Short Answers: Can a Justified Person Sin?

A few weeks ago, someone presented a Scripture verse to me that, on face value, seemed to support the idea that one is absolutely unable sin after God justifies him or her. The verse is 1 John 3:9 (King James Version), which states, “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” (emphasis added). Their conclusion defies experience and runs contrary to the context of 1 John.

Context

The main reason their interpretation is erroneous is that the beginning of St. John’s treatise, 1 John 2:1-3 (KJV), states,

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep his commandments.

In these three verses, John is talking to the faithful (“my little children”), and he is telling them (and us) that they can sin. He even adds that if they sin, they have Jesus as their advocate and that He is the propitiation for “our sins,” meaning those sins of the faithful. In the third verse, John tells the faithful that we know him IF we keep his commandments. John therefore understands that the faithful, including himself, can sin, and he contextualizes the rest of his epistle with these words.

Also, at the end of his epistle, John warns the faithful to “keep themselves from idols” (1 John 5:21). His warning would make no sense if a justified person could never sin. In fact, the entire letter of John is an exhortation to do good works and to avoid evil. His letter would be completely superfluous if justified people did good and avoided evil automatically.

The Greek Phrase

The Greek phrase ou dynamai is translated cannot and means unable. However, many verses use this phrase in a conditional sense. Let’s look at a few examples. All verses are from the KJV. For brevity’s sake, I created a link for each verse.

The man in Luke 14:20 can indeed follow Jesus and remain married just as any married Christian can follow him.

From John 7:7, the world can certainly hate us. In fact, Jesus makes this clear in John 15:18.

The Sadducees in Acts 4:16 could have denied the miracle. They would have looked foolish, but they could have denied it.

From Acts 4:20, the disciples could have been silent about the things they had seen and heard.

In Acts 5:39, the Pharisees could have overthrown Peter and the others by killing them even though they would have opposed God in doing so.

In Romans 8:8, those who are in the flesh cannot please God except for one act – they can turn to the Spirit and away from the flesh. After all, we all begin in the flesh and then, by grace, some of us turn to the Spirit. Our conversion definitely pleases God.

From 1 Corinthians 10:21, those who drink the cup of the Lord can also drink from the cup of demons and vice versa; however, they would sin in doing so.

In 1 Corinthians 12:21, the eye and the head can say that they have no need for the hands and the feet, but doing so would be gravely imprudent.

And there are many other verses in which Scripture uses this Greek phrase in the conditional sense. Accordingly, a person who is born of God does not and cannot commit sin in the sense that, if they do, they cannot remain born of God.

A Short Analogy

“Does not” and “cannot” convey the correct notion that sin and grace do not and cannot simultaneously exist in one’s soul. Let us use work and rest as an analogy.

One who works does not rest, and he cannot rest because he works. Does this mean that something permanently prevents this person from resting? Of course not. It means that one who works does not and cannot simultaneously rest because, if he were resting, he would no longer be working. If I work, I do not rest, and I cannot rest because I would no longer be working.

Given the context of 1 John, the words “do not” and “cannot” imply the impossibility of a spiritual state in which mortal sin and grace concurrently exist in the soul. They do not imply the impossibility of sinning.

Additional Resources

For more on losing salvation, please read this article.

Please click here to better distinguish between mortal and venial sin.

For a solid refutation of once saved, always saved, please click here.