| “He that committeth sin is of the devil … Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin … he cannot sin, because he is born of God … In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil” (1 John 3:8-10). |
| Many people, and even Christians, have been confused by these verses. First of all, it is hard for people to believe that God sees only two families in this world — the family of God, and the family of the devil. Most unsaved people in the world today would be shocked and insulted if we told them that they belonged to the family of Satan. Yet this world is under the devil’s power today, for since the Lord Jesus was crucified, Scripture calls him the god and prince of this world. Those who are not part of God’s family are under Satan, whether they realize it or not. |
| Our first verse today does not mean that if we sin, we are suddenly part of the devil’s family. It simply means that if we sin, we are acting like Satan’s family, and not God’s family. The family of God is characterized by having new life in Christ, and that new nature we have cannot sin. That is what it means when it says, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.” If we sin, it is the old sinful nature that does it, not our new nature. The new nature cannot sin; the old nature cannot do anything but sin. |
| Some who have translated the Bible, and have not understood how John writes have actually mistranslated this verse, and have made it say, “Whosoever is born of God should not commit sin.” Of course this is true, but here John is not speaking of what we might or might not do; rather, he is speaking of our nature, and what is characteristic of the believer. Our new nature is the same life as Christ has, and we also read in this same chapter, “In Him is no sin” (1 John 3:5). The Lord Jesus never had a sinful nature, and He could not sin. Our new nature is the same; it cannot sin either. |
| God wants this new nature to be displayed in our life in this world. This requires care on our part, and we need to ask the Lord for help, so that we do not display the old sinful nature. |
