I have taught one of our adult classes for the last several weeks in their study of the Apostle John's first letter. We have devoted time to chapter five for the whole month, noting how in that final chapter, John focuses on the doctrine of the new birth or regeneration (1 John 5:1-5), the testimony of the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:6-12), the main purpose for which John wrote his letter (1 John 5:13), and God's work in prayer (1 John 5:14-15). It is when we come to 1 John 5:16-17 that we encounter what I would classify as the most difficult passage in the entire book of 1 John. We read in 1 John 5:16-17,
"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."
What is meant by "a sin leading to death"?
There have been a number of different interpretations given over the years regarding this particular matter of "a sin unto death". John is instructing his readers to "ask" or pray on behalf of a fellow Christian brother or sister whom they see in a repetitive sin (or perhaps with whom they're trying to help see). Near the end of 1 John 5:16, John gives a parenthetical statement which I'll translate from the Greek text,
"There is a sin unto death. I am not saying in regards to such a situation that he should pray."
John then closes out his parenthetical statement in 1 John 5:17,
"All lawlessness is sin. And there is sin that does not lead to death."
John mentions two broad categories of sin, that which leads to death and that which does not. So how have commentators handled the second category of "sin that leads unto death"?
Out of the various interpretations offered, two main ones are typically offered. One is that the "brother" is a professing Christian who has forsook Christ and is an apostate, never having been born again in saving faith (see 1 John 2:17). This view equates the "sin unto death" with the unpardonable sin mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 12:32 and Luke 12:8-12 or with those who deny Christ who once professed Him (1 John 2:17; Hebrews 6:1-8; Hebrews 10:26-31).
The second main category of interpretations regarding 1 John 5:16-17 and the "sin unto death" involves a genuine Christian who gets involved in a serious repetitive sin or commits a sin that God decrees as deserving physical death (Joshua 7:21-25; Leviticus 10:1-2; Acts 5:8-10; 1 Corinthians 11:28-30).
Author Andrew David Nascelli has traced out the major interpretive options and the questions to ask when studying 1 John 5:16-17 in his article "The Sin unto Death" depicted below and from the link here The Sin unto Death - The Gospel Coalition. Nascelli puts his interpretation in bold type. I'll list his chart and then interact with it, noting where I agree and disagree with Nascelli with the aim of expounding the text of 1 John 5:16-17 and arriving at an understanding of the sin unto death.
| Interpretational Challenges | “sin not leading to death” | “sin that leads to death” |
| 1. Identify the sinners. | Who is the “brother” committing it? (1) a believer (2) an unbeliever | Who is the sinner committing it? (1) a believer (2) an unbeliever (3) an apostate (a specific kind of unbeliever) (4) an unbeliever—especially an apostate |
| 2. Identify life and death. | What is the “life” God will give those who commit it? (1) continued physical life (2) eternal life (when an unbeliever becomes a believer) (3) eternal life—that is, the future resurrection life God promises to sinful believers who repent (cf. 2:25) (4) confirmation that one has and will experience eternal life | What is the “death” God will give those who commit it? (1) physical death (2) eternal death |
| 3. Identify the sin. | What is it? (1) an unintentional sin—like an OT sin for which a person could offer a sacrifice (e.g., ; ) (2) a forgivable sin—e.g., a “venial” sin (relatively minor) (3) any sin a believer may commit | What is it? (1) a deliberate sin—committed “with a high hand” (e.g., ) (2) an unforgivable sin—e.g., a “mortal” sin (specific sins such as adultery or murder) (3) the unforgivable sin (i.e., blasphemy against the Spirit) (4) any sin an unbeliever may commit––especially apostasy |
| 4. Explain the advice on how to pray. | How do you pray for the brother committing it? (1) that God would enable the believer to repent (2) that God would enable the believer to repent and that God would not discipline the believer with physical death (3) that the unbeliever would repent and trust Jesus the Messiah and thus have eternal life | Why doesn’t John say that one should pray for the sinner committing it? (1) That’s not John’s main point as he illustrates what it means to pray according to God’s will (5:14–15). Sin that leads to death is an aside. John doesn’t forbid believers to pray for such sinners, but believers cannot pray for them with the same level of confidence as for believers who commit a sin not leading to death. (2) It is hopeless to pray for an apostate. Compare how the Lord commanded Jeremiah not to pray for Israel () and how Jesus did not pray for the world (). (3) Believers should not pray for the dead. |
His above chart aids greatly in working through all the sorts of questions to ask when studying the passage. As I worked through his grid and worked through all the New Testament passages that use the Greek word "zoe" translated "life" in 1 John 5:16-17, I concluded the following from working through the four main areas he outlined.
1. Identify the sinners in 1 John 5:16-17.
I agreed with Nascelli that the brother committing sins not leading to death are true Christians. I differed with Nascelli on who the brother is committing the sin leading to death. I mainly viewed the brother who commits the sin leading unto death a believer (I don't rule out the possibility of Nascelli's conclusion that this is an unbeliever, which I'll unpack as we go further into this post).
2. Identify life and death in 1 John 5:16-17.
As for identifying the "life" and "death" mentioned in 1 John 5:16-17, I surveyed the 298 texts in the New Testament that feature the Greek word "zoe", translated "life". The standard reference Greek Lexicon "A Greek Lexicon of the Greek New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd edition (BDAG)", page 430-431, lists two general broad categories for which the word "zoe" describes, life in the physical sense and transcendent life (whether God's life or spiritual life).
As always, when we do word studies, we need to keep in mind not only the dictionary or lexicon definition of the word, but more importantly how the word is used in the Bible.
In what I found, this word is used to describe five major categories. Unsurprisingly, 265 instances or 90% describe "zoe" is referring to "spiritual life" or "a quality of life in a saving relationship with God. I can see why Nascelli opted for "life" and "death" having to do respectively with "eternal life" or "spiritual life" and "spiritual death".
However, I pressed on to note four other main categories in which this word "zoe" is found. On six occasions "zoe" refers to the Divine life of God Himself, including 1 John (John 1:4; 5:26; Ephesians 4:18; Hebrews 7:16; 1 John 1:1,2). In four places "zoe" or "life" speaks of the resurrected life the Christian will live in a glorified, resurrected body, sometimes called "eschatological life" (John 5:29; 6:54; Romans 11:15; James 1:12).
There were only two spots that I found that "zoe" could be rendered either way, one of which is our main text in 1 John 5:16-17. As I pressed on, I looked at the final category of passages in which our word "zoe" or "life" appear, discovering some 21 passages (7%) referring it as physical life or life lived in this world.
I had noted that there were two passages in my study that made it difficult to determine whether "zoe" or "life" is referring to physical life or spiritual life, 1 John 5:16-17 and Matthew 18:8-9. What I observed was that Jesus used this term in what seems to be two ways to refer to the spiritual life one enters upon in salvation (Matthew 18:8) and perhaps physical life upon which one is born into and from which the same person dies and suffers punishment in the Lake of fire (Matthew 18:9).
As I looped back to 1 John 5:16-17, I noted that even though John had used the term "zoe" to refer to spiritual life in the remainder of 1 John 5, yet it was not outside the realm of possibility for him to utilize "zoe" to refer to physical life, based upon the pattern I saw in Matthew 18:8-9. Therefore, I differed with Nascelli and opted to interpret "life" as physical life and "death" as physical death in 1 John 5:16-17.
3. Identify the sins in 1 John 5:16-17.
When it came to identifying the sin referred to by John as "the sin unto death", I reviewed Leviticus 4:1-3 and Numbers 15:22-29, which list out the categories of unintentional sins which would equate with those sins not unto death. I agreed with Nascelli that these qualify as any sin a Christian may commit (i.e. "sin not leading to death").
I then read Numbers 15:30-31 that speaks on the subject of sins committed with a high hand or what we could equate as "sins leading to death". I differed with Nascelli, who saw the "sin unto death" as committed only by a professing unbeliever who apostatizes. I would say I partially may agree with him on this point.
Nevertheless, I tend to lean more toward the "sin unto death" being committed by a genuine Christian, at which point God brings about the Christian's physical death in order to preserve the salvation of his or her soul (Acts 5:1-8; 1 Corinthians 11:28-30). I see this especially in the cases of the man of God who disobeyed God in 1 Kings 13:1-26 and possibly Achan in Joshua 7:19-24).
We're not told what the specific sin of "sin unto death" is, however, we can discern from the above cross-references that it is any sin which when committed, if left unchecked, could hypothetically lead to the eternal damnation of the genuine Christian, which of course is a manifest impossibility, since God has promised to preserve all his saints unto the end (John 10:28-29; Jude 1:24-25). Thus, physical death to a Christian who "crosses the line" with God appears to be in view. However, I don't rule out this passage being applicable to unbelievers as well.
Certain reputable commentators have suggested that the difficulty in having certainty over whether the sin unto death is committed by a believer or unbelievers might be resolved by admitting that the Apostle John is issuing this as a warning to both. W.A. Criswell, famed pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas for over fifty years, made this remark in a sermon called "The Sin Unto Death" here The Sin Unto Death – W. A. Criswell Sermon Library
"Now, what I have done is, in reading the Scripture and studying it to the best of my ability, I believe I’ve come to the conclusion that it refers to both; the “death” refers to physical death – there is sin unto physical death – then there is sin unto eternal death. I find that in the beginning – both of them. The Lord God said to our first parents, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” [Genesis 2:17]."
Pastor John MacArthur, who recently passed and also pastored his church for the same length of time preached from 1 John 5:16-17, drawing this wise observation,
"I don’t have any way to determine which. Both are true. Which one John has in mind, he doesn’t make clear. But I know this: There is a time when people fully and finally reject the gospel."
Being that the Apostle John is addressing genuine Christians and those who only profess faith, it may very well be he is warning both believer and unbeliever alike to not cross the line with God when it comes to sin, with the emphasis placed on warning the Christian not to take sin too lightly.
4. Explain advice on how to pray for those who may have committed "the sin leading to death."
One final point to note, namely how ought we to pray for people who enter into "a sin unto death". Nascelli thinks we only have clarity to pray for those who have not committed a sin leading to death. I would agree with Nascelli on that observation, however I would add that since we cannot know for certain when a Christian (or an unbeliever for that matter) has "crossed the line with God", it is incumbent on us to pray for their repentance and to trust God to either show mercy or to execute His just dealings.
There were times in the Old Testament where God told prophets either not to pray for persons too far gone or that their prayers would be of no effect for such persons that went too far in their sinful rebellion (Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14; 14:11; 18:18-21; Hosea 4:17; 12:14). Nevertheless, those prophets had specific insight from God about the people who had crossed that line with the Lord. We today do not possess the insight of prophetic divine inspiration, thus in our prayers for those whom we fear seem far too gone - especially a fellow Christian. John MacArthur and Richard Mayhew give this wise counsel in their Systematic Theology,
"If a Christian is under church discipline, believers in the church should not pray for the consequences to be removed until the sinner repents, with the goal that this person will repent, the church delivers him or her over to Satan's realm."
Closing thoughts
In today's post we studied the meaning of the term "sin unto death" in 1 John 5:16-17 with the view of attempting to discern its meaning. We noted that this sin is likely referring to physical death that can occur to a genuine Christian who commits a sin that would otherwise bring their soul into jeopardy. We also found that we should not rule out the possibility that John is also applying this warning to unbelievers who professed Christ at one point but then "walked away" or apostatized from their faith. Whether this sin in 1 John 5:16-17 is equated with the "unpardonable sin" Jesus mentions in Matthew 12:33 and Luke 12:8-12, although we did not explore that in detail, this author would likely distinguish the two sins, leaving the "unpardonable sin" to be something committed by unbelievers only who attribute the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan.
We also noted that since we cannot know for certain who has committed "a sin unto death" (or who may very well be close to it), it is wise to pray for their repentance, to pray for their great discomfort that could lead to their repentance, and to trust God whether He mercifully leads them to repentance or physically brings about their death. Finally, 1 John 5:16-17 serves as a warning to us all to never take sin too lightly and to give thanks to God for how often He is merciful to us in Jesus Christ, and that we ought to confess our sins to Him who is just and faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
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