[Biblemat] S) AND HE CANNOT SIN (2)

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  Here is the second part of this
particular study.  Use to the glory of God.

AND HE CANNOT SIN  (2)

       In view of the foregoing (in part 1), it is manifest to any honest 
student of the Bible, that 1 Jno. 3:9 could not meant that
it is impossible for a child of God to sin.  A Baptist scholar, Mr. 
Charles B. Williams, translated the passage as follows in his translation of 
the New Testament:  "No one who is born of God
makes a practice of sinning, because the God-given life-princip-
le continues to live in him; and so he cannot practice sinning, be-
cause he is born of God."  "Doth not commit sin", literally means
"does not make a practice of sinning"; he does not habitually sin as he once 
did, and the reason given is because the seed, or
life-giving principle, continues or remains in him.  In Lk. 8:11 the
seed is called the Word of God.  The seed does not remain in a
man unconditionally, otherwise why would the Bible say, "There-
fore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which
we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip" (Heb. 2:
1).  The ASV says, "lest haply we drift away from them", which
is an emphatic way of saying that we could forsake God's Word
and be lost.  Truly the security of the born of God man is condit-
ional; he must be faithful to his responsibilities.  "For it had been
better fro them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they 
have known it to turn away from the holy comm-
andment delivered unto them" (2 Pet. 2:21).  Hence one can turn
away from the seed!

       But John also says: "and he cannot sin", and the reason stated for 
this is: "because he is born of God".  The word "can-
not" does not always mean impossibility.  Jesus pointed out to
His disciples that they were the children of the bride chamber,
and He said of them, "...as long as they have the birdegroom with them the 
cannot fast" (Mk. 2:19).  Did Jesus mean that it was impossible fro them to 
fast?  No indeed!  But it was out of
order for them to fast while He was there with them.  It was inapp-
ropriate; it was untimely for them to fast as long as He was with
them.  They could not afford to fast under such a circumstance!

       Jesus was once asked: "By what authority does Thou these
things?" (Mk. 11:28).  Whereupon, Jesus responded with a very
timely question of His own, by asking, "The baptism of John, was it from 
heaven, or of men?"  His inquirers then reasoned
among themselves that if they said it was from heaven Jesus
would ask them why they did not accept it.  And they further
reasoned tht if they said from men, the people who accepted
John as being a heaven sent prophet would be offended.  So 
they said, "We cannot tell".  But this does not mean that it was
impossible for them to answer.  It means that if the answered
either way it would be embarrassing on them; hence it would be
inappropriate for them to answer at all.  Even so a child of God
"cannot" sin because of the consequences of sin; it is inapprop-
riate fro him to do so.  Why?  Because he is born of God, and such a 
relationship and environment makes sinning highly out of order, and the improper thing 
to do.

       The men who held Peter and John captive because they had
healed a man who had been lame from his mother's womb, and
because they preached the resurrection of Christ, said of them:
"What shall we do to these men? for that a notable miracle hath
been done by them is manifest to all them which dwell at Jerus-
alem; and we cannot deny it" (Acts 4:16).  This does not mean 
that it was impossible for them to have denied that such a mira-
cle had been wrought, but it means that because it was widely
known as being a fact, it would have been a futile attempt on 
their part to have gone around denying it.  Hence under the cir-
cumstances, to have denied it would have been extreme folly.
Just so it is foolish for one who is a born of God person to sin.
In the same chapter of Acts the record tells us that Peter and 
John said, when told not to preach the gospel anymore, "For we
cannot but preach the things that we have both seen and heard"
(Acts 4:20).  This does not mean that it was impossible for them
to have preached something else, but it does mean that they
could not have consistently preached anything else.  It means
that if they had not preached just what the Lord wanted them to
preach, they would have been eternally lost in hell.  In the same
sense every gospel preacher should say, "I cannot preach any-
thing but that which the Bible teaches".  But this does not mean
that it would be impossible for a preacher to preach things not in
the Bible.  (Actually, the majority of so-called preachers are teaching 
things that are not in the Bible and are failing to preach
all the things that are in the Bible.  This type of practice will lead
them to be sentenced to hell in the judgment.  But is it impossib-
le for them to preach all the truth?  No!  But they have chosen to
preach that which is false.  And as long as they do such they
cannot go to heaven, JWS).

       The writer of the book of Hebrews describes the old taber-
nacle of the Mosaic system.  "And over it the cherubims of glory
shadowing the mercy seat; of which we cannot now speak part-
icularly" (Heb. 9:5).  However, the writer did nto mean that it was
impossible for him to discuss the old tabernacle more meticul-
ously.  He meant that it was untimely and out of order to do so
because of more important matters that needed to be pointed out.

       Therefore, in 1 Jno. 3:9, the Holy Spirit does not mean that it
is impossible fro a born of God man to sin.  Remember that 1 Jno. 1:7-10; and 
2:1 clearly teach that he can sin; has sinned, 
and that it is possible fro him to sin in the future.  The passage
simply means that the relationship and circumstances of being
a born of God man, make it wholly out of order for that one to
sin, 1 Jno. 3:9 teaches in a very emphatic manner that it is poss-
ible for such an one to sin, and solemnly warns of the eternal
consequences of the same.  For if after they have escaped the 
pollutions fo the world through the knowledge of the Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and over-
come, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. (2
Pet. 2:20).  ------- Basil Overton in The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No.6, 
April 1952.   </HTML>
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