Fun with the contradictions

Have you ever had to resolve a Bible contradiction without discussing it with someone else first? I have resolved one, and since I have resolved it, some things have come up with one Greek tense of one word in one passage that has given me a special project to visit again. This is the situation:

·       1 John 1:10 says that if we say we have not sinned His word is not in us.

1 John 1:10 (CWSB)                                     [See Stg: <G264>] ^{10 (CWSB)}   If   we asba say   that   we have   not pfi sinned,   we pin make ppro him   a pr/an,nn liar,   and ppro his art,nn word pin is   not pre in ppro us. [1] 

Perfect Indicative Active (pfi): we have not sinned[2]

ἁμαρτάνω [See Stg: <G264>]

hamartánō; fut. hamartésō, aor. hēmártēsa; 2d aor. hémarton. To sin, to miss a mark on 
the way, not to hit the mark. One who keeps missing the mark in his relationship to God

is hamartōlós <G268>, sinner. To err, swerve from the truth, go wrong, used in an absolute sense in 1 Cor. 15:34, meaning to beware lest one be drawn into errors pertaining to faith,

of which the Apostle is speaking (Titus 3:11). To err in action, in respect to a

prescribed law, i.e., to commit errors, to do wrong, sin. Generally, to sin, spoken

of any sin, used in an absolute sense.[3]

My solution to the verb tense in the above verse is as follows

I need to revise my previous doctrine on how it does not contradict 1 John 3 because Wuest Word Studies deals with 1 John 1 

like the Complete Word Study Bible, Dictionary, and Study Bible Notes all do.  Here is Wuest Word Studies on 1 John 1:9 

and 1 John 1:10:

Not only does God forgive the believer, but He cleanses him from the defilement which he incurred in committing that act of sin. Here the verb “to cleanse” is aorist subjunctive, speaking of a single act of cleansing, for known sin in the life of a saint is not habitual, but the out of the ordinary thing.

Translation. If we continue to confess our sins, faithful is He and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from every unrighteousness.

(1:10) In verse eight, we have the denial of the indwelling sinful nature. In this verse we have the denial of specific acts of sin. The verb is in the perfect tense, which tense in Greek refers to an action completed in past time, having present results. The denial here is of any acts of sin committed in past time with the implication that none are able to be committed at present. This is sinless perfection with a vengeance.

The person who makes that claim, John says, makes God a liar, and does not have the Word of God in him. Smith comments: “Perfectionism has two causes: (1) The stifling of conscience: we make Him a liar, i.e., turn a deaf ear to His inward testimony, His voice in our souls. (2) Ignorance of His Word: it ‘is not in us.’ Such a delusion were impossible if we steeped our minds in the Scriptures.”

 

• Translation. If we say that we have not sinned and are not now in such a state that we could sin, a liar we are making Him, and His Word is not in us.[4]

My position has always been that 1 John 1 is aorist tense point of action sins, we have to admit to that even if we are saved. There are some parts of 1 John 1 that are in the aorist tense, for example 1 John 1:10 “If we say” Is (Aorist Subjunctive Active), but the rest of the verse has we have not sinned (Perfect Indicative Active). Since not every part of 1 John 1 is always aorist, I cannot continue to hold on to the doctrine I used to hold on to.

1 John 3 says that if we are saved we cannot sin because we are now born of God. 1 John 3 is present perfect state of being is being a Christian. If I am in a state of being of being a Christian I cannot also exist in my former state of being of being a sinner. I have to admit to being in just one of the two states of being (the state of being of not being a sinner but being a Christian). This next section is from Wuest Word Studies:

(1 John 3:6) The words “abideth” and “sinneth” are used here to designate a certain class of individual. Character is shown by one’s habitual actions, not the extraordinary ones. The tense of the verbs is present, the kind of action, continuous, habitual. Thus, “every one who habitually is abiding in Him,” is a saved person, and, “every one who habitually is sinning,” an unsaved person. A Christian as a habit of life is abiding in fellowship with the Lord Jesus. Sin may at times enter his life. But sin is the exception, not the rule. The unsaved person as a habit of life sins continually. “Sinneth” is present in tense, continuous action being indicated. The person who is abiding in Christ is not habitually sinning. The child of God as a habit of life, does righteousness, and sin is not a habit with him. John is not teaching sinless perfection here. Vincent says: “John does not teach that believers do not sin, but is speaking of a character, a habit. Throughout the Epistle, he deals with the ideal reality of life in God, in which the love of God and sin exclude each other as light and darkness.” He does not deny that a Christian sins at times. Indeed he admits the possibility of sin in the Christian’s life in 1:9, and forbids sin in 2:1. What John denies here is that a Christian sins habitually. He denies that the life of a Christian is wholly turned towards sin as is that of the unsaved person.

He asserts however that “Everyone who keeps on continually sinning, has not seen Him neither known Him.” This is an unsaved person. The verbs “seen” and “known” are in the perfect tense, implying that he has neither seen nor known God in times past, with the present result that He is still invisible and unknown to him. The particular word for “see” here means “to see with discernment.”

• Translation. Everyone who in Him is constantly abiding is not habitually sinning. Everyone who is constantly sinning has not with discernment seen Him, nor has he known Him, with the result that that condition is true of him at present.

(3:7) Smith comments: “An affectionate warning against Nicolaitan Antinomianism. The apostle cuts away vain pretences by a sharp principle: a righteous character expresses itself in righteous conduct. Christ (ekeinos (ἐκεινος) “that One”) is the type. He was ‘the Son of God,’ and if we are ‘children of God,’ we must be like Him.” “Deceive” is planaō (πλαναω), “to lead astray.” “Little children” is teknia (τεκνια). The verbal form tiktō (τικτω) means “to give birth to,” thus the noun is “little born ones,” “bairns” (Scotch).

• Translation. Little born-ones, stop allowing anyone to be leading you astray. The one who habitually does righteousness is righteous, just as that One is righteous.

(3:8) “Committeth” is poieō (ποιεω), in a present tense participle, “He who is continually doing sin.” Smith suggests, “He that makes sin his business or practice.” “Of” is ek (ἐκ), “out of,” used with the ablative case, gives us the ablative of source. He who continually does sin is out of the devil as a source. That is, his sinful propensities, issuing from his totally depraved nature inherited from Adam, find their ultimate source in the devil who brought about the downfall of our first parents. Habitual actions again are an index of character, and here, of source. “Sinneth” is a present of duration which speaks of that which has begun in the past and continues into the present. The translation could read, “The devil has been sinning from the beginning.” Vincent says: “He sinned in the beginning, and has never ceased to sin from the beginning, and still sins.” Smith identifies the words “the beginning” as “the beginning of his diabolic career.”

“Destroy” is in the Greek text luō (λυω), “to loosen, dissolve.” Westcott comments: “The works of the devil are represented as having a certain consistency and coherence. They show a kind of solid front. But Christ, by His coming, has revealed them in their complete unsubstantiality. He has ‘undone’ the seeming bonds by which they were held together.” But He has done more than that. By the blood of His Cross He has paid for sin, made a way of escape from the arch enemy of men’s souls, defeated the purposes of the devil, and will finally bring about his complete downfall.

• Translation. The one who is habitually doing sin is out of the devil as a source, because from the beginning the devil has been sinning. For this purpose there was manifested the Son of God, in order that He might bring to naught the works of the devil.

(3:9) “Is born” is a perfect participle in the Greek text, speaking of the past completed act of regeneration, namely, the impartation of the divine nature (II Pet. 1:4) or divine life, and the present result, the fact that the person who has been made the recipient of divine life is by nature, and that permanently, a spiritually alive individual. “Commit” is poieō (ποιεω) in the present tense which always speaks of continuous action unless the context limits it to punctiliar action, namely, the mere mention of the fact of the action, without the mentioning of details. The translation reads, “Every one who has been born out of God, with the present result that he is a born-one (of God), does not habitually do sin.” “His seed” refers to the principle of divine life in the believer. It is this principle of divine life that makes it impossible for a Christian to live habitually in sin, for the divine nature causes the child of God to hate sin and love righteousness, and gives him both the desire and the power to do God’s will, as Paul says, “God is the One who is constantly putting forth energy in you, giving you both the desire and power to do His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). Smith comments: “The reason of the impossibility of a child of God continuing in sin. The germ of the divine life has been implanted in our souls, and it grows—a gradual process and subject to occasional retardations, yet sure, attaining at length to full fruition. The believer’s lapses into sin are like the mischances of the weather which hinder the seed’s growth. The growth of a living seed may be checked temporarily; if there be no growth, there is no life.”

“Cannot sin” is dunamai (δυναμαι), “I am not able,” and the present infinitive of hamartanō (ἁμαρτανω), “to sin.” The infinitive in the present tense in Greek always speaks of continuous, habitual action, never the mere fact of the action, since the aorist infinitive which refers to the fact of the action, may be used at will if the writer wishes to speak of the mere fact without reference to details. The translation therefore is, “He is not able to habitually sin.” The Greek text
 here holds no warrant for the erroneous teaching of sinless perfection.

• Translation. Everyone who has been born out of God, with the present result that he is a born-one (of God), does not habitually do sin, because His seed remains in him. And he is not able to habitually sin, because out of God he has been born with the present result that he is a born-one (of God).

(3:10) The words “in this” point particularly to what follows, although a secondary reference might be to what precedes. “Loveth” is agapaō (ἀγαπαω), which refers to divine love which is self-sacrificial in its essence, the love produced in the heart of the yielded saint by the Holy Spirit, the love defined by Paul in I Corinthians 13, the love shown by God at Calvary. The brother here is ostensibly a Christian brother. The expression is equivalent to “a fellow-Christian.” “Children” is tekna (τεκνα), born-ones of the devil in the sense that from Adam they inherit a totally-depraved nature, the same as the devil has.

• Translation. In this is apparent the born-ones of God and the born-ones of the devil. Every one who is not habitually doing righteousness is not of God, also the one who is not habitually loving his brother.[5]

     The following is from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge which is a cross reference collection in order first by bible verse, second by the subset of phrases within the verse, and finally the verses that illuminate the phrases, listed in order as found in the bible. I am choosing to do just the phrase in 1 John 3:9 that help with the phrase 
"and he" Mt 7:18 — A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Act 4:20 — for we cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard.
Rom 6:2 — God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?
Gal 5:17 — For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would.
Tit 1:2 — in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before times eternal; [6]
     To summarize the last section: If I am in a state of being of being a Christian I cannot also exist in my former state of being of being a sinner. The quote that further clarifies this is the following sentence: What John denies here is that a Christian sins habitually. He denies that the life of a Christian is wholly turned towards sin as is that of the unsaved person [7] This means I get to hold on to my doctrine that there is no contradiction between 1 John 1 and 1 John 3.

This concludes the blog post.

 [1] Zodhiates, Spiros. The Complete Word Study Dictionary – New Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1993. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.

 

 [2]Zodhiates, Spiros, ed. – The Complete Word Study New Testament Chattanooga, TN: AMG, 1991. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.  

[3]AMG's Complete Word Study Bible Notes - – The Complete Word Study New Testament. 

 

 [4]Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (Vol. 13, p. 151). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

[5]Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (Vol. 13, p. 151). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

[6]Title: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge  

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Translation:  
Author:  R.A.Torrey
Edition: First  
Publisher: Ephesians Four Group  
Title : Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Copyright : TREASURY OF SCRIPTURE KNOWLEDGE THE EPHESIANS FOUR GROUP  For the latest information and announcements of new books visit E4 on the web at: www.FreeBibleSoftware.com THE EPHESIANS FOUR GROUP P.O.BOX 1505 ESCONDIDO, CA 92033 Voice: 760.839.9300 Fax: 603.676.7144 Web: www.FreeBibleSoftware.com The electronic text is COPYRIGHT 1997 by Online Bible. This classic Bible study help gives you a concordance, chain-reference system with over 1,000,000 cross references, topical Bible, and commentary all in one! It goes phrase by phrase through the whole Bible giving you relevant cross references for each phrase handled, which allows you to instantly search any Bible passage and find chapter synopses, key word cross-references, topical references, parallel passages, and illustrative notes that show how the Bible comments on itself. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.

[7]Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (Vol. 13, p. 151). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

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