1 John 3:9

Everyone who has been fathered ¹  by God does not practice sin, ²  because ³  God’s ⁴  seed ⁵  resides in him, and thus ⁶  he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God.

biblegateway 1Jo 3:9

No-one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.

biblegateway 1Jo 3:9

No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

biblegateway 1Jo 3:9

Those who have been born into God’s family do not sin, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they have been born of God.

biblegateway 1Jo 3:9

People conceived and brought into life by God don't make a practice of sin. How could they? God's seed is deep within them, making them who they are. It's not in the nature of the God-begotten to practice and parade sin.

SABDAweb 1Jo 3:9

Anyone who is a child of God does no sin, because he still has God’s seed in him; he is not able to be a sinner, because God is his Father.

bibleoremus 1Jo 3:9

Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God.

biblegateway 1Jo 3:9

Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

biblegateway 1Jo 3:9

Everyone who has been fathered ¹  by God does not practice sin, ²  because ³  God’s ⁴  seed ⁵  resides in him, and thus ⁶  he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God.

¹ tn The imagery expressed here (σπέρμα αὐτοῦ, sperma autou, “his seed”) clearly refers to the action of the male parent in procreation, and so “fathered” is the best choice for translating γεννάω (gennaw; see 2:29).

² tn The problem of the present tense of ποιεῖ (poiei) here is exactly that of the present tense of ἁμαρτάνει (Jamartanei) in 3:6. Here in 3:9 the distinction is sharply drawn between “the one who practices sin” in 3:8, who is of the devil, and “the one who is fathered by God” in 3:9, who “does not practice sin.” See S. Kubo (“I John 3:9: Absolute or Habitual?” AUSS 7 [1969]: 47-56) for a fuller discussion of the author’s argument as based on a sharp antithesis between the recipients (true Christians) and the opponents (heretics).

² sn Does not practice sin. Again, as in 3:6, the author is making a clear distinction between the opponents, who as moral indifferentists downplay the significance of sin in the life of the Christian, and the recipients, who as true Christians recognize the significance of sin because Jesus came to take it away (3:5) and to destroy it as a work of the devil (3:8). This explanation still has to deal with the apparent contradiction between the author’s statements in 2:1-2 and those here in 3:9, but this is best explained in terms of the author’s tendency to present issues in “either/or” terms to bring out the drastic contrast between his readers, whom he regards as true believers, and the opponents, whom he regards as false. In 2:1-2 the author can acknowledge the possibility that a true Christian might on occasion sin, because in this context he wishes to reassure his readers that the statements he has made about the opponents in the preceding context do not apply to them. But in 3:4-10, his concern is to bring out the absolute difference between the opponents and his readers, so he speaks in theoretical terms which do not discuss the possible occasional exception, because to do so would weaken his argument.

³ tn Both the first and second ὅτι (Joti) in 3:9 are causal. The first gives the reason why the person who is begotten by God does not practice sin (“because his seed resides in him).” The second gives the reason why the person who is begotten by God is not able to sin (“because he has been begotten by God).”

⁴ tn Grk “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn The closest meaning for σπέρμα (sperma) in this context is “male generating seed” (cf. BDAG 937 s.v. 1.b), although this is a figurative rather than a literal sense. Such imagery is bold and has seemed crudely anthropomorphic to some interpreters, but it poses no more difficulty than the image of God as a male parent fathering Christians that appears in John 1:13 and is behind the use of γεννάω (gennaw) with reference to Christians in 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, and 18.

⁶ tn “Thus” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to bring out the resultative force of the clause in English.