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NASB | 1 John 3:4 ¶ Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 John 3:4 ¶ Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness [ignoring God's law by action or neglect or by tolerating wrongdoing--being unrestrained by His commands and His will]. |
Subject: 1st John 3:4-9 Discussion on sin. |
Bible Note: These commentaries make many of the same arguments I have considered. What I am personally cognizant of is that the whole discussion of "habitually, practicing, actively" versus "not once, not ever" all boils down to the tenses of the words in 3:6 and 3:9, as these commentaries also point out each in turn. To use an example I previously made, there would be no question what's being said here if the statement read, "Those abiding in God do not 'eat carrots'" Would we try to understand this sentence as stating that, "Those abiding in God do not habitually eat carrots?" Or would we simply conclude that they don't eat carrots, period? Present tense, in any other context, would not imply a habitual and reoccurent happening of the act. The verb is defined by the sytax of its own sentence. Present tense means "now." So if you are abiding in God [now], then you are not committing a sin [now]. In ten minutes, when the future becomes the present, and this static statement again takes foot in its natural environment, you will again be abiding in God [now], and not committing a sin [now]. Do you see what I'm getting at? Present tense is not a denotation of the future but of the now. But to take this dispensationally, I also recognize the contingency laid down in 1st John 2:1-2. John is definitely recognizing the "possibility" for "little children" to make a mistake. In addition, if God is a merciful God, it wouldn't be very merciful to consider a single mistake as the end of salvation. The two contrasting, and both individually concrete, views are summed up together in 1st John 5:16-18: If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not to death, he shall ask and God will, for him, give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death. I do not say that he should make request for this. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not to death. We know that no one who is born of God sins, but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the evil one does not touch him. This particular passage is ambiguous right down to its toes at face value. In short, it seems to me that John is saying (to paraphrase the larger chunks of context): "Little children, it's possible for you to not sin. That's why I'm writing to you, to show you how to accomplish this goal. If any of you fail, do not fret, for God is greater than our hearts. We have an advocate. But strive for this perfection, because those abiding in God do not sin. Anyone that still sins, no matter how great or small, no matter once or ten times, simply does not understand God and has not experienced the true revelation of our relationship with him. So again, don't fret. Some of you won't get it right away. Those of you that do ... pray for them." What we have to be careful of in scrutinizing this passage to understand why we CAN still sin instead of wrapping our minds around the idea that we canNOT sin is that we cheapen forgiveness and make sin "no big deal." Even on this site within the last couple of days, someone said something akin to: "If it's sin, then no big deal. It's one of many you will commit." It wasn't worded exactly like that, but that was the gist. Sin IS a big deal, and should not be taken lightly. Our goal is to not sin AT ALL, and to start today. I look forward to doing this conversation. :o) Thanks for some good, solid response kalos. Theo-Minor |