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NASB | 1 John 3:9 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. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 John 3:9 No one who is born of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, because God's seed [His principle of life, the essence of His righteous character] remains [permanently] in him [who is born again--who is reborn from above--spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose]; and he [who is born again] cannot habitually [live a life characterized by] sin, because he is born of God and longs to please Him. |
Bible Question: is this verse for baby Christian or a mature one. |
Bible Answer: I have reproduced here a part of Kalos' response to Elice Fox' question: 'Can believers sin for extended periods of time? And how can such people know whether their sin is a temporary failure or proof that they are unsaved? Obviously even in Scripture we see that believers sometimes sin grievously and over long periods of time. David is one example (2 Samuel 11-12; Psalm 51); Lot is another (2 Peter 2:7-9). Christians who sin in such a fashion should not expect to enjoy assurance, however. Of course, true believers do not lose their salvation when they sin (cf. Romans 8:35-39), but even David testified that he had forfeited the joy of salvation (Psalm 51:12). We are urged in 2 Cor 13 (I think v5) to 'examine yourselves, test yourselves to discover whether you are in the faith'. I wouldn't go so far as to say 'of course' you don't lose your salvation when you sin - John's letters to the churches at Sardis and Laodicea are written to 'Christians' on the highway to hell because of their hypocritical lifestyle (and we all know from Mt 23 how Jesus felt about hypocrites). True salvation is evidenced by conduct; this conduct is weighed up by God over whatever time period He has allocated to you. Again, look at the way God assesses the churches in Revelation: He weighs their good conduct against their bad, and comes up with an assessment based on the balance of the two. John the Baptist said "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance" - true repentance (which is the foundation of salvation) is measured and evidenced by changed conduct and increasing fruitfulness. |