First John: 1 John 5:18-The Child of God’s New Divine Nature Never Sins and God Protects Him from the Devil Lesson # 204
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1 John 5:18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. (ESV)
1 John 5:18 Each and every person who has been fathered by God never commits sin. On the contrary, the one who has been fathered by God, He (God) protects him. Consequently, the evil one can never for his own benefit harm him. (My translation)
1 John 5:18 marks a transition in that it marks a change in the topic of discussion.
1 John 5:13-17 dealt with the prayer life of the believer while they are experiencing fellowship with God while 1 John 5:18-19 speaks of the child of God’s protection from Satan.
Verse 18 contains three declarative statements with a result clause following the second which stands in direct contrast with the first, which asserts that each and every person who has been fathered by God never commits sin.
This is the sixth time in First John that the apostle John has mentioned this concept or doctrine of being fathered by God (cf. 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4).
Actually, to be exact, it is the eighth and final time since this doctrine is mentioned twice in 1 John 3:9 and twice times in 1 John 5:1.
When John mentions the believer being “fathered by” God in 1 John 2:29, 3:9, 4:7, 5:1 and now 5:18, he is referring to the doctrine of regeneration.
John mentions this new spiritual birth in 1 John 3:9, 4:7, 5:1, 4 and 18.
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.
Now, the first assertion in 1 John 5:18 is stunning in that it states that each and every person who has been fathered by God “never commits sin.”
This assertion is echoing 1 John 3:9, which actually presents the reason why John assert that the person who has been fathered by God never commits sin.
He is speaking of the new divine nature which can never 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. (Author’s translation)
Therefore, in 1 John 3:9, we have two assertions.
The first asserts that every person who has been fathered by God never practices sin.
The second explains the first and teaches that this person has received the capacity to never sin because they have been fathered by God.
Now, both of these assertions would seem to indicate that a “true” believer can never sin.
This of course is false.
The believer can and does sin since they still retain an old indwelling Adamic sin nature after being declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
This old Adamic sin nature will be permanently eradicated from the life of the believer the moment they die or the moment of the rapture of the church when they receive a resurrection body which will be minus the old sin nature.
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.
This 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.
This again implies that the believer can and will sin.
So, what does John mean by these two assertions in 1 John 3:9 and what does he mean by the first assertion in 1 John 5:18 that the person fathered by God never commits sin?
The answer is found in the causal clause which follows the first assertion in 1 John 3:9, 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.
Therefore, the believer has two natures living in them, namely the old Adamic sin nature and the divine nature.
Every person in the human race received the former at the moment of physical birth.
Only those sinners who are declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ receive the new divine nature.
In his writings, the apostle Paul identifies the old Adamic sin nature as the “old man” or “old self” (cf. Rom. 6:6; Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9) and he calls the divine nature the “new self” (cf. Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10).
John’s first assertion in 1 John 3:6 helps us to understand in 1 John 3:9 in that the latter advances upon the former.
1 John 3:6 Anyone who does at any time live in fellowship with Him is never sinning. Anyone who does at any time sin, never sees Him, nor knows Him experientially. (Author’s translation)
Therefore, if we compare 1 John 3:6 with 1 John 3:9 and 5:18, John is teaching that the believer experiencing fellowship with God is living according to the desires of the Father’s nature and not committing sin.
On the other hand, if they are sinning, they are thus out of fellowship with because they are living according to the desires of the old Adamic nature.
The second assertion which appears in 1 John 5:18 presents an emphatic contrast with the first assertion.
The latter emphasizes that the child of God is no longer enslaved to sin and by implication Satan as well which is indicated by the second assertion.
The second assertion emphasizes that God protects the one fathered by Him, i.e. His children.
The emphatic contrast is implied from these two assertions.
It is a contrast between being enslaved to sin and Satan, which is referred to in 1 John 5:18 and this not being the case because one is a child of God.
The third and final assertion in 1 John 5:18 presents the result of the second and states that the evil one can ever for his own benefit harm the person who has been fathered by God, i.e. His child.
This is the fourth in First John in which the apostle John refers to the devil (cf. 1 John 2:13-14; 3:12; 4:4).
Four times, the apostle John has affirmed and commended the recipients of First John that they were experiencing victory over Satan in spiritual combat.
The first was in 1 John 2:13-14, 4:4, 5:4 and now 5:18.
1 John 5:18 echoes 1 John 5:4 in that both teach that the child of God is victorious over Satan and his world system and organization.