1 John 3:7-9

Christians Are Out of the Sinning Business

Evidently, false teachers were asserting one could live a life of sin and still be acceptable to God. John did not want Christians to be led astray, but assured them that people who were saved, thus righteous, would live a righteous life, just as their Lord is righteous. The righteous are children of God and the wicked are children of the devil (1 John 3:7-8; compare John 8:44; Acts 13:10). Again, the reference is to those who live in sin, or constantly practice it. The devil was both the first sinner and the first to lead man into sin. Jesus was made known on earth to remove the stain of sin and the penalty of death it brought (Hebrews 2:14-15).

God's children do not go on sinning as a regular practice. Yet, they do commit individual acts of sin (1:8, 10). In explaining the parable of the sower, Jesus said the seed is God's word (Luke 8:11). That word is given a home in the heart of the Christian (Colossians 3:16). Woods points out that the word for sin, when John says "he cannot sin", is harmartarein, "the force of which is, 'he cannot continue to live a life of sin' (as before)." It is God's word in the Christian's heart that warns him and directs him away from the regular practice of sin (Psalms 119:9-16; Matthew 4:1-10, esp. 4, 7, and 10). In his obedience to the word of God, the Christian died to sin (1 John 3:9; Romans 6:1-6; Colossians 3:1-10).