Mountain View Baptist Church

[This message is part of a series through the book of 1 John, entitled "Salvific Assurance Through Testimony," preached by Pastor Senter].

In our last study we looked closely at how we can ask and receive an audience for our prayers within His will. We found that in our first part of the study we needed to recognize there are some very specific circumstances affiliated with this guarantee, hope, or promise. First, the issue at hand is directly attributable to a relationship with the Savior. We have to understand that our first concern is our own spiritual condition. Are we capable of saying we believe on the name of the Son of God with conviction, and within this are we capable of saying we are confident that we have eternal life? This is the first condition from which stems the confidence we can have when we go to the Lord in prayer. The second condition is asking according to His will. We cannot ask indiscriminately, we cannot ask for frivolous things, and we must ask within the will of God for our lives. For instance, I do not believe it is my place to be independently wealthy. God has chosen to keep us humble. He wants me to serve Him. For this reason, for me to ask for some large sum of money (even if it is focused upon a good purpose, and would actually be used for that purpose) would be inappropriate. God’s will is for me to be here, right now, serving this community for Him. I have all I need. He may entertain a prayer concerning our ministry here; but some request for personal affluence is not within His will, therefore, I have no confidence in His hearing me. The second part is for us to face the fact that He will hear, and have confidence in what He does hear. Now we recognize that there are times when we are not exactly on top of what God’s will is; however we are bent toward it. Maybe we do not know specifically how to communicate it, or maybe we do not know what it is we are to communicate; however our hearts are focused upon God’s will.

Look with me now at 1 John 5:16. Today we will consider something that is rather controversial. Today we consider for whom we can or cannot pray. We will also consider differing sins–sins that make someone liable to death, and sins that do not. The first question that pops into your head should be, If scripture says that the wages of sins is death, why does this scripture say some sins do not lead to death? Another question may be, How are we to know if someone has committed a sin so severe that we should not pray for them anymore?  Keep these questions in mind as we look at 1 John 5:16.

These two verses have no real illustrative allusions. The discussion here is about sin, and sin within the context of the letter. For that purpose, this introduction should address the focus of the letter as a whole. John is writing to a group of Christians who were located in the area around the eastern Mediterranean basin. John is writing to the churches in the area to encourage and educate them concerning the Messiah, the Christ, the one known as Jesus of Nazareth Who died so that all could live. John is writing about a shining light in the darkness that came and radiated brightly the love of God to all who would believe. John is writing concerning the truth as opposed to a lie, that people might not be deceived. John, in this wonderful epistle, is writing concerning sin in people’s lives and the evidences of these sins. John writes of the great love of God, and how that love is in opposition to the hate of the world. John writes about how this loving light is to shine through us–through fellowship one with another–and to dispel the darkness of the hate-filled and self-centered world around us. These are the driving forces of John’s epistle. Faith in Jesus Christ gives eternal life and light, whereas faith in man’s personal cogitations gives nothing but death and darkness.

Turning to the passage at hand–that deal with sin and death specifically–someone might be inclined to ask, What is a “sin not leading to death”? After all, sin is mentioned six times in this passage, and death is mentioned four times. These have to be the driving forces in this passage. In addition, it says that there are sins that do not lead to death. Have we not all earned our wages in sin, which is death (Rom 6:23)? Every rebellious action is a way in which we have earned our payment for sin, death, or separation from God. Does this make the passage written by Paul in Romans a falsehood? Is there some other light being shed on the death that is described in those passages? There are different words for “death” in Greek–could this be a specific instance of a word usage? That answer is no; this is the same word “thanatos.” The death discussed here is one that you can experience at the final judgment of Christ (Rev 20:11).

Someone might also remember the passage in Mark 3:28-29, where we learned that all sins can be forgiven–but if you sin against the Holy Spirit you will never receive forgiveness. This epistle, although clearly discussing the Holy Spirit at times, is not about the Holy Spirit solely. This epistle is about your salvation and the continuing evidences of your salvation in your testimony. This letter is about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. John is arguing for the deity of Jesus, the messianic position of Jesus, and the power of salvation in Jesus alone, which then gives us eternal life. Having saving faith and belief in Jesus is the way to life in the light as opposed to a dead, dark soul inhabiting a body destined for eternal torment. That is the concern of this epistle. We should look then at what this scripture is really saying, and be careful about it.

I believe we will find that “there is one sin that leads directly to death–denial of Christ as Savior.” Considering this passage carefully “when we speak of forgivable and unforgivable sins we think “mortal” and “non-mortal” sins; but only one sin leads to death.” We consider imperative not selectively, but in context. Within the context of this letter, the Holy Spirit is guiding John to write about the truths of salvation. The Holy Spirit was sent to testify of Jesus Christ the Son of God (Jn 14:26). This entire epistle is about Christ’s salvation and the effects of this salvation. Why then would the Holy Spirit of God make a huge unconnected leap to differentiating between one sin and another? He would not because it makes no sense.

I. Unforgivable Sin (verse 16)

It is admittedly a little difficult to break down these verses. Both verses 16 and 17 present unique problems in looking at their purpose, subject, scope, and generally what they say. Taken at face value in any translation, and in the Greek, verse 16 seems to say that if we see another person sinning in a way that will not cause them death, we should ask for them to be forgiven and that sinner will receive life from our petition. Theologically, what impacts does a thought like that have? The word used throughout this passage for “sin” is “hamartia” and it’s verbal derivatives which indicate missing the mark, wrong doing, or sin. I will contend that in our discussion today we must lean on the “missing the mark” usage in our interpretation, where the sinner is possibly discussing something and somewhere in the discussion “misses the mark.”

Another question we might ask is, If we pray, will the individual be given life?  Is that saying that we can pray for others to be saved, and in that prayer give them eternal life in salvation? Is it saying that if we see other people sinning, but not too serious a sin, that we can pray for their release from the sin and they can receive it? Talk about a theological can of worms.

Then again, we look at the discussion concerning death. What is a sin that is not given to death as opposed to one that is given to death? We might remember Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. Is the verse making some kind of spiritually-oriented statement? In other words, will certain sins kill the spirit while others may just injure it? Will certain sins result in physical death? What is the definition of this death, and how does it impact us in our daily lives that involve sin? What is a sin that we are not supposed to pray for? Questions, questions, and more questions.

We could sit here and contemplate this short list of things, or we could extrapolate a multitude of questions and issues in addition to them. However, without actually sitting down and applying ourselves to the Word of God and the very thing that it deals with, we are wasting our time. We must look at this passage, within this section of scripture, within the context of the letter as a whole.

Our first consideration, you might think would be with seeing another brother or sister in Christ in sin. This passage seems to open with a comment concerning a priesthood of the saint’s activity – admonishing and encouraging one another or being accountable to one another. That is not the force of this passage. It is centered upon sin and death, and there is where we must begin our study.

A. Distinguishing sins

What is a sin not leading to death anyway? What sins are we talking about or discussing here? When we first look at this piece of scripture we note that the term used is “brother.” We should read this, this way:  if one believer sees another believer committing a sin he shall ask and he will give him life… This first part of the verse deals with someone already knowing Christ. This is a sin after someone has been saved. This is a sin that has perhaps become a habit in the life of that individual. Two other things that John repeatedly argues within this epistle are that we are to keep God’s commandments and we are to love one another, the neglect of which are flagrant sins to John. This is evidenced in John’s  continual admonishment to keep God’s commandments as a form of love, and to  love one another (Jn 13:34, 15:12; 1 Jn 5:3).

This instance of sin may not be something that is so severe that we would take it into church discipline – a sin that is plainly against the church and everything the church and the people of the church stand for. No, this is something we might witness such as some dealing harshly and inappropriately with someone. It happens to all of us, it is out of character for anyone who knows Christ Jesus. It does not necessarily mean that the individual is lost or with out Christ; it just means they are human, they need to repent.  They are dealing with an emotionally-charged situation, and they need to get right with God. We can debate the “practicing” part later, but this piece of scripture does not deal with that. Remember John is writing to others who have seen these Gnostics work and attempt to draw people away. Some of these people are not very pleasant to get along with (1 John 2:19-21). Some people (even saved people) do not tolerate this tension well. I am sure John realizes this, has experienced short tempers with some people, and is addressing these things. People are contending for the faith folks. You cannot tell me you have not gotten a little over-zealous contending for your faith in Christ once and a while. I know that some of you are very passionate about our Savior and His work in your life. This is the situation John is dealing with – people are committing sins that are a function of the sin nature within humanity. They are still not excusable, they need the blood of Christ to cover them; nevertheless people are suffering because of these sins.  When you witness these things, such as people getting agitated, you need to pray for them. It rather goes back to a discussion we had concerning 1 John 2:19-21 where difficult people are difficult to deal with; however, if they claim Christ as their Savior, you have to pray for them. This is the context of this sin. It is not an unbeliever, it is not a mortal sin, it is simply sin that one commits as a believer, witnessed by another believer who loves that person. This is also where we have to consider the tenor of the word translated sin – as missing the mark.

When you witness something like that – pray for that individual, that their heart will change or they will be convicted and change. This happens of course as one may perform a self-assessment as well. Look at your own heart too folks. There is always sin there. I am a firm believer that we witness sin in others lives because God wants us to understand something and that “something” many times is the sin in our own lives.

What about this idea of asking and God will give him life? What is happening with that piece of the passage?

B. Asking forgiveness

There is a very misinterpreted passage in James 5:13-18.  In this passage, and leading up to this passage, we have a circumstance where people are suffering in a multitude of different ways. Actually, how we handle suffering, as it is described in James, begins in Hebrews chapter 13 and carries through 2 Peter. All of these passages and these books deal with suffering at some level. They deal with persecution and individuals going through the fire for the faith. In 1 Peter, the suffering is a preparation for Nero. In James, the suffering is multi-faceted.

In chapter five of his epistle, James is discussing suffering, and the suffering is a spiritual conviction and suffering that is painful. These passages have been interpreted as proof texts for laying on of hands for healing. The passage begins with a comparison and the need for praise or prayer depending upon your circumstance. Then it asks if anyone is ill and that that person should call for the elders. The word for sickness (astheneia) along with its cognates refers to a wide variety of sicknesses, including mental, spiritual, and physical.[1] There is some debate as to what James is referring. Since the word “sickness” has a broad meaning, is James speaking of spiritual sickness or physical sickness? Those who believe James is referring to spiritual sickness point out that verse 16 seems to imply a spiritual healing.[2] They also see the words “save” (sozō ) and “raise up” (egeirō ) as referring to spiritual healing in verse 15.[3] This is then a clear call to pray for anyone suffering these trials. We could point to the very first verses of James to gather the tenor of the epistle and the subject with which it is concerned. Chapter 1 and verse 2 counts it joy that we are persecuted and tested in our faith. There is a joyous sense to being steadfast in our faith and being able to withstand attacks. There is contentedness and confidence in knowing that we are given the wisdom we need.

When we look at verse 14, we see James calling upon elders of the church. This presumes that it is a believer who is being afflicted. The elders are mature men of the church who occupy this official office in the local body. These elders have a dual role when they arrive at the side of the sick believer: prayer and anointing. Both are done as spiritual leaders and known elders of the church, which the believer attends. Prayer is provided as intercessory on behalf of a believer suffering spiritually and physically because of their faith. The anointing is a form of consecration to the Lord. If the sickness is due to sin, then the believer’s confession, faith, and prayer to God will forgive the sins of the individual and bring physical healing. If the Lord wills for one to remain sick, His grace is sufficient. However, the Lord’s will in the matter must condition a prayerful response of a soft, loving brother in Christ. We must pray as Elijah did.

John, no different from James, calls for prayer for healing the sins of a fallen brother or sister in Christ. We must minister to others, and call for the elders of the church to do so if we are unable to help and console them.

What then is the deadly sin that is discussed at the end of the verse. What is it we are not supposed to pray for?

C. Deadly sin

As mentioned before, one might hearken to Mark 4 where we read of no one being able to receive forgiveness for blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Is that the case though in this verse? Does the verse lead us to understand a leap in discussion from sinners, and brothers in Christ, and Christ as Savior, to the Holy Spirit and the unforgivable sin of blaspheming Him? I do not read this scripture this way, nor do I read that this scripture teaches there are degrees of sins that are either forgivable, or unforgivable in steps. Equally, no conservative commentators that I am aware of see this reference to the Holy Spirit in these passages. There is one sin that is deadly though, one thing we could do that would utterly destroy our lives for all eternity. This is a sin; make no mistake. It is a sin to do it, and a sin to maintain this confession. It is sinful not only to utter it, but it is sin to live it. Man lives within the reality of the most deadly sin of all every day, and many do not realize it. They exist in the sin of denial. The sin that “is a sin unto death” is denial of Jesus Christ as the Savior of the World. Denying Jesus Christ as Savior, denying Jesus as the Son of God, denying that He can save you, denying His power to save others, denying every and anything that has to do with Christ Jesus, this is a sin unto death. People may not realize that denying Jesus Christ denies the Father; this denial denies God (1 Jn 3:22-23).

So now you say, okay Pastor that makes sense. Because this epistle is about Christ and His deity and ability to save us, and our testimony after this gives us assurance of salvation, I understand that denying Jesus is foolhardy because it leads directly to death with no reprisal, no opportunity for defense. What about that last phrase though? That is confusing – are you saying we should not pray for those people who deny Christ? I thought we were supposed to pray for their salvation. Let us look at that next. What is it we are not supposed to pray for?

D. Pray

Have you ever said something to the tune of, “Man, I pray I get that job;” however, you never really prayed? You never bowed your head or looked up at the heavens and actually asked God for anything? That is the situation we have here. The word in this verse is specific:   “erotaō ” which means, “to ask.” Now, it is not a translation issue because there are a number of translations that use the word “pray” to translate this word. It is simply a request like, “Pastor, I pray you finish this message quickly, I’m hungry.” That is a request, not necessarily a prayer to God. The word we more commonly see translated, as a spiritual prayer to God is “euchomai.” With that little piece of knowledge then, let us look at our Apostle of Love and his conveying a simple truth to us that, “I would never say that you should be asking for that.” The NASB has, “I do not say that he should make request for this.” The he, in this case, is those committing sin. The individual committing sin is not denying Christ Jesus, like the Gnostics, he is simply committing some sin. It could be the sin of worry, folks. What if someone is toiling with a troubled heart about something that is serious in their lives, and all you can do is sin in your pious attitude and say to yourself, “Man, I wish that guy would just believe and rest in the Lord. He’d be way better off.” Are you doing them any good rejoicing in your own comfort? How about a prayer for them as we are instructed earlier in the verse?  Have you ever considered reaching out to the Lord for them? They are not lost; they are just troubled. In James, they could be troubled to the point of physical illness.

In case you are wondering, the word for “ask” earlier in the verse is a word that indicates a very urgent or demanding plea. This  prayer is something that one might offer because they see this sin taking place. When believers “walk in the light, as He is in the  light”, this same light serves to spotlight and reveal this sin, compelling you to pray for the  individual.  The second word we find translated “pray” is a request with some apprehension. Where we find the first word for ask in verses such as Mark 6:22, where Herod had impure thoughts about having an intimate relationship with Herodias’ daughter, and he said, “Ask anything you wish and I will give it to you.” Herod wanted to be with that girl right then. We find the second word “ask” used in passages such as Matthew 16:1, where when the Pharisees and Sadducees asked Jesus to perform miracles they did not know what was going to happen.

We certainly find these as two wholly different circumstances and usages of the respective words. One is an urgent request that you ask because you see a circumstance that you know should not be taking place, yet it is something that does not involve denying Christ Jesus as Savior, or the brother in grave danger. This is a situation where you just know you need to pray for someone who is dealing with a sin in their lives.

The second situation is where we find we are apprehensive concerning what is happening; however we should not be concerned about the individual’s relationship with Christ. If we pray for that individual, we should not have to ask about their relationship with Christ Jesus. This is certain. That is a whole other prayer and concern. That is a matter of witnessing and testimony – possibly in an argument for faith in Christ.

In the time of John’s writings, it seems there were matters of great contention as the Gnostics regularly denied the deity of Christ and attempted to convince others to do the same. Some were struggling with this satanic onslaught. Not everyone was responding well.

I pray (pun intended) you are saying something like, “Okay Pastor, I think I get it now. When people are contending for the faith, especially and in this case the deity of Christ against unbelievers, and they seem to be struggling in their testimony, pray for them. If they are contending and having a difficult time, yet I know they believe, I should not doubt them and I should intercede for them in their sin.” What then does verse 17 say if Romans 6:23 says the wages, what we have earned, in sin is death. Verse 17 seems to go directly against that.

II. Forgivable Sin (verse 17)

If you suppose this you are again leaping out of context and into oblivion. Verse 17 is actually a good proof text for putting Romans 6:23 into action. Looking at what we have just learned and understanding that these verses are within a paragraph in and of themselves, the subject is again a brother dealing with sin. John simply and specifically makes the point that all unrighteousness is sin. There is nothing righteous we can do in and of ourselves that is not sin (Is 64:6). Therefore, any attempt at righteousness in ourselves, of ourselves, or for ourselves is selfish in itself and sinful. This makes righteousness unrighteousness when it is by us because it is for us. The only righteous things we can do are oriented to fulfilling the will of God in our lives. In this dedication and submissive servitude, we do things that are righteous in His sight because they are for Him, by Him, and of Him. However, if we are saved, if we know Jesus Christ as Savior, if we do know Him, truly believing in His salvation to eternal life, then we are capable of sinlessness, not that we can ever attain it here on earth (Heb 7:11). We will sin after we are saved. We are capable of sin any moment of any day. Our salvation gives us a tool that no one else has with respect to our ability to combat sin; but it does not eliminate the sin capability of the believer. Salvation is for all sins, yes; but flippantly expecting the Savior to cover any sin that one might commit without actually seeking His precious gift when sin is evident treats the gift of salvation with disdain, disrespect, presumption, and takes Him for granted. It is self-centered and evil.

However, if someone is saved, if someone has the Lord Jesus Christ in their heart, if someone truly believes, then there is for that person a sin that does not lead to death. It is sin that occurs in a believer’s life. John states emphatically, in very strong language – you are not to be flippant about sin – all unrighteousness is sin. However, if you in your believing heart fall prey to sin, fear not–you will not suffer the eternal death of Revelation 20:11.

We should always be mindful of our sin. When we are complacent about and uncaring concerning our sins, we run the risk of practicing unrighteousness (1 Jn 3:4-10) and all unrighteousness is sin. When we practice sin we claim a sin-filled life, or a life without Christ. However, when we normally operate in a forgiven fashion, seeking Christ, loving Him, and serving Him, then when we sin we should not fear death, we simply seek His forgiveness. Moreover, other believers are to pray for one another in these times of great sin.

We look back then at what we have studied and we must be careful that we address the issues in these scriptures.

First we talked about brothers committing sins. This means believers are sinning. They are not threatened with death. If they were, we would be liable to lose our salvation and my scriptures teach that, “… neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39). We are encouraged, therefore, to pray for others who fall prey to sins in their salvation. We receive this encouragement right behind a promise that God hears our prayers in our salvation. It is within this context, a believer’s life, that we must interpret these scriptures concerning sin and death. A believer will not suffer death for sin. You should pray for them and not be concerned about praying for salvation, but for them within their sin.

There are other circumstances here, which John may be alluding to that we do not fully know. This is somewhat an argument from silence; but we know the secessionists were attempting to divide the congregations and arguing with people about the deity of Christ. I am confident that you, over your lifetime, have seen a believer at one time, very strong in the Lord, yet in a discussion you might overhear them say something that made you question their spiritual condition with the Lord.  A possibility exists that, in this scenario, while in these discussions with a Gnostic or an unbeliever of any kind, one brother in Christ witnesses another brother or sister during the discussion contending for the faith. In this observation, somehow the believer may ascent to the unbelieving person’s argument at some point. It may even allude to a denial of Christ in some way. The believer may not even know they have done so. Many of us are very simple people. Most in fact are not skilled in rhetoric. There are people that are very adept at rhetoric and can box you in quickly and easily with words. They are known as rhetoricians. We find this in politics, philosophy, and many disciplines that concentrate on a forensic argument that attempts to sway opinion or beliefs. The Greek philosophy of John’s day (the intellectual Gnostic and others) was centered around expert rhetoric. They studied Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. These people were extremely adept at arguing, and when someone who is normally quiet “the fewer words the better” type is confronted with an expert rhetor, it presents very very tense situations. Our response when we are boxed in is normally a flared temper, or an assent to the argument in some way to move on, get past the situation. We do not know, however this may be what is being witnessed. Folks, the theology of Jesus Christ was only barely developing at the time this letter was written. Even today, many people do not know enough about the scriptures to explain every single belief they have; they just know they believe. They know why, they know there are scriptures to point to; but they cannot exactly argue every nuance of a belief. When people are cornered, they get defensive and agitated. I suspect this was taking place everywhere. In a discussion, therefore, someone may utter an incorrect phrase, may speak one term out of line, may not argue exactly the way you might understand it. They may not exactly understand how to convey their thoughts, just as you fumble with prayer at times as we discussed last week. Folks, we have to face the fact that these are just folks like you and me. If at a time like this they may sin, pray for them. This is probably not a denial of Christ; it is simply a comment from another imperfect human being like you and me. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Talk to them later, give them love, and help them when these situations arise. They need your prayers at times like this, not your judgmentalism.

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[1] D. J. Moo “The Letter of James”, Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, pg 236 -treats this more thoroughly.

[2] The question remains undefined, “what is spiritual healing?” Some have thought that it is addressed at those who are depressed and down in spirit. If this is the case, then let him pray and sing songs. Whatever spiritual sickness is, it is dealt with in the first two commands of verse 13. Spiritual sickness or weakness is covered in the term suffering (kakopathei), which refers to a variety of non-physical suffering and trials.

[3] This is John MacArthur’s position (MacArthur, John, “MacArthur New Testament Commentary – James“, Moody Press: Chicago, 1998, p. 276-277). Hiebert makes an integration of the two views. “Here the reference is primarily to physical weakness, but the sickness may have a spiritual aspect” (Hiebert, D. Edmond, “James”, BMH Books: Winona Lake 2002, p. 294).