1 John 3:9

9. This is the opposite of 1 John 3:8, as 1 John 3:8 of 1 John 3:7; but, as usual, not the plain opposite, but something deduced from it, is stated.

πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τ. Θ. Every one that (see on 1 John 3:6) is begotten of God. Note the perfect tense; ‘every one that has been made and that remains a child of God.’ The expression is very frequent throughout the Epistle (1 John 2:29; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 5:1; 1 John 5:4; 1 John 5:18) and the rendering should be uniform; all the more so, because the phrase is characteristic. The A.V. wavers between ‘born’ and ‘begotten,’ even in the same verse (1 John 5:1; 1 John 5:18). The R.V. rightly prefers ‘begotten’ throughout: ‘born’ throughout is impossible, for in 1 John 5:1 we have the active, ‘begat.’ The expression ‘to be begotten of God’ is found only in S. John; once in the Gospel (John 1:13) and eight or nine times in the Epistle: comp. John 3:3; John 3:5-8.

ἁμαρτίαν οὐ ποιεῖ. As R.V. doeth no sin (see on 1 John 3:4): the opposition between ‘doing sin’ and ‘doing righteousness’ must be carefully marked. The strong statement is exactly parallel to 1 John 3:6 and is to be understood in a similar sense. It is literally true of the Divine nature imparted to the believer. That does not sin and cannot sin. A child of the God who is Light can have nothing to do with sin which is darkness: the two are morally incompatible.

ὅτι σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐ. μ. As R.V., because his seed abideth in him: see on 1 John 2:24. This may mean either (1) ‘His seed,’ the new birth given by God, ‘abideth in him;’ or (2) ‘his seed,’ the new birth received by him, ‘abideth in him;’ or (3) ‘His seed,’ God’s child, ‘abideth in Him.’ The first is probably right. The third is possible, but improbable: σπέρμα is sometimes used for ‘child’ or ‘descendant;’ but would not S. John have written τέκνον as in 1 John 3:1-2; 1 John 3:10; 1 John 5:2? To resort to the parable of the sower for an explanation, and to interpret ‘seed’ as ‘the word of God’ is scarcely legitimate. The whole analogy refers to human generation, not to the germination of plants; but comp. 1 Peter 1:23; John 3:5-8 would lead us to interpret seed as meaning the Holy Spirit. Justin Martyr may have had this verse in his mind when he wrote οἱ πιστεύοντες αὐτῷ εἰσιν ἄνθρωποι ἐν οἶς οἰκεῖ τὸ παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ σπέρμα ὁ λόγος (Apol. I. xxxii).

οὐ δύναται ἁμαρτ. It is a moral impossibility for a child of God to sin. It is because of the imperfection of our sonship that sin is possible, an imperfection to be remedied and gradually reduced by the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7) and self-purification (1 John 3:3). In quantum in eo manet, in tantum non peccat (Bede). Οὐ δύναται of what is morally impossible is frequent in S. John’s Gospel (1n 5:30; John 6:44; John 6:65; John 7:7; John 8:43; John 12:39; John 14:17). Comp. 1 John 4:20. Augustine, followed by Bede, limits the impossibility in this case to the violation of the principle of love. That is the sin which is impossible to the true child of God.