{"id":14261,"date":"2022-08-21T15:07:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-21T19:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/?p=14261"},"modified":"2022-08-21T15:07:00","modified_gmt":"2022-08-21T19:07:00","slug":"1-john-39-can-a-true-christian-sin-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/1-john-39-can-a-true-christian-sin-or-not\/","title":{"rendered":"1 John 3:9 – Can a true Christian sin or not?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Problem:<\/strong> Some verses seem to say that a Christian cannot sin, but others are clear that, while Christians ought not to sin, they still do. Is this a contradiction? How do we reconcile these verses? Can a Christian sin and still be Christian?
\n
\nSolution:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, a true Christian can sin<\/p>\n

1 John 1:8-10\u201cIf we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us,\u201d (NASB)
\n\u201cIf we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us,\u201d (NKJV)
\nNo, a true Christian cannot sin<\/p>\n

1 John 3:9,\u201cNo one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God,\u201d (NASB)
\n\u201cWhoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God,\u201d (NKJV)
\n1 John 5:18,\u201cWe know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him,\u201d (NASB)
\n\u201cWe 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,\u201d (NKJV)<\/p>\n

Is John contradicting himself when he says in one verse that if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves (1 John 1:8), and yet he also says the one who is a Christian cannot sin (1 John 3:9; 5:18 NKJV)?\u00a0 There is no contradiction, but to see why we will need to look at the original Greek language.<\/p>\n

The Greek of 1 John 3:9 and 1 John 5:18<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Analysis: Can a Christian Sin?<\/p>\n

I have bolded the words above on which I would like to focus. In 1 John 3:9, the Greek word \u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03b5\u1fd6 (poiei) means to do, to practice. The V3SPAI is shorthand for Verb, 3rd Person Singular, Present, Active, Indicative. Likewise, VPAN means, Verb, Present, Active, Indicative.<\/p>\n

\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03ad\u03c9a: a marker of an agent relation with a numerable event\u2014\u2018to do, to perform, to practice, to make.\u2019 \u03b4\u03b9\u03b4\u03ac\u03c3\u03ba\u03c9\u03bd \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03c0\u03bf\u03c1\u03b5\u03af\u03b1\u03bd \u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03bf\u03cd\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 \u03b5\u1f30\u03c2 \u0399\u03b5\u03c1\u03bf\u03c3\u03cc\u03bb\u03c5\u03bc\u03b1 \u2018teaching as he made a journey to Jerusalem\u2019 Lk 13:22; \u03bf\u1f31 \u03bc\u03b1\u03b8\u03b7\u03c4\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f38\u03c9\u03ac\u03bd\u03bd\u03bf\u03c5 \u03bd\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5\u03cd\u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd \u03c0\u03c5\u03ba\u03bd\u1f70 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03b4\u03b5\u03ae\u03c3\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2 \u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03bf\u1fe6\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 \u2018John\u2019s disciples often fast and pray\u2019 Lk 5:33; \u03c4\u1ff7 \u03c3\u1ff7 \u1f40\u03bd\u03cc\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b9 \u03b4\u03c5\u03bd\u03ac\u03bc\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2 \u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03bb\u1f70\u03c2 \u1f10\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03ae\u03c3\u03b1\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd \u2018in your name we did many miracles\u2019 Mt 7:22; \u03c0\u03af\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5\u03b9 \u03c0\u03b5\u03c0\u03bf\u03af\u03b7\u03ba\u03b5\u03bd \u03c4\u1f78 \u03c0\u03ac\u03c3\u03c7\u03b1 \u2018by faith he performed the Passover\u2019 Heb 11:28.\u201d Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 1: Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (803). New York: United Bible societies.<\/p>\n

So we see that the word means to do, to practice. But that isn\u2019t all. In Greek, like English, there are verb tenses: past, present, future. But in Greek, the present tense is not quite the same as the English. Instead, it is more of continuous action.<\/p>\n

Present tense: \u201cThe verb tense where the writer portrays an action in process or a state of being with no assessment of the action\u2019s completion.\u201d Heiser, M. S. (2005; 2005). Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology. Logos Bible Software.<\/p>\n

Finally, in 1 John 3:9 we see an infinitive form of a verb. The infinitive is \u201cto go,\u201d \u201cto see,\u201d \u201cto eat,\u201d etc. This is important.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he cannot sin (\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03bf\u1f50 \u03b4\u03c5\u03bd\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 \u1f01\u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd [kai ou dunatai hamartanein]). This is a wrong translation, for this English naturally means \u201cand he cannot commit sin\u201d as if it were \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03bf\u1f50 \u03b4\u03c5\u03bd\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 \u1f01\u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd [kai ou dunatai hamartein] or \u1f01\u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03b7\u03c3\u03b1\u03b9 [hamart\u0113sai] (second aorist or first aorist active infinitive). The present active infinitive \u1f01\u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd [hamartanein] can only mean \u201cand he cannot go on sinning,\u201d as is true of \u1f01\u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd\u03b5\u03b9 [hamartanei] in verse 8 and \u1f01\u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd\u03c9\u03bd [hamartan\u014dn] in verse 6.A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Vol. V c1932, Vol. VI c1933 by Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.; Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 1 Jn 3:9.<\/p>\n

Thus, in the verses that seem to imply that a Christian cannot ever sin, John isn\u2019t really addressing the question \u201ccan a Christian sin?\u201d but rather \u201ccan a Christian live continuously in a pattern of unrepentant sin?\u201d
\nConclusion<\/p>\n

There is no contradiction. What is happening is that John is saying that the one who is born again does not habitually abide in sin. He may fall into it, but he does not practice it as a lifestyle. The nuances of the Greek language are not carried over to the English, but when we understand what is happening, we then see there is no problem.<\/p>\n

Finally, any Christian who would say that he does not sin anymore fails to agree with 1 John 1:8 which says, \u201cIf we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.\u201d He would then be self-deceived. Can a Christian sin? Yes. But the Spirit will continue to work in and through that sin as we battle it day by day. We won\u2019t be sin\u2019s continuous slaves.<\/p>\n

References
\nReferences 1\u2191 Nestle, E., & McReynolds, P. R. (1997). Nestle-Aland 26th Edition Greek New Testament with McReynolds English Interlinear
\n2\u2191 ibid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Problem: Some verses seem to say that a Christian cannot sin, but others are clear that, while Christians ought not to sin, they still do. Is this a contradiction? How do we reconcile these verses? Can a Christian sin and still be Christian?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[22,8,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-errors","category-bible-study","category-bible-teaching","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14261\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}