3:9 aEveryone that
is bborn of God, commits not sin: *because his *seed abides in him,
and he ccannot sin, because he is born dof God.
He commits not sin. He is not
talking about all sin: IF we say that he have no sin, we deceive ourselves
(1:8), but (he is talking) about the profanation of charity, which he who has
in himself the seed of God, that is the word of God by which he was reborn,
cannot commit and the things that follow him refer to this, or it can be taken
as being talking of any criminal sin. (Bede Expo. On 1 John)
Because his seed. A true
son cannot forget the law of the Father. The law of the Father is: Love one
another.
a Thus does he dissolve
because whoever . . . b In Baptism. *Though this he avoids sins,
because the word through which he is conceived abides. “A good tree cannot
bring forth evil fruit (Matt. 7:18) c I have hated and abhorred iniquity,
etc. (Ps. 118:163) (he cannot sin) Not only does he not sin, but he even cannot
sin as long as he keeps the word. d In whom there is no sin. (The
Glossa Ordinaria—Epistles of St. John 1-3: An English Translation [Consolamini
Commentary Series: trans. Sarah Van Der Pas; West Monroe, La.: Consolamini
Publications, 2015], 34)