What are sins that lead to death? What are sins that don’t lead to death? 1 John 5:16-17 is one of the most challenging (and even confusing) passages in the Bible. Join Dr. Marty Baker as he helps us understand this passage, and more importantly, apply it to our own lives.
Years ago, a Christian parachurch leader I knew well burst into my office needing quick counsel.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Why are you so upset and bewildered?” I couldn’t believe how he, a community spiritual pillar, responded.
“Well, my wife and I have been married for over fifty years, and our marriage hasn’t been going well for quite some time. She ignores me a lot in every way. So, yesterday I decided to drive to an area where I knew there were questionable women. Within a few minutes, I spotted one and decided to pull over and talk with her. The next thing I knew, she jumped in my car, and I negotiated a price. That’s when she pulled out her badge, and several police officers surrounded the car. They handcuffed me, threw me in the back of a squad car, hauled me down to the police station, and gave me one phone call. I called my wife, who had to come down and bail me out. Saying she was shocked and angry is to light of a statement. What do I do now? How do I go forward? How do I rebuild my marriage after this sinful move?”
Welcome to the pastorate. Welcome to being a believer in Jesus Christ. Who hasn’t sat face-to-face with a Christian friend who has sinned? What should be your course of action?
- Listen and love. We are under divine mandate to “love one another,” meaning we don’t desert a brother or sister regardless of their actions (1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11, 12). Love pulls alongside a said instead of pulling away.
- Admonish in love and humility. Paul tells us this much in his writings: “14 And we urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all men” (1 Thess. 5). The Greek imperative for “admonish” (νουθετέω, noutheteo) speaks of offering counsel and instruction to motivate someone to avoid or cease inappropriate, immoral conduct. Of course, as Paul says in Galatians, the one who admonishes must be gentle and humble because they, too, have clay feet: “1 Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted” (Gal. 6).
What else should you do?
Pray for them. Why? For one, a spiritual issue must be met with spiritual discipline. Once more, Paul gives us sagacious advice in his concluding thoughts about the importance of wearing spiritual armor: “8 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints” (Eph. 6). For another, we, as saints, are under divine orders to pray for saints when they fumble in the fray. John tells us this much in 1 John 5, verses 16 through 17. From what we’ve seen in this short letter, John did his share of admonishing for many Christians who had unfortunately chosen to listen to the voice of false teachers, resulting in them being confused, compromised, and, at times, combative with truth speakers like John. Hence, in his final wrap-up counsel to these seven churches in Asia Minor, he sought to strengthen, the aged and wise pastor tells us to . . .
Pray For Sinning Saints And Expect Divine Results (1 John 5:16-17)
Watch how John develops this motif:
16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death. (1 John 5).
These words should make you take a deep, defined gulp. Whoever said Scripture was always easy to interpret? Not I. Most of the time, the meaning of Scripture is straightforward and relatively easy to discern. There are, however, those verses where no matter how many exegetical, grammatical, historical, and cultural tools we bring to bear, we are left in a quandary as to precise meaning and application. John’s words here are of this latter sort because he does not tell us what exact sin committed by a Christian does, in fact, trigger God to remove them. Based on the complexity of these verses, I will, therefore, offer my best understanding of what I think the Spirit is saying through John, but at the end of the day, I know there is a mystery here of how the Lord deals with his people which we cannot fully comprehend.
I understand that the Lord calls us to pray for saints when they sin. Do you? Will you? Instead of saying, “Did you hear about what so and so did? Unbelievable. How tragic and terrible for them and their family,” you should be prompted to pray. Why? Pray because a spiritual battle is at hand, and prayer is the weapon of choice to help a saint gain victory. We know this much from John’s opening words here in verse 16.
Pray Ardently For Those Who Fumble In The Fray (1 John 5:16b)
Listen carefully to how John develops this critical point:
16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this.
What is John teaching about prayer as it relates to believers who sin? Let’s see.
First, please note whom John is speaking to: brothers, adelphos (ἀδελφός), which is a term used in the letter to denote genuine believers (1 2:9, 10, 11; 3:10, 12, 14, 15, 17; 4:20, 21). John’s use of this term never speaks of professing (fake) believers but possessing believers or saints who are genuinely saved and enjoy eternal life, forgiveness, and the presence of the Spirit. This crucial distinction must be considered as we analyze both verses. John isn’t speaking about Christian brothers in verse 16a, and then pivoting in 16b and 17 to address non-Christians. Brothers and sisters, in Christ, are in view in both verses, and all are quite capable of sinning, for they still struggle with the flesh (Rom. 7; Gal. 5:13-26). Can you relate?
Second, John states there are sins Christians commit which, though dangerous and destructive, do not warrant the Lord removing them from the earth. He does not, unfortunately, identify or classify those sins, leaving it up to us to offer our thoughts. The participle “committing” and the word for “sin” both come from the same root (hamartia), and collectively, they describe a saint who sins by missing the mark (as an archer would miss the intended target) of God’s laws and codes of holy conduct. The sky, therefore, is the limit as to what sins this word denotes: anger, malice, bitterness, hatred, lust, pride, sexual deviation, and the like indeed fit the bill.
Read Christ’s words to these seven churches, as I’ve mentioned before, in Asia Minor, and you’ll instantly identify many sins they needed prayer for: Ephesus (Rev. 2:1-7): they were great on doctrine and short on love for Jesus; Pergamos (Rev. 2:12-17): they were prone to doctrinal compromise; Thyatira (Rev. 2:18-29): they had some saints who endured cultural pressure to compromise, but many tolerated sexual perversion in their ranks; Sardis (Rev. 3:1-6): they looked like a vibrant church but were spiritually dead and lifeless; and Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22): they were spiritually lukewarm, meaning they could care less about spiritual truth or error. Everything was just fine with them. Like many today, these churches needed admonishment and prayer, and I’m sure John spent many hours on his knees concerning them in addition to confronting them as their shepherd.
Third, John states it is the Lord’s will to answer prayer(s) committed to saints who have fumbled the spiritual football in their lives. When you intercede for them like Moses of old, the Lord will grant them life. What does this mean? Life, zoe (ζωή), is used in First John of either physical (1 John 1:2 ) or transcendent, spiritual life (1 John 2:25; 3:14, 15; 5:11, 13). True, contextually, John has just spoken about eternal life, which all saints possess; however, I do not think it is logical for eternal life to be the meaning in verse 16. Why would Jesus give you, His child, spiritual life when at the moment of conversion, this is exactly what you received (John 3:15, 16; 5:24; 6:47; 1 John 2:25)? The only other conclusion is to assert the prayer for a straying saint eventually leads to their repentance and the extension of their physical life. You might need to read that sentence again. All sin leads to physical death; therefore, to pray and turn a saint from sin, as in my friend’s case, causes the Lord to extend their life. As a Jew steeped in the Old Testament, I’m sure John knew how holy, wise living is rewarded by the divine extension of physical life:
2 Ill-gotten gains do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death. (Prov. 10)
28 In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway, there is no death. (Prov. 12)
19 He who is steadfast in righteousness will attain to life, And he who pursues evil will bring about his own death. (Prov. 11)
Do you now see why praying for saints who stumble and fumble is so important? Eternal life is not in view, while physical life is. Your prayer(s) might turn the saint from their sin and move God to mercifully and graciously give them more time to walk this old earth. Who are you praying for? Who haven’t you been praying for, which you should be?
Here’s another pertinent question: What are you praying for, exactly?
- “Lord, help Joe, see his sin so he can repent and restore his relationship with you.”
- “Lord, be merciful to Joe if you’re moved to discipline for his sin, and cause this discipline to grab his attention and guide him back to a vibrant relationship with you.”
You are praying for them to wake up spiritually, confess their sin (1 John 1:9), and move onward and upward to holiness. Again, this is precisely what Moses did numerous times when Israel strayed from God. They sinned, God either proposed to move in judgment or He did, and Moses interceded to spare their lives from God’s discipline so they could continue to be His people. Israel’s sin with the Golden Calf is a historical representation of this cycle (Ex. 32). Read it, and you will see what I mean. Israel rejected the worship of the living God when they created the idol. God knew of their sin and moved in punitive judgment. Moses eventually stepped in to seek God’s mercy through passionate, highly emotional prayer before God’s throne.
Again, I ask: Which sinning saint are you praying for? Pray, and God promises you will see Him act profoundly in your life.
I’m sure all this causes you to ask the logical question: Does God discipline His saints when we act unholy? The answer is unequivocally, Yes. The author of Hebrews gives us this insight:
5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; 6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives. 7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Heb. 12).
The holy Lord disciplines us because He loves us and wants to correct our behavior so we “share His holiness.” In this regard, He acts just like a wise parent with an unwise, unruly child. When that child goes off the rails, the parent quickly corrects the misbehavior so the child knows what behavior is acceptable. My parents must have had these verses taped to the wall in their bedroom for constant viewing in my regard. I never enjoyed their discipline, but I am the man I am today because they loved me enough to correct my sinful behavior through various forms of discipline. God, my friend, is no different.
How does the Lord discipline? He might give you a thorn as He did with Paul, remove blessings, bring hard people into your life to challenge you, cause you to move from a job you like to one you don’t like, and so on. Regardless of what He is permitting, you need to be asking, “Lord, what sin do I need to confess so I can grow and mature spiritually?”
I don’t know about you; I’m thankful for my parents, who modeled Christ to me, disciplined me so I could understand His discipline, and prayed for me along the path of life. I’m sure their prayers, coupled with countless others, have given me life . . . when things, as John is going to say, could have been different. So, be prayerful for sinning saints and step back and watch the Lord, who is full of mercy and grace, work in their lives.
At other times, dealing with sinning saints can be more complicated, especially concerning prayer. In the latter part of verses 16 and 17, we learn we are to . . .
Pray Cautiously For Those Who Fracture In The Fray (1 John 5:16b-17)
There are those saints who fumble and stumble in their spiritual walks and live to return to a vibrant, victorious faith, while there are also those who sin so heinously and constantly that it fractures and shatters their faith walk. John talks about this second type of saint in the last part of verses 16 and 17:
16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death (1 John 5).
I’m sure you have a boatload of questions about these verses. I know I do. Up front, however, let me inform you that there is no way we can answer all of those questions because John doesn’t give us enough information. We can, therefore, only offer up our best theological guess(es) as we humbly seek to walk before the Lord.
The big question, no doubt, is this, “What is the sin leading to death?” According to John MacArthur, one view believes John speaks here about unbelievers who eventually reject Jesus despite the evidence of His deity.[1] This viewpoint is likened to the unpardonable sin or the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:31-32). I do not think this is the case because of what Dr. Dwight Pentecost concludes:
It is evident that the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit could only be committed while Christ was personally present on earth. The sin could only be omitted when the nation was being given evidences as to the person of Christ through the miracles which He performed by the power of the Holy Spirit. The necessary circumstances do not exist today and, consequently, this same sin cannot be committed today.[2]
This sin, therefore, was but for a brief moment, meaning it could not be the “sin unto death” committed by an unbeliever today. And unbelievers are spiritually damned anyway by their birth relationship to their forefather Adam (Rom. 5:12-21). Conversely, John talks about a sinful process leading to physical death, not a process leading to eternal death. Eternal death is a position the lost inherit from Adam. It is not a process they acquire, thus, this “sin unto death” is not about them but about believers or Christian brothers and sisters.
What is the sin that leads to physical death for a believer? No one knows. We can, however, make some educated guesses. Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold some land and promised to give the proceeds to the early church. When the funds finally arrived, they disregarded their promise and kept a large chunk of the money for themselves while offering the church a smaller amount. We know how that turned out for them. Peter said they both lied to the Holy Spirit, and because the sin was so heinous, the Lord took both believers out immediately (Acts 5).
In First Corinthians 11, Paul reminds us how abuse at the Lord’s communion table is met with divine discipline:
27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged. (1 Cor. 11)
Before communion in the ancient church, the believers had a love feast where those with much were supposed to share with those with little. Sadly, it was a big party with those with much were feasting on their fine foods and becoming drunk, while those with little went hungry. The drunk saints then came to the Lord’s table and partook without much heartfelt confession. How did the Lord respond to this desecration of this table, symbolizing the price He paid to secure our salvation? He caused some saints to become physically sick and others who were the biggest instigators He removed from the planet. Do not think He has changed His view of the communion table. You might approach it flippantly, it’s-no-big-deal fashion, but He doesn’t view His sacrifice on Calvary in such a cavalier manner. He still might make you sick to get your attention, so you confess your sin and get back on the spiritual high road, and if you persist in your pollution of the holy table, He might call you home prematurely.
Returning to the Old Testament, you will readily see how the Lord removed some of His people for various sins.
- Choosing not to trust Him, even though He showed them miraculous signs to deliver and provide for them, the Lord caused those people to die in the wilderness (Deut. 1:32-37).
- Choosing to constantly complain about the Lord’s provision for water in the desert at Marah moved the Lord to warn them about death through disease if they didn’t wise up (Ex. 15:26).
- Choosing to constantly complain about the lack of meat for their diet in the wilderness moved the Lord to give them quail meat to eat, and then he struck many of them as they ate (Num. 11:33).
- Choosing to bring their fire from home for the Lord’s altar instead of using the fire God had started on the original altar for the Tabernacle moved the Lord to vaporize Aaron’s two arrogant and disrespectful sons, Nadab and Abihu (Lev. 10).
I could go on, but you get the point. It would be difficult to pinpoint precisely what the “sin unto death” is because the Lord exercises His will to remove saints for various reasons down through the years.
“Sin unto death” probably comes to a believer’s life when they perpetually drag His holy name through the mud and willfully disregard His teachings and laws. After introducing the danger of willful sin in Hebrew 10, verse 26, the author adds these ominous words:
29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ (Heb. 10).
There comes a point in a saint’s sin, and this timing is only known to God when He says, “That is enough!” By quoting Deuteronomy 32, verse 35 in Hebrew 10:30, the author shows how the same Lord who will judge His enemies for their sinful ways is the same Lord who will first judge His people when they choose to insult the Spirit and Son who redeemed them by their flagrant, fractured, unrepentant sin(s). This dovetails with what John says in verse 17, “17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death” (1 John 5). Sin is sin, whether a believer or an unbeliever commits it, but it is a serious affront to God when His child commits it.
All of this leads us to make some salient observations:
One, when you pray for saints who are sinning, you should pray cautiously for God to act. What does this mean? It means you do not know if they have committed the final sin, which will trigger God’s last act to stop them in their sinful tracks lest they do more harm to His name. But do pray, asking God to be merciful and to move the sinning saint to the point of confession and restoration. Do not be caught off guard if the Lord calls that saint home.
Two, if you are a saint right now and you are willfully straying from Him and have been doing this for quite some time, I urge you to come clean today. Do not presume upon His grace and patience with you, and please realize you do not know how close you are to motivating Him to call you home . . . I’m speaking of your heavenly home.
Three, if you are a saint, I hope you can see the importance of living a confessional life, of making sure you keep your slate clean before the Lord by bringing your sin before Him.
Four, if you are a saint, make sure you pray for other saints who are sinning and need help. Your prayers might save their lives and give them life when they wake up and return to Jesus.
[1] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: 1 John (Chicago: Moody Press, 2007), 205.
[2] Dwight Pentecost, The Words and Works of Jesus Christ, p. 207.
