14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. 16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. 17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death. (1 John 5:14-17 KJV)
Confidence and Compassion in Prayer
Here we have a privilege belonging to faith in Christ—namely, confidence in prayer: “This is the confidence we have in him: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14). Christ encourages us to come to God in every circumstance with all our requests. Through him, our petitions are accepted by God. The content of our prayer must align with God’s revealed will. It is not right to ask for what contradicts his glory or our good, since we belong to him and depend on him. When we pray according to his will, we can be confident that our prayer is heard in heaven.
The benefit of this privilege is clear: “If we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:15). The needs of a faithful petitioner are great—deliverance, mercy, and blessing. To know that our petitions are accepted is as good as knowing they are answered; therefore, we are assured of being shown mercy, forgiven, guided, sanctified, helped, and saved, as we have been permitted to ask.
We are also given direction in praying for the sins of others: “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 he should pray about that” (1 John 5:16).
We should pray for others as well as ourselves—for all people, that they may be enlightened, converted, and saved; and especially for our Christian brothers and sisters, that they may be sincere, have their sins forgiven, be delivered from evil, and be preserved in Christ Jesus.
There is a distinction in the seriousness of sin: “There is a sin that leads to death,” and “there is a sin that does not lead to death” (1 John 5:16-17).
All sin, by its nature and legal consequence, leads to death: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law” (Galatians 3:10). But here, “sin that leads to death” is mentioned in contrast with “sin that does not lead to death,” which implies degrees in guilt and consequence.
“Sin that does not lead to death” includes those that, by human or divine standards, do not require death. In civil law, some injustices can be corrected without capital punishment. In contrast, others—capital crimes—legally result in death.
There are also sins that, by divine judgment, lead to death, either physically or spiritually. Some sins may result in physical death, such as the cases of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-10), or possibly even sincere believers, as when Paul said of the Corinthians, “That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 11:30). The gospel does not always threaten physical death for visible sins among believers, but God may still discipline his people to that extent: “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son” (Hebrews 12:6). God may, in his wisdom and severity, choose to let discipline go as far as death to serve as a warning to others.
There are also sins that lead to spiritual and eternal death—those that are incompatible with spiritual life and the hope of heaven. These include final impenitence, final unbelief, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31-32), and total rejection of the truth of the gospel after clear understanding of it (Hebrews 6:4-6; 10:26-27). These sins carry the guilt of everlasting death.
This leads to how we apply prayer in light of these types of sin. Prayer is directed toward life: “He shall ask, and God will give them life.” Life comes from God—he gives and takes it according to his will and providence. When a fellow believer sins, but not in a way that leads to death, we can pray in hope and faith for their physical and spiritual life. But in the case of sin that leads to death, as described above, we are not instructed to pray. As the apostle says, “I am not saying he should pray about that.”
This may mean that we have no promise to rely on in such cases—no basis for a prayer of faith. God’s justice must be executed for the good of all. Even a fellow believer may need to be surrendered to human justice (which ultimately reflects divine justice) and to God’s mercy at the same time.
We may only pray for the removal of such judgments conditionally—asking that death or punishment be prevented if it is consistent with God’s wisdom, will, and glory. We cannot pray that sins be forgiven while someone remains impenitent or unbelieving, nor can we ask for saving blessings that require forgiveness while they persist in that state. However, we can pray that they repent, come to faith in Christ, and then receive all other mercies.
If it becomes clear that someone has committed the unpardonable sin—blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and total rejection of gospel truth—it appears we are not to pray for them at all. “What remains but a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God?” (Hebrews 10:27). These seem to be the sins John calls “unto death.”
Finally, the apostle reminds us that not all sin leads to death: “All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death” (1 John 5:17). If every form of unrighteousness required eternal death, we would all be condemned, since all of us are guilty of some failure toward God or others. But since Christians are generally considered to have eternal life, there must be sin that does not lead to death. While no sin is trivial, there is such a thing as sin that is forgiven—sin that does not result in eternal condemnation. If this were not the case, there could be no justification or continued state of grace. The gospel covenant lessens or removes the full penalty of sin.