A subject of significant controversy in the Christian community, 1 John 3:9-10 deals with a crucial aspect of practical Christianity and is one of the most awkwardly baffling passages in the New Testament.
9. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
10. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
Backing up to the four verses directly preceding these, (1 John 3:5-8) we see the same concept. ‘And you know that he appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.’
As it turns out, 1 John is actually full of similar, albeit often less explicit references, contrasting the one who sins with the one who doesn’t, insisting that actions mean everything, that the true Christian cannot sin. It is a difficult concept.
If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him. 2:29
We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him. 5:18
If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; 4:20
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments and His commandments are not burdensome 5:2-4,
He who has the Son has the life, he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. 5:12,
And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 2:28
In the Bible, repetition very often constitutes significance. This concept is repeated over and over again. It is important.
A straightforward reading of this passage - this whole book, in fact - along with a multitude of similar verses in other parts of the Bible, also suggest the concept that people who sin are not born of God, that God’s children do not sin, that we are called to be sinless.
Romans 8:37 - we are more than conquerors through him who loved us;
Matthew 5:48 - be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect;
Romans 6:2,6,11,14 -
How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin for he who has died is freed from sin;
Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin;
for sin shall not be master over you
Hebrews 7:25
Wherefore also He is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through Him.
So is this really what God has asked us to do? Be perfect, without sin? Does it mean what it says? A commonly offered, ‘saving interpretation’ of this idea is that the Greek for ‘practices’ in the key verse, 1 John 3:9, can be interpreted as ‘practicing continuously.’ So that maybe what the verses means is that he who sins continuously is not born of God. But that argument is weak at best, and the reasoning behind it does not hold up very long. What does it mean, to not sin continuously? No one does that. Not even the godless sin all the time. And committing murder just every now and then does not qualify you to be someone born of God. It isn’t about spacing our sins out enough. The problem remains, and we cannot explain these verses away as metaphors.
The obvious meaning that comes from a straight forward reading seems to be the only explanation. To be born of God, one must be without sin. Which brings in the root question - is it humanly possible to be without sin? Has it ever been achieved? Can it be? Has God asked us to do the impossible? Does he want perfection now, in this life? Isn’t that just something promised only after we die?
Going even further back, all the way to 1:6-10, we stumble across another set of verses that provides a much needed balance, and at first appears to present an insurmountable paradox. First the groundwork for the concept of perfection coming up in the next few chapters is laid -
6. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7. But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
And then the almost relieving jolt back to reality.
8. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10. If we say that we have not sinned we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Of course. We knew that. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So what is the point about being called to perfection? Is it less of a reality than the latter? Surely not. But then, admitting that we have sinned and striving after holiness as an attainable goal are not exactly opposites.
Perhaps the biggest lie that Satan is using today to suppress the Church and stifle growth is the belief that this is how it has to be, because no one, especially not ‘us’, can ever be free of sin this side of eternity. A sub-conscious acceptance of mediocrity that stifles all our efforts at holiness before they can even take shape. That is why most people never achieve a life of holiness, perfection without sin. And with the concept of the inaccessibility of perfection, another worse idea, with no logical relation to the former, inevitably slides in - that I am never going to be much better than this, so I need to just accept my faults and weaknesses, since it’s who I am. And that is the great stumbling block.
We have been given a practical guide to holiness in the life of Jesus as portrayed in the Gospels. People underestimate the importance of living as Jesus lived, and using the life of Jesus as a role model. And coming back to the 1 John 3:9 question - maybe it is not so much a question of whether we are ‘sinning continually’ or not, as a question of where we are going. Are we eliminating sin in your life? Are we becoming sinless - working steadily towards perfection as a practical goal? If perfection weren’t possible, God wouldn’t have called us to it. It is certainly worth thinking about. And even if there is room for debate on the definition of perfection this side of eternity and the degrees of perfection attainable, there can be no doubt that God is calling us to something much higher. Our standards are too low. While learning in whatever situation we are to be content we must still never fall into an indolent satisfaction or acceptance of where we are spiritually. We must always be pressing farther and deeper, working towards sinless perfection.
