Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
Parallel translations
- WEB Whoever is born of God doesn’t commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can’t sin, because he is born of God.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB 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.
- NLT Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Those born of God do not practice sin, because God's seed remains in them. The new birth produces a transformed life that cannot live in sin.
Overview
John teaches that regeneration brings a real change: God's 'seed', his life or word implanted by the Spirit, abides in the believer so that a life of ongoing sin becomes impossible for them. This describes the direction and pattern of a born-again life, not absolute sinlessness (compare 1:8). The new nature cannot coexist with habitual rebellion against God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 1 Jn 5:18We know that anyone born of God does not keep on sinning; the One who was born of God protects him, and the evil one cannot touch him.
- 1 Pet 1:23For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
- 1 Jn 5:1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves those born of Him.
- John 1:13children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.
- 1 Jn 2:29If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.
- Matt 7:18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
- John 3:3Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
- 1 Jn 5:4because everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.
- Gal 5:17For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.
- Rom 6:2Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?
- 1 Jn 4:7Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
- Acts 4:20For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
- Titus 1:2in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
- Job 19:28If you say, ‘Let us persecute him, since the root of the matter lies with him,’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Jesus is the Word of life made manifest, the propitiation for our sins, the Son in whom is eternal life — 'that you may know that you have eternal life.'
How 1 John 3:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.