First John: 1 John 3:9-The Child of God Received a New Divine Nature at Justification Which Can Never Sin Lesson # 112
First John • Sermon • Submitted • 1:01:38
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1 John 3:9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. (ESV)
“No one born of God makes a practice of sinning” is composed of the following: (1) nominative masculine singular form of the adjective pas (πᾶς), “no one” (2) articular nominative masculine singular perfect passive participle form of the verb gennaō (γεννάω), “born” (3) preposition ek (ἐκ), “of” (4) articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun theos (θεός), “God” (5) accusative feminine singular form of the noun hamartia (ἁμαρτία), “of sinning” (6) emphatic negative adverb ou (οὔ), “no one” (7) third person singular present active indicative form of the verb poieō (ποιέω), “makes a practice.”
The nominative masculine singular form of the adjective pas means “any one, any person, everyone, every person” since the word pertains to any one of a totality.
The verb gennaō here in 1 John 3:9 means “to father, to become the father or” since the word is ascribing in a spiritual or figurative sense the action of a male parent and pertains to causing the conception and birth of a child.
Here the word refers to the act of God the Father fathering those sinners who He declared justified and regenerated by the Spirit through faith in His Son Jesus Christ in the sense of causing their regeneration and birth as His child.
The noun theos refers to the Father which is indicated by the word’s articular construction which in the New Testament commonly signifies the first member of the Trinity unless otherwise indicated by the context.
This word is the object of the preposition ek which means “by” since the word functions as a marker of means with the implication of something proceeding from or out of the source.
The noun hamartia is used with reference to mental, verbal and overt acts of personal sin from the perspective that these acts miss the mark of the absolute perfection of God’s character, i.e. His holiness.
The verb poieō means, “to practice” and its object is the articular accusative feminine singular form of the noun hamartia, “of sinning” and its meaning is emphatically negated by the emphatic negative adverb ou, which expresses an absolute, direct and full negation.
The present tense of the verb poieō is a gnomic present which is used to express an absolute statement that is true all the time, namely that that every person who has been fathered by God never “as an eternal spiritual truth” practices sin.
“For God’s seed abides in him” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction hoti (ὅτι), “for” (2) nominative neuter singular form of the noun sperma (σπέρμα), “seed” (3) genitive third person masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “God’s” (4) preposition en (ἐν), “in” (5) dative third person masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “him” (6) third person singular present active indicative form of the verb menō (μένω), “abides.”
The conjunction hoti is employed with the indicative mood of the verb menō, “abides” in order to form a causal clause which presents the reason for the previous assertion that every person who has been fathered by God never practices sin.
The noun sperma is used in a figurative sense and means “imparted nature” since the words pertains to the principle of life implanted by the Spirit at the moment of justification through regeneration.
The verb menō means “to live” since the word is expressing the idea of the Father’s nature being alive in the believer in that His nature is dwelling in them.
“And he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (2) emphatic negative adverb ou (οὔ), “he cannot” (3) third person singular present middle indicative form of the verb dunamai (δύναμαι), “he cannot” (4) present active infinitive form of the verb hamartanō (ἁμαρτάνω), “keep on sinning” (5) conjunction hoti (ὅτι), “because” (6) preposition ek (ἐκ), “of” (7) articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun theos (θεός), “of God” (8) third person singular perfect passive indicative form of the verb gennaō (γεννάω), “ he has been born.”
The conjunction kai means “specifically” since the word is epexegetical meaning that it introduces an assertion which identifies specifically what John means by the previous assertion that every person who has been fathered by God never practices sin because the Father’s nature lives in them.
The verb dunamai is in the passive voice and means, “to receive the capacity to do something” and its meaning is emphatically negated by the emphatic negative adverb ou which is used to deny the reality of an alleged fact and is the clear cut, point-blank negative, and objective, final.
The passive voice of the verb dunamai means that the believer has received from God the capacity to never sin.
The verb hamartanō means, “to sin” referring to any mental, verbal or overt act of sin that is contrary to the will and law of God.
This word is in the infinitive form and functions semantically as a complementary infinitive which would indicate that this infinitive is identifying specifically what the person fathered by God has received the capacity to never do.
The conjunction hoti is employed with the indicative mood of the verb gennaō, “he has been born” in order to form a causal clause which presents the reason for the previous assertion that the person who has been fathered by God and possesses His nature has received the capacity to never exist in the state of committing sin.
1 John 3:9 Every person who has been fathered by God never practices sin because His nature lives in him. In other words, he has received the capacity to never sin because he has been fathered by God. (My translation)
The apostle John is solemnly presenting to the recipients of First John another eternal spiritual truth or spiritual axiom which is related to their being children of God through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.
He asserts that every person who has been fathered by God never practices sin because the Father’s nature lives in them.
This person fathered by God are those sinners who have been declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ and as a result of have been regenerated by the Spirit.
John then explains what he means by this first assertion by teaching that the believer has received the capacity to never sin because they have been fathered by God.
The concept of being fathered by God is first mentioned by John in this epistle in 1 John 2:29.
When John mentions the believer being “fathered by” God in 1 John 2:29 and 3:9, he is referring to the doctrine of regeneration, which is one of seven ministries the Holy Spirit performs on behalf of every believer the moment they are declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
John mentions this new spiritual birth in 1 John 3:9, 4:7, 5:1, 4 and 18 and he also mentions this doctrine in his gospel (cf. John 1:12-13; 3:3-8).
“Regeneration” refers to the spiritual birth of the sinner who is declared justified by the Father through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.
It takes place at the moment of conversion when the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit appropriates for the sinner justified by faith in Jesus Christ, the benefits of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection (cf. John 1:12; 3:1-8; Titus 3:4-5; 1 Pet. 1:3; 1 John 5:1).
In 1 John 3:9, when John refers to the Father’s nature indwelling the believer, he is referring to the believer’s new nature, which Paul mentions in his writings, which he describes as the “new self, new man, newness of life, new creation” (cf. Gal. 3:27; 1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 5:17; Col. 3:10; 2 Pet. 1:4).
Now, both of these assertions would seem to indicate that a “true” believer can never sin, and this of course is false.
That the believer can and does sin is indicated by John’s statements in 1 John 1:5-2:2.
He teaches in 1 John 1:9 that if the believer confesses their sins to the Father, the Father is faithful and just to forgive them these sins which of course implies that they can and will sin.
He teaches that in 1 John 1:10 that if the believer enters into the claim that they have never sinned, then they are making God out to be a liar, which clearly implies that the believer can and will sin.
Furthermore, in 1 John 2:1, John teaches that he wrote 1 John 1:5-10 so that the recipients of First John would not enter into committing sin.
However, he says that if they do sin, they possess an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one, which again implies that the believer can and will sin.
So, what does John mean by these two assertions in 1 John 3:9?
The answer is found in the causal clause which follows the first assertion, which identifies the Father’s nature living in the believer as the reason why every person fathered by God never practices sin.
Since the Father can never sin, His nature living in the believer can never sin.
Therefore, when John speaks of never practicing sin or never committing sin, he is referring to the Father’s nature living in the believer as never being able to sin or never committing sin.
The believer has received from God at the moment of justification the capacity to never sin when they were regenerated by the Spirit because they received at that moment the new divine nature which can never sin.