18. So clearly does St. _James_, explain himself, and fix the meaning of his own words. Yet lest any one should still remain in doubt, St. _John_, writing many years after St. _James_, puts the matter intirely out of dispute, by the express declarations above recited. But here a fresh difficulty may arise. How shall we reconcile St. _John_ with himself? In one place he declares, “_Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin_.” And, again, _We know that he which is born of God, sinneth not_. And yet in another he saith, _If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us_. And again, _If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us_. 19. As great a difficulty as this may at first appear, it vanishes away if we observe, _first_, That the tenth verse fixes the sense of the eighth: _If we say we have no sin_, in the former, being explained by, _If we say we have not sinned_, in the latter verse. _Secondly_, That the point under present consideration is not, whether we _have or have not sinned heretofore_: and neither of these verses assert, that we _do sin, or commit sin_ now. _Thirdly_, That the ninth verse explains both the eighth and tenth; _If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness_: as if he had said, “I have before affirmed, _the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin_. But let no man say, I need it not: I have no sin to be cleansed from. If we say _that we have no sin, that we have not sinned_, we deceive ourselves and make God a liar. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, not only to forgive our sins, but also to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, that we may go and sin no more.”