March 10, 2026.
How do the early church, the Eastern Orthodox, Calvinists, Arminians, and evangelicals today view this chapter and numerous passages in 1 John that indicate that only those born of the devil sin and that those born of God do not sin?
ChatGPT responds with this answer:
That’s a great question—and you’re right to feel the weight of how plain 1 John 3 sounds. The text really does press hard against any casual account of ongoing sin. Let me start by putting the key verses on the table (KJV), then walk through early church, Eastern Orthodox, Calvinist, and modern evangelical readings—paying special attention to how each tradition reads the text to make its theology work.
My responses to ChatGPT’s comments will be highlighted in the text. I include this process to show that we must carefully examine all resources (including ChatGPT) because they can be wrong. We must think about what we are being told. You will see that I challenged ChatGPT and how it responded.
The Text Itself (1 John 3, KJV)
1 John 3:3. “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure”.
1 John 3:6. “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.”
1 John 3:8-9. “He that committeth sin is of the devil…Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God”.
1 John 3:10. “In this, the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil…”
A few immediate observations given by ChatGPT:
- John does not say “should not sin” but “does not sin.”
My response. That matters because many Christians think wishing, hoping, and desiring not to sin makes them virtuous, but that is not the case. Good intentions are not enough. The sin must actually stop, or it is not of saving faith, and it is not repentance. Wishing that you would not sin is not the same as stopping the sin. God calls on us to stop the rebellion and return to obedience.
- He grounds this in new birth, not mere exhortation.
- He explicitly ties ongoing sin to being born “of the devil, according to ChatGPT.”
My response. For all those professing Christians who claim that genuine Christian’s sin daily in thought, word, and deed, ChatGPT declares that John says you are born “of the devil”. That is precisely what this passage declares, no matter how uncomfortable it is.
- ChatGPT continues, ‘He uses manifestation language: the children of God are visible by how they live.
My response. A good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree produces bad fruit, according to Jesus. Remember the story Jesus told about the fig tree that had green leaves but no fruit. Jesus cursed the tree, and it withered. But many evangelical Christians today do not believe it, for they believe that Christians produce a bit of good and a lot of evil fruit at the same time. In fact, the late Charles Stanley said that we can’t know who is and who is not a Christian by the fruit they produce because real Christians may not have any fruit whatsoever. You heard that correctly. See my book, When Lies Become Truth, chapter on eternal security. It is on my website, seekgodintruth.com. Now, let’s consider how different Christian traditions handle this chapter.
The Early Church Fathers Before Augustine (2nd–4th centuries)
New birth means real moral transformation.
The early Christians read 1 John 3 straightforwardly, without psychological gymnastics; I add that the early church didn’t use theological legerdemain either.
Key themes in early writers (those before Augustine)
According to ChatGPT, sin and regeneration are incompatible. And anyone who remains in sin is not regenerated. And only a small number of evangelicals today believe it.
ChatGPT continues with its explanation of the early church fathers. To be “born of God” meant breaking with all sin, not gaining a new legal status.
My response. I agree completely with ChatGPT that this is what John is teaching.
ChatGPT states that persistent sin signaled that one had fallen from life, not that one was “secure but failing.”
My response. Nor does it mean that this person never had life to begin with. What does the word ‘persistent’ actually mean? It suggests that some amount of intermittent sin would not be life-threatening, as ChatGPT understands the early church fathers. But is that the case? No, it is not. All presumptuous sin must be repented of, or death is the immediate consequence. More to come on this subject. Also see my other articles that address this issue directly, such as ‘Will One Sin Send Us To Hell? Genesis 2 Continued?’ and ‘The Day You Eat, You Die. Genesis 2.’
Irenaeus (c. 180 AD)
Salvation restores humanity to obedience; sin is a return to corruption.
Clement of Alexandria
The true “knower of God” does not continue in sin; knowledge without obedience is false knowledge.
Tertullian
Baptism breaks sin’s dominion; post-baptismal sin is treated as a serious rupture, not a normal Christian experience.
1 John 1 vs. 1 John 3
The early church fathers did not flatten 1 John 3 by appealing to 1 John 1:8 (“If we say we have no sin…”).
My comment is that today’s evangelicals, generally speaking, do not follow the early church fathers, and they most assuredly flatten the two into 1 John 1:8. And the only way to do that is to make 1 John 1:8 say something it does not teach. See my article on this passage on my website. This verse addresses those who think they have never sinned at any time in their lives. It is not about sinning every moment of our lives. The entire book of 1 John refutes that wicked idea, which many evangelical churches readily accept today.
Instead, ChatGPT claims that the early fathers taught that:
- 1 John 1:8 refers to pre-conversion self-deception and the need for repentance.
My response. Yes!!! Most evangelicals today probably don’t hold this view of the early church. Rather, they use 1 John 1:8 against anyone who dares to teach that real Christians have ceased from ongoing sin, to the extent that sin in their lives is the rare exception rather than the norm or a repeated pattern.
According to ChatGPT, 1 John 3 describes the normative life of the regenerate. No early father says, “John really means Christian’s sin constantly but are forgiven.”
My response. The early fathers would not have made this claim, but Calvinists and many evangelicals today teach and believe just that. They claim that real Christians sin daily but are forgiven without repentance and assured of their eternal salvation while constantly sinning.
Bottom line (early church according to ChatGPT)
A Christian may be tempted, may stumble, but cannot live in sin and still be born of God.
My response. But what does it mean to live in sin? First, it must mean that they can’t withhold repentance after they have sinned and still have life. Second, it must mean Christians don’t habitually sin. But what does habitually mean? We will come back to this, as it is used very often without much clarity, leaving the impression that Christians can continue to sin without forfeiting life as long as it is not a lifestyle of sin- whatever that means. But how much sin is acceptable?
Eastern Orthodox Interpretation, according to ChatGPT
The Orthodox Church is the closest living heir to the early reading of the Church Fathers.
Key framework: Theosis (participation in divine life)
To be “born of God” is to participate in God’s life. Sin is not merely lawbreaking—it is ontological sickness.
My response. I do not like this description because ‘sickness’ implies involuntariness rather than willfulness. Sickness is something to be pitied, but sin is not sickness or a disease. Sin is a crime. Sinners are criminals, not sick people who should be pitied and not punished. Another aspect I do not like, and maybe I am wrong about it, is the idea that sin is an ontological sickness. That means we are born sick, and how is that different from being born sinners? To me, that sounds like a compromise with Augustinianism. More on this as we proceed.
How Orthodoxy reads 1 John 3
a. “Does not sin” = does not live in sin
But not as a grammatical dodge—rather as a state of being.
- Sin is incompatible with abiding in Christ.
- One who abides is actively purified (v.3).
- Persistent sin means one has ceased abiding.
My comment. So what constitutes persistent sin? Did Adam and Eve die because of persistent sin, or because of one willful act of disobedience? We all know the answer. See my articles just mentioned.
b. Freedom, not inevitability
Orthodoxy explicitly rejects:
- Total depravity and total inability to obey God
- Inevitable daily sin
- Legal imputation divorced from transformation
A Christian can sin, but if he does, he must repent and return, because sin places him outside communion with God.
My response. That is a solid Biblical interpretation in my estimation. Repentance is required, not optional.
c. No contradiction with confession
Confession is for real failures, not a presumed lifestyle of sin. “The Christian does not sin as a mode of existence.”
My position is that sin is the rare exception in the life of the believer. And the genuine child of God repents quickly and stops the sin.
According to ChatGPT, the Orthodox summary:
1 John 3 describes the normal life of a deified human being, not an unattainable ideal, as almost all Western Christians think.
According to ChatGPT, the Calvinist (Reformed) Interpretation
This is where things get more complex and unbiblical. The problem is that Calvinism teaches:
- Total depravity and inability remain in believers
- Christians sin daily “in thought, word, and deed.”
- Justification is forensic (legal fiction), not immediately transformative
But 1 John 3 says:
- The one born of God cannot sin
- Ongoing sin proves one is not born of God
My comment. Both of these truths of Scripture flatly contradict Calvinism and much of evangelicalism, which declares that genuine Christian’s sin daily or nearly so. Something has to give.
Standard Calvinist moves, excuses, and justifications for their false teachings:
a. Redefining “sin.”
When the Bible claims that a true believer “Does not sin,” to the Calvinist it means:
- Does not sin habitually
My response. As if sinning daily isn’t habitual. Who really believes that?
- Does not sin unrepentantly
My response. As if sinning daily isn’t, by definition, habitual unrepentance. Repentance is the forsaking of sin. If it is continued, then there is no repentance.
- Does not sin as a pattern
My response. As if sinning daily isn’t a pattern. Is this not ridiculous?
The Calvinist interpretation depends heavily on:
- Translating the Greek present tense as “keeps on sinning.”
- Importing categories not stated in the text
My response. Which is, by definition, eisegesis, not exegesis.
According to ChatGPT, the problem is that John never qualifies sin as “habitual” here—he simply contrasts sin vs. abiding.
My response. We are back to the meaning of habitual sinning. It seems that most teachers and theologians are simply making room for some amount of sin in the life of a real Christian. They do not believe that Christians can stop sinning even with the grace and promises of God. But that Christians will sin daily for the rest of their lives, even though John is clearly saying the exact opposite of that. And what are we to make of Jesus’ command to the woman caught in adultery? He told her to go and sin no more. Not to go and sin a bit less and feel bad about it, but to stop it altogether. Jesus didn’t tell her to slow sin down over the years, but to stop sinning right now.
b. Two-level Christian of Calvinism
Calvinism often introduces:
- A “true believer” who sins constantly but is justified
My response. This ‘true believer’ doesn’t repent, or the sin would stop. This is the gospel of Calvinism, in which repentance is not a condition of salvation. It is the gospel of the serpent who told Adam and Eve that they would surely not die the day they sinned against God.
- A “false believer” who sins without repentance
My Comment. Just like the real believer who does the exact same thing. So how are the two categories different? Are you making sense out of any of this incoherence in Calvinism?
But John’s test is not introspective repentance; it is actual righteousness (v.7).
c. Assurance about salvation rather than a warning about losing salvation
The warnings of 1 John 3 are often softened and watered down into:
- “Tests of authenticity” rather than existential danger
My comment. Which is ridiculous considering their views on the unconditional perseverance of sinning saints.
- Retrospective proofs rather than present conditions.
My comment. I view this as nothing but religious rhetoric without substance. Calvinism teaches that true believers sin daily. Where is the proof? In their system, the proof is in the contradiction, not in our actions. What a system of error Calvinism is.
Calvinist tension
Calvinism must explain away the force of John’s language to preserve unconditional security. They are masters of doing just that.
Modern Evangelical Interpretation according to ChatGPT
Evangelicalism inherits much from Calvinism, but often in a more diluted form, which seems impossible.
Common evangelical readings of this passage
a. “Positional vs. practical.” “Standing and State.”
- Positionally righteous, practically sinful. Standing is perfect, while their actual state is imperfect and sinful.
My response. The difference is between fiction and fact. Calvinists prefer fiction and reject fact.
- “Born of God” refers to status, not lived reality
My response. Both of these pitiful explanations allow Christians to live in sin because they believe Jesus obeyed the law for them. But John explicitly ties new birth to our actual behavior, which Calvinism and many evangelicals abhor.
b. Normalization of sin
Many evangelicals assume:
- Christians sin continually (just like Calvinists)
- Victory over sin is rare or exceptional
My comment. Many evangelicals affirm both points, but John declares the opposite. They are rewriting the Word of God to allow for constant sin in all believers. Jesus said, “Woe to him who causes one of these little ones, who believe in me, to stumble, for it would have been better for that one to drown in the sea with a millstone around his neck”.
So, 1 John 3 becomes:
- An ideal
My response. This chapter becomes an ideal that no Christian can actually achieve, even with the grace and power of Almighty God. What kind of an ideal is that? This is an ideal, they say, that is bound up in unbelief on their part. Sin wrapped in sin.
- A description of Christ, not believers.
My comment. That explanation is very hard to swallow. It seems like nonsense to me. Almost everyone admits that Jesus was sinless, and John is concerned with those who profess to believe in Jesus. Does their conduct and behavior affirm their profession, or is it false? Sin tells the true story.
- A call to sincerity, not obedience, according to the Calvinist
My comment. The devil couldn’t have said it better, and it sounds like the inspiration for much of Christianity today.
c. Psychological reinterpretation
Some say:
- “He cannot sin” means “he cannot enjoy sin.”
My comment. I regard this as absolute nonsense. All sin is enjoyable for the moment; if that weren’t true, there would be no temptation to sin.
- Or “he cannot remain at peace in sin”.
My comment. I must regard this as pathetic. The false prophets in Jeremiah’s day preached peace and security when none existed. Christians today demand prophets of peace and security when they live in sin, just as the Jews did in Jeremiah’s day. Again, those ideas are not in the text. Read it for yourself. What does that tell the honest reader and seeker of the truth?
Evangelical result
According to ChatGPT, the passage loses its sharp edge and becomes a false pastoral encouragement rather than a dividing line between life and death.
My comment. It is the pastoral encouragement of the devil who wants to assure every sinning Christian that “they shall surely not die when they sin against God”.
Putting It All Together
| Tradition | Meaning of “born of God does not sin.” |
| Early Church | Real freedom from sin; ongoing sin equals spiritual death |
| Eastern Orthodox | Sin is incompatible with abiding; repentance restores life |
| Calvinist | Does not sin habitually (yet sin continues daily) |
| Evangelical | Idealized or positional (sinning is assumed to continue) |
Theological Takeaway
John is not offering:
- An unattainable ideal
- A rhetorical exaggeration
- A merely legal status
According to ChatGPT, John is describing a new mode of existence. “In this, the children of God are manifest.” That line alone should make us slow down and let the light of truth enter into our being.
My comment. How few Christians actually believe God and love the truth enough to accept correction? How many professing Christians will lose their souls, believing these lies that Christians sin daily, and are eternally secure in their rebellion and sin against God?
Next, we will do the following to drive home the point that no one born of God sins.
The two chapters (Romans 6 and 1 John 3) are meant to interpret each other, and Augustine is the historical hinge where the Western reading bends and compromises Scripture and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Romans 6 alongside 1 John 3 (text to text)
- How the early church read both together
- How Augustine reshaped the Western reading—and what changed because of it
1. Romans 6 and 1 John 3. Side-by-Side
Let’s let Paul and John speak first, without Augustine in the room, writes ChatGPT.
Romans 6 (key excerpts, KJV)
Romans 6:2. “God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”
Romans 6:6. “Our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin”.
Romans 6:7. “For he that is dead is freed from sin”.
Romans 6:12-14. “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body… For sin shall not have dominion over you”.
Romans 6:18. “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness”.
Romans 6:22. “But now being made free from sin… ye have your fruit unto holiness”.
Now compare Romans 6 with 1 John 3
| Romans 6 | 1 John 3 |
| “Dead to sin.” | “Cannot sin.” |
| “Freed from sin.” | “Born of God” |
| “Sin shall not have dominion.” | “Abides in Him” |
| “Servants of righteousness” | “He that doeth righteousness is righteous” |
| “Fruit unto holiness” | “Purifies himself… is pure.” |
Same logic, same moral ontology. Neither Paul nor John says what Calvinism does:
- “Sin is inevitable but forgiven in advance.”
- “Sin continues but does not matter.”
- “Freedom is legal, not actual.”
My comment. Yet many Christians actually live as if all this is what they think and believe. Paul asks a rhetorical question that only works if freedom is real: How shall we… live any longer therein? John makes the same point more starkly: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin”.
How the Early Church Read Romans 6 and 1 John 3 Together
Before Augustine, these texts were read synergistically. The core assumption is that grace actually liberates us from the power of sin. We stop sinning, and that is our victory.
Grace was not primarily:
- A legal declaration
- A covering over corruption and evil
Grace was:
- A power
- A new life
- A real death to committing sin
Examples of early church fathers
Chrysostom (4th c., East, but influential everywhere)
In Romans 6, Paul does not say “sin is weakened,” but that sin is “destroyed.”
For Chrysostom, “freed from sin” meant freed from its mastery, not freedom from guilt only, which is what most evangelicals actually believe.
Clement & Origen
They read Romans 6 as:
- Baptismal death
- Moral transformation
- Real possibility of obedience
Failure after baptism was treated seriously because it contradicted the very act of baptism.
Harmonization with 1 John 3
- Romans 6 describes what happened
- 1 John 3 describes what it looks like
No tension. No hedging. No theological fluff like Calvinism and much of evangelicalism introduces.
Augustine: The Turning Point in the West
Here’s where everything shifts. Augustine’s early vs. later theology. This is crucial.
Early Augustine (pre-Pelagian controversy)
- Speaks of real moral transformation and a real free will
- Affirms victory over sin
- Sounds much closer to the Greek Fathers
Later Augustine (anti-Pelagian period)
Facing Pelagius, Augustine hardened several unorthodox positions:
- Original sin becomes inherited guilt
- Human nature becomes deeply corrupt, totally depraved, and unable to obey God
- Concupiscence remains even in the regenerate
- Sin becomes inevitable until death
My comment. This forces a rereading of Romans 6 and 1 John 3. This change is not based on the Bible but on Augustine’s false interpretation of it, in part informed by his return to some of his earlier pagan beliefs.
Augustine’s Reinterpretation of Romans 6
The problem is that Romans 6 says, “He that is dead is freed from sin.”
But Augustine now believes:
- Sin remains unavoidable
- Even saints sin daily
- Concupiscence itself is sin
My comment. Therefore, “freed from sin” must mean something else. Paul declares that Christians are freed from sin, but Augustine claims Christians are polluted with sin and continue to be slaves of sin, which is a blatant contradiction of Paul the Apostle. Who are you going to believe?
Augustine’s solution: change the definition of words. Is that not deceptive? Is that what a man of God does?
a. Freedom redefined
Freedom becomes:
- Freedom from condemnation
- Not freedom from sinning, which always results in condemnation, for the wages of sin are death.
Sin is:
- Forgiven, including future sins yet to be committed.
My comment. This is the very definition of making Christ a minister of sin. See my article, “Is Christ a Minister of Sin?”
- Not eradicated
b. “Reign” vs. “presence”
Augustine distinguishes:
- Sin reigning (not allowed)
- Sin existing (inevitable)
According to ChatGPT, this distinction isn’t explicit in Romans 6, but it becomes foundational for Western theology thanks to Augustine.
My comment. What in heaven’s name does this mean? See the appendix for an explanation.
c. Romans 7 dominates Romans 6
Augustine reads Romans 7: “The good that I would I do not…” as the normal Christian experience. The early church fathers did not interpret Romans 7 this way.
My comment. See my two articles on Romans 7. Romans 7 is not the experience of a new creation in Christ. It is the experience of the unregenerate person under conviction. Do you know of any Christian today who believes that? I would not be surprised if you have never heard that interpretation. This is precisely what the early church fathers, before Augustine, believed and what the honest and plain meaning of the Bible teaches.
According to ChatGPT, that interpretation by Calvinists and evangelicals:
- Overrules Romans 6 and makes it meaningless
- Normalizes inner defeat and ongoing sin in the believer
My comment. All this makes sin perpetual, contradicting the New Testament as a whole, especially 1 John 3, which is the subject of this article.
Augustine’s Handling of 1 John 3
Now to the heart of your question, per ChatGPT.
The problem:
1 John 3 says: “He cannot sin, because he is born of God”. Augustine cannot accept this at face value. His interpretive moves;
a. “Insofar as.”
Augustine introduces a split:
- The regenerate, insofar as regenerated, does not sin.
- But insofar as fallen nature remains, he does sin
According to ChatGPT, this creates a two-self anthropology.
My comment. It is another example of theological sophistry, and I find that it is disgusting and unconvincing.
b. Charity over obedience
Augustine shifts the focus from:
- Sinlessness (stopping sin)
to
- Love (caritas)
So “does not sin” becomes:
- Does not sin unto death or sin too much, whatever that means
- Does not abandon love of God,
My comment. According to John, loving God means stopping sinning and keeping His commandments. It is impossible not to abandon the love of God and continue to sin at the same time. How can any honest Christian accept Augustine’s manipulation of the truth?
ChatGPT writes, actual obedience recedes from the center. My response. What a travesty that is. Is that not exactly what the great serpent wants to do?
c. 1 John 1:8 becomes the controlling lens, and it is not
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves”. Augustine universalizes this verse to:
- All believers
- At all times
- In all respects
1 John 3 is then forced to fit around it, per ChatGPT.
My comment. See my article on this verse and Augustine’s false interpretation. Many Christians today continue to use this erroneous interpretation of 1 John 1:8.
1 John 1:8 is addressed to those who claim they have never sinned in the first place. Augustine makes John contradict himself in this short epistle to save his own heretical interpretation and presuppositions.
What Changed in Western Christianity Reading
Because of Augustine, the West inherits:
1. Sin is permanent in this life
- Victory over sin becomes partial
My response. Victory over sin also becomes infrequent, almost nonexistent. If Christians continue to sin daily, how can ChatGPT say victory becomes partial and have it make any sense at all?
- Expectation of obedience is lowered
My response. Actually, the expectation of obedience is effectively obliterated and made to look foolish.
2. Justification prioritized over transformation
- Legal categories dominate
- Ontological change recedes;
My response. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation” becomes a lie thanks to Augustine. In Augustine’s pagan-influenced theology, the old man doesn’t actually die to self-gratification. It is only a fictional death. Fictionally, the old man becomes a new man whom God sees as righteous while he is still in his sins. Augustine completely overthrows the gospel of Jesus Christ, in my humble opinion.
3. Assurance replaces warning
Texts like 1 John 3 become:
- Signs for introspection
- Not existential dividing lines
My response. This is what theological poison looks like and what it does to our thinking.
4. Romans 6 loses its teeth
“Dead to sin” becomes:
- A metaphor
- Or a future hope
- Or a positional and fictional truth
Rather than:
“How shall we live in sin any longer?”
The Big Picture
Put simply:
- Paul and John: new birth equals real freedom from actually sinning
- Early Church: read them literally and together
- Augustine (later in his life): redefined freedom to protect anti-Pelagian premises, which he apparently made up or exaggerated. See Dr. Ali Bonner’s book, The Myth of Pelagianism.
- Western theology: inherited Augustine’s novel categories and definitions
- Modern debates are downstream from that shift; consequently, they are polluted and corrupt for the most part.
Closing comments
ChatGPT tells me my instinct is sound: A plain reading of Romans 6 and 1 John 3 mutually reinforce each other—and both resist and refute the later Western assumption given to us by Augustine, that sin is inevitable even for the regenerate.
I sent the comments above to ChatGPT and asked it to respond to my objections.
ChatGPT, like all resources, can be biased in either direction. It is important to challenge what doesn’t make sense to you. I include all of this to illustrate how important, useful, and necessary it is.
ChatGPT responds to my objections:
The biggest issues I objected to are:
- vague weasel-words (“persistent,” “habitual,” “live in sin”) that can be abused to excuse daily sin,
- a framing that can unintentionally soften sin (“sickness” language), and
- the need to treat Adam/Eve and Ezekiel as single-act death texts, not “patterns-only” texts,
- plus tightening what we can responsibly claim about early fathers (some really do use 1 John 1:8 more broadly than that draft claimed)
ChatGPT writes, “Below is a tightened, cleaner version you can use (and it directly answers your objections without giving Calvinism/modern evangelicalism a free pass”
1) Fixing the “persistent/habitual/live in sin” problem
Your objection is correct: if someone says “John only condemns habitual sin,” and then also says “Christian’s sin daily,” the category becomes nonsense unless they define it precisely.
Below are definitions that don’t “normalize daily sin,” and that actually fit the force of 1 John:
A. What “cannot sin” does not mean
It does not mean:
- “A Christian can sin every day, as long as he feels bad about it.”
- “A Christian can knowingly commit the same sins repeatedly, but it’s okay because he’s justified.”
- “Sin is expected and normal; holiness is optional.”
ChatGPT claims that those readings contradict the moral “manifestation” logic of 1 John 3:10.
B. A definition that keeps John sharp
When John contrasts “of God” vs “of the devil,” he is not carving out a comfortable middle category (“regular sin but still born of God”). So, if we use terms like habitual or continuing, they must mean something like this:
“Continuing in sin” = committing known sin and remaining there (i.e., not turning from it), so that sin is not treated as an emergency rupture but as an accepted practice.
That includes:
- withholding repentance,
- defending the sin,
- keeping the sin as part of one’s life,
- returning to it as a chosen course.
And importantly, it does not require a long timeframe. It can be “one act” if that one act is embraced, justified, or not repented of, per ChatGPT.
ChatGPT continues, so you’re right to push back: “persistent” must not be used to imply “intermittent sin is fine.” The real dividing line is: does the person sin and remain in it, or sin and turn from it?
My response to ChatGPT’s admission. This is a key admission from ChatGPT, which gives me some confidence that it can be objective in its comments, but it must be held accountable to do so. ChatGPT is now right on target, and I agree.
2) Adam and Eve: death by one willful act (not “persistent sin”)
ChatGPT continues, your point is strong: Adam and Eve did not “persist” for months; they died (spiritually) through one willful act of disobedience. That means any interpretation of 1 John 3 that requires a long-term pattern to become spiritually deadly is immediately suspicious.
According to ChatGPT, a better way to state it is:
- Scripture clearly teaches that one presumptuous, willful act can bring death (Garden; Ezekiel’s warning logic; NT “wages of sin are death” principle).
- Therefore, “born of God cannot sin” cannot honestly be reduced to “can sin daily, as long as it’s called non-habitual.”
So, yes: the “pattern only” dodge is too weak if it makes Adam/Eve and Ezekiel 18 and 33 unintelligible, per ChatGPT. My response. ChatGPT is restoring my confidence in it.
3) “Sin as sickness” in Orthodoxy: keep the moral culpability
Your objection is fair: “sickness” can sound involuntary and pity-based, like the sinner is merely a victim. But you can refine the language without throwing away the Orthodox concept. The strongest way to phrase it (and still preserve your point that sin is criminal rebellion) is:
- Orthodoxy often uses “disease/sickness” as a metaphor for corruption and damage in the human person.
- But Orthodoxy also insists sin is voluntary, culpable, and condemnable unless repented of.
- So “sickness” must never be used to imply “not guilty.” A better metaphor in your framing is: sin is both crime and corruption—guilt and ruin together.
According to ChatGPT, if you want a sentence that fits your emphasis: “Even if some Fathers and Orthodox writers speak of sin as a ‘sickness,’ they do not mean sin is involuntary; they mean it is spiritually destructive. Sin remains a culpable violation of God’s law that demands repentance, not pity without judgment.”
That keeps your moral edge intact, says ChatGPT.
4) 1 John 1:8 vs 1 John 3: don’t overclaim what “no early father” says
The draft you received said: “No early father says John means Christians sin constantly but are forgiven.” That general thrust is closer to the early moral seriousness than many modern readings—but the phrasing “no early father” is too absolute.
A safer, stronger, more defensible claim is:
- Early writers overwhelmingly treat new birth/baptism as a real moral transformation and treat post-conversion sin as dangerous and serious (not “normal Christian life”).
- Some Fathers do cite 1 John 1:8 in ways that can include believers (especially in contexts of humility, confession, and vigilance).
- But they generally do not use 1 John 1:8 to erase 1 John 3’s dividing-line logic, nor to justify an expectation of daily, continual sin as the norm of regeneration.
That version keeps your main argument while removing an easy target, per ChatGPT. My response. That sounds good to me.
5) A cleaner way to say “abiding” without softening John, according to ChatGPT
You want the interpretation to preserve this: John’s language is life-and-death, not “mere tests” that change nothing. Here’s a tightened formulation that matches your thrust:
- Abiding in Christ is not a mystical label placed over ongoing rebellion; it is a real, lived communion that expresses itself in obedience and purity (1 John 3:3-7).
- Therefore, when a person commits known sin, the immediate requirement is not “don’t worry, you’re still abiding,” but to repent at once—because sin and abiding are incompatible states, according to ChatGPT.
- The key distinction is not “habit vs non-habit,” but repentance vs refusal; turning vs remaining.
According to ChatGPT, it directly addresses your “persistent” objection while keeping Adam/Eve/Ezekiel logic intact.
6) Per ChatGPT, if you want, here’s a revised paragraph set you can drop into your article.
Replace “persistent/habitual” paragraphs with this:
John’s contrast is not between “big sinners” and “small sinners,” or between “habitual sin” and “non-habitual daily sin.” His contrast is between two lineages: those born of God and those of the devil (1 John 3:8-10). Therefore, any definition that allows a “born of God” person to commit known sin as a normal course—daily, repeatedly, defended, or unrepentant—empties John’s test of meaning.
ChatGPT writes the following. When John says the one abiding in Christ “sinneth not,” he is not granting permission for daily sin as long as it is renamed “not habitual.” He is declaring an incompatibility of states: abiding in Christ and sin cannot coexist. If a person falls into sin, the only safe response is immediate repentance and return; to remain in sin—even in a single willful act without repentance—is to step into the realm John calls “of the devil.”
My response. ChatGPT has clarified the meaning of these words so they do not give a false impression and remain biblically sound. I am encouraged by ChatGPT’s revised comments.
Per ChatGPT, replace “sin as sickness” with this;
Some Christian traditions speak of sin as a “disease” to emphasize its corrupting and destructive power. But sin is not involuntary. It is culpable rebellion against God’s law—a crime—bringing guilt and death unless repented of. The metaphor must never soften accountability.
I asked ChatGPT for additional clarification.
Clarifying 1 John 3: Sin, New Birth, and Moral Reality
Removing Vague Categories and Preserving John’s Life-and-Death Logic
1. Eliminating the False Category of “Habitual but Acceptable” Sin
Modern theology frequently attempts to neutralize 1 John 3 by inserting qualifiers that the apostle never uses—such as ‘persistent,’ ‘habitual,’ or ‘patterned’ sin. These terms often go undefined, allowing daily, repetitive sin to be reclassified as acceptable as long as it is labeled “not habitual.” This approach collapses under scrutiny, according to ChatGPT.
If a Christian is said to sin daily, then sin is by definition habitual. To argue otherwise is semantic evasion. John does not distinguish between “occasional” and “habitual” sin; he contrasts sin with abiding, God with the devil, life with death, according to ChatGPT.
“Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.” (1 John 3:6, KJV)
Per ChatGPT, John offers no middle category for “born-again people who knowingly continue in sin.”
My response. I want to highlight this point. Don’t most evangelicals assume a middle category? When they do, they add to the Word of God, which Scripture strictly prohibits.
2. What “Continuing in Sin” Actually Means (Without Weakening the Text)
If language such as “continuing” or “remaining” in sin is used, it must be defined in a way that preserves Scripture’s moral force. Continuing in sin does not require a long span of time. Adam and Eve died spiritually through a single act of willful disobedience. Ezekiel teaches the same moral logic: a righteous man who turns to sin dies (Ezek. 18; 33). Death does not require repetition—it requires rebellion.
Therefore, “continuing in sin” means:
- committing known sin,
- remaining there without repentance,
- justifying or defending the act,
- or returning to it as a chosen course of life.
ChatGPT continues: the decisive issue is not duration, but response. Sin followed by repentance is not the same moral state as sin embraced, excused, or normalized. John’s framework allows no room for the idea that a regenerate person may knowingly sin as a normal condition and still be “abiding in Christ.”
And this is exactly what much of evangelicalism is today, where sin is embraced as inevitable, excused, and normalized.
3. “Cannot Sin” Means Incompatible States, Not Lowered Standards
When John writes: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin… and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” (1 John 3:9)
John is not claiming that temptation vanishes or that failure is metaphysically impossible. He is declaring that sin and new birth are incompatible states of existence, according to ChatGPT, and I am in complete agreement.
To be born of God is to enter a new moral reality:
- a new allegiance,
- a new power,
- a new mode of life.
Sin is no longer treated as a tolerable condition but as an emergency rupture requiring immediate repentance. Any interpretation that turns sin into a “normal Christian experience” directly contradicts John’s manifestation logic:
“In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil.” (1 John 3:10)
Visibility, not introspection, is the test.
My comment. All Calvinist and evangelical interpretations of this and other passages that turn sin into a normal Christian experience must be rejected. Honestly, don’t the overwhelming majority do precisely that?
4. Sin Is Not a “Sickness” That Removes Moral Culpability
Some traditions speak of sin as a “sickness” to emphasize its corrupting effects. But this metaphor must never imply involuntariness or diminished guilt.
Sin is not merely damage—it is crime. It is a willful violation of God’s law, bringing real guilt and real death unless repented of.
Scripture does not pity sinners as helpless victims; it calls them to repentance under warning of judgment. Any language that blurs this moral clarity undermines the gospel’s apostolic message, according to ChatGPT.
My response. This is a critical distinction, isn’t it? Think of all the sins/crimes that our culture and, in some cases, even the Christian church, have attempted to turn into a disease. The reason is obvious. We feel pity for those who are ill. There is no blame or guilt. But sin is a crime, not a disease or an illness. No one can repent of a disease. But we can and must repent of our sins and crimes against God and man.
5. 1 John 1:8 Cannot Be Used to Nullify 1 John 3 or similar passages
The common move—popularized in Western theology after Augustine—is to universalize 1 John 1:8 (“If we say we have no sin…”) so that it governs every statement in the epistle. This forces John to contradict himself. But John does not write inconsistently. He writes situationally.
- 1 John 1 addresses denial of past sin and the need for repentance.
- 1 John 3 describes the normative life of those who abide in Christ.
Early Christians treated post-conversion sin as dangerous and spiritually deadly, not inevitable and benign. While they exhorted humility and vigilance, they did not use 1 John 1:8 to excuse ongoing sin or to redefine new birth as merely positional.
My response. And this is precisely what many evangelicals have done with this passage. Since I listen to and read lots of evangelical material, I know that to be true. See my article refuting this false interpretation of 1 John 1:8 on my website – If we say we have no sin.
6. The Apostolic Line Remains Sharp
John is not offering:
- an unattainable ideal,
- rhetorical exaggeration,
- or a purely legal status.
He is drawing a dividing line between two kinds of people.
“He that doeth righteousness is righteous… he that committeth sin is of the devil.” (1 John 3:7-8)
This is not pastoral encouragement softened for comfort; it is apostolic warning meant to save lives and souls from perdition.
My comment. For many evangelicals, “He that doeth righteousness is righteous” is but an unrealistic ideal if that means their sin must stop. They have been taught to expect to sin, more or less, for their entire Christian life. Even so, they believe they are credited with Christ’s imputed righteousness, so the Father sees not their ongoing sins, but Christ’s perfect obedience. This deception leads many to their own ruin.
Many evangelicals believe that “he that committeth sin is of the devil” only applies to unbelievers, not Christians, because even though ‘Christians’ actually continue to sin, they are clothed with the perfect white robe of Christ’s righteousness. Is it any wonder why the evangelical church is filled with unsaved hypocrites? I recall seeing a recent clip of Josh McDowell where he said that the Church is full of hypocrites, so don’t be surprised. The implication is that this is to be expected as normal Christian behavior. This is not just bad advice; it is wicked instruction.
Concluding Statement
A plain reading of 1 John 3—confirmed by Romans 6 and the pre-Augustinian church—teaches that new birth brings real freedom from the bondage of sin. Any theology that normalizes daily sin for the regenerate must weaken, redefine, or explain away the apostolic witness and the plain truth of the Bible. The cost is losing Scripture’s moral clarity and authority. It is also a life-and-death urgency for the many who embrace these lies.
Next to consider in our study;
I asked ChatGPT for the following update.
1. Eliminating the False Category of “Habitual but Acceptable” Sin
- Scripture never introduces a morally safe category of “habitual but acceptable” sin for those born of God. That category is a later theological invention designed to protect doctrines, such as eternal security, that assume sin’s inevitability in the regenerate.
- If a person sins daily, then sin is by definition habitual. To argue otherwise is a semantic maneuver, not an exegetical conclusion. Calling daily sin “non-habitual” drains words of meaning. It is a lie.
- John does not state that sin is only something done frequently, that lasts a long time, or is a psychological posture. He draws a stark contrast between:
- Abiding vs. sinning. Abiding in God (sinning stops) or abiding in the devil (sinning continues).
- Children of God vs. children of the devil,
- righteousness vs. lawlessness.
- The epistle offers no middle class of people who are “born of God” yet knowingly sin as a normal feature or pattern of their lives.
- Attempts to soften the text by importing terms such as pattern, habit, or persistent are acts of eisegesis (false interpretation).
John simply says: “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not.”
- Any interpretation that allows ongoing, known sin while maintaining the status of “born of God” empties John’s manifestation test of all objective meaning and renders the distinction between God’s children and the devil’s children practically invisible.
3. “Cannot Sin” Describes Incompatible States, Not Lowered Moral Expectations
- When John says that the one born of God “cannot sin,” he is not speaking in terms of temptation, momentary testing, or abstract metaphysics. He is describing incompatible moral states.
My response. As I have said many times, we can’t be holy and unholy at the same time. We can’t go north and south at the same time. A fountain can’t bring forth clean and salty water at the same time. Jesus said a good tree can’t bear bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t bear good fruit. A tree is known by its fruit. Make it good or make it bad.
- To be “born of God” is to enter a new mode of existence:
- a new allegiance,
- a new power,
- a new governing principle of life.
My response. Scripture says the old man must die and a new man must live. Put off the old and put on the new. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away (sin), and all things have become new (righteousness). See my article titled “Put off the old and put on the new.”
- Sin and abiding in Christ are mutually exclusive states. One cannot remain in both at the same time. This is not hyperbole; it is the moral ontology of the new birth.
- John does not say that a Christian can sin freely but remain safe through forgiveness. He teaches that sin ruptures communion with God and must be addressed immediately through repentance.
My response. Without repentance, there is no forgiveness. Scripture clearly teaches, “He who confesses and forsakes their sins will find mercy”. Yet many evangelicals think that confession alone will suffice. That is a fatal mistake.
- The text does not teach that Christians never face temptation, nor that failure is impossible. It teaches that sin is no longer a tolerated condition, excused pattern, or assumed norm.
My response. Scripture teaches that we have victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil through faith. Christ’s gospel is one of victory, not constant defeat, over sin in our lives.
- John’s test is not introspective (“Do I feel repentant?”) but observable and ethical: “He that doeth righteousness is righteous.”
My response. The Word of God clearly states that we are to bring forth deeds worthy of repentance. This is the command of Scripture. Genuine repentance will always bring forth forsaking of sin and walking in the light of truth and righteousness. Yet the evangelical church is full of those who call themselves Christians but walk in the darkness of sin and not in the light of truth and righteousness. They have emptied repentance of its saving meaning. See my many articles on repentance on my website, titled Repent.
- Any theology that lowers the force of “cannot sin” to mean “cannot sin comfortably” or “cannot sin without inner conflict” substitutes psychological categories for moral ones and abandons the apostle’s clear dividing line.
My response. Yes, that is true, but it is much more serious than ChatGPT makes it sound. It means abandoning the real gospel of Jesus Christ at the peril of one’s soul. I have read such pathetic comments from popular evangelicals. How about you?
Let’s look more closely at Ezekiel and Genesis
According to ChatGPT and the Bible, “Continuing in Sin” Does Not Require Repetition—Only Refusal to Repent.
My response. That is a critical distinction. Any sins not repented of are “continuing in sin.” And that doesn’t mean it is constantly repeated. It means it is not confessed and forsaken.
- Scripture does not define spiritual death as the result of long-term or repeated sin, but as the consequence of willful disobedience. Adam and Eve did not “persist” in sin over time; they died spiritually through a single, knowing act of rebellion.
My response. If God is impartial, then must that not be true of all of Adam’s children?
- This same moral logic governs Ezekiel’s warnings:
- “When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity… in his trespass that he hath trespassed, in them shall he die.” (Ezek. 18; 33).
My response. In Ezekiel 33, it is even more emphatic: on the day the righteous turn from their righteousness and sin, all their righteousness will be forgotten, and they will die in their sins. Adam and Eve died the day they sinned against God, just as God had declared. But very few Christians today believe any of this applies to them. Death follows turning from righteousness to lawlessness, not from pattern-building.
- Therefore, any interpretation of 1 John 3 that requires a prolonged “habit” of sin before spiritual death occurs is already at odds with the biblical pattern established in Genesis and the Prophets. And it can’t be true and Biblical.
- “Continuing in sin” must not be defined by time span or frequency, but by moral posture.
A person continues in sin when he:
- commits known sin,
- remains in it without repentance,
- justifies or excuses it,
- or returns to it as a chosen course.
- The decisive issue is not whether sin occurred, but whether the sinner turns from it or remains in it. Repentance is not an optional emotional response; it is the dividing line between life and death.
- This preserves the coherence of Scripture: sin is deadly because it is rebellion against God, not because it reaches some undefined quota or becomes psychologically “habitual.”
- Any theological model that allows a regenerate person to knowingly commit sin and remain spiritually alive simply because the sin is labeled “non-habitual” contradicts both the Old Testament moral framework and John’s absolute contrast between those “of God” and those “of the devil.”
My response. Therefore, any theological system that posits this is false. That means Calvinism and much of evangelical Christianity are false. I wonder how many will heed this warning and turn from sin. I wish I were more optimistic.
How do the three bullet points above function together now?
- Bullet 1 removes the false category of “habitual but acceptable” sin.
- Bullet 2 establishes that one willful act without repentance is sufficient for death, grounding the argument in Genesis and Ezekiel.
- Bullet 3 explains why “cannot sin” refers to incompatible states, not lowered expectations.
Final Comment
No one born of God sins. That is what the Word of God teaches. How many professing Christians believe a word of it? They have been taught to believe that all genuine Christians sin until they die and then they are made holy, but only after death. That is the gospel of the great serpent, the god of this world. Please look into this prayerfully and carefully. Your eternal destiny is at stake.
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Appendix
Romans 6
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I asked ChatGPT to explain how Romans 6 can be explained as justifying habitual sin in the believer.
ChatGPT responded. “This is an excellent and very important question, and you’re right to press it, because this single distinction is one of the quiet but decisive moves that reshaped Western Christianity. I’ll walk through it carefully, step by step, staying close to Romans 6, then show exactly what Augustine introduced, and why it is not derived from Paul’s text.”
1. What Romans 6 Actually Says (and Does Not Say)
Let Paul speak first, without later theology layered on top. Key statements in Romans 6 (KJV):
- “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (v.2)
- “Our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” (v.6)
- “He that is dead is freed from sin.” (v.7)
- “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body.” (v.12)
- “For sin shall not have dominion over you.” (v.14)
- “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” (v.18)
- “Now being made free from sin… ye have your fruit unto holiness.” (v.22)
What Paul explicitly teaches.
Paul teaches actual liberation from all sin:
- Death to sin itself, not merely to condemnation or the consequence of sin
- Freedom from serving sin
- Transfer of mastery from sin to righteousness
- Sin shall not rule over the believer
What Paul does not say. Paul never says:
- Sin still necessarily exists in the believer
- Sin is inevitable but restrained somewhat
- Sin remains but is forgiven in advance
- Sin is always present but not “reigning”, whatever you think that means
Those categories are absent from the text. They are made up to mislead and deceive us.
2. The Problem Augustine Faced
By Augustine’s later theology (post-Pelagian controversy), he had come to believe several things, all of which are false and I think are damnable heresies that Peter warned about (See my articles titled Damnable Heresies):
- Human nature is radically corrupted, total depravity and total inability
- Concupiscence itself is sin
- Even regenerate believers sin daily
- Sin is unavoidable until death
- Romans 7 describes normal Christian life
Now look at the conflict:
- Paul: “He that is dead is freed from sin.”
- Augustine: “The regenerate still necessarily sin.”
Even ChatGPT acknowledges that both propositions cannot be true in the same sense and at the same time.
So, Augustine had a problem to solve: Romans 6 says freedom from sin; Augustine’s anthropology says the inevitability of sin. Something had to be redefined. That is a kind, softer way of saying that deception must be used to save Augustine’s new theological orthodoxy. What was Augustine’s solution?
3. Augustine’s Solution: “Reigning” vs. “Existing” Sin
To resolve this tension, Augustine introduces a distinction he made up, and Paul did not state.
Augustine’s distinction is this;
- Sin reigns no longer (not allowed to rule)
- Sin exists still (inevitable presence)
In other words, sin is no longer king, but it still lives (and dominates) in the believer’s life. I must say this is nothing but theological hogwash. If believers sin daily, then sin is King and Sovereign, so Augustine’s attempt to solve this problem he created fails miserably.
This sophistry allows Augustine to say:
- Romans 6 is “true” (sin doesn’t reign), when it actually does reign.
- Yet Christians still sin every day
- Therefore, “freedom” must mean freedom from condemnation, not freedom from sinning.
My response. If that isn’t the perfect get-out-of-jail-free card, I don’t know what is. These lies tell all Christians that they can sin and the wages of sin are not death, as Paul taught us in Romans 6:23. That is the very first lie the serpent told in the Garden when he told Eve, “Thou shalt not surely die” when you disobey God. Augustine simply followed his theological father in making this false and ruinous distinction, first made by the serpent. God knows whether it was done intentionally and knowingly or unwittingly.
This distinction becomes foundational in Western theology, thanks to Augustine. The foundation of what most Christians in the West believe is based on an obvious falsehood perpetrated by Augustine. If professing Christians would only wake up.
4. Why This Distinction Is Not in Romans 6
According to ChatGPT, ‘here is the key point you are pressing—and rightly so’.
Paul’s categories are binary, not layered. Paul contrasts:
- dead vs. alive
- slave of sin vs. slave of righteousness
- under dominion vs. free
- serving sin vs. serving God
Paul never speaks of:
- partial slavery
- sin existing but powerless
- sin forgiven but inevitable
- sin is always present but harmless
When Paul says, “He that is dead is freed from sin.” Paul does not add: “…except that sin still remains necessarily in you.”
The word “reign” in Romans 6?
When Paul says, “Let not sin therefore reign,” he is not conceding that sin must exist, only that it must be restrained. He is saying: Since you have died to sin, do not return to its rule. This is a moral warning, not an ontological concession.
5. How This Became the Foundation of Western Theology
Once Augustine made this move, everything else followed naturally:
1. Justification over transformation
If sin inevitably remains, then salvation must be primarily:
- legal
- forensic
- declarative (one-time event)
Rather than:
- actual freedom
- moral renewal and real transformation
2. Daily sin is normalized and given tacit approval
If sin “exists but doesn’t reign,” then:
- daily sin is expected
- victory is partial
- obedience is aspirational, not normative, and not real
3. Romans 7 overrides Romans 6 and other warning passages
Romans 7 (“the good that I would I do not”) becomes the controlling text, while Romans 6 is reinterpreted to mean something less than it says.
4. 1 John 3 must be softened
“He cannot sin” must be redefined, because sin is now assumed inevitable even in the believer’s life. “Cannot” must mean something psychological or positional, and it can’t mean what it states and implies.
5. Why This Matters Theologically
The distinction between:
- sin reigning but not allowed
- sin existing and inevitable
This is not a neutral clarification. It fundamentally changes the gospel. It shifts salvation from “freedom from sin” to “forgiveness while remaining in sin.”
- This distinction is not apparent in Romans 6 or in many other warning passages.
- It is a later theological imposition, and
- it becomes the hinge on which Western theology turns, and it brings death in its wake
7. A One-Sentence Summary, presented by ChatGPT
Augustine resolved the tension between Romans 6 and his later doctrine of inevitable sin by introducing a distinction between sin “reigning” and sin “existing”—a distinction absent from Paul’s argument and many other passages, but foundational to Western Christianity’s normalization of ongoing sin.
My comment. Augustine fundamentally changed the gospel of Jesus Christ, not for the better but for the worse. Yet many well-known evangelicals and Calvinists think Augustine may have been the greatest theologian in the last two thousand years. Could Augustine be the greatest and most influential heretic of the last two thousand years? Before you decide, please read my articles on 2 Peter 2, Damnable Heresies, and my other articles on Augustine.
1 John 3: “No one born of God sins.” Augustine interpreted this passage as “Everyone born of God sins daily.” Could his error be any more obvious and unbiblical?
This article is closely related to these two articles:
- In The Day You Eat, You Die. Genesis 2.
- Will One Sin Send Us To Hell? Genesis 2 Continued.
