⁴ Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that That One appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. ⁶ No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or has known Him. ⁷ Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. ⁸ the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil; ⁹ No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰ By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister (1Jn3vv4-1NASB).

I have quoted this passage from the New American Standard Version, as it one of the translations that rightly recognizes that when John is referring to those who sin (which the apostle earlier affirmed (1:8) in one sense is all of us) he means those who sin continually. That is clearer in verse 4 where he writes of those who practice sin. So, whilst it is true even of a saint that he is not without sin (1:8 again), anyone who practices sin cannot be a saint, indeed he cannot be of God. If you are acquainted with my writing, that last statement will not surprise or confuse you. For I have been establishing that there are not two but three categories of people, and John’s epistles more than any other, aid me in so doing in view of his definitions  of children of God and children of the devil.

 There are three categories for a distinction can be made between those who are born of God (v9) and those born again, to which Jesus referred and John (alone) reported (Jn3:3&7). For note verse 9 where he writes that no one who is born of God practices sin because His seed remains in him. This is not referring to something imputed or imparted, or the result of a conversion , it pertains to what is innate. This is evident from what John writes about Cain – that he was “ἐκ   τοῦ  πονηροῦ” – derived from the Evil One  (1Jn3:12 – next post). His brother Abel was certainly not “born again” any more than his father Adam, but both were born of God. In Jesus’ language Cain was not “planted by the Father” (Mt15:13).

Likewise in the parable of the sower (Mt13), none of the  tares/darnel “got saved” and became wheat, they were planted as weeds by the devil. They were such from birth and incapable of change [note#1]. Devoid of a functioning conscience, compassion or any inclination to speak the truth, they represent those who can do nothing other than “practice sin”. Any seeming virtues they possess or good works they perform are for the purpose of deception or personal adulation. This is not man by nature, these are the children of the devil. This surprising, crucial but largely eluded aspect of divine providence is considered in more detail in this earlier post.

John opened his exaltation to holiness by affirming that sin pertains to lawlessness, and his concluding remarks are equally simple, reasonable and logical: “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother” (v10). What a contrast to the thoroughly paradoxical teaching of my former hero Martin Luther: “If men only believe enough in Christ they can commit adultery and murder a thousand times a day without periling their salvation”. That could hardly be further removed from the teaching of Jesus Christ, or indeed John: “Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous” (v7).

NOTE #1 – Jesus explains (Mt13:38) that the field represents the world NOT the church as many commentators try to make out

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