What sin does not lead to death?
Your question comes from 1 John 5:16.
If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrong doing is sin, and there is a sin that does not lead to death.
The simple answer to your question is that it is the sin that is forgiven. When sin is forgiven, it no longer leads to death. One of the themes of 1 John is assurance of continued acceptance by God, even when we fall into occasional sin.
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. - 1 John 1:7
To walk in the light is not to avoid all sin, for John immediately says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves.” He later said:
I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. – 1 John 2:1
Jesus is the light of the world. When we walk in His light, we have sweet fellowship with God – and our sins are forgiven continuously. On the other hand, if we go back into darkness, sin is then unto death.
Jesus spoke of an unforgivable sin – the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. He said this because the scribes from Jerusalem who had come to “check Him out” said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons” (Mark 3:22, 30).
Hebrews 6:4-6 speaks of some whom it is impossible to bring back to repentance. I remember a visit I had with a former Bible teacher who had turned away from serving God. After talking with him about how God had loved him so much He gave His Son for us, and pleading with him to return to the Lord, I asked him, “Can’t you feel His Spirit striving with you right now?” This erstwhile brother paused (for what seemed an eternity) before he answered, “No.”
Here was a man who had grieved the Spirit (see Ephesians 4:30) to the point that he had quenched the Spirit that God had given to him when he came to the Lord as His son (see Galatians 4:6 & 1 Thessalonians 5:19).
When does that time occur? I do not know. I am also sure that some whom we cannot bring to repentance, God can. In fact, when it comes down to it, it is only God who brings any of us to repentance by His goodness (see Romans 2:4). When, however, we continually and habitually disregard His goodness or even attribute His goodness to the power of the prince of demons, a time comes when even God gives up on us.
A time came in the life of the Kingdom of Judah, just before God sent them away into Babylonian Captivity for a 70-year exile, that He told Jeremiah not to pray for this people any more.
Do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger. But am I the one they are provoking? declares the LORD. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame. – Jeremiah 7:16-19
When we become hardened as Judah was, God no longer listens to prayers on our behalf. It took the Captivity to get them to forsake the worship of other gods. Jeremiah’s tears and pleading with them and to God for them were useless. They had sinned a sin that is unto death.
Until then, keep praying for all who sin that they may be led by God’s Spirit into a nobler life that is more and more like that of Jesus.
Filed under: Communion Meditations Tagged: | Sin Unto Death
Jerry,
Thank you for your time in posting this topic. I hope you will review my question and answer to the best of your ability.
“If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life.” The topic question was “Which sins do not lead to death?” And your answer was the sins that don’t lead to death are forgiven sins. At first, I thought I made sense of it – however, if you review the last part of that verse which is “… he should pray and God will give him life.” How can sin that does not lead to death simply be “forgiven” sin? Because if it were simply “forgiven” sin, the brother wouldn’t be instructed to pray for it so that the man may have life. If they sin was already forgiven, there is no need to pray for it correct? Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Ross, thank you for your comment and question.
Several passages speak of sin that removes one from the possibility of forgiveness. There is the one commented on above. There are also the following:
There is a common thread in these texts. They reference people whose hearts are so hardened that the loving kindness of God does not impress them. They reject the very goodness of God that should lead them to repentance (see Romans 2:4).
When Jesus Himself exorcised a demon, they said it was by the power of the Prince of Demons (Mark 3). In Hebrews 10, the sin is deliberate, It turns away from the blood of the covenant (by which we are forgiven); it flies in the face of the Spirit of grace. When we reject the gospel, after having come to know it and experience it, there is no other sacrifice for sin to which we can turn. This is also the message of Hebrews 6. It is not possible to bring such people to repentance; they have hearts that reject God completely after having known and experienced His grace.
This, I believe, is also the case in 1 John 5:16. That is why John says not to even pray for such a hardened sinner.
Realize, though, that these are not the “prostitutes and sinners” with whom Jesus associated – and whom He said were entering the kingdom of God before the Pharisees and experts in the law. He spoke of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit to those who accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub. The Hebrew writer spoke of people who had entered into the covenant of grace – and then rejected it deliberately. These were not sins of the moment through human weakness; this was walking away from God and turning one’s back on Him in a calculated, intentional way.
Not long before Judah went into Babylonian Captivity, God told His prophet, Jeremiah, “Do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, for I will not hear you” (Jeremiah 7:16). He says much the same in Jeremiah 11:14 and 14:11. The situation in Jeremiah’s time was similar to that of which 1 John 3 and Hebrews 6 & 10 speak. Here were people who were hell-bent on following other gods and rejecting the Lord God. When we act like that, God will not hear our prayers.
Most people reject God casually, not deliberately. However, a life of casual rejection can eventually bring one to a place where he cannot turn from the choices he has made over a lifetime of casual, foolish sinfulness. Such a one may have come to this point. One thing is sure; you do not get into this position accidentally.
I hope these comments will help you some.
Jerry
Jerry,
If the wayward Bible teacher, of whom you spoke, dies in his current condition, will he go to heaven or hell?
That is for God to say, not me. After all, I could be wrong in my analysis of what happened that day. Also, he may have simply not wanted to admit that he felt the striving of the Spirit.
Jerry
Okay, that is understandable. Do you believe that a born again believer can once again fall into sin and not make it to heaven?
Todd,
It is not so much a matter of what I believe – but of what the Scriptures teach.
There are many warnings to believers in the Scriptures that would be nonsensical if it were not possible for people who once believed to, as you said, “Once again fall into sin and not make it to heaven.”
That is not the same thing as saying that a believer’s position before God is insecure, which it is. As Peter wrote, our inheritance is “kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:4b-5, ESV).
God’s power to save believers is the gospel (Romans 1:16). That same power (the gospel) guards us through faith for the salvation that is yet to be revealed. Paul encouraged Timothy:
When a believer’s faith is shipwrecked because he does not “hold faith and a good conscience” his connection with God and His grace that saves us through faith is severed.
In Galatians 5:4 Paul states categorically that some, who were seeking to be justified by law (circumcision), rather than by the hearing of faith, had fallen away from grace and are severed from Christ.
Paul’s warnings are very serious. In his discussion of the Gentiles coming to the gospel after the Jews had rejected it, he said, in comparing the Gentiles to a wild olive tree grafted onto the Jewish root:
These warnings mean something. We need to take them seriously. Failure to take God’s warnings at face value has contributed much to the indifference of many nominal Christians, many of whom have at one time had an experience with God.
Jerry
Jerry,
That is the most complete and thorough answer I have ever received concerning receiving/retaining/losing salvation, especially in your following two paragraphs.
| There are many warnings to believers in the Scriptures that would be nonsensical if it were not possible for people who once believed to, as you said, “Once again fall into sin and not make it to heaven.”
That is not the same thing as saying that a believer’s position before God is insecure, which it is. As Peter wrote, our inheritance is “kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:4b-5, ESV). |
Thank you very much. I now have a basis to move forward in my doctrine of sin study.
- I use the ESV also, and recently discovered the NASB (‘95) which often clarifies the sometimes indistinct ESV rendering. Either way, both are literal translations and both eliminate 17th century dialect, allowing for a much more enjoyable study of the Bible.
Todd, Thank you for your kind remarks. I have only recently (last November) purchased an ESV. I like it in most places, but there are a few where it grates on my ear – though I have not yet made a study of its accuracy in those places. Jerry
i am very confused about this text, as i thought all sin lead to death..
please give some examples of those sins that dont lead to death…
Thanks
Paul,
I address this in the post and my comments above. I’m not sure I can add much to what I have already said here.
While it is certainly true that any sin can lead to death, not all sin does lead to death. When we persist in sin, ignoring (or presuming on) the grace and goodness of God, any sin does lead to death. However, when we – through the weakness of the flesh – fall into sin, 1 John 1:7 assures us that the blood of Christ cleanses us from sin if we are walking in the light.
To “walk in the light” is not to live a sinless life. If it did, there would be no sin of which to be cleansed. Walking in the light is to live, as Paul described himself:
When we love Jesus, seek to be like Him, and “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” we are walking in the light and His blood continually purifies us from the sins committed in fleshly weakness.
However, if we turn from Him, His Spirit, and His instructions – we are no longer walking in light, but in darkness. Then we have no promise of cleansing – and our sin leads to death. In fact, you could even say that it has already taken us there, for as Paul wrote to Timothy,
This is because we ignore what leads us closer to God.
I hope that this will clarify the passage for you somewhat.
Jerry
Hi my name is lindiwe and I’m a born again christian, I find myself doubting GOD and jesu so much, doubting if everything in the bible is real, am I rejecting GOD by having these feelings, I feel so horrible and lost, I pray but these feelings don’t go away
Thank you for your question. When you doubt, remember that doubt is one of the tools of the Devil. He uses this to separate you from the Lord. When doubts overwhelm you, ask yourself, “Where does this doubt come from?” Many times it will be because of discouragement or disappointment. More often than not, that will be because we are disappointed in ourselves, in how we are living our lives, more than we are disappointed in God.
Remember the story of Peter walking on the water. He actually walked on the water – until he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the storm around him. Then he began to be afraid and to sink. Yet, Jesus was able to save him from his fears and doubts.
The point of the story is that we need to keep our eye on Jesus, not on the storms of the world around us. The world in which we live is broken. God’s purpose in Jesus is to make things right – beginning with us, for we also are broken by sin.
When we are born anew, we begin our walk with Jesus – but we are still broken. As we walk with Him, He strengthens us by His Spirit – but as long as we are in this life, we will never reach the point that we can be strong except in Him. That is why Satan seeks to separate us from Him through our fears, or cynicism, or selfishness, arrogance, or any one of many other things he uses to tempt us away from Jesus.
But Jesus is still there, above the storm, ready to take our hand to lift us up and lead us safely to the Father.
Lindiwe, after writing what is above, and rereading your question, I wanted to add this. Our feelings are not the standard. Our feelings can deceive us. Remember this statement by the apostle, John:
God is greater than our own hearts. Many times we condemn ourselves when he does not. Of course, the opposite of this is also true; God may condemn us when we justify ourselves.
The point is we need to remain humble before Him, seeking Him and His will while walking with Jesus.