Neville Goddard on 1 John 3:8-9 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read 1 John 3 in context

Scripture Focus

8He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

9Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

1 John 3:8-9

Biblical Context

The passage contrasts the old life of sin with a new birth: those who belong to God do not continue in sin because divinity dwells within them; the Son came to destroy the devil's works.

Neville's Inner Vision

Take this verse as a map of your inner landscape. Sin is not a distant judgment but a misperception of your own consciousness as separate from God. The devil symbolizes that habit of separation; the belief that you are apart from your I AM. When the Son of God is manifested in you, your awareness is reset to divine life, and its purpose is to destroy the works of the devil—fear, doubt, and lack that arise from separation. To be born of God is to discover a seed of God within, a birthright that cannot be erased by old patterns because its nature is God. As you awaken to this birth, the old urge to sin loses force, not by punishment but by a shift in identification: your true self is the living God within, and you begin to act from that reality. The visible world rearranges as your inner state stabilizes in the awareness of unity.

Practice This Now

Imaginative practice: Sit quietly, repeat 'I am the I AM' and rest in the conviction that the seed of God is in you; declare, 'I cannot sin, for I am born of God,' and feel that reality until it fills your body.