Practicing Righteousness or Sin is a Result of Paternity
3:1 Look at the kind of love the Father has given to us, that we are called God’s children. And we really are! Because of this the world does not know us. And it is no wonder, because it did not know Him.
3:2 Beloved, right now we are God’s children, and exactly what we will be has not yet been revealed. But we know that when ˹Christ˺ is revealed, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3:3 And everyone who has such hope fixed on ˹Christ˺, purifies himself, just as He is pure.
3:4 Everyone who practices sin is also rebelling against God. In fact, sin is rebellion against God. 3:5 And you know that ˹Christ˺ was revealed to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. 3:6 Everyone who abides in ˹Christ˺ does not sin. Everyone who sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
3:7 Little children, don’t let anyone deceive you. The one who practices righteousness is righteous just as ˹Christ˺ is righteous. 3:8 The one who practices sin is the Devil’s offspring, because the Devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God was revealed was to destroy the works of the Devil.
3:9 Everyone who has been born of God does not practice sin because ˹God’s˺ offspring abide in Him, and he is not able to sin because he has been born of God. 3:10 By this it is clear who God’s children are and who the Devil’s children are. Everyone who does not practice righteousness is not God’s offspring, to be specific, the one who does not love his fellow believer.
Translation by the author from the SBL Greek New Testament.
Summary of Verses 3:1-10
In this unit, John explains that practicing righteousness or practicing sin is a result of “paternity”. God’s children purify themselves (3:3). The Devil’s offspring practice sin (3:8). One can identify God’s children and the Devil’s children by their actions.
Click here for a full outline of First John.
Verse 3:9
Structure
Verse 3:9 has a chiasmic structure in the Greek which is illustrated below. The mirrored parts are highlighted in identical colors.
Greek word order:
A πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος
B ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ
C ἁμαρτίαν
D οὐ ποιεῖ
Focus: ὅτι σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ μένει
D’ καὶ οὐ δύναται
C’ ἁμαρτάνειν
B’ ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ
A’ γεγέννηται
English translation following Greek word order:
A Everyone who has been born
B of God
C sin
D does not practice
Focus: because ˹God’s˺ offspring abide in Him
D’ and he is not able
C’ to sin
B’ because of God
A’ he has been born
Everyone who has been born of God does not practice sin…
“born of God” means to exist in a new spiritual life brought about by God.
John uses the phrase “born of God” ten times in First John as listed below. Every usage is in reference to the behavior of those born of God.
2:29 – practice righteousness
3:9 (x2) – do not practice sin
4:7 – love one another
5:1 (x3) – believe that Jesus is the Christ
5:4 – overcome the world
5:18 (x2) – do not sin
In this verse, John says that the person born of God “does not practice sin“. This statement causes interpretative problems since the experience of all Christians is that they do sin, and John admits to this fact in 1 John 1:8-10 and 2:1. To resolve this problem, many commentators assign the present tense verb “to sin” a durative or progressive force. For example, Colin Kruse explains that “the author uses a present-tense form of the infinitive “to sin”, indicating that it is sinning as an ongoing action that he has in mind here as impossible for those born of God” [KRUSE p. 134]. In other words, everyone who has been born of God does not habitually sin, even though they may occasionally sin. They do not live in sin, or as John says elsewhere, they do not walk in the darkness (1 John 1:6).
Another way to understand this statement is to see it as a simple conditional statement of fact, thus: “If someone has been born of God they do not sin.” Why? Because they abide in God, as the next phrase explains. This is similar to what is stated in verse 3:6 [link to post] – to the extent that one abides in God, one does not sin. Sin is not compatible with abiding.
The bottom line is that the one who abides in God can enjoy freedom from sin. But this kind of life is only available by abiding. And if that person does sin, he or she can confess the sin and be cleansed (1:9).
because ˹God’s˺ offspring abide in Him,
Scholars are divided on how the original Greek text of this phrase (ὅτι σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ μένει) / hoti sperma autou en autō menei) should be understood and translated. The difference depends on the meaning assigned to the word σπέρμα / sperma. The word can refer to offspring like children or descendants (the product of propagation), or to seed like plant seed or semen (source of propagation). Below are the two translation options for this phrase (highlighted) in verse 3:9:
A. If σπέρμα / sperma means offspring (option used in my translation):
3:9 Everyone who has been born of God does not practice sin because ˹God’s˺ offspring abide in Him, and he is not able to sin because he has been born of God.
In this translation, the underlined pronoun Him refers to God, so God’s offspring abide in God. The offspring of God cannot live in sin because they abide in Him. Offspring reflect the nature of the parent.
In favor of this translation is the fact that in the other four instances where John uses the word sperma in his writings, it refers to offspring or descendants (John 7:42; John 8:33, John 8:37; Revelation 12:17), not to seed.
B. If σπέρμα / sperma means seed (alternate translation):
3:9 Everyone who has been born of God does not practice sin because ˹God’s˺ seed abides in him, and he is not able to sin because he has been born of God.
In this translation, the underlined pronoun him refers to the believer, so God’s seed abides in the believer.
Scholars who prefer this translation debate the question of what “seed” refers to. Possibilities include the Holy Spirit who brings about the new birth and lives in the believer, Christ, the word of God, the Gospel message, the anointing mentioned in verse 2:27, or God’s nature implanted in the believer through the new birth.
Per this translation, believers do not sin because of some divine agent that abides in them. The believer does not live in sin because he has God’s nature.
The bottom line, regardless of how the phrase is understood, is that believers do not practice sin, either because they abide in God, or because His nature abides in them. Both ideas are true and found in other places in the Bible.
and he is not able to sin because he has been born of God.
This phrase does not refer to sinless perfection. Rather the present tense of the verb “to sin” again probably has a durative or progressive force so that the idea is, “he is not able to live in sin because he has been born of God“. As S. M. Baugh explains in his reader: “1 John 3:9 expresses the fact that the Christian is prevented by the new birth and the abiding presence of God from falling into persistent sin.” [BAUGH p. 52]
[For a brief but good discussion on verbal aspect related to understanding this verse see “The Present Infinitive and Perfectionism”, BAUGH p. 50-52.]
Verse 3:10
Verse 3:10 brings this unit (3:1-10) to a conclusion and furnishes a transition to the next unit (3:11-18) where John will develop the idea that righteousness is expressed in loving others.
By this…
It is difficult to determine whether the words “by this” refer back to verse 3:9, refer to all that was stated in this unit so far (3:1-9), or refer ahead to the next phrase in verse 3:10.
it is clear who God’s children are and who the Devil’s children are.
Regardless of what “by this” refers to, the point is the same: Living righteously or living sinfully clearly identifies God’s children and the Devil’s children. Family membership is revealed through actions.
Everyone who does not practice righteousness is not God’s offspring,
In this statement, John provides a clear test to determine family membership.
The phrase “God’s offspring” expresses source or origin and implies derived character, moral values, or behavior because of the familial relationship. The one who does not practice righteous is in is not an offspring of God and does not act like Him.
to be specific, the one who does not love his fellow believer.
Here John sharpens the focus of the previous statement. Love is the true test of righteous behavior. As Glenn Barker explains in his commentary, John “is not stressing absolute moral conformity or ‘sinless perfection’ but the one requirement by which all other requirements are measured – love for one’s brother… One either loves his brother and proves he is God’s child or does not love his brother and proves he belongs to the Devil.” [BARKER p. 333] In one sense, John defines living righteously as loving others.
John highlights the love command just as he did in the previous proclamation section:
- God is Light – Evidence that one is abiding in the light is love for fellow believers (2:10).
- God is Righteous – Evidence that one is living righteously is love for fellow believers (3:10).
Go back to Verses 3:7-8
Go forward to Verses 3:11-15
Your Personal Study
Read First John 3:11-18 below and answer the questions which focus on verses 11 to 15.
3:11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
3:12 We should not love like Cain. He was an offspring of the Evil One, and violently killed his brother. Why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous. 3:13 So, fellow believers, don’t be surprised if the world hates you.
3:14 Because we love fellow believers, we know that we have passed out of death into life. The one who does not love abides in death. 3:15 Everyone who hates his fellow believer is a murderer, and you know that absolutely no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
3:16 This is how we know what love is: ˹Christ˺ laid down His life for us. So, we also ought to lay down our lives for fellow believers. 3:17 But whoever has a means of living, and sees his fellow believer in need, and closes his heart to him, how can God’s kind of love abide in that person?
3:18 Little children, let us not love by merely talking about it, rather let us love through actions consistent with the truth.
1. When John says in verse 3:11 that “we should love one another“, who specifically does “one another” refer to? Why do you think John restricts the group of people included in “one another“?
2. Who is given as the negative example of love? Who is given as the positive example of love?
3. Did Cain become evil by murdering, or did he murder because he was evil?
4. Should believers expect to be hated by the world? Why?
5. Brotherly love is evidence that a person has ________________________________.
6. What is true about you if you love fellow believers?
7. What is true about you if you hate fellow believers?
8. The disruptors in John’s church were teaching false doctrine and trying to lead believers away from the truth. How is this like murder?
First John Translation.
First John Translation with Outline and Notes.
Bibliography of source information used for this series of posts.
Title Slide Image Credit: First John in Codex Alexandrinus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Unless otherwise noted, English translations of Bible verses are by the author from the Greek text and are not quotations from any copyrighted Bible version or translation.
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