1 John 3:9

9 "Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.(NKJV)"

Have you ever puzzled over this verse (and its context)? Scholars really debate this one. Now, I am not the ultimate scholar, but I did some research, and this is what I found. The Greek word for sin in this passage is hamartia (there are many different words for sin in the Bible). Hamartia means to miss the mark.

So read that verse with this in mind. "Whoever has been born of God does not miss the mark, for His (God's) seed remains in him (us), and he (we) cannot miss the mark, because he is (we are)born of God." Well, what does that mean?

I offer this poor morsel: Can God miss the mark? Of course not! He's the standard. Do we have the Holy Spirit? Yes, if we are His children. Don't we sin alot? Yes. But if we're justified (born again) we belong to Him. We have His (spiritual) seed in us, just as flesh and blood children have the "seed" of their father in them.

That was to illustrate the concept of the seed. If we are in Christ, we don't miss the mark (even though we sin), because we belong to the Father. We are saved because of His seed. What?

I probably shared this story before, but it illustrates what I'm trying to say. A small child sees his father working outside in the hot sun. The child wants to help his father, so he grabs a dirty glass, and smudges it in the process. He pushes a chair up to the sink, climbs up, and fills the glass with lukewarm tapwater. He climbs down and spills part of it in the process. He spills even more of it carrying it outside. He gives the glass to his thirsty father, and looks up to him with adoring eyes.

Does this child's gift miss the mark of what the father likes as a refreshing drink? Absolutely! Does the child himself miss the mark in the eyes of the father. Absolutely not! Why not? Because the father's seed is in the child (to use the Biblical analogy). Also because the child gave the best he could at his stage of development. But maybe that's getting into other territory.