So according to John, Paul never knew Christ?

I really dislike when I find stuff like this but at the same time I can't in good conscience and intellectual honesty ignore it either. 

1 John 3:4-6(NKJV)

4Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 

5And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 

6Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

If this isn't a contradiction I don't know what is.  We are told elsewhere in the Bible that even though we accept Christ we are still sinners and need to continually confess our sins.  Paul says that while the mind is willing the flesh is weak indicating that he still sinned.  Is John really saying that Paul never knew Christ because of that? 

What do you do when you run across something like this?  I try to look at the totality of what was written regarding an issue and then weigh the evidence.  In this case, based on the totality of the evidence I reject John's statement here. 

How can I do that?  Pretty easy.  I figure that there is a reason that the Holy Spirit was given to us for discernment.  This is a perfect example.  As I've said before, while I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, I don't believe every little word and sentence is to be accepted.  If that were the case then why would we need discernment?