Whose Family Are You In?

The truth and meaning of John’s writing refers to the believers’ not sinning.  All of the verbs he uses referring to sin are in the present tense, indicating continuous, habitual action.  In other words, John is not referring to occasional acts of sin, but to established and continual patterns of sinful behavior.  Believers will sometime sins – even willfully – but they will not and cannot sin habitually, persistently as a way of life.