If any one see his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life, for those that do not sin unto death. There is a sin to death I do not say of that that he should make a request.
John has just said that God hears whatever we ask according to His will. Here he gives one example of that confidence, and it is not about us. It is about a brother caught in sin. Two questions follow. What is this "death" a sin can lead to? And why does John stop short of telling us to pray about it? The writers quoted below use an older wording, "a sin unto death," where the ESV has "sin that leads to death."
John's one example of confident prayer has nothing in it for the person praying.
Let us notice that this single example about our praying is one designed to exclude selfish motives. There is nothing in it for us. We do not even get the honour of God using us to win a soul, or to do some other good work that other eyes can see. But when a brother, a child of God, sins, we see how grave it is. It calls for real concern from our own hearts.
What is the "life" God gives in answer?
Some sins are more serious than others — some "unto death," some "not unto death." In the second case sickness may come, and in answer to prayer God will "give him life" — that is, restore him to a measure of health at least. Not all sickness comes from sin, however.
The death in view is not the loss of the soul. It is God dealing with His own children while they are still on earth.
The verse is not about the second death. It speaks of a saint cut off in this world — for a sin of such a kind, or in such circumstances, that God chastises it by death. Sometimes He removed saints who had stood in high honour, like Moses and Aaron, when they displeased the LORD at Kadesh (Numbers 20). Sometimes He struck at once, as with Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5). But the apostle explains the principle to the Corinthian saints... "But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world."
The severity of the sentence says nothing about where the person spends eternity, and Scripture supplies a contrast case.
When the apostle says, "There is a sin unto death," the death he means is not eternal separation from God, but the temporal death of the body, which the Lord inflicts on His own as chastisement... Compare the case of Ananias and Sapphira with that of Simon in Acts 8. In both cases the parties sinned, and sinned deeply. God judged Ananias and Sapphira with death. But Simon showed himself to be "in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity" — an unchanged man, despite his outward belief and his baptism. God leaves him to be judged with the world. Ananias and his wife faced an awful judgment, but it was only temporal, and there is no reason to think their spirits will not be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 5:5).
Readers naturally want to know which sin belongs in this category. The text refuses to say.
The first thing many will ask is, What is that awful sin which cannot be prayed for? Well, in the text it is left undefined. The very same act may be a thousand times more blameworthy in one person than in another. The same act may also weigh far more in one set of circumstances than in another. Ananias and Sapphira told a lie. But they lied in the face of the Holy Spirit's vivid presence — such light, power and grace — and so their lie became a sin unto death. The circumstances gave it a special enormity. So Scripture does not define what may or may not be a sin unto death.
Seeing a brother sin should send us to prayer. But in one case the person praying feels a check.
Seeing a brother sin should lead those who know God's holiness to pray. They should ask that God will not cut him off from this life under His government... But in some cases the heart of the one praying is checked. The apostle would not have the seriousness of sin weakened in such a case. "There is a sin unto death": this may be the reason of the check. [Peter could not have prayed for the life of Ananias and Sapphira.] But he adds, "I do not say that one should pray for that." The word "pray" here is erōtaō... 'to question concerning it.' If there was no question, the apostle would have none raised.
That check is the exception. The rule for every other case is plain.
Discerning a case of sinning unto death takes great nearness to God. In any other case we may pray without hesitation for the brother's life to be spared.
Where God has clearly acted, however, pressing the request would be out of step with Him.
So it would have been quite a mistake about the Lord's mind to pray that a brother should have his life prolonged, when he had sinned in such a way that the Lord meant him to die as a chastisement.
- See — John's one example of confident prayer gains us nothing. It is a brother's sin, felt as the grave thing it is.
- Ask — Seeing a brother sin, we ask that God will not cut him off. The answer is life — health given back.
- Life — The "death" here is bodily, not the second death. God disciplines His own children now, so they will not be condemned with the world.
- Limit — Scripture names no sin as the sin unto death. The same lie can weigh far more in one setting than in another.
- Silence — Only great nearness to God can discern such a case. Where the heart is checked, hold back; in every other case, pray without hesitation.
Every unrighteousness is sin; and there is a sin not to death.
This verse comes inside John's teaching about praying for a brother who sins. Its two halves pull in different directions: no wrong is small, yet not every wrong ends the same way.
(The ESV says "all wrongdoing is sin." Older translations say "all unrighteousness is sin" and "a sin unto death." The writers below use that older wording.)
The first half of the verse defines sin by what it contradicts. Sin is not a list of offences. It is a failure to match a relationship.
God has fully shown us the perfection and beauty of our eternal relationship with Him and with His children. Unrighteousness is inconsistency with relationship. The smallest thing that does not fit this holy relationship is sin, however much we gloss it over as an error, a slip, or whatever else. God intends no trifling or excusing of sin. Yet the degree of seriousness differs. We are called to discern things that differ, for there is no list of things put in either category. This calls for communion of soul with God.
That changes how we talk about ourselves.
Every unrighteousness toward God or man is sin. We admit to failures, inconsistencies, slips and mistakes. But if we dropped these polite words and put "sin" in their place, it would sharpen the moral sense. In how many things, even religious things, do we need to have our senses trained to discern good and evil (Heb. 5:14)!
The second half keeps that seriousness from crushing us. God does not answer every sin in the same way.
We are not speaking of God's government in relation to final and eternal issues. We are speaking of its present working, here on earth. All unrighteousness is sin. But God's government has penalties short of death, in cases where that government is not outraged in some extreme or shocking way.
History since then bears this out.
Not every sin is so serious in God's sight as to require the removal of the sinner by death. Many have lied since the days of Ananias. Many have behaved in a disorderly way in the church since the early days at Corinth. God has not taken them away as a result.
So what makes the difference? Commentators point to the circumstances, and to the reaction the sin stirs.
To me this does not seem to be one particular sin. It is any sin whose character stirs Christian indignation instead of Christian love. So Ananias and Sapphira committed a sin unto death. It was a lie, but a lie under such circumstances that it caused horror rather than pity.
Ananias and Sapphira were early believers who lied about a gift of money and died at once. Why so severe?
The very same act may be a thousand times more blameworthy in one person than in another. It may be far worse under one set of circumstances than under circumstances of a different kind. Ananias and Sapphira told a lie. But they told it in the face of such a vivid presence of the Holy Spirit — such light and power and grace — that their lie became a sin unto death. So Scripture does not define what may or may not be a sin unto death.
Two fears rise at once: is this the unforgivable sin, and can salvation be lost?
When the Lord judges us in this way, says the apostle Paul, He chastens or disciplines us, so that we will not be condemned with the world. That condemnation would of course be everlasting ruin. So this is as far as possible from the unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Here the Lord is dealing with a soul guilty of what He cannot allow to go on. So He calls him away — but with mercy assured, though His righteousness also chastens.
The wide half of the verse also widens prayer.
We may ask life for anyone whose sin is not to death — and doubtless anything less than that too. All unrighteousness is sin, so the field we may cover is very large. But if the sin is to death our lips are sealed.
Even then, one kind of prayer stays open.
This would not mean that we stop praying for the person, for his spiritual good and for the restoring of his soul to God. But praying for his recovery to health would have no effect.
- Name it. Every wrong breaks step with the relationship God has given us. Calling it "a slip" instead of sin only dulls the conscience.
- Weigh it. God governs His people now, and His penalties often stop short of death. Not every sin calls for the offender's removal.
- Circumstances decide. Scripture lists no specific sin. The same act becomes "unto death" through the person and the circumstances — the lie of Ananias and Sapphira is the example.
- Discipline, not damnation. This death is bodily chastening, with mercy assured. It is not blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and it does not cancel salvation.
- So pray. All wrongdoing is sin, so the field open to prayer is huge. Even where we cannot ask for health, we can still ask for the soul's restoration.