I John 5:16-17
15 And if we know that He hears us regarding whatever we ask,
we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not resulting in death,
he is to ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not resulting in death.
There is a sin resulting in death; I do not say that he should make a request for this.
17 All wrongdoing is sin, and yet there is a sin not resulting in death.
Introduction
Our text this morning continues the final section of John’s letter.
Now remember, as John brings his letter to a close, he underscores the main points he wants his readers to take away from this epistle, especially in light of the threats and claims made by the false teachers, who are troubling his flock.
Notice then, so far, the two things that John has said he wants you to take away with you from this study are: first, John wants you to know with certainty that Christ has secured the whole of your salvation. Therefore, to have the Son is to have eternal life. Second, John wants you to know the absolute confidence that you have in prayer. When you pray God always hears and answers you.
In our text this morning John turns to illustrate the extent of your confidence in prayer.
Verse 16
Notice at once, John opens verse 16 by telling us that if we see someone sinning we are to pray for them. Importance: at once verse 16 alerts me that my confidence in prayer extends beyond my own concerns. In other words, the same certainty and expectation that are to inform my prayers for my own needs are to inform my prayers for others. In both cases, God promises to always hear and answer our faithful prayers. Notice then specifically for whom John says we are to pray: John says if anyone sees his brother sinning. In other words, we are to pray for fellow believers. However, please note: verse 16 does not imply that we are to neglect praying for unbelievers. Instead, verse 16 focuses on our prayer for other believers. Why? Other believers already have the source of forgiveness/life (Jesus). Think about it: John’s whole point in this discussion is the certainty in prayer that believers have because of Christ.
Next, notice the occasion of our prayers: John says we are to pray when we see a fellow believer sin. Importance: at once verse 16 alerts us that our confidence is not limited to trivial/peripheral matters. Instead, it extends to the most crucial of situations. Notice then, we are not to respond to another’s weakness with self-righteous and hypocritical disdain; nor are we to respond with selfish/easy indifference. Instead, we are to do for them exactly what we do for ourselves when we stumble: we are to turn to God for His mercy, forgiveness, and healing FN#1.
However, notice the qualification: John says we are to pray as long as the misdeed is not a sin that results in death. Problem: what does John mean by a sin resulting in death? We have three options (which I discuss in more detail in the footnote FN#2): first, it might mean that we are to pray as long as the person did not physically die as a result of their sin (thus they stole a car and died in a crash). In such a case, verse 16 would simply tell us not to pray for the dead. Now while this is true it is not what John is talking about here. The second option is that a sin resulting in death points to an egregious and/or entrenched sin. However, Scripture clearly tells us that in such cases we are to respond with a process of correction and discipline, which at every step is to be accompanied by ardent prayer for the repentance and restoration of the wayward believer. Instead, a sin resulting in death points to flagrant apostasy. Importance: notice at once apostasy is very different from the unbeliever who has not known or tasted of the Gospel. It is also different from periods of doubt or questioning. Instead, apostasy means that the person knows the Gospel clearly; that they have had a direct and prolonged encounter with the life changing grace that the Spirit works in those around them; nonetheless, they blatantly reject the Gospel, they publically promote a distortion/denial of who Jesus is, and they actively seek to deceive others with a false and deceptive spirituality. Notice the result: John says that when we see such flagrant and egregious apostasy we are not to pray for that person because it has led to their spiritual death. In other words, by knowingly rejecting Jesus, they have blatantly rejected the only source of grace and forgiveness available FN#3. Notice then the point: in verse 16 John stops his instruction on the certainty of prayer to clarify this teaching in light of the false teachers who have gone out from his flock and who are now troubling them (2:19). John says that no prayer is to be made for them or any who knowingly follow them. Instead, they have made themselves enemies of the Cross FN#4.
Next, notice the specifics of how John tells us to respond to a genuine believer’s struggles: first John says we are to ask/pray for them. However, please note, John is not suggesting or inviting us to pray for them. Instead, the verb here is a future imperative. That is, it is a command to pray. In other words, intercessory prayer is how God commands us to respond in every case for every believer. Next, notice the result: John says we have the certainty that when we pray for another believer God will give them life. That is, God will grant them the very grace, forgiveness, and healing that He has promised them in Jesus. In other words, behind our confidence in prayer is the certainty that the very same assurances that God has promised us in Christ, belongs equally to every believer. Not only that, we also have the assurance that God will not relinquish/abandon even one of His children. However, notice the surprise: John does not say that God will forgive the wayward brother because He loves him (that is true but it is not what John says). Instead, notice the picture of prayer that John provides: notice the incredible dynamics and the place God expects you to occupy in prayer: John says that God will grant the wayward believer life/healing on behalf of the one who is praying. However, please note: this does not suggest that God does not love or hear a believer when he sins. Instead, the scenario here is that the faithful brother is praying the prayer that the one who is sinning should be praying for himself. However, his sin has blinded him. Therefore, the faithful brother stands in for him, knowing that the wayward is covered in the blood of Jesus. As such, the faithful brother asks God for what already belongs to the wayward on behalf of the wayward and God grants the request.
Verse 17
Next, notice John reminds us not to be pulled off course by the distinction between a sin that does and does not lead to death. John says all wrongdoing is sin. As such, all wrongdoing is death. That is, all wrongdoing is a turning away from the God of life and thus it brings nothing but misery, sorrow, and ruin. Therefore, no sin is benign or to be treated as harmless. Instead, all sin is to be brought to God at once for Him to forgive and heal. Not only that, every sin (despite how small we may think it is) is enough to condemn a person for eternity. In fact, the only difference between a sin that does and does not lead to death is one’s standing with Christ. As such, verse 17 balances John’s conversation by reminding me that I am not to take any sin lightly.
Bottom line: verses 16-17 underscore the extent of the believer’s confidence in prayer. Thus, not only do we have certainty in our prayers for our own concerns, we have the same certainty as we pray for the concerns of other believers. In fact, God commands us to stand in for a brother when he is struggling. Not only that, God assures us that when we do, we have the confidence that our brothers and sisters have the same assurances in Christ as we do.
Footnotes
1] Importance: notice that what is in view here is not a sin that someone commits against you. As such, there is no mention of the sin being committed against the person; nor is there any talk of the need to forgive the offending party. Instead, the person only sees the sin being done. In other words, by all accounts this is none of your business, except God has just made it your business. Not only that, He has made it your business in a wholly productive way. As such, you are not to respond with self-righteous and hypocritical disdain, while remaining blind to your own weaknesses; you are not to respond with a selfish indifference; nor are you to take delight in their struggles making sport of them in gossip. Instead, you are to pray for their healing, thereby seeking for them what God desires and what grace is doing in every believer, knowing but for grace there go I as well.
2] Importance: what exactly does John mean by “a sin resulting in death”? There are three options:
1. A sin leading to death refers to a misdeed that has resulted in physical death verses just hurt or harm. In such a case John would be instructing us not to pray for the dead. Now while this is true it is not what is in view here. Notice then, in the passage “death” and the “life” that God gives stand in a direct parallel contrast to one another. Thus, if physical death is what is in view, then those who have not died as a result of their sin already have the parallel physical life. Such then would make the assurance that God will grant life to those who are not dead nonsensical. In turn, the restriction (don’t pray for the dead) is a point that has no previous mention in the epistle or any relevance to John’s conversation throughout the letter.
2. A sin leading to death refers to an egregious sin. However, Scripture is clear that cases of egregious and persistent sin are to be addressed by a process of Church discipline (rebuke, discipline, and in extreme cases excommunication). In turn, at every step this process is to be accompanied by fervent prayer for repentance and restoration. For example:
Matthew 18:15 “And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.16 “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. 17 “And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer.
Galatians 6:1 Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted.
The result is that egregious sin does not fit the bill of what John means here.
3. Finally, a sin leading to death refers to overt Apostasy- Such is more than simply people who are deceived, fall away, or go through a season of doubt. Instead, this concerns people who have been a part of the body, known the clear truth of the Gospel, tasted of (experienced outwardly) God’s Spirit, and then have publically renounced Christ, publically embraced a false religion, and publically seek to deceive others. The result is that God gives them over to spiritual death. Such then addresses the very situation already discussed in 2:19 and which is behind so much of what John has said throughout the epistle about these false teachers
1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us.
3] Notice, this notion of Apostasy and spiritual death has a clear precedence throughout Scripture. In fact, John’s instruction here exactly matches what Scripture teaches throughout: In the Old Testament such folks were to be stoned. In turn, we hear God specifically commanding that they not be prayed for
Deuteronomy 13:6 “If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known,)…… 10 “You shall stone him to death because he has sought to seduce you from the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt,
Jeremiah 7:16 “As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you…… 18 they pour out libations to other gods in order to spite Me.
In Hebrews we are told that it is impossible to renew such a person to repentance.
Hebrews 6:4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,…. 6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame.
(Note: the outward nature of nature of involvement here: the person only tasted, but did not ingest. They partook of the Spirit but only though the blessings and gifts that God pours out on others)
And in Galatians Paul tells us that we are to dedicate such folks to God for destruction.
Galatians 1:6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to distort the gospel of Christ.8 But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed (lit. let him be anathema- dedicated to God for damnation).
4] Two points here: first, the egregious rejection of Jesus along with the public promotion of deception has cut the apostate off from God. Thus, unlike the unbeliever there is no hope of repentance since they have tasted and rejected the Gospel on the most profound spiritual level. Second, notice that this sin of apostasy is so well know that the person who sees the sin at once knows that it is a sin unto death. Thus, one who was once included among the life of the church has left, publically renounced Christ, and now is blatantly promoting deception. In other words, this sin to death is a well-known biblical principle, one that is immediately identifiable, and more egregious than even unbelief.
1. A sin leading to death refers to a misdeed that has resulted in physical death verses just hurt or harm. In such a case John would be instructing us not to pray for the dead. Now while this is true it is not what is in view here. Notice then, in the passage “death” and the “life” that God gives stand in a direct parallel contrast to one another. Thus, if physical death is what is in view, then those who have not died as a result of their sin already have the parallel physical life. Such then would make the assurance that God will grant life to those who are not dead nonsensical. In turn, the restriction (don’t pray for the dead) is a point that has no previous mention in the epistle or any relevance to John’s conversation throughout the letter.