1 John 3.6
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
I argued earlier that the one abiding "in him" can not sin because he is walking in the light. Being "in him" is being in fellowship. The second half of this verse also is a bit tricky. The words see and know here are in the Perfect Tense. As a general rule, the Perfect tense denotes a current state one is in based on a past action.
That is how it is used here. Those who sin, are in a current state of not seeing or knowing him. If they were in a state of seeing him and knowing him, they would not sin; they would be in fellowship and controlled by the Holy Spirit. In order for a believer in fellowship to sin, he must first depart from being "in him" (in fellowship) or walking in the light. And as James says, sin happens when a person in fellowship is lured out of him into darkness (the realm of sin).
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
I argued earlier that the one abiding "in him" can not sin because he is walking in the light. Being "in him" is being in fellowship. The second half of this verse also is a bit tricky. The words see and know here are in the Perfect Tense. As a general rule, the Perfect tense denotes a current state one is in based on a past action.
That is how it is used here. Those who sin, are in a current state of not seeing or knowing him. If they were in a state of seeing him and knowing him, they would not sin; they would be in fellowship and controlled by the Holy Spirit. In order for a believer in fellowship to sin, he must first depart from being "in him" (in fellowship) or walking in the light. And as James says, sin happens when a person in fellowship is lured out of him into darkness (the realm of sin).
