1 John 3:9 (NASB): 

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> No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
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I am particularly intrigued by the 2nd half of the verse where (NAS) it says “and he cannot sin…” In chapter one, John makes a strong case that claiming not to sin makes me a liar, God a liar, etc. So, of course I *CAN* sin, which means there has to be another way to look at this.

It seems to me that there is something I am misunderstanding about ου δυναται, which I’m reading as “not empowered” or something along that line. Then I thought that perhaps there is something about αμαρτανειν … that maybe it does not mean sin in some specific instance, but that it means to continue over time, perhaps carrying forward the idea in the first half of the verse that I don’t “practice” sin any longer. 

Am I reading this correctly? How do I harmonize it with Chapter 1? Thank you in advance for your replies. There are minds here much stronger than my own.