Verse 9 says, “Everyone who has been begotten of God does not practice sin, because His seed abides in him, and he cannot sin, because he has been begotten of God.” To not practice sin does not mean that we do not commit sin in occasional acts; it means that we do not live in sin. A child of God may sin occasionally, but he does not practice sin habitually.
The reason a child of God does not practice sin is that “His seed abides in him, and he cannot sin, because he has been begotten of God.” The seed here denotes God’s life, which we received of Him when we were begotten of Him. This life, as the divine seed, abides in every regenerated believer. Hence, such a one does not practice sin and cannot sin. The words “cannot sin” in this verse mean cannot live in sin habitually. A regenerated believer may fall into sin occasionally, but the divine life as the divine seed in his regenerated nature will not allow him to live in sin. This is similar to a sheep who may fall into the mud, but whose clean life will not allow it to remain and wallow in the mud as a swine does.
Verse 9 speaks of the habitual living of the children of God. As God’s children, we have the divine life, a life that does not sin. Therefore, when we live by this life, we do not practice sin. But why do we sometimes still sin? The answer to this question is that we commit sin occasionally because our body is still in the old creation. Our body is not only the body created by God, but also the body that has become the flesh because it has been poisoned and corrupted by the Devil through sin. We still have sin in our flesh. If we live by the spirit, that is, if we live by the divine life in our spirit, we shall not sin. But if instead of living in the spirit we live in the flesh or do things according to the flesh, we are likely to commit sin.
We have two natures within us: the fallen nature in the flesh and the new nature of the divine life in our spirit. If we are on the alert, fellowshipping with the Lord and living in our spirit by the divine life, we shall not sin. But if we are careless and move and act in the flesh, there will be much opportunity for us to sin, because the sinful nature is still in us.
Some may argue and say, “Doesn’t the Bible tell us that he who has been begotten of God does not sin? How, then, can you say that those who have been begotten of God may still commit sin?” You may want to answer such a question this way: “Yes, I have been begotten of God. But I have been begotten of Him in my spirit, not in my body, not in my flesh. This means that if we live in the flesh and walk according to the flesh, we can still commit sin. But one day our body will receive the full sonship. That will be the redemption of the body.”
We may use the word “sonized” to denote the full sonship, that is, the redemption of our body. We have been born of God, regenerated, in our spirit, but our body has not yet been sonized. When the Lord Jesus comes back, our body will be sonized. Then, according to Romans 8:23, we shall receive the full sonship, the redemption of our body. We need to realize that we have not yet been redeemed in our body. Our body has not been regenerated; it has not been born of God.
In 3:10a John says, “In this the children of God and the children of the Devil are manifest.” To practice sin or not, that is, to live in sin or not, is not a matter of behavior. It is a matter of whose children we are—the children of God or the children of the Devil. Hence, it is a matter of life and nature. Men, as the fallen descendants of Adam, are born children of the Devil, the evil one (John 8:44), possessing his life, partaking of his nature, and living in sin automatically and habitually. Practicing sin is their life. But the believers, who are redeemed from their fallen state and reborn in their spirit, are the children of God, possessing His life, partaking of His nature, and not living in sin. Practicing righteousness is their life. Whether one is a child of God or a child of the Devil is manifested by what he practices, righteousness or sin. A reborn believer may commit sin, and an unsaved man may do righteousness. Both are their outward behavior, not their outward living, thus not manifesting what they are in their inward life and nature.
If we would enjoy the divine life, we need to remain in the fellowship of the divine life. In order to remain in this fellowship, we need to abide in the Lord, who is the Triune God. Furthermore, if we would abide in the Triune God, we need to abide in Him according to the teaching of the divine anointing. If we do not care for the anointing, we shall lose the fellowship.
Because many Christians do not care for the anointing, they do not remain in the fellowship of the divine life. Some do not even understand what the fellowship of the divine life is. Instead of caring for the anointing, the chrisma, in their spirit, they care for doctrines and theology. Because they do not care for the chrisma in their spirit, they are not in the fellowship of the divine life and therefore do not have the enjoyment of the divine life. But in the Lord’s recovery we care for the anointing, the chrisma. Through this anointing we enjoy the virtues of the divine life.
We have seen that the first virtue of the divine life we enjoy through the anointing is the practice of righteousness or the living of a righteous life. We have a righteous nature within us, a nature that is not something of our natural man. This righteous nature, which is the nature of the divine life, is of our new man. As we take care of the inner anointing, the moving of the Triune God, we shall live habitually according to this righteous nature.
The anointing is the moving of the Triune God within us. This means that our God has become subjective to us. The Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—is within our spirit. Day by day this processed Triune God as the anointing leads us into the virtues of the divine life, the virtues we have received through the divine birth. These virtues include living a righteous life, loving the brothers, and overcoming all negative things. To live a righteous life is to have a life that is right with God and with man. Righteousness is a matter of being right with both God and man. Therefore, to practice righteousness is to have a life that is right with God and man.