Unable to Sin

Posted on by Jennifer Arimborgo

Cross paper

“8b. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 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” (1 John 3:8b-9, NKJV).

Jesus was manifested in a human body for this reason: to destroy the works of the devil. And you can bet He accomplished that goal. The works of the devil have been destroyed. What does that look like, in practical reality? The next verse tells us. It looks like this: you and me, born of God. It looks like you and me, unable to sin.

Did we hear that right? Yes we did. We have actually become unable to sin. Okay, I know that actually seems like a contradiction to reality. I hear your mind (and mine) protesting, “Ooooh, I am quite able to sin! Just watch me in the next twenty-four hours!”

That’s not what this is talking about. What you and I are now uncapable of doing, is of truly enjoying sin. The Son of God has destroyed our old nature by planting His seed inside of us. Our new nature cannot relish sin. It cannot love sin. It cannot serve sin.

The NIV renders it this way: “No one who is born of God will continue to sin.” Yes, we stumble along the way. But the new nature He has given us makes us long to do better. We literally cannot continue perpetually in the same slavery. If we are truly born again, if His seed truly remains in us, gradual transformation is gloriously inevitable!

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What are some practical results you can observe in your own life, from God’s seed remaining in you?

 

10 thoughts on “Unable to Sin”

  1. Took me a minute to latch onto this reading, but I came to realize that the presence of God within us enables us to know when a choice we made is wrong; we are incapable of consciously making that wrong choice and feeling no guilt because of our actions. Because we are born of God, when we do falter, we are given the grace to realize it, hang our heads, and seek forgiveness.

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    1. “…we are given the grace …” Yes! I heard a Bible teacher say just this morning that repentance is a gift. Whether it’s a believer whose conscience won’t let him enjoy sin, or an unbeliever that the Spirit is drawing to be saved, it is by the grace of God. Otherwise we would all go on in our sin and remain forever lost.

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  3. This is a true statement. Paul clarifies when he says …Does this mean we continue to sin? God forbid! Roms 6:1. This is a teaching about the necessity of ongoing repentance. Misery indeed would be ours. God the Holy Spirit will lead and guide us. Misery would plague us is we do not listen to His Voice. Even the minor sins others might consider trivial when He who lives in us speaks all sorts of unrest would plague us. If we truly LOVE our God we must know He is absolute HOLINESS. We are called to be Holy as well, It will take a lifetime for me. This I know. Each day I will fail in some way. Blessings!

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    1. That’s so true, Faye, that when we walk closely with Him, He convicts us of things that don’t seem to bother the consciences of others. I am SO grateful this is true! Since allowing Him to purifiy us more and more leads to greater and greater intimacy with Him!

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  4. Through prayer and repentance God is helping me to make better use of my time far more often than I used to. I would spend too much time on unproductive things, being idle and even acting regressing backwards in some instances, instead of walking with God as he guided me. This has been beautifully enlightening. I still falter and make mistakes quite often, but I dwell on them less. I truly ask for forgiveness and pray for the strength to be nearer to God. Thank you once again for sharing a passage that was so relevant and what I needed to hear right now. ♥

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