Does 1st John Teach Willful Sinners Are Not Saved?

1st John 3:7-9, “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 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.”

This is perhaps the most misunderstood passage in the Holy Bible, next to James chapter 2. The proponents of the Devil's falsehood of Lordship Salvation, and those false prophets who insist that you must turn from your sinful ways to get to Heaven, love to cite this Scripture passage in an attempt to support their false teaching. Kindly said, they are WRONG!

The part that doesn't sin is the spirit that is born of God. The flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God (1st Corinthians 6:9-11). The spirit cannot sin at all because it is born of God. Many Bible students today are using a terrible awful version of the Bible, that distorts the truth. 

Look in the King James Bible. It says in 1st 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.” Doth not commit does not mean habitual or a practice. It means NOT AT ALL. That is the spirit part. When a person believes on Christ, they are born-again by the Holy Spirit of God. That is the spirit. You must believe Christ died for YOUR sins to be born again. Change your mind and stop believing on living a righteous lifestyle. That is, they have been born from above. To be “born again” means to have Jesus, who is the beginning (Revelation 1:7), born in us.

It is impossible for the Holy Spirit to sin. When we get saved, the Holy Spirit and our spirit become one. We have a new nature in Christ. We are not our biological parents, but we have their DNA inside us. Likewise, we are not God, but we have God inside us as His child (1st Corinthians 3:15-16; Romans 8:9; 1st John 3:24).

The Devil's modern Bible are corrupted, saying that people who are really saved do not make a practice of sinning. That is 100% untrue! Everybody practices sin as a habit. You are delusional if you think you have overcome sinning. We will struggle with sin as long as we are still living in this fleshly body. The Apostle Paul struggled daily with sin (Romans 7:14-25). It is possible to live above reproach, but no one can live above sinning. Psalms 130:3, “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?”

The Devil's Modern Bible Revisions Corrupt 1st John 3:6-9

Please do not fall for the Devil's lie in his corrupt Bible versions, which teach that you are not saved if you have a habit of sinning. God's man Samson chased unholy skirts all his life (Judges 16:1), but he is in Heaven today. Lot lived a sinful lifestyle. If it were not for 2nd Peter 2:7-8, we'd never know from the Old Testament that Abraham's nephew Lot is in Heaven today. Lot was a “just man” the Bible says, even though he committed much sin. The Bible is full of saints who lived lives of sin (Joseph's brothers, Esau, Solomon, Demas, et cetera).

KING JAMES BIBLE (KJB) - 1st John 3:6-10, “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 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. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”

Now read what the Devil's popular PERversion, the ESV says:

ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION ESV) - 1st John 3:6-10, “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”

Dear reader, there is a drastic difference between what these two passages teach. The ESV says you cannot keep on sinning if you are saved. But that is NOT what the King James Bible teaches. The King James Bible correctly reads, “he cannot sin”; but the ESV errantly reads, “he cannot keep on sinning.” Not being able to sin, and to not keep on sinning, are two very different ideas. The former means that there is no way you can sin, but the latter implies that you must choose to stop living in sin.

To understand this passage of Scripture (and we covered some of this earlier), you need to understand that when someone gets born-again, the Holy Spirit of God comes inside to live. In theology we call this to be “indwelt” with the Holy Spirit. The unsaved (or unregenerate) person only has their spirit which is dead in trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1). So, unlike the unsaved person who only has their conscience and good character to keep them from sinning; the Christian believer also has the indwelling Holy Spirit to teach, guide, convict, comfort and chastise the child of God.

So, there is a continual conflict in the believer between the lusts of the flesh, and the indwelling Spirit of God. The Apostle Paul explains this dilemma in Romans 7:14-25. When we choose to Walk in the Flesh, we sin. When we choose to Walk in the Spirit, we do what is right. At any given time a believer can choose to Walk in the Spirit, but we won't always make that right choice because we are still sinners by nature and by choice.

This ongoing struggle is what 1st John 3:6-10 is teaching about. The redeemed spirit cannot sin, but the flesh still can. When we sin, we do so in the flesh. The spirit that has been redeemed by God, and is now joined with the Holy Spirit, cannot sin. This is something very different than the corrupt modern Bible revisions, which have changed God's Word to falsely teach that you are not saved if you are living a lifestyle of sinning. That is not what the King James Bible says, not even close. I trust friend that you the difference.

We will never stop sinning as a habit. The very idea that someone can turn from their sins is an absurd fallacy. You haven't turned from your sins and neither have I. You may have decided to reform to clean up your life of sin (as did Judas in Matthew 27:3), but at best that is all you can do; some sinning still remains. So, whether you give up 10%, 50% or 99% of your sinning, even if 1% still remains, you haven't really turned from your sins; you've just improved yourself in YOUR own strength and merit. That is NOT God's saving grace, it is works!

Being Spiritually Dead By Birth Versus The Second Death In Hell

Please know that to be spiritually dead is not the same thing as the second death. Romans 5:12 tells us that when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, he opened the floodgate of sin upon the human race, and so by sin came death upon the world. So, everyone is born spiritually dead. This is why everyone needs to be “born again” by the Holy Spirit of God. The adage is true: If your born once, you die twice; it you're born twice, you die once.

The “second death” is when a person is cast body and soul into Hell (Revelation 21:8). Since our earthly body decomposes when we die the physical death, obviously god will need to supply some form of body to those who go to Hell. This body will need to be able to withstand the intolerable high temperatures of the fire and brimstone in the Lake of Fire. I don't know about you friend, but I got saved because I was afraid to go to Hell. That is a perfectly good reason to get saved.

I heard Paris Reidhead (1919-1992), a Chinese missionary, foolishly teach that you didn't get saved if the only reason you trusted Christ was to escape the fires of Hell. Dear reader, it doesn't matter why you get saved, just so long as you get saved before it is too late! The only requirement to trust Christ is to acknowledge that you are a guilty sinner. You need to know why Christ had to die on a cross to pay for your sins. I mean, if you're not a guilty sinner on your way to be justly punished in Hell for eternity, then why would you need a Savior? Right?

If you admit to being a guilty sinner in God's holy sight, then all you need to do to be saved is to by faith take God at His Word in the Scriptures. Simply receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full-payment for your sins, believing that after being buried, He bodily resurrected three days later from the dead for your justification. This is “the gospel” by which all who BELIEVE IT are saved (1st Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 1:16).

The evidence that someone is saved is the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit. 1st John 3:24, “And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” If you have to look at your life to prove that you are saved, it just proves you are not. Salvation is of the Lord. Our only part in salvation is to get out of the way, ceasing from our own works, and resting completely in the finished redemptive work of Christ.