1 John 3:9
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.
John is still driving home the same truth. Because Jesus came to take away sin and to destroy the works of the devil, the man who is truly born again does not go on practicing sin as the settled pattern of his life. John is not talking about a stumble, a failure, or even a painful season of struggle. He is talking about a continual practice a man grows comfortable with and makes peace with.
And John says that is not the mark of one who is born of God.
Why?
Because “his seed remaineth in him.”
What is that seed? I think it points in both directions. It speaks of the life of Christ within the believer, as John 1:13 speaks of those who are born of God. And it also speaks of the Word of God, as 1 Peter 1:23 says we are “born again… by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” I do not think we need to force a choice there. Both fit the point beautifully.
When the Spirit of Christ is in a man and the Word of God is working in him, something has changed at the deepest level.
That is the point.
A believer may struggle with sin. He may be tripped up by it. He may even be ensnared by it for a time. But he cannot go on indefinitely in sin without misery, because he is no longer at home there. Something inside him resists it. Something inside him grieves over it. Something inside him keeps saying, “This is not where you belong.”
That is why a Christian involved in sin is the most miserable man in the world. He has too much of the Lord to enjoy sin, and too much sin to enjoy the Lord. He is torn inside. He is restless. He cannot settle.
Do not miss that.
John is not trying to crush the struggling saint. He is explaining why there is conflict in the believer at all. The very misery a Christian feels in sin is evidence of life. Dead men feel no conflict. Dead men do not grieve. Dead men do not ache for cleansing. But the one who is born of God does, because the seed remains in him.
That does not mean he never sins.
It means he cannot make peace with it.
The life of Christ within him and the Word of God stirring in him will not allow him to habitually, continually practice sin without conviction. He may drift, but he will not drift comfortably. He may fall, but he will not stay there easily. The seed remains.
Beloved, thank God for that. Thank God that when you are His, He loves you too much to let you be content far from Him. Thank God for the inward witness that troubles you when you wander. Thank God for the Word that keeps searching, correcting, and calling you back.
Because the seed He has planted in you is living.
And it will not let you rest in sin.