Daily Thoughts from 1 John: Sin That Leads to Death (5:16,17)

Daily Thoughts from 1 John: Sin That Leads to Death

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.  (1 John 5:16-17 ESV)

When we see a person who claims to be a brother in Christ, a believer, sinning but reacting to God’s light with confession, we pray for life for them, transformation, because we have every evidence that they are believers and we know it is God’s will for them to be cleansed.  But if we see someone who claims to be a believer but there is habitual disobedience, failure to love and doctrinal heresy, we cannot expect God will answer our prayer because it may not be His will for them to be transformed.  They may not be believers.

All wrongdoing is sin.  Every believer, true believer, sins.  But not all sin leads to death, that is, is an evidence of one’s lack of saving faith.  The sin that leads to death, the sin that gives evidence that one is not saved, is habitual, unrepentant failure to love and keep God’s commands and is doctrinal heresy.  Those who left this congregation evidenced that kind of sin.

John is not saying they can’t pray for these, but he is managing their expectations that their prayers will be answered.  These people have likely committed the unpardonable sin.  They, like the Pharisees who told Jesus that he was casting out demons by the Devil, have clearly seen the truth of the gospel and its power but have willfully chosen to reject the truth despite irrefutable evidence to its truthfulness.  They have denied the crucifixion of Jesus, trampled underfoot the Son of God and cannot be renewed to repentance (Hebrews 6 and 10).

We may still seek to win those who show such hardness of heart.  If they do repent it is evidence that they did not commit the unpardonable sin.  Whoever wants Jesus, whoever comes to him, he will not cast out and whomever the Father has given to Jesus will come to him (John 6:37).