1John 3:9

“Heretics, who are deceived in everything by everything, like to object that any birth which is produced by the creator of this world is automatically sinful, whereas any birth which comes from the God of the New Testament is not so. They base this idea on the supposition that sinners and the righteous must have different creators, but this notion is based on a misunderstanding of the teaching of Scripture. The Bible does not say that whoever is born of God is sinless but that such a person will not sin as long as he walks according to the way of righteousness. If he turns aside from that he will sin, and indeed those who do sin have turned away from their Creator. The ability not to sin is guaranteed by the presence of God's seed in us. This seed is either his power or the spirit of adoption, which cannot sin.”

“If our circumstances are such that we make some progress in this life by the grace of the Savior, when lust declines and love increases, it is in the next life that we reach perfection, when lust is finally extinguished and love is made perfect. That saying, that whoever is born of God does not sin, is undoubtedly meant to apply to that pure love which alone does not sin. The love in us which is increasing and being perfected also belongs to the new birth from God, but as long as lust continues to exist in us it fights against the law of our mind. As a result, the one who is born of God and who does not obey his own lusts can say that it is no longer he who sins but the sin which dwells in him.”

“For it is no slight question, how he saith in this Epistle, "Whosoever is born of God, sinneth not," and how in the same Epistle he hath said above, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." What shall the man do, who is pressed by both sayings out of the same Epistle? If he shall confess himself a sinner, he fears lest it be said to him, Then art thou not born of God; because it is written, "Whosoever is born of God, sinneth not." But if he shall say that he is just and that he hath no sin, he receives on the other side a blow from the same Epistle, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Placed then as he is in the midst, what he can say and what confess, or what profess, he cannot find.”

“In saying, "Whosoever is born of God sinneth not," it is probable he meant it of some particular sin: for else it will be contrary to that place: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." In this way then the question may be solved. There is a certain sin, which he that is born of God cannot commit; a sin, which not being committed, other sins are loosed, and being committed, other sins are confirmed. What is this sin? To do contrary to the commandment of Christ, contrary to the New Testament. What is the new commandment? "A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another." Whoso doeth contrary to charity and contrary to brotherly love, let him not dare to glory and say that he is born of God: but whoso is in brotherly love, there are certain sins which he cannot commit, and this above all, that he should hate his brother. And how fares it with him concerning his other sins, of which it is said, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us?" Let him hear that which shall set his mind at rest from another place of Scripture; "Charity covereth a multitude of sins."”

“"Whosoever is born of God, sinneth not, because His seed remaineth in him." The "seed" of God, i.e. the word of God: whence the apostle saith, "I have begotten you through the Gospel." "And he cannot sin, because he is born of God." Let him tell us this, let us see in what we cannot sin. "In this are manifested the children of God and the children of the devil. Whosoever is not righteous is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother." Aye, now indeed it is manifest of what he speaks: "Neither he that loveth not his brother." Therefore, love alone puts the difference between the children of God and the children of the devil. Let them all sign themselves with the sign of the cross of Christ; let them all respond, Amen; let all sing Alleluia; let all be baptized, let all come to church, let all build the walls of churches: there is no discerning of the children of God from the children of the devil, but only by charity. They that have charity are born of God: they that have it not, are not born of God. A mighty token, a mighty distinction! Have what thou wilt; if this alone thou have not, it profiteth thee nothing: other things if thou have not, have this, and thou hast fulfilled the law.”

“John did not say this with respect to the existence of sin in our lives, as if our nature were covered with impassibility. Rather he means that insofar as someone who is born of God retains the grace of his new birth he cannot sin in the way he behaves. And the reason for this is that God's seed dwells in him. What is this seed of God which dwells in believers? What else but the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, by which we have been born again? This presence never leaves us.”

“The divine seed is Christ, who dwells in believers and makes them become sons of God. Likewise, when it is said that in Abraham's seed all the nations will be blessed, this too is a reference to Christ. John says that the Spirit is the seed which we receive through the blessing of our mind. For he dwells in us, making the mind of sin no longer welcome.”

“If someone who is born of God does not sin, how is it that we who have been born of water and the Spirit, and thus of God, do in fact commit sins? The answer is that the phrase "born of God" has two different meanings. According to the first of these, God has given the grace of sonship with all power to those who have been born again. According to the second, the God who has thus given birth is working in us to bring us to perfection. By faith we are born again in principle, but God still has to get to work on us in order to refashion us according to his likeness.”

“Everyone who is born of God does not commit sin, etc. However, this is not said of every sin: for if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves (1 John 1), but of the violation of charity, which one who has the seed of God, that is, the word of God, by which he is reborn, cannot commit within himself. For following this, he manifests it, saying:”

“Everyone who commits sin, because he sins, is of the devil and is called a son of the devil, as the Apostle Paul said to Elymas: "son of the devil! will you not cease to pervert the straight ways of the Lord?" (Acts 13:10). Evidently, he who is born of God, being a son of God, does not sin; because his seed is of God, that is, either the Spirit, Whom we received through the gift of which we were deemed worthy, and Who, abiding in us, makes our mind not to admit sin, or else Christ Himself, Who, dwelling in believers, makes them sons of God, just as Christ Himself in the seed of Abraham is a son of Abraham (Matt. 1:1). And in the seed of Abraham, it is said, that is, in Christ, the nations shall be blessed (Gen. 12:3; Gal. 3:16). Explanation of Chrysostom. Every time we sin, we are born of the devil; and every time we perform virtue, we are born of God, because "His seed abides in him" (1 John 3:9). He calls the Spirit the seed, Whom we receive through baptism, and Who, abiding in us, makes our mind not admit sin. But if anyone is not born of God, he does not receive the Holy Spirit. Another explanation. The seed of God is Christ, Who, dwelling in believers, makes them sons of God. Thus in the seed of Abraham, which is Christ, all nations are blessed. Otherwise, by "seed" he means the first generation of the progenitor, distinguished by virtues. The progenitor by his virtues, as it were, irrigates his lineage, and that by which he himself acquired glory, he also gives his successors the opportunity to be in glory, especially if they keep the merits of their ancestor untarnished, for they do not bestow glory on everyone indiscriminately. This is why the Jews, though in vain, said to Christ: "We are Abraham's seed" (John 8:33).”

“Everyone who is born of God does not sin, because His seed remains in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this, the children of God and the children of the Devil are obvious. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. "Everyone who are born of God." For everyone who commits sin is of the Devil, and inasmuch as he sins, he is also called the child of the Devil; thus, blessed Paul said to Elymas: "O full of all deceit and all cunning, son of the Devil, enemy of all righteousness" (Acts 13:10); it is evident that even he who is born of God, as the Son of God, does not sin, and the reason is that his seed, namely, of God, or the Spirit that we have received as a gift, which remaining in us or being established, prevents our mind from receiving sin. But Christ himself, as dwelling in the faithful, makes them children of God, inasmuch as all nations are blessed in the seed of Abraham, who is Christ. (Gen. 22:18; Gal. 3:9) Now, however, John proceeded in such a way in his speech, confirming what he had said before, I indeed say that the faithful are the children of God, and making that obvious, both from the same matter, namely, not to sin; and from the contrary, as we said a little earlier. For just as this contrary relates to that contrary, so again that contrary relates to this contrary according to dialectical arguments5. But consider the exact statement. For John did not first say that one is born of God or of the Devil, unless the works of either justice or iniquity are accepted beforehand. For from these indeed comes the adoption, either of God or of the Devil. Although we have been saved by grace, this is said because of God's exceptional kindness, for although we had sinned permanently, He does not remember the evils for our salvation. (Eph. 2) Indeed, He does not give salvation to the idle. Paul confirms this by shouting: "To those who were called according to His purpose." (Rom. 8:28) Similarly, those who have been adopted by the Devil as children, although they are alienated from the womb (Ps. 58:3), since they have not yet acted according to the proposed evil: nonetheless, this is said because of their fiery hatred; for it does not happen without the operation of evil that one becomes proper and domestic to the Devil: but he who commits sin is taken by the Devil, whether as a child, so that he may further willingly commit evil, or as a servant, because he has been overcome by the wicked one, and led captive and condemned to his service. However, it should also be noted that John did not say that he who is born of God does not sin, lest he also include infants, who from the womb have that they do not sin: but he said, "he cannot commit sin." Indeed, that: "He does not sin," corresponds totally to the denial; however, this: "He does not commit sin," signifies that he does not touch it out of affection. For this reason, John also adds that he cannot sin, not saying this according to the impossibility of nature, just as we say of irrational beings that they cannot receive knowledge: but he discusses this because of voluntary freedom or abstinence from sinning, and saying that not sinning is a sign of the children of God: just as again the children of the Devil sin.”