Free from the Power of Sin
1 John 3:9
9. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
This verse parallels verse 6a (compare 5:18). It is a broader statement in which the emphasis falls on two items that are placed in an inverted sequence: 1. he who is [has been] born of God 2. will [can] not go on sinning; and it makes the clause “because God’s seed remains in him” a link between the preceding and the following clause.
a. Born again
The phrase born of God is characteristic of John, for he uses it repeatedly (2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18). It signifies that a person has been born spiritually in the past and continues in the present as God’s child. That is, he finds his origin and existence in God. Whereas the person who practices sin has Satan as his father, the born-again believer knows that God is his Father. The words of Jesus are relevant: “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (Matt. 7:18).
“God’s seed remains in him.” The word seed has a figurative connotation: “God’s nature” or “God’s principle of life.” God guards the new life he planted in the heart of the believer and causes it to develop. The Christian, then, will not and cannot yield to sin because of that divine principle in his heart.
b. Inability to sin
The translators of the New International Version have tried to reflect the Greek verb tenses by adding extra words. They write, “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, … he cannot go on sinning” (italics added).19 This is an acceptable interpretation of John’s intention. In Greek, the verbs express continued action, not a single occurrence. Therefore, by using the present tenses of the Greek verbs, John is saying that the believer cannot practice habitual sin. “The thought being conveyed in 1 John 3:9 is not that one born of God will never commit a sinful act but that he will not persist in sin.”20
Sin does not originate with God, for “in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). A person who is born of God and possesses God’s nature cannot live in habitual sin. Nevertheless, the possibility of falling into occasional sin is always present, as every Christian can testify.21
Greek Words, Phrases, and Constructions in 3:9
γεγεννημένος—the perfect passive participle from γεννάω (I beget) denotes action that took place in the past; its influence, however, continues to the present.
οὐ δύναται ἁμαρτάνειν—note that John writes not “able not to sin,” but “not able to sin.” Some grammarians take the present infinitive to be durative; others understand it as a state.22 That is, a Christian sins but he cannot be called a sinner. He belongs to Christ who has redeemed and sanctified him and who has destroyed the devil’s work.
1 John 5:18
18. We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.
Except for a minor variation in wording, the first part of this sentence is virtually identical to that of 3:9, “No one who is born of God will continue to sin.” He repeats the thought by putting the words we know at the beginning. That is, he tells the readers that the person who has his origin in God does not keep on sinning without repentance (compare 3:6). “A child of God may sin; but his normal condition is one of resistance to sin.”43 This is a well-known principle.
In the next clause, John presents a message that appears to be vague. What does he mean by the words “The one who was born of God keeps him safe”? And who is kept safe? To begin with the last question, we conclude that the pronoun him refers to the believer whom God protects. If God keeps the believer safe, the phrase “the one who was born of God” must refer to Jesus Christ.44 This designation for Jesus, however, is unique; it does not appear anywhere else in the New Testament. Because both Jesus and the believer are called “born of God,” John differentiates by using the past tense “was born” for Jesus and the phrase born of God for the believer. Furthermore, John places Jesus “who was born of God” over against “the evil one.” Jesus keeps the believers safe and asks God to protect them from the evil one (John 17:12, 15).
“And the evil one cannot harm him.” Notice that John describes Satan as the evil one (2:13, 14; 3:12; 5:19). The evil one seeks to lay his hands on the believer but is unable to touch him because of God’s protecting power. The word touch in this sentence means to harm or injure a person.45 Satan desires to lead us into sin and to control us permanently. But we who are children of God belong not to Satan but to God.
Greek Words, Phrases, and Constructions in 5:18
ὁ γεννηθείς—this is the aorist passive participle from the verb γεννάω (I beget). The aorist is timeless.
αὐτόν—manuscript evidence for the reflexive pronoun ἑαυτόν (himself) is strong. However, internal evidence together with varied textual witnesses favors the personal pronoun αὐτόν (him).
43 Plummer, The Epistles of St. John, p. 125.
44 Most translators understand the subject of the clause to be Jesus. For example, “it is the Son of God who keeps him safe” (NEB, GNB). The JB has, “because the begotten Son of God protects him.” But the NAB gives the reading “God protects the one begotten by him.” And two translations have the reflexive pronoun himself, “but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself” (KJV, NKJV).
45 Refer to Bauer, p. 103.
Simon J. Kistemaker and William Hendriksen, Exposition of James and the Epistles of John, vol. 14, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 365–366.
19 Other translations provide a literal version, for instance, “Whoever has been born of God does not practice sin, … and he cannot sin” (NKJV).
20 V. Kerry Inman, “Distinctive Johannine Vocabulary and the Interpretation of 1 John 3:9,” WJT 40 (1977): 142.
21 Consult P. P. A. Kotze, “The Meaning of 1 John 3:9 with Reference to 1 John 1:8 and 10,” Neotestamentica 13 (1979): 68–83.
22 For example, consult H. E. Dana and Julius R. Mantey, A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament (New York: Macmillan, 1967), p. 195. Also see N. Turner, A Grammar of New Testament Greek (Edinburgh: Clark, 1963), pp. 150–51; Robert Hanna, Grammatical Aid to the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1983), pp. 435–36.
Simon J. Kistemaker and William Hendriksen, Exposition of James and the Epistles of John, vol. 14, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 302–304.
