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A CHRISTIAN CAN'T SIN? Here we offer up another entry from our "Hard Sayings in the Bible" publication, which is now in its final stages before printing. Our text is I John 3:4-10: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” The passage is used by some to teach that a Christian cannot sin and that the presence of sin in one’s life is proof that he isn’t saved. Some charismatic groups even have bumper stickers on their vehicles that read, “If you sin, you aren’t saved,” and I John 3:9 is given as a reference. Nothing short of the rapture itself will fix the misbehavior of Christians and professing Christians when it comes to hermeneutics. Every believer should know that no portion of scripture is intended to be privately interpreted. No portion of scripture was GIVEN by private interpretation, but rather “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (II Pet. 1:20-21), so no portion of scripture should be RECEIVED by private interpretation. The writings of “holy men of God” are to be consulted always, and especially when dealing with complicated or controversial passages. Paul said that the Holy Ghost teaches by “comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (I Cor. 2:13), and Isaiah said “precept upon precept” and “line upon line” (Isa. 28:10. Grabbing a verse out of context and insisting on a particular meaning without regard for the rest of God’s word is most definitely NOT the practice of an approved workman (II Tim. 2:15). There are plenty of verses in the New Testament that say that a Christian CAN sin (I John 1:8-10; 2:1-2; I Tim. 5:20; I Cor. 5:1-5; 8:11-12; Rom. 7:18-25; James 5:15; Heb. 12:1), so I John 3 is obviously saying something different. The standard explanation offered by many brethren is to make a highly technical point by saying that the NEW man, the born-again man, can’t sin, since it is in our FLESH that no good thing dwells (Rom. 7:18). This would mean that John is being very technical in I John 3 and saying that even though your flesh sins, your inner man does not sin, since he is a new creature in Christ with a new birth. When reading the full context of I John 3, that view makes no sense at all. That is, I John 3 (please read the whole chapter) is making a very practical point about holy living for God’s people, so it makes no sense that John would abandon his own point just for the sake of being technical about a standing vs. state issue. This preacher does not believe that John is saying that a Christian cannot ever commit a single sin, especially since he just stated in the previous chapter that a Christian CAN sin: “. . . if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins . . .” (I John 2:1-2) No, that just won’t do. John is simply making the practical point that a true believer is born of the HOLY Spirit and will not consistently embrace a sinful way of life. God has begun a work IN us, and He will keep performing it (Philip. 1:6) and seeing to it that Christ, not sin, rules in our lives. When this does NOT happen, but sin is continually embraced without conviction or repentance, it is evidence that the person was never truly saved (Mat. 7:20; II Cor. 5:17). I understand the standing vs. state issue very well, but that’s not what John is addressing in I John 3. I John chapter three uses two word choices in addressing the issue of committing sin. Verses 4 and 8 say, “committeth sin,” and verse 9 says, “commit sin.” As you can see, neither usage contains the definite article “the” (as in “committeth THE sin”) or the indefinite article “a” (as in “committeth A sin”). John simply addressed the issue of committing sin in general, as a way of life, without any emphasis on particular instances of sin. The previous chapter (2:1-2) addressed the matter of particular instances, but chapter three is simply addressing sin as a general way of life and how the Holy Spirit in the believer will not allow this to continue without conviction and correction. That is, whosoever is born of God does commit sin as a normal way of life the way that lost people do. We know that John is not addressing the standing vs. state issue, because our standing concerns us being kept BY GOD, yet John says in I John 5:18, “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God KEEPETH HIMSELF, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” (emphasis added) The wicked one touches us not, because we choose to live holy lives and not give place to the devil (Eph. 4:27). This whole thing concerns a very practical Christianity where, because we are born of God (our standing, the root), we make the spiritual choice to resist temptation and walk in the Spirit (our state, the fruit). If we do sin, we have an advocate in the Lord Jesus Christ (I John 2:1-2; 1:9), but sin is not a normal way of life, since we are born of God. One only has to consult Jesus’ words to the Pharisees in John 8:34 to see this: “. . . Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” The Pharisees were LOST souls. They were not merely believers who occasionally yielded to the sinful flesh. This was said to them before the new birth was even possible, since it was before Calvary, so the committing of sin and the servants of sin comment dealt with a lost and sinful way of life, not with isolated instances of believers occasionally committing a sin (I John 2:1-2). In other words, they were not sheep that occasionally got dirty; they were goats and swine that stayed dirty as way of life, at least in their hearts, so much so that Jesus called them servants of sin. This is not the case with true, born-again believers, and that’s all that John is saying. The passage is not saying that you, as a child of God will never sin again; it’s saying that you, being born of God, will not sin as a normal way of life, like you once did.