WHAT CAN YOU KNOW? Devotion 22 of 32 "We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him." (1 John 5:18) JESUS EXPLAINS The doctrine is best explained by the words of our Lord. "Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree CANNOT bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit" (Matt 7:17-18). Will theological sophists read this to mean a good tree can occasionally produce bad fruit? Or that the good tree produces mostly good fruit? It may interest you to know that precisely the same original words are used in the Matthew text as in First John 3:9 (i.e., "cannot bring forth"). The nature of the "good tree" forbids the production of bad fruit. So the nature of "whoever is born of God" forbids the expression of sin. WALKING IN THE SPIRIT This same truth is taught elsewhere – namely that what is born of God does NOT commit sin. "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you SHALL NOT fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Gal 5:17, NKJV). Fulfilling the lust of the flesh is but another view of sinning. Are there any who care to affirm this means those walking in the Spirit will generally not fulfill the lust of the flesh, but occasionally may commit sin? Who will say that one can, in fact, "walk in the Spirit," and yet commit sin? Sin is always the result of walking in the flesh, and never occurs when we walk in the Spirit. You simply cannot walk in the Spirit and sin. -- Tomorrow:
This is a restatement of a most marvelous truth, and an enhancement of it as well. Earlier John wrote, "Whosoever is born of God DOTH NOT COMMIT SIN; for His seed remaineth in him: and he CANNOT SIN, because he is born of God" (3:9).
The "new man" is the subject of reference, not the total human personality, which is comprised of both the "old" and "new" man, or "spirit, soul, and body" (Eph 4:22-24; Col 3:9-10; 1 Thess 5:23). There is a "another law" in our members that wars against "the law of our mind" (Rom 7:23). But it is not part of, nor does it reside in, the "new man," or what is "born of God." It is true that "evil is present" with us (Rom 7:21). But it is not resident in the "Divine nature," of which we are made partakers (2 Pet 1:4). The part of you that is "in Christ" has no evil in it, and thus "cannot sin."
Those who insist on translating these verses (3:9; 4:18) "go on sinning" (NIV), or "makes a practice of sinning" (ESV), or "continues to sin" (NIV) or "does not have the habit of sin" (Robertson), have done us no favor. They argue from the imagined strength of the language tense (Linear present active indicative). But their argument is weak. The word for "commit" (3:9) is "poi-e-i" and is used thirty-two times in Scriptures. It does mean continual, or "from now on." However, the notion of "habit" is NOT resident in the word as used by the Spirit. The Spirit is NOT saying, "Whatever is born of God sins some, but not a lot," or "Whatever is born of God only sins once in a while." The idea is that the new nature itself cannot sin. What idea is quite clear in most of the translations: "cannot sin" (NKJV, NASB, NRSV, RSV, ASV), "is not able to be a sinner" (BBE), "committeth not sin" (DOUAY), "No one who is begotten of God commits sin" (NASB), "No one who is a child of God sins" (NJB), "doth not commit sin" (Webster), and "sin he doth not" (YLT). The notion that John merely means the one born of God does not sin continually, or without interruption, cannot be jammed into this text. It disrupts what the Spirit is saying.
"Whoever is born of God" is the "new creation" (2 Cor 5:17). It is the part of us that is "one spirit" with the Lord (1 Cor 6:17). It is the "new man" that is to be "put on" (Eph 4:24), and the "Divine nature" of which we are made partakers (2 Pet 1:4). THAT part of us "does not sin" (NKJV), else it would differ nothing from the flesh. What value is there in the new nature, if it also sins? If "Christ in you" (and Christ lives in us, Gal 2:20) can sin even a single time, what have we gained by being in Christ and He in us? Does Jesus in us sin once in a while? A little bit? Occasionally?
This is powerfully confirmed by James. "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (James 1:14-15). And, who is the fool who will affirm that the new nature desires to sin, or has lusts that lead to death? If such were the case, the "new creation" would not be new at all, but only a replication of the condemned old nature.
The believer is actually cast upon the horns of a dilemma. Within him are two competing natures, with two differing sets of desires and capabilities. They are the "flesh" and the "Spirit" (Rom 8:9-10), the "new man" and the "old man" (Eph 4:22-24; Col 3:9-10), the "law of the spirit of life" and the "law of sin and death" (Rom 8:2). There are unalterable laws associated with these two natures – things that cannot be controverted. "For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (Rom 8:13, NKJV).
Our text is confirming to our hearts the absolute surety and safety of walking in the Spirit and putting on the new man. While none of us can boast of being perfect in this area, all of us can truthfully say any transgression found in us is traced back to the "old man," and never to the "new man." Whatever is born of God does not commit sin. However, alas, whatever is born of the flesh does – and, as long as we are in this world, we carry both of these within us.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask that You strengthen me to walk in the power of the new man, and energetically put off the old man, who cannot stop from sinning.