Text: 1 John 5:16-17
At the end of John’s first epistle, he mentioned two different kinds of sin – one that leads to death and one that does not. What was he talking about? This is a difficult passage. We must take care not to misinterpret it, but we can understand it. To do this, we must seek to harmonize it with the rest of Scripture.
Key Words
- Sin (hamartia) – standard usage; violation of God’s law (1 John 3:4; cf. John 8:34; Romans 6:23)
- Death (thanatos) – wages for sin (Romans 6:23)
- Unrighteousness (adikia) – standard usage; iniquity, wickedness (cf. Acts 8:23)
- Ask (aiteo) – in this context, it refers to prayer to God (cf. 1 John 5:14-15; James 1:5-6)
Possible Interpretations
- Forgiven sin – fits with the part about not leading to death (Hebrews 8:12), but not the part about petitioning God on their behalf
- Excused sin – does not fit with God’s judgment of sin (Romans 6:23; 1:18), as if sin could be overlooked without forgiveness
- Perceived sin – one may think an action is sinful when it is not (cf. Romans 14:14, 23); but in this case, God granting him life has nothing to do with our petition because he already had life (Romans 14:4)
- So what is John talking about? – not a particular sin or type of sin; this is about ones ATTITUDE toward sin, whether one is willing to repent of sin or has hardened his heart and has given himself over to sin
The Two Sins Mentioned
- Sin not leading to death
- Petition God on this person’s behalf (cf. Acts 8:22-24)
- This person experiences godly sorrow that leads to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10)
- We can help restore this person who has been caught up in a trespass (Galatians 6:1)
- Sin leading to death
- Do NOT petition God on this person’s behalf (cf. Jeremiah 7:16) – it would do no good
- This person no longer feels guilt for sin (1 Timothy 4:2; cf. Jeremiah 6:15)
- It is impossible for us to renew this person to repentance (Hebrews 6:4-6)
Lessons for All of Us
- Sin is not to be taken lightly – “all unrighteousness is sin” (1 John 5:17); John was not minimizing it; we must not continue in sin (Romans 6:1-2)
- We must continually strive for perfection – the goal is to NOT sin (1 Joh 2:1); it is not our goal to find the “right way” to sin
- When we sin, we need to repent – walk in the light (1 John 1:7) and confess our sins to God (1 John 1:9); we must recognize our need for God’s mercy (Luke 18:13)
- Recognize that we can be hardened by sin – this will cause us to fall away (Hebrews 3:12-13); this can happen to any of us, even spiritually-minded brethren (Galatians 6:1)
Conclusion
- All sin is contrary to God’s law – He is just in punishing those who commit sin
- At the same time, all sin can be forgiven through the blood of Christ on the cross
- Whether our sins will be punished or forgiven depends on our response to the gospel
- Will we turn from our sin? – in conversion and continuing to do so throughout our lives
- Or will we stubbornly continue in sin and refuse to turn from it?
