7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
John points us back to beginning place of sin: in the heart and the pride of the devil. The devil tempted and led Adam and Eve into sin. But God didn’t just destroy the world and start all over again. Instead, he sent his Son to destroy the work of the devil. Mankind is corrupted by the devil’s work, by nature slaves of sin, death and the devil, but we are set free by Christ, who destroyed the devil’s work. Because we still live in the world, we still pray for God’s help in our daily struggle against sin. And whether we fight the devil or the corrupting temptations of sinful men, we can pray with David: “O Lord, by your hand save me from such men, from men of this world whose reward is this life.” (Psalm 17:14).
9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
This verse seems like it contradicts a verse like 1 John 1:8, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” But it doesn’t. Both that verse and this one aren’t about “sin” in general, as if we’re all in a classroom looking at a blackboard and talking about a theory of sin, listening to the clock tick and thinking about the bell about to ring. These things John writes are about actual sins we commit; things we have done that God condemns; things that the world would like to dismiss as “no big deal.” They are a big deal. Here in verse 9, the tenses of the verbs are vital to understanding what John means.
No one who is born of God involves the Greek perfect passive tense. The passive voice of the verb means that this is something God has done, not anything we have done: God is the one who makes us believers and who gives us faith. We don’t do it ourselves. The perfect tense of the verb means that this has already happened in the past, and the results continue even now. We have been “born of God,” made into God’s children, and we still are even as we speak.
will continue to sin involves a present tense verb, where the action of “sinning” is ongoing and keeps on happening. John isn’t saying that a Christian will never sin—that’s completely untrue until Judgment Day—but John is saying that a Christian will not live a life of sin; a Christian will not persist in a sin even when that sin has been pointed out to him.
Why is that? “Because God’s seed (that is, faith) remains in him.” That’s why a Christian “cannot go on sinning,” because the Law and Gospel work repentance in us, and we grieve over our sinfulness and run to the cross for forgiveness.
10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. (NIV)
John wraps up this test (obedience and faith) by showing that in a Christian the New Man will show itself in the course of a person’s life. The grief over sin will turn to repentance and the believer clings to God’s forgiveness through Christ.
Throughout our lives and even up to death, Christians continue to pray with David:
“And I—in righteousness I will see your face;
when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.” (Psalm 17:15)
Our Redeemer’s face: Don’t let anyone or anything keep you from seeing him. Trust in his forgiveness, and led him bring you safely home.
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn’s father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
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