electedbyhim
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1Jn 3:6 No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or has come to know Him.
1 John was written for several reasons for those in Christ including, a refutation of the heretical views of Gnosticism, for reassurance to genuine believers about eternal life and tests about true salvation.
Many have tried to twist the meaning of 1 John, specifically the teaching of sin (1 John 3:6)
In my studies over the years of this text, most commentators agree that it is talking about those who are in habitual or a lifestyle of sin. Although I do not understand the Koine Greek as originally penned, the Lord has given us Holy Spirit to understand and put men in position as Pastors and Theologians that use these gofts for the glory of God
There are many who claim if a Christian sins at all, that they were never truly saved in the first place. They teach if we have sin then we are condoning and justifying sin. I do not believe that is what this passage teaches or even the entirety of the Bible teaches this.
When the Lord saved me, some many years ago, one of the first things I did daily was immerse myself in His word. I also asked the Lord for understanding of the Scriptures and for spiritual blessings.
1 John 3:6 was a huge concern for me, and I will be honest, as a new believer, I was scared that I was not truly saved. The fact that the more I read the word of God, the more sin I saw in my life.
Through prayer and diligent study of 1 John I started looking into Biblical commentaries.
I would like to share some comments on this verse with those that want to understand what it really means.
The following was taken from Logos 10 and Preceptaustin (link)
1 John 3:6 No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or has come to know Him. LSB
Greek - pas o en auto menon (PAPMSN) ouch hamartanei (3SPAI) pas o hamartanon (PAPMSN) ouch eoraken (3SRAI) auton oude egnoken (3SRAI) auton .
YLT - every one who is remaining in him doth not (ou) sin; every one who is sinning, hath not (ou) seen him, nor (oude) known him.
Comment: From Young's Literal translation it is easy to see John's three negatives and it is notable that all three in Greek signify absolute negation or categorical denial of what follows! John is saying that the one who abides in Christ is one who absolutely does not manifest a lifestyle of continual, habitual, unabated sin. To the contrary, if one continually lives a life of sin, in simple terms, they don't really know Jesus. Regardless of what they profess, they are not truly born again! They may cry "Lord, Lord" (Mt 7:22-note) but they do not continually do the will of the Father in heaven (Mt 7:21-note). Beloved, do not be deceived! Genuine salvation results in a new creation, a new lifestyle, a new direction. No it is not perfection, but it is a new direction!
1John 5:18 makes a similar statement in the first clause…
We know that no one who is born of God sins (present tense); but He who was born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him. (1John 5:18)
No one who abides in Him sins - If we abide in Christ, we cannot live in sin! Sin is no longer our master. Genuine believers cannot live a lifestyle of sin.
C H Spurgeon's approach of letting the plain sense of the text speak plainly! - This plain, simple verse, has been twisted by some who believe in the doctrine of perfection, and they have made it declare that it is possible for some to abide in Christ, and therefore not to sin. But you will remark that it does not say, that some that abide in Christ do not sin; but it says that none who abide in Christ sin. "Whosoever abides in Him does not sin." Therefore this passage is not to be applied to a few who attain to what is called by our Arminian friends the fourth degree—perfection; but it appertains to all believers; and of every soul in Christ it may be said, that he does not sin. In reading the Bible, we read it simply as we would read another book. We ought not to read it as a preacher his text, with the intention of making something out of every word; but we should read it as we find it written: "Whosoever abides in Christ does not sin." Now we are sure that cannot mean that he does not sin at all, but it means that sins not habitually, he sins not designedly, he sins not finally, so as to perish. The Bible often calls a man righteous; but that does not mean that he is perfectly righteous. It calls a man a sinner, but it does not imply that he may not have done some good deeds in his life; it means that that is the man's general character. So with the man who abides in Christ: his general character is not that he is a sinner, but that he is a saint—he sins not openly and willfully before men. In his own heart, he has much to confess, but his life before his fellow creatures is such a one that it can be said of him: "Whosoever abides in Him does not sin; but whosoever sins [the sins of this world. in which the multitude indulge] hath not seen him, neither known him."
Wuest who is well known for his expert writings on the Greek comments that "The words abides and sins are used here to designate a certain class of individual. Character is shown by one’s habitual actions, not the extraordinary ones. The tense of the verbs is present, the kind of action, continuous, habitual. Thus, “every one who habitually is abiding in Him,” is a saved person, and, “every one who habitually is sinning,” an unsaved person. A Christian as a habit of life is abiding in fellowship with the Lord Jesus. Sin may at times enter his life. But sin is the exception, not the rule. The unsaved person as a habit of life sins continually. “Sins” is present tense, continuous action being indicated. The person who is abiding in Christ is not habitually sinning. The child of God as a habit of life, does righteousness, and sin is not a habit with him. John is not teaching sinless perfection here. Vincent says: “John does not teach that believers do not sin, but is speaking of a character, a habit. Throughout the Epistle, he deals with the ideal reality of life in God, in which the love of God and sin exclude each other as light and darkness.” He does not deny that a Christian sins at times. Indeed he admits the possibility of sin in the Christian’s life in 1Jn 1:9-note, and forbids sin in 1Jn 2:1-note. What John denies here is that a Christian sins habitually. He denies that the life of a Christian is wholly turned towards sin as is that of the unsaved person. (Word Studies from the Greek New Testament) (Bolding added)
In spite of the numerous interpretations of this passage, a true understanding of John’s meaning is not difficult to apprehend. The correct view of John’s references here to believers’ not sinning derives from an accurate understanding of the Greek tenses. In this passage the verbs related to sin are all in the present tense, indicating continuous, habitual action. In other words, John is not referring to occasional acts of sin, but to established and continual patterns of sinful behavior. Believers will sometimes sin (Rom. 7:14–25)—even willfully—but they will not and cannot sin habitually, persistently, and as a way of life (cf. Rom. 6:4–14; Gal. 5:24; Eph. 2:10).[1]
I am not a very articulate man in what I write, but I do try to convey my thoughts on paper (the screen).
Please forgive any english and grammatical errors.
1 John was written for several reasons for those in Christ including, a refutation of the heretical views of Gnosticism, for reassurance to genuine believers about eternal life and tests about true salvation.
Many have tried to twist the meaning of 1 John, specifically the teaching of sin (1 John 3:6)
In my studies over the years of this text, most commentators agree that it is talking about those who are in habitual or a lifestyle of sin. Although I do not understand the Koine Greek as originally penned, the Lord has given us Holy Spirit to understand and put men in position as Pastors and Theologians that use these gofts for the glory of God
There are many who claim if a Christian sins at all, that they were never truly saved in the first place. They teach if we have sin then we are condoning and justifying sin. I do not believe that is what this passage teaches or even the entirety of the Bible teaches this.
When the Lord saved me, some many years ago, one of the first things I did daily was immerse myself in His word. I also asked the Lord for understanding of the Scriptures and for spiritual blessings.
1 John 3:6 was a huge concern for me, and I will be honest, as a new believer, I was scared that I was not truly saved. The fact that the more I read the word of God, the more sin I saw in my life.
Through prayer and diligent study of 1 John I started looking into Biblical commentaries.
I would like to share some comments on this verse with those that want to understand what it really means.
The following was taken from Logos 10 and Preceptaustin (link)
1 John 3:6 No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or has come to know Him. LSB
Greek - pas o en auto menon (PAPMSN) ouch hamartanei (3SPAI) pas o hamartanon (PAPMSN) ouch eoraken (3SRAI) auton oude egnoken (3SRAI) auton .
YLT - every one who is remaining in him doth not (ou) sin; every one who is sinning, hath not (ou) seen him, nor (oude) known him.
Comment: From Young's Literal translation it is easy to see John's three negatives and it is notable that all three in Greek signify absolute negation or categorical denial of what follows! John is saying that the one who abides in Christ is one who absolutely does not manifest a lifestyle of continual, habitual, unabated sin. To the contrary, if one continually lives a life of sin, in simple terms, they don't really know Jesus. Regardless of what they profess, they are not truly born again! They may cry "Lord, Lord" (Mt 7:22-note) but they do not continually do the will of the Father in heaven (Mt 7:21-note). Beloved, do not be deceived! Genuine salvation results in a new creation, a new lifestyle, a new direction. No it is not perfection, but it is a new direction!
1John 5:18 makes a similar statement in the first clause…
We know that no one who is born of God sins (present tense); but He who was born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him. (1John 5:18)
No one who abides in Him sins - If we abide in Christ, we cannot live in sin! Sin is no longer our master. Genuine believers cannot live a lifestyle of sin.
C H Spurgeon's approach of letting the plain sense of the text speak plainly! - This plain, simple verse, has been twisted by some who believe in the doctrine of perfection, and they have made it declare that it is possible for some to abide in Christ, and therefore not to sin. But you will remark that it does not say, that some that abide in Christ do not sin; but it says that none who abide in Christ sin. "Whosoever abides in Him does not sin." Therefore this passage is not to be applied to a few who attain to what is called by our Arminian friends the fourth degree—perfection; but it appertains to all believers; and of every soul in Christ it may be said, that he does not sin. In reading the Bible, we read it simply as we would read another book. We ought not to read it as a preacher his text, with the intention of making something out of every word; but we should read it as we find it written: "Whosoever abides in Christ does not sin." Now we are sure that cannot mean that he does not sin at all, but it means that sins not habitually, he sins not designedly, he sins not finally, so as to perish. The Bible often calls a man righteous; but that does not mean that he is perfectly righteous. It calls a man a sinner, but it does not imply that he may not have done some good deeds in his life; it means that that is the man's general character. So with the man who abides in Christ: his general character is not that he is a sinner, but that he is a saint—he sins not openly and willfully before men. In his own heart, he has much to confess, but his life before his fellow creatures is such a one that it can be said of him: "Whosoever abides in Him does not sin; but whosoever sins [the sins of this world. in which the multitude indulge] hath not seen him, neither known him."
Wuest who is well known for his expert writings on the Greek comments that "The words abides and sins are used here to designate a certain class of individual. Character is shown by one’s habitual actions, not the extraordinary ones. The tense of the verbs is present, the kind of action, continuous, habitual. Thus, “every one who habitually is abiding in Him,” is a saved person, and, “every one who habitually is sinning,” an unsaved person. A Christian as a habit of life is abiding in fellowship with the Lord Jesus. Sin may at times enter his life. But sin is the exception, not the rule. The unsaved person as a habit of life sins continually. “Sins” is present tense, continuous action being indicated. The person who is abiding in Christ is not habitually sinning. The child of God as a habit of life, does righteousness, and sin is not a habit with him. John is not teaching sinless perfection here. Vincent says: “John does not teach that believers do not sin, but is speaking of a character, a habit. Throughout the Epistle, he deals with the ideal reality of life in God, in which the love of God and sin exclude each other as light and darkness.” He does not deny that a Christian sins at times. Indeed he admits the possibility of sin in the Christian’s life in 1Jn 1:9-note, and forbids sin in 1Jn 2:1-note. What John denies here is that a Christian sins habitually. He denies that the life of a Christian is wholly turned towards sin as is that of the unsaved person. (Word Studies from the Greek New Testament) (Bolding added)
In spite of the numerous interpretations of this passage, a true understanding of John’s meaning is not difficult to apprehend. The correct view of John’s references here to believers’ not sinning derives from an accurate understanding of the Greek tenses. In this passage the verbs related to sin are all in the present tense, indicating continuous, habitual action. In other words, John is not referring to occasional acts of sin, but to established and continual patterns of sinful behavior. Believers will sometimes sin (Rom. 7:14–25)—even willfully—but they will not and cannot sin habitually, persistently, and as a way of life (cf. Rom. 6:4–14; Gal. 5:24; Eph. 2:10).[1]
I am not a very articulate man in what I write, but I do try to convey my thoughts on paper (the screen).
Please forgive any english and grammatical errors.
