No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning...because ...
1. Are you 'born of GOD'?
2. If so; have you sinned since that occurred?
3. Do you understand the words that are one chapter and eight verses back in that letter?
Yes, I am certainly convinced of spiritual rebirth and eternal security in it.
2. If so; have you sinned since that occurred?
Of course, but not as a habitual life-style, and agreed with the Holy Spirit when He brought it to my attention. 1 Jn. 1:8-10 (AV):
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
3. Do you understand the words that are one chapter and eight verses back in that letter?
Yes, I do; but if your source for the meaning is the NIV, you will be misguided, for it does not precisely translate the Greek, especially in the more critical verses I John 2:3-6. If you do not accept a more accurate translation, you will not grasp them either.
Here is an excerpt that illustrates the significance of understanding the Greek present tense, from Don Martin's Bible Truths web site, Greek Lesson Five: Greek Lesson Five (click here):
"There is much information conveyed in the present tense of the Greek verb. Simply stated, the
present tense of Greek verbs denotes continuous action or action in progress. There are many
examples of the present tense. We read, "And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord,
save us, we perish" (Matt. 8: 25). The verb translated "perish" is apollumeqa (a-pol-lú-me-tha). The
grammatical information on this verb is: First person, plural, present tense, indicative mood, and
passive voice. I will explain how you can verify this information in Lesson Eight. Based on the
present tense status of the verb, the disciples are literally saying "We are presently in the
process of perishing." Which is fuller and replete with emotion, "we perish" or "we are presently in
the process of perishing?" When you appreciate the present tense, can not you just see the ship
being covered with waves and the impending and eminent loss of lives and hear their plaintive cry
for help (Matt. 8: 23-27).
I John 3: 6 has caused many difficulty and grief. The verse reads, "Whosoever abideth in him
sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him." John said in I John 1: 8 that
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Is John
contradicting himself and are we in a state of hopelessness? The answer lies in the verb tense of
"whosoever sinneth." The verb "sinneth" is amartanwn (ha-mar-tá-non). The verb used by John is
present tense. Hence, John is saying one cannot live in sin and know God (cp. Isa. 59: 1, 2). While
the Amplified Translation has some failures, it is excellent on verb tense. The Amplified renders I
John 3: 6 thus, "No one who abides in Him - who lives and remains in communion with and in obedience
to Him…, habitually commits (practices) sin. No one who habitually sins has either seen or known
Him…." In I John 1, a single act of sin is being contemplated, in I John 3, the practice of sin is
being considered. (click on "Sin" to read more about sin. . . .
The Holy Spirit taught and enhanced many truths by carefully using verb tense and the Koiné has
preserved these truths for us."
My brother and FRiend, were you to submit yourself to working through the eight lessons of Greek on Martin's web site, I know that you will greatly benefit yourself and others by your greater knowledge of the issues at stake in wielding the Word of God as contained in the New testament for your arguments. Those lessons will require only a few hours of your time. The only basic requirement for approved completion is the memorization of the 23 characters of the Greek alphabet, which I had to accomplish years ago as a pledge of my college fraternity. That's not hard.
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Another author, Robert Martin (whom I have previously recommended to you), in his volume "Accuracy Of Translation" says in his summary of the analysis of the NIV on page 70:
"While dynamic translations may have value, they should not be used as our primary study Bibles or
as the standards from which we derive our personal or corporate theology and practice. It is also
probably unwise to use them as pulpit Bibles or as pew Bibles, because in doing so they are invested
with the aura of the approval of the church.
The NIV is not worthy of becoming the standard version of the English-speaking world. Its accuracy is suspect in too many ways. . . .
The Bible is the touchstone of our faith and practice. We cannot afford to be careless and
uninformed in these matters."
Please let me suggest that you take this seriously, particularly if your local church leadership has let you down by using the NIV in its regular services. This version is not the preferred kind for sincere Bible students.
Already this is not an adequate translation to come to grips with the sense of this verse.
The Greek says:
"No one who Whosoever is born of God will does not habitually commit sin, because God's seed(His Word) remains in them(disagrees with the verb conjugation number) him(the believer), and he(the believer) is not able to persistently sin, because he(the believer) stands(for once and all) born from out of God."