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John 15 · a question people ask

"If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin" (15:22). Does Jesus mean they had no sin before he came?

In the text

The verse goes on, "but now they have no excuse for their sin" (15:22). Jesus says it a second time with his works: "If I hadn’t done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn’t have had sin. But now they have seen and also hated both me and my Father" (15:24). Each verse names something he did, "come and spoken to them" (15:22) and "done among them the works which no one else did" (15:24), and each goes on with "now". He says no more about it here, and these notes add nothing to his words.

The verses

“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.”
John 15:22 · World English Bible
“If I hadn’t done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn’t have had sin. But now they have seen and also hated both me and my Father.”
John 15:24 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of John 15

John 15: I am the true vine

Remain comes twelve times in this chapter's Greek, and not only of them remaining in Jesus: "that my joy may remain in you" (15:11), and "that your fruit should remain" (15:16). And when Jesus said, "lay down his life for his friends" (15:13), and then "I chose you and appointed you" (15:16), lay down and appointed were the same Greek verb.

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Last reviewed October 2, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions