"Every the [one] having been begotten out of God sin is not doing, since His seed in him is remaining, and he is not able to be sinning since out of God he has been begotten."
-His seed. God’s seed. The ultimate sin-eradicator, this - we know that for sure. God’s seed resides permanently within the heart and life of a believer, this one who has been born of God. But commentators are actually quite divided over what John might specifically have in mind here: God’s power. Or God Himself (His Spirit, or His nature). Or God’s truth, His Word. Or a pious (i.e. regenerated) spirit. Or a general divine principle of life.
-Zooming out, in this letter we see that we who are having believed have multiple things ‘abiding’ in us: the Word of God (1John 2.14), the ‘anointing’ (i.e. Holy Spirit - 1John 2.27), the love of God (1John 3.17), and God Himself (1John 3.24, 4.12-13, 4.15-16). So it could very well be that the "seed" of God to which John refers here then is not an either/or, nor is it merely a principle per se but rather a combination or sum total thereof, a divine cocktail of sorts - God Himself, His Spirit energizing His Word within our hearts and lives such that there is a new creation, this entirely new quality of life. That which germinates from this germ, from this seed of God, is like God. God-like. Godly. A seed, by its very definition, is that which develops into another of the same kind (cf Genesis 1.11-12). God’s seed in us develops divinity, it reproduces a godly life in (and thru) us. Guaranteed. Obviously the analogy breaks down at a certain level, inasmuch as the vagaries of actual seed-sowing in the tired, fallen fields of this planet are exacerbated by challenges of conditions of seed and soil as well as those of water and sunlight and temperature. Meaning, in the physical realm, not every seed which Mary-Mary-quite-contrary sows in her garden actually germinates (germination rates vary from between 40-80% - at least those are the standards set by the "US Federal Seed Act")(not long ago I tried to grow some pine trees from seed, and out of like 36 seeds, only a handful of them germinated, only one is still alive and growing). But God is the Master Gardener. His germination rate is 100% - the point being that God’s seed is guaranteed to germinate AND bear fruit springing up to godliness and eternal life.
-Now, John is not going so far as to say that the believer is completely unable to sin (not in this life, at least). But rather, they are not only able to NOT sin, but they are UNABLE to go on sinning, to continue in it unabated. Believers will still make mistakes - but they will also make things right when they do (usually sooner if not later). And sin will be trending down, godliness will be trending up, further up and further in, towards God Himself. God has permanently planted His seed in this life of a believer, and this seed invariably brings forth a harvest of... Himself. Of godliness. Of belief and faith and trust and hope and peace. Of righteousness. Doing what is right. Everyone. Each and every person who truly trusts in Jesus. Guaranteed.
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