Question:
First John 5:18 says: “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not.” Since this is true, how is it also true that “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8)?

Answer:
There are two schools of thoughts regarding 1 John 5:18. (1) John is speaking of what will CHARACTERIZE the one who is born of God. Such a one will not HABITUALLY sin. (2) John is speaking of the child of God as if he only had the new nature, and thus he could not sin.

I have wrestled with these two views over the years and it was only recently that I formed a firm opinion. First John 3:9 helped me in coming to a conclusion. In this verse we read: “Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”
John is quite emphatic when he states of the child of God, “HE CANNOT SIN.” This, in my mind, rules out the first view given, for if the child of God does not HABITUALLY sin, there is still the possibility that HE CAN SIN. But I believe John is looking at the child of God in these verses in a very absolute way, as one who has the very nature of God (“HIS SEED REMAINETH IN HIM” is speaking, I believe of the divine nature), which cannot sin. He is not, in these verses (3:9; 5:18), considering the fact that the child of God also has an old nature which can do nothing but sin. Thus he is not writing of what may be the actual experience of the child of God. This he does elsewhere, as in 1 John 2:1: “My little children, these things write I unto you, THAT YE SIN NOT. AND IF ANY MAN SIN, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” In this verse John is speaking of what may be the experience of the child of God and thus he is considering the fact that, because of the sinful nature being retained by the child of God, he may indeed commit a sin. We must learn, when reading this epistle, to discern what he is speaking in the absolute sense, or when he is speaking of what may occur in one’s experience.