SIN UNTO DEATH

Alan Pihringer

Difficult Bible Passages • Sermon • Submitted 3 months ago • Presented 3 months ago

1 John 5:13–21

0 ratings

· 3 views

Notes

Transcript

-{1 John 5}

-Part of our Wednesday evening discipleship is that on the 4th Wednesday of the month we look at passages that are difficult to understand and (maybe) there has been disagreement over their interpretation by Christian scholars over the centuries. We want to see if we can get some clarity, but at minimum learn a little something from them if we can’t come to a definitive solution.

-Tonight’s passage has some important points about our assurance of faith as well as assurance that God hears our prayers. However, there are a couple of verses that has given Christians some fit over the years. I have to admit, I came into this study with a general idea of what I thought that the passage meant, but after a lot of study, a lot of reading of commentaries, and a lot of reading of journal articles, I ended with a bit of a headache. I think that a couple of interpretations are possible, but we’ll tackle those as we come along. So, let’s read the passage:

1 John 5:13–21 ESV

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. 16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. 18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

-Now, I want to consider the context before we concentrate on vv. 16-17, our problem children. John’s epistle, as well as his gospel, focuses much on Jesus’ identity—He is completely human and completely divine. It is because of this fact that He is able to save us to the uttermost. And John wants to give Christians assurance that if they have truly repented and believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they have eternal life. However, John is also aware that there are people who claim to be Christians that have not truly believed in Jesus, and these do not have eternal life. But their lack of faith is mostly demonstrated by them having an inadequate view of who Jesus is as well as a lifestyle of continuous sin.

-So, when you read the gospel and the epistle, there might seem to be a lot of what appears to be double speak, and you learn to balance it all out by consideration of his whole message. So, for example, in chapter 2 John says if you know Jesus you keep His commandments, and whoever doesn’t keep Jesus’ commandments is a liar and the truth is not in that individual. Interpreted, if you claim to be Christian but don’t follow Jesus’ commands then you’re actually not. But then John said previously in chapter 1 that if you say you don’t have sin you’re a liar—so he seems to admit that Christians do sin, and we can confess our sin, and we have Jesus who satisfies God’s justice because we break His commandments.

-So, we might say that John is trying to get across that if you claim to be a Christian but you are in continual, unrepented sin or rebellion, or if you believe and proclaim a Jesus that is different than the Jesus preached by the apostles, then you are not really a Christian. But for the true Christian, here is how you can know that you are a true Christian and your hope is in the fact that Jesus paid the price for your sin and offers forgiveness. John is trying to give full assurance to the true Christian, and he is trying to warn and convict the one who claims Christianity without actually being saved.

-But now, looking at the passage I read, John is concluding his epistle and says that he wrote this epistle so those who have believed in Jesus Christ may know that they have eternal life. This is the blessed assurance of the believer—Jesus gave the promise of eternal life and He is more than able to see that promise through. My assurance is not based on me or anything that I have done, it is based on Christ, His Word, and what He accomplished. And this has been fleshed out in the five chapters of the epistle.

-And with this assurance of salvation comes another assurance—when you are in Christ and have eternal life in Him, you can be assured that your prayers are heard. Now, there are some caveats to what John says here. This is not carte blanche that you can just ask any old thing and get it. This is not a proof text for the name it and claim it crowd. Notice what he says. First, it includes praying according to the will of Christ. First, that means that you pray according to Scripture because Scripture fleshes out Christ’s will. But then it also means that for things of life that aren’t specifically named in Scripture that we surrender our will to Christ’s will. A good way to end a prayer is to say NOT MY WILL BUT YOUR WILL BE DONE.

-But that then also means that we are guaranteed an answer to our prayer—just not maybe the answer we were looking for. If we pray that Christ’s will be done, and whatever it is we prayed for does not come to pass the way we wanted it, that then means that it wasn’t in Christ’s will, and so it’s actually better for you that it didn’t happen.

-This past Sunday Trish and I revisited some past decisions that we had prayed about many months ago, and Christ seemingly shut the door at the time. And as we revisited those prayers that we had lifted up, we came to the conclusion that we are so glad that Christ closed those doors. You know what, Christ actually knows what he’s doing in your life.

-But then John, in this talk about prayer, gets a little more specific about prayer that is intercession of behalf of others. And here is where all the confusion comes in—what in the world is sin that leads to death and sin that doesn’t? Now, even John admits in v. 17 that all wrongdoing is sin. And God told Adam and Eve in Genesis 2 & 3 that if they sin and rebel they will surely die. And Paul tells us in Romans that the wages of sin is death. So, technically, all sin leads to death. So, what in the world does John mean by this?

-First, let me tell you what it doesn’t mean. This does not in any way give credence to the Roman Catholic doctrine of there being two different categories of sin. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that there is mortal sin and venial sin. They teach that mortal sins are grave violations of God’s law such that you lose any any state of grace you may have had before (because you went through the sacraments of baptism and communion and confirmation and the like). But if you commit a mortal sin you are instantly bound for hell unless you confess the sin to a priest and do whatever sort of penance they tell you to do. On the other hand, venial sins are sins that allow charity to subsist, though it offends and wounds it. If you die with venial sins still on your record that just means you spend a longer time in purgatory before you can make your way to heaven.

-While these verses might be difficult to understand, this is not what they teach. According to the rest of Scripture, all sin is leads to separation from God. Then you have to consider that payment for sin—the only payment for any sin is the shed blood of Jesus Christ needed for all sin. Next, this concept introduces the possibility of losing salvation, which the Bible does not teach (so, this passage does not introduce this either). Great, that’s not what it means—so what does it mean.

-One possibility is that John is talking about unbelievers who have become so hard hearted that they are past the point of no return—they will not repent or truly believe and there is no hope for them, and so their fate is sealed (so to speak). My issue with this interpretation is that in v. 16 it talks about brothers committing sin.

-Another possibility is that the sin that leads to death is sin by a Christian that leads to their physical death. In order to protect the church and to protect His name and to protect the integrity of the gospel, if a Christian commits a grievous sin, God will physically kill them. We see this happen in the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5—they lied to God and the apostles and God took them out. We also see something mentioned in 1 Corinthians 11 where Paul talks about the Lord’s Supper and he mentions that there are Christians who took the body and blood without discerning the body so that is why many of them are weak, ill, and some even died because of it. This is probably the view I originally took about this passage, but then again maybe not.

-So, lets think this through. In context John is talking about God hearing and answering prayer (with the caveats I mentioned before). He begins to talk about a specific type of prayer—intercession for brothers and sisters who are committing sin. If we see a fellow believer in sin, we pray that they would repent of that sin. And it says that God will give them life—God will allow them to then live in the fullness of life that Jesus offers. We can pray that God will work in the heart of a brother and sister in Christ and bring repentance and they will be restored to fellowship with God.

-But now, the sin that leads to death, if it is referring to a Christian, the context might indicate some of what I mentioned above (leading to physical death) and it just might not be God’s will that they remain. Some Christian brothers and sisters can be brought to repentance, while others may not. If the context of praying according to God’s will is in play, then John might be saying that it’s not God’s will that the Christian be given a chance to repent, but it’s time for them to be removed.

-Or, considering the context that I had mentioned earlier, John might be making the distinction between the true believer and the one who merely claims to be Christian, and in that case death is talking about spiritual death. The believer can be prayed for and brought around to truth to live in the fullness of who they are in Christ. On the other hand, the apostate has so hardened their heart and offended God that they will not be brought around because it is not God’s will. This doesn’t mean not to pray for unbelievers—but it is a warning against people’s hard hearts. Consider what he says in v. 18—the unbeliever is not born of God so they keep on sinning.

-So, I know that’s clear as mud. But some quick lessons. First, for the true believer, know that you are assured eternal life, and you know you are a believer if you believe in the Jesus that has been revealed in Scripture and your heart is soft to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to repent. Second, know that God hears your prayers, and be sure to pray within the realm of God’s will. But, if you have believed in an unbiblical Jesus or if your version of Christianity allows you to sin with abandon, then you are not a true Christian, and you need to repent and believe in the true Jesus while you still have a chance.

SIN UNTO DEATH

​