What does 1 Jn
3:6-9 mean when it says, “Whosoever is born of God doth not sin
because his seed remaineth in him?” It doesn’t mean sinless
perfection, for sure.
What
is so hard when you first read the verses which are the subject of
this question is that you know you still sin after you get saved.
Paul, one of the best Christians, by far, said, “For I know that in
me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is
present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not,”
[Rom 7:18]. In that context he even spoke of “sin that dwelleth in
me,” [Rom 7:20]. John said, “If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us,” [1 Jn 1:8]. Yet, the
text says that if you are born of God you won’t sin for, “whosoever
abideth in him sinneth not,” [1 Jn 3:6]. That’s tough to
understand.
So,
Bible teachers go through all kinds of effort to make the verses say
something they don’t say in order to reconcile the apparent
problem. One group says, “If you are truly saved, you won’t sin
anymore. It is necessary, therefore, after you get saved to live a
perfectly sinless life.” Hence, they go about totally deceived into
believing that their sins aren’t really sins anymore. Another group
says, “On no, you will sin after you get saved. But if you are
really saved you won’t continue in habitual sin. If you do that
then you aren’t really saved.” To make the verses say this, they
retranslate the words to make them fit what they believe. That’s
dangerous because that’s not what the verses say.
We
have to remember that the context here deals with the sons of God [1
Jn 3:1-2]. We are the sons of God by the new birth [Jn 1:12]. At
the new birth, our spirits were born again, “that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit,” [Jn 3:6]. By virtue of the new birth we
abide in him [1 Jn 3:6]. We are “in” Christ [Eph 5:30] and,
therefore, we are seated with him in heavenly places, [Eph 2:6]. We
have been spiritually circumcised so that “the body of the sins of
the flesh” has been spiritually cut away from our soul and spirit
[Col 2:11]. Therefore, in our souls and spirits which are born
again, we cannot commit sin because they are born of God.
However, when we were born again, born of the Spirit [Jn 3:6], our
flesh was not born again. Therefore, sin still dwells in our flesh,
like Paul said, and we still sin, like John said. Sin will not be
totally eradicated from our bodies until “he shall appear”
and “we shall be like him,” [1 Jn 3:2]. Thus, right now we can be
sinless in our souls and yet still commit sin in our bodies, at the
same time. Only after the rapture, when our bodies come up
glorified [Phil 3:21; 1 Cor 15:43] will our bodies finally be
sinless.
In the
meantime, 1 Jn 3:3, says that when we have this hope in us, the hope
that we shall be like him when he appears, then we will purify
ourselves. He says, “every man that hath this hope in him,
purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” We can actually do
righteousness “even as he is righteous,” [1 Jn 3:7] since we have
his true righteousness abiding in us. True righteousness only comes
from Jesus Christ through the new birth [Rom 10:3-4; 2 Cor 5:21; 1
Cor 1:30]. Thus, only those born of God are in a position to yield
to the work of God within them, to manifest true righteousness, to
let not sin rule in their mortal bodies [Rom 6:12-14], and to
manifest that they are the children of God [1 Jn 3:10].
Those
who are not born of God, on the other hand, will manifest the works
of the devil because they are children of the devil [1 Jn 3:10].
Like the Pharisees, they may appear righteous outwardly [Matt
23:27], but in reality they are just children of the devil [Jn
8:44]. Cain appeared righteous outwardly with his sacrifice [Gen
4:3] but in truth he was a child of that wicked one [1 Jn 3:12].
And so, rather than love his brother, which a man born of God would
do, he killed him instead, because his deeds were evil. And just
like Cain, the outwardly righteous Pharisees manifested their true
nature as children of the devil when they crucified Jesus Christ.
Hope
this helps,
Pastor
Bevans Welder
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