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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. |
Subject: Why this is not taught? |
Bible Note: Greetings Pastor Glenn! I'm not sure that they present so much a struggle as a choice. Rom. 6, 8, and Gal. 5, and 6 all make it clear that a Christian has a choice to serve either the flesh or the Spirit. However, the point of contention is the identity of the person in Rom. 7, who is described as a 'slave to sin'. This directly contradicts Romans 6 where we are told that we are no longer slaves to sin. So, much approach is to say that Romans 7 describes a religious Jew (Paul), who wanted to obey God's Law but could not because of his sin nature. Romans 6 and 8 describe a Christian, who can choice to obey or not. To your list of Scriptures above, I would add Rom. 8:9, "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ." The word translated as 'sinful nature' by the NIV is the same word used in Rom. 8:4, 5, 6, and 7 in your list above as 'flesh'. This would certainly indicate to me that while a believer can give into the flesh, he is no longer a slave to it. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |