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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:
Hello Mark; That is good. I would like to know if you have some thoughts on why nearly all commentators and most pasters do not teach this aspect of the new birth? Actually, I believe it would be safe to say that the new birth itself is not taught today as it should be MJH |
Bible Answer: Hi MJH, I want to be clear for the sake of all what we are talking about. It is a common understanding that we are reborn to a new nature. What I have found to be less commonly understood is that that new nature is literally incapable of sinning, or turning away from God, and therefore is, and remains, holy and righteous. To you who have discussed this enough, and don't want to "rehash" it, just skip to the next post :-) As I have perused past discussions on this topic, this seems to not be part of them (admittedly I have not had the time for an exhaustive search of prev. posts). When I have discussed this on the forum, the responses I received (tho not all) tended against this view. Most people I have heard teach on 1 John 3:9 interpret it to mean not that the person who is born again does not commit a single act of sin, which is what this passage says, but that they do not "practice habitual sin", which would be included in the meaning, but is not what it says. Certainly the Holy Spirit could have said that if He wished. I know there are at least several participants on this forum who do understand this. I do not know why this is not commonly taught. Some may resist it because of this doctine's similarity to the Gnostic heresy, that the spirit is perfect, and unaffected by sin, and that the flesh doesn't matter, so sin all you want. You and I know that is not true. We are responsible for allowing sin to exist in our lives. I think some resist is it as being Calvinistic, because it logically follows that the saints perservere. If someone rejects Calvinism lock, stock, and barrel, then they may reject this teaching. To be sure, I can only speculate why people do what they do. This I know: When I understood this truth, it was liberating, empowering, and revolutionized my walk in Christ. Love in Christ, Mark |