1 John 5:10–21 (NKJV)
10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. 14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. 16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death. 18 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. 19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
What does it mean when John writes, “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin.” Does this mean the Christian never sins? Didn’t the same apostle write earlier in 1 John 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.” Which is it?
The answer is that the believer does not willfully sin. Those whom are born of God, regenerated by faith in Christ, who have the Holy Spirit and love God and their neighbor, do not intentionally consent to sin. We have sin. We acknowledge sin in our flesh. St. Paul calls it concupiscence—the inborn desire to sin. St. Paul complains of this inborn sin in Romans 7:18 when he says, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells.” St. James describes how the inborn sin in our flesh works. “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed” (James 1:14). The inborn sin remains in us though we are regenerated by faith. It taints our new obedience so that although we have the desire to fulfill God’s law and love our neighbor, we aren’t able to do either perfectly.
When the sin in our flesh entices us, we remember that we are born of God. James writes that “when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin” (James 1:15). Whoever is born of God does not let his own desires and enticements conceive and bring forth sin. Our goal is to stop temptation so that sin does not reign over us so that we do its will. John speaks so often about living in love because love is the opposite of every sin. Loving God and loving neighbor busies us with good works. We live in the new obedience of faith. Living in love keeps us away from willful sins and the wicked one doesn’t touch us. If we fall to temptation, we go back to 1 John 2:1.
Let us pray: Lord God, give us Your Holy Spirit so that faith and love reign in us today. Amen.
