1 João 3
George MacDonald · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 João 3:8
MacDonald - Some children are so like their parents that you couldn't lose them in a crowd. This is true of God's children and of the devil's children. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. Here again the thought is, "He who practices sin is of the devil." The devil has been sinning (continuous, characteristic behavior) from the beginning, that is, from the first time that he did sin. All his children follow him in this broad way. It should be added here that men become children of God through the new birth, but there is no birth in connection with the children of the devil. A man becomes a child of the devil simply by imitating his behavior, but no one is begotten as a child of the devil. (Ed: I would say that there is a birth involved - physical birth is an entrance into the kingdom of darkness because we are born sinners.) (Borrow Believer's Bible Commentary) Spurgeon lamented that "It is to be feared that too often the Name of the Lord Jesus has been dishonored among the heathen by the vices and cruelties of those who call themselves Christians; may this fact excite true believers to greater diligences in causing the gospel to be proclaimed as with a trumpet in all quarters of the habitable globe." (Exposition of 1 John 3) John Calvin on the one who practices sin is of the devil - It is like saying that it belongs to the devil to entice people to sin. Hence it follows that his members, and all who are ruled by him, give themselves up to commit sin. Of the devil (diabolos) - These "sin practitioners" are in the family of and under the authority of the devil; they are children of the devil, as it were, in that they take after the "family likeness!" There are only two "families" on earth since sin entered the world (Ro 5:12+) = the family of God (contrary to popular opinion only believers can truly call God "Father") and the family of the Devil, respectively the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness (Col 1:12-13+). The only way to be transferred out of the kingdom of darkness is to behold and receive the glorious light of the Gospel (2Cor 4:4, 6+) which will open (just as Jesus taught Paul) "their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me." (Acts 26:18) Wuest on of the devil - “Of” is ek, “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. (Eerdmans Publishing - used by permission) For - Always pause and ponder this term of explanation, asking "What is the author explaining?, etc" In this case, John explains why a child of the devil continually practices sin. Why? Because like "father," like "son" and sinning was the nature of their father from the day he fell and it was their nature from the day they were born. As Jesus said "You must be born again" to reverse the curse! (Jn 3:7) Devil (Latin diabolus) (1228)(diabolos from diá = through, between + ballo = to cast, throw) means a false accuser, slanderer (one who utters false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage another’s reputation), backbiting (malicious comment about one not present), one given to malicious gossip or a calumniator (one who utters maliciously false statements, charges, or imputations about, this term imputes malice to the speaker and falsity to the assertions). Notice how the root words (diá = through + ballo = throw) picture what the devil does. He constantly throws between seeking to divide whether it be between a husband and wife, a child and parent, a church, etc. Resist his divisive, condemnatory accusations firm in your faith. Diabolos is applied some 34 times to Satan, the god of this world, and in each case has the definite article in the Greek ("the" = defining a specific entity) and is never in the plural (the three uses below in the pastoral epistles are all plural) as when applied to men who, by opposing the cause of God, may be said to act the part of the devil or to side with him. Sinned (264)(hamartano) literally means to miss the mark (and so not share in the prize). Hamartano means to act contrary to the will and law of God. Hamartano means to err (err is from Latin errare = to wander or to stray!) which means to wander from the right way, to deviate from the true course or purpose and so to violate an accepted standard of conduct. Hamartano means to swerve from the truth, to turn aside from the straight course charted by the Word of Truth. Vincent on the devil has sinned - The present tense indicates continuousness. He sinned in the beginning, and has never ceased to sin from the beginning, and still sins.
1 João 3:9
MacDonald says "This divine relationship precludes the possibility of continuance in sin as a lifestyle." Experience tells every Christian that sin still has its hold. For true believers, however, deep inside their spirits, they aspire not to sin. -- Bruce Barton Zodhiates on seed - "In 1Jn 3:9 the spérma of God denotes the power of God operative through the Holy Spirit working in believers." (BORROW The Complete Word Study Dictionary) Vine on seed - the seed signifies the divine principle of imparted life in the believer, and this, once it is imparted, is unalterable; it remains in the believer. The child of God stands eternally related to Christ. The one who goes on doing sin (in other words, lives in sin), has never become a child of God. He has not the principle of life in Christ in him. There are other interpretations, but this seems to be in accordance with the general tenor of the epistle and the immediate context, both preceding and succeeding. (Collected Writings) In regeneration, the new creation in Christ has real, inevitable effects on our physical life of obedience. John