Settle
“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins. And in Him is no sin. No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him.” - 1 John 3:4-6
It can be a little confronting to realise that the Bible sometimes appears to do contradict itself. In fact, (supposed) Biblical inconsistency (or internal contradiction) is often used as grounds for outright dismissal among critics and sceptics. But it needn’t be. Our text today is a very good example of an occasion when careful reading, coupled with an understanding of the challenges of language interpretation, can lead us to resolve the apparent contradiction.
John asserts that nobody who is in Christ keeps sinning. Further, that those who keep sinning have neither seen nor know Him. Immediately we’re confronted. Am I in Christ, then? I still sin every day! Yet I would confidently (yet humbly, I hope) say that I am in Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote about his own inner struggle with persistent sin (Romans 7). So, what am I to make of this text that suggests that I (and Paul) might have this whole thing wrong?
It all comes down to the way the Greek text has been translated. Where John writes, “No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning…”, the Greek word for “keeps on” is “meno”. You’ll find this same word 11 times in 10 verses at the beginning of John chapter 15 - which was of course written by the same author. In this context, “meno” means to remain, settle-into, and make one’s home in. This was the word Jesus chose to describe what it looks like to be in relationship with Him. To remain in Christ is to settle and stay.
So, let’s read that meaning into the same word in John’s pastoral letter. “No one who lives in Him settles in sin and stays there.” And now it makes sense. Yes, as partially sanctified yet still-sinful humans, we do still sin. But we don’t set up camp and remain. We don't get comfortable and settle in.
So, if the devil has tried to condemn you on the basis of ongoing sin, take courage - he’s ALWAYS been a liar, and the Bible is NOT contradicting itself. One last word - if you get your Bible and read 1 John 1:8-9 you’ll see that John himself doesn’t think so either.
- Ps. Nigel