Because of various circumstances, I have recently been forced to quickly pick up my grasp of Koine Greek. Having taken two years at Northwestern, I have a fair comprehension, but as it is true with most things, when you do use it, you lose it.
Today I translated half of 1 John, and as I was teaching myself again the art of detecting augments, reduplication, and hortatory subjunctives, I came to realize the repeated contrast that the Apostle makes. It is all very dark or light to him; nothing much is inbetween. As an aside, having that mindset today probably would have made it hard for him to connect in most churches. No one is really good, and on the same note, no one is completely evil. It is really more of a spectrum. It is usually contingent on how you are feeling each day whether the "good" side will outweigh the "evil." But really no one is ALL evil or ALL righteous? ..... Isn't this what is taught, by and large?
But the Apostle seems to be quite a hardliner. A passage that particularly stuck out came toward the end of my translation tonight. My translation reads:
4Everyone who does sin also does lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that he was manifested that he might take away sins, and there is no sin in him. 6 Everyone who remains in him does not sin, everyone who sins has not seen him nor has known him. 7 Children, let no one deceive you, the one who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8 The one who does sin is from the devil, because the devil sins from the beginning. Until now the Son was made manifest from God, in order that he might destroy the work of the devil. 9 Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because his seed remains in him, and he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is visible the children of God and the children of the devil: Everyone who does not do righteousness is not from God, and the one who oes not love his brother. (1 John 3:4-10; my translation).
Consider some of the juxtapositions and conclusions John makes.
Sin --> Lawlessless --> Cannot remain in Christ --> Why? --> He died to take away sins & No sin is in him
Does righteously --> Is righteous --> Remains with Christ --> Why? --> He is righteous
Does sin --> From the devil --> Why? --> The devil has been characterized by sinning from the beginning
A theology of "What you do, you are, and who you are, that is who you are connected with" permeates all of John's writings. In fact, John, in chapter eight of his gospel, reports how Jesus lambasts the Pharisee's assertion that they are children of Abraham.
34Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35The slave does not remain in the house forever;the son remains forever. 36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father (John 8:34-38; ESV).
What Jesus implies in this last verse, he later goes on to clarify in verse 44, namely that they are the children of the devil. They were seeking to kill him and were committing sin, therefore they were functionally categorized with the devil rather than the Father. They were equated with who they were alike. What they did defined who they were.
Now, of course, there are many nuances to this. Sinless perfectionism will never be a reality, and John even confesses that if we claim to have no sin we make God to be a liar (1 John 1: 8,10). but humans are always known by what they do and where their desires lie. Furthermore, John is making stressing the dichotomy of the children of the devil and the children of God to emphasize that Christians, who are united with a Holy God, will be known by their holiness. They are told that they cannot sin (vs. 9). Of course, this is not talking about ontological capactity. To imply as much I think misses the point. God's children will be known for being like God. Conversely, the devil's children will be known for be like the devil.
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