Yes, that is an interesting translation, but I don't normally rely on the translations posted by anonymous individuals in online discussion forums for my Biblical exegesis. So I checked the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE) of the Bible to see how it translates that passage (along with some important context --verse 10 included):
So contrary to what you claim, the translators of the NRSVUE see no such "practice of sinning," 'habitually sinning," or "lifestyle" in that passage. If we take 1 John 3:9-10 minus your creative eisegesis, we see that you are completely distorting 1 John 3:9. The truth is that 1 John is actually telling us that the saved do not and cannot sin. Coming up with a definition of a Greek word that means ongoing or habitual sin, even if correct, doesn't help your case much. For one thing, "ongoing" and "habitual" are not well defined: At what point does occasional sin become habitual? How long does the sin need to be committed to be categorized as ongoing? Since we cannot definitively answer these questions, it's nonsensical to argue that only habitual sin or ongoing sin is forbidden.
So God bless you too, Deut. I will pray for you petitioning God to lead you to repent of any sin in your life.
Hello Unknown Soldier, the translation that I used in my last post for 1 John 3:9 was the ESV, just FYI (except what is in parentheses, of course, as those are my additions/paraphrases to better explain the meaning of the text).
Questioning what you've learned (or in this case, have been confronted with), especially out here in online Christendom, is ALWAYS a good idea , so why not call or email your pastor and ask him (about 1 John 3:9 and what is actually meant by that verse, and about the Biblical Greek present tense, as well, how it works/how it qualifies the meaning of the verse that it is used in .. especially since it works in a such a different than our English present tense does).
That said, the problem of the apparent contradiction (between 1 John 1-2 and 1 John 3) remains, no matter which paraphrase or translation is used. Here it is again, this time in the NRSVUE.
1 John 1 (NRSVUE)
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Christ Our Advocate
1 John 2
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,
2 and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 Now by this we know that we have come to know him, if we obey his commandments.
4 Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist;
5 but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we know that we are in him:
6 whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk in the same way as he walked.
A New Commandment
7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard.
8 Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because[
a] the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
9 Whoever says, “I am in the light,” while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness.
10 Whoever loves a brother or sister abides in the light, and in such a person[
b] there is no cause for stumbling.
11 But whoever hates a brother or sister is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.
12 I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven on account of his name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young people,
because you have conquered the evil one.
14 I write to you, children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young people,
because you are strong
and the word of God abides in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
The Apostle wrote this long passage to Christians, believers at all levels of maturity in the faith (IOW, from babes in Christ to fathers, as you can see above). And, perhaps most interestingly, the now elder Apostle John INCLUDES HIMSELF along with all of the other saints in the church as his use of the plural pronouns (above in bold) makes clear for us.
So, the question is, how do we harmonize what he wrote (in 1 John 1-2, which clearly indicates that believers, at all levels of maturity in the Christian faith, continue to fall to temptation and sin after we've become believers) with what he wrote just a Chapter later in the same Epistle (e.g. 1 John 3:9)
Just FYI, 1 John 1:8 (see below) also uses the Greek present tense. This helps us know right from the get-go that he is speaking of an action that is both happening now and/or continuing to occur.
1 John 1
8 If we say that we have no sin (presently or ongoing), we deceive ourselves (presently or ongoing), and the truth is not in us.
Again, there is no reason to take my word for any of this, go ask your pastor as he will surely know (understanding Greek verb tenses and how they qualify the meaning of the Biblical text is something that he would have studied in school, beginning in Greek 101).
God bless you!!
~Deuteronomy
p.s. - since our sanctification (becoming more and more Christlike) principally involves sinning less and less, you might want to consider why the Bible spends so much ink talking about our need to do just that, about why God continually works to perfect/mature believers from justification to Glory .. e.g. Philippians 1:6, 2:12-13, about our day by day, moment my moment need to put away the corrupted old man/old self, and to put on the new man/new self instead .. e.g. Ephesians 4:21-24, about our not allowing ourselves to be conformed to this world by the continual/ongoing transformation and renewing of our minds ..e.g. Romans 12:1-2, about our daily need to choose to walk by the Spirit, so that we do no gratify the desires of the flesh .. e.g. Galatians 5:16, etc., etc. (all of the linked Scriptures above are in the NRSVUE, just FYI)
If, as you seem to believe, God makes us perfect/sinless from the moment that He declares us just/saves us, why would any of the above commands be necessary (or the myriad of other commands in the NT that are like them)
Again, don't take my word for it, go and ask your pastor
.