “Ion” 443; ἀντὶ αὐτονομίας.. εἰς ἀνομίας ἐμπίπτειν 5th-6th c.BC: Isocrates Orator 6.64, compare 1st-2nd c.AD: Plutarchus Biographus et Philosophus 2.755b; ζῆν ἐν πάσῃ ἀναρχίᾳ καὶ ἀ. 5th-6th c.BC: Plato ”
  6. STEPBible TAHOT “Isa.1.4#06=L — Hebrew tagged text (TAHOT): עָוֹ֔ן ['a.Von] "iniquity of"”
  7. STEPBible TAHOT “Psa.37.1#08=L — Hebrew tagged text (TAHOT): עַוְלָֽה\׃ ['av.Lah] "<of> unrighteousness"”
  8. TFLSJ (Liddell-Scott-Jones) “[G0459] ἄνομος — lawless (part 1/3): <b> ἄνομος</b>, ον, <br /> <b>lawless, impious,</b> τράπεζα[<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=" 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 1.162 ">Refs 5th c.BC+</a>]; of persons, [<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=" 5th c.BC: Sophocles Tragicus “Oedipus Coloneus” 142, +others; στρατός “Tr.” 1096; Ἐχίονος γόνος 5th c.BC: Euripides Tragicus “Bacchae” 995 ">Refs 5th c.BC+</a>]; of things, θυσία[<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=" 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Agamemnon” 151">Refs 4th c.BC+</a>]; πάθη E [<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=" “Or.” 1455; μοναρχία 5th”
  9. STEPBible TAHOT “Psa.107.42#05=L — Hebrew tagged text (TAHOT): עַ֝וְלָ֗ה ['av.Lah] "unrighteousness"”
  10. 2 Peter (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 2 Peter 2:7: just--righteous. filthy conversation--literally, "behavior in licentiousness" (Gen 19:5). the wicked--Greek, "lawless": who set at defiance the laws of nature, as well as man and God. The Lord reminds us of Lot's faithfulness, but not of his sin in the cave: so in Rahab's case.”
  11. 1 Samuel (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Samuel 1:16: Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial,.... A yokeless, a lawless, impudent, and abandoned creature; one of the most wicked, vilest, and most profligate wretches; as she must be to come drunk into the sanctuary of God; see Sa1 25:17. Drunkenness in man is au abominable crime, but much more in a woman. The Romans (a) forbad wine to women, and drunkenness in them was a capital crime, as adultery, or any other; and indeed a drunken woman is liable to all manner of sin: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto; out of the ab”
  12. Proverbs (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Proverbs 6:11: A naughty person, a wicked man,.... Or, "a man of Belial, a man of iniquity" (w). The former signifies an unprofitable man, a man good for nothing, that is of no use to God or man; or one that is lawless, that has thrown off the yoke of the law, and will not be subject to it; Belial is the name of the devil; and here it may design such as are his children, and will do his lusts: the latter phrase signifies one that is wholly given up to work wickedness. The characters well agree with the the lawless one, the man of sin and son of perdition, antichrist, Th2 2:3. Who ”
  13. 1 Timothy (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 Timothy 1:10: whoremongers, &c.--sinners against the seventh commandment. men-stealers--that is, slave dealers. The most heinous offense against the eighth commandment. No stealing of a man's goods can equal in atrocity the stealing of a man's liberty. Slavery is not directly assailed in the New Testament; to have done so would have been to revolutionize violently the existing order of things. But Christianity teaches principles sure to undermine, and at last overthrow it, wherever Christianity has had its natural development (Mat 7:12). liars . . . perjured-”
  14. 1 Timothy (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 Timothy 1:11: According to the glorious gospel--The Christian's freedom from the law as a sanctifier, as well as a justifier, implied in the previous, Ti1 1:9-10, is what this Ti1 1:11 is connected with. This exemption of the righteous from the law, and assignment of it to the lawless as its true object, is "according to the Gospel of the glory (so the Greek, compare Note, see on Co2 4:4) of the blessed God." The Gospel manifests God's glory (Eph 1:17; Eph 3:16) in accounting "righteous" the believer, through the righteousness of Christ, without "the law" (Ti1 1:”
  15. Revelation (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Revelation 22:11: unjust--"unrighteous"; in relation to one's fellow men; opposed to "righteous," or "just" (as the Greek may be translated) below. More literally, "he that doeth unjustly, let him do unjustly still." filthy--in relation to one's own soul as unclean before God; opposed to holy," consecrated to God as pure. A omits the clause, "He which is filthy let him be filthy still." But B supports it. In the letter of the Vienne and Lyons Martyrs (in EUSEBIUS) in the second century, the reading is, "He that is lawless (Greek, 'anomos') let him be lawless; and”
  16. Introduction “Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Introduction, section 18: do these things. Therefore shall they 9 be taken captive and become a prey, and their land and their substance shall be destroyed. 10 And in the fifth week they shall return to their desolate country, and shall renew the house of the 11 Lord. And in the seventh week shall become priests, (who are) idolaters, adulterers, lovers of money, proud, lawless, lascivious, abusers of children and beasts. 18 1 And after their punishment shall have come from the Lord, the priesthood shall fail. 2 Then shall the Lord raise up a new priest. And ”
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