More on this subject. I realize that the habitual or continuous interp has been popularized over many years now; but I don't buy it.
Now the fact is that the Bible teaches that fact Christians do sin in many ways. And it is a fact of experience for all honest Christians that they indeed can sin habitually. Do you deny that you habitually sin? Christians indeed have besetting sins. Thus, such an interpretation of 1 John is impossible. Neither do I believe that you can prove that because the present tense is used here, the meaning has to be habitual.
What do you think of the Church of Ephesus? It left its first love. Was that a sin? Was it just on rare occasions that it was deficient in love? Do you suppose that a state of carnality cannot be long term? "Are you not carnal?" In the state of carnality, which Christians definitely can have, do you suppose they don't sin habitually? Are there not those who sin so habitually that they sin a sin to death? Was there not long term unrepentant sin at Corinth? Are there no brothers who sin 7 X 70 times vs the same person?
Can you not admit that the idea that Christians do not sin habitually is really preposterous?
Consider the reasoning in the text itself.
To this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whosoever is begotten of God does no sin, because his seed abides in him: and he cannot sin, because he is begotten of God.
"because his seed abides in him" "because he is begotten of God." It makes sense that the one who is recreated by God gets along with his re-creation a disability, namely the disability to sin. What percent of the time is he disabled to sin? If the begotten status & the seed abiding does not come & go, how does the disability to sin come & go? To me this only makes sense as referring to the new man, new nature the Christian gets (while his flesh, Old Man remains also).
We know that whosoever is begotten of God sins not; but he that was begotten of God keeps himself, and the evil one touches him not.
A negation is put to the sin process based on being begotten of God. The begetting does not come & go.
The only reasonable explanation I know of this passage is that it refers to the New Nature, which is the nature begotten by God. The "Christians cannot habitually sin" interpretation seems impossible to me.
1)"If we confess [present tense] our sins, He is faithful & just to forgive us our sins."
If one supposes that the present tense means continual or habitual action, then there would be continual and habitual action in "confess." Now if a man is habitually confessing sin, would that not imply that he habitually sinned?
Surely the need to confess sin is more frequent than daily in the life of a Christian. Men who have wives might ask their wives, if those men have any bad or sinful habits.
2) "For in many things we all stumble." - James 3:2
Do not we Christians habitually stumble? And is not stumbling a figure of speech here for sinning? Do we really believe that we only goof up on rare occasions? Do we have no need to cry out "God be merciful to me a sinner?"
3) < 1 Cor 3:
3:1 "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able; 3 for ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you jealousy and strife, are ye not carnal, and do ye not walk after the manner of men?"
Were not these carnal Christians habitual sinners? Is it not possible and all too frequent for Christians to walk after the flesh?
"do . . . walk after the manner of men" (present tense on walk. If the present tense is used for habitual action here, how could these Christians not be habitually sinning? περιπατεῖτε = present tense.) And the Word calls them "brethren."
4) < 1 Cor 4-5: " I write not these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. . . .
5:1
"It is actually reported [present tense] that there is [present tense] fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles, that one of you has [present tense] his father’s wife. 2 And ye are [present tense] puffed up, and did not rather mourn, that he that had done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3 For I verily, being absent in body but present in spirit, have already as though I were present judged him that hath so wrought this thing, 4 in the name of our Lord Jesus, ye being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved"
That passage says in present tense "is reported, and is [present tense], has, and "are puffed up" [present tense]. Do you not see a cotinual habit here?
IMHO, if you sin every day, you have a sin habit. And in fact your Old Man flesh does have a sin habit. It lusts vs the Spirit. And IMHO, Christians in general have a habit of letting the flesh take over, like every day. They are like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.
So my brethren, it seems clear both from scripture & from our honest experience that we Christians do sin habitually & are quite capable of having besetting sins. And that is why I cannot buy the "habitual sin theory" of 1 John.
James 3 "πολλὰ γὰρ πταίομεν ἅπαντες." For in many things we all stumble."
ptaiomen = present active indicative 1 Plural. If the present had to mean continuous, this would mean "For in many things we all continuously stumble"!!!
"but as it is, I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no, not to eat."
μηδὲ συνεσθίειν. Sunesthiein = present active infinitive.
Paul is not telling them yes, you may eat on occasion with the fornicator, but don't you continually eat with him. In the same way, IMHO, 1 John is not telling them that yes Chrs sin, but they don't sin continually.
To express continually in Greek one may use διὰ παντὸς (dia pantos). < Heb 13
"Through him then let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually"
The verb is ἀναφέρωμεν anapherōmen = present active.
Thus we see that while the present can be used when an action is continuous, the verb by itself does not specify continuous.
It is a theory, because the word "habitual" or "continual" does not appear in the text. I think the habitual interp arose from
1) a desire to avoid a sinless perfection interp and to harmonize the text with other scripture that indicates that Chrs do sin. and
2) a superficial but popular understanding of Greek.
Now the fact is that the Bible teaches that fact Christians do sin in many ways. And it is a fact of experience for all honest Christians that they indeed can sin habitually. Do you deny that you habitually sin? Christians indeed have besetting sins. Thus, such an interpretation of 1 John is impossible. Neither do I believe that you can prove that because the present tense is used here, the meaning has to be habitual.
What do you think of the Church of Ephesus? It left its first love. Was that a sin? Was it just on rare occasions that it was deficient in love? Do you suppose that a state of carnality cannot be long term? "Are you not carnal?" In the state of carnality, which Christians definitely can have, do you suppose they don't sin habitually? Are there not those who sin so habitually that they sin a sin to death? Was there not long term unrepentant sin at Corinth? Are there no brothers who sin 7 X 70 times vs the same person?
Can you not admit that the idea that Christians do not sin habitually is really preposterous?
Consider the reasoning in the text itself.
To this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whosoever is begotten of God does no sin, because his seed abides in him: and he cannot sin, because he is begotten of God.
"because his seed abides in him" "because he is begotten of God." It makes sense that the one who is recreated by God gets along with his re-creation a disability, namely the disability to sin. What percent of the time is he disabled to sin? If the begotten status & the seed abiding does not come & go, how does the disability to sin come & go? To me this only makes sense as referring to the new man, new nature the Christian gets (while his flesh, Old Man remains also).
We know that whosoever is begotten of God sins not; but he that was begotten of God keeps himself, and the evil one touches him not.
A negation is put to the sin process based on being begotten of God. The begetting does not come & go.
The only reasonable explanation I know of this passage is that it refers to the New Nature, which is the nature begotten by God. The "Christians cannot habitually sin" interpretation seems impossible to me.
1)"If we confess [present tense] our sins, He is faithful & just to forgive us our sins."
If one supposes that the present tense means continual or habitual action, then there would be continual and habitual action in "confess." Now if a man is habitually confessing sin, would that not imply that he habitually sinned?
Surely the need to confess sin is more frequent than daily in the life of a Christian. Men who have wives might ask their wives, if those men have any bad or sinful habits.
2) "For in many things we all stumble." - James 3:2
Do not we Christians habitually stumble? And is not stumbling a figure of speech here for sinning? Do we really believe that we only goof up on rare occasions? Do we have no need to cry out "God be merciful to me a sinner?"
3) < 1 Cor 3:
3:1 "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able; 3 for ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you jealousy and strife, are ye not carnal, and do ye not walk after the manner of men?"
Were not these carnal Christians habitual sinners? Is it not possible and all too frequent for Christians to walk after the flesh?
"do . . . walk after the manner of men" (present tense on walk. If the present tense is used for habitual action here, how could these Christians not be habitually sinning? περιπατεῖτε = present tense.) And the Word calls them "brethren."
4) < 1 Cor 4-5: " I write not these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. . . .
5:1
"It is actually reported [present tense] that there is [present tense] fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles, that one of you has [present tense] his father’s wife. 2 And ye are [present tense] puffed up, and did not rather mourn, that he that had done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3 For I verily, being absent in body but present in spirit, have already as though I were present judged him that hath so wrought this thing, 4 in the name of our Lord Jesus, ye being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved"
That passage says in present tense "is reported, and is [present tense], has, and "are puffed up" [present tense]. Do you not see a cotinual habit here?
IMHO, if you sin every day, you have a sin habit. And in fact your Old Man flesh does have a sin habit. It lusts vs the Spirit. And IMHO, Christians in general have a habit of letting the flesh take over, like every day. They are like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.
So my brethren, it seems clear both from scripture & from our honest experience that we Christians do sin habitually & are quite capable of having besetting sins. And that is why I cannot buy the "habitual sin theory" of 1 John.
James 3 "πολλὰ γὰρ πταίομεν ἅπαντες." For in many things we all stumble."
ptaiomen = present active indicative 1 Plural. If the present had to mean continuous, this would mean "For in many things we all continuously stumble"!!!
"but as it is, I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no, not to eat."
μηδὲ συνεσθίειν. Sunesthiein = present active infinitive.
Paul is not telling them yes, you may eat on occasion with the fornicator, but don't you continually eat with him. In the same way, IMHO, 1 John is not telling them that yes Chrs sin, but they don't sin continually.
To express continually in Greek one may use διὰ παντὸς (dia pantos). < Heb 13
"Through him then let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually"
The verb is ἀναφέρωμεν anapherōmen = present active.
Thus we see that while the present can be used when an action is continuous, the verb by itself does not specify continuous.
It is a theory, because the word "habitual" or "continual" does not appear in the text. I think the habitual interp arose from
1) a desire to avoid a sinless perfection interp and to harmonize the text with other scripture that indicates that Chrs do sin. and
2) a superficial but popular understanding of Greek.