A SIN UNTO DEATH
AND A SIN NOT UNTO DEATH
1John 5:16
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.
—
1John 5:16 is a complex passage that deals with the interplay between sin, prayer, and God’s forgiveness. The exact interpretation can vary, and it often depends on one’s theological perspective and the context in which the passage is read.
1
First, we must distingush between a sin and a crime. There’s a difference between a crime and a sin. Not all sins are crime and not all crimes are sins. Some sins are not criminal and some crimes are not sinful.
2
For example, preaching the gospel publicly in some nations like North Korea is a crime. If you’re caught, you can be executed or thrown into life imprisonment. Whereas, in most liberal countries, preaching of the gospel is not a crime. And in the eyes of the Lord, preaching the gospel all over the world is not a sin and it’s not a crime.
3
Another example, non payment of tithes is sinful before God according to Malachai 3.8-10, but it is not a crime in the civil law.
4
Whereas, according to Romans 13:6-8, non payment of taxes is both sinful in the sight of God and crime in civil law.
5
Again, according to Galatians 5.19-21, adultery, fornication and witchcraft are sins before God but they are not crimes in many nations of the world. In such climes, nobody arrests any fornicator, adulterer or a witch.
6
There’s also a big difference between killing and murder. While killing an opponent during war period is an act of loyalty to the government, killing of an innocent at peace time is considered as murder, and if caught, the murderer will not go unpunished. In the realm of criminal law, murder refers to the unlawful killing of one person by another, typically differentiated from manslaughter by the presence of malicious intent.
7
There are some crimes in some nations whose committal attracts capital punishment (death); whereas, in some other nations, such commitals only lead to imprisonment.
8
A judge also can discharge an accused if he considers that sufficient evidence is wanting on a case. An accused person of course can be rearrested upon establishing new evidences on the same case. But when a judge discharges and aquits an offender, he can not be rearrested on that same offence.
9
There are some other grievous crimes on whose infringement, a judge has no power to waive punishment. The criminal will have to serve punishment according to stipulated law. And yet, there are some judgements in which a judge can discretionarily waive terms of punishment acting upon receipt of a plea bargaining of the offender
10
In some instances, there are occasions even when a judge has pronounced death sentence upon a criminal, and while the criminal is waiting to be executed, the Governor of a state or President of a nation can still exercise his perogative power of clemency, pardoning and setting the criminal free or commutting his death sentence to prison terms.
INTERPRETATION:
So, according to 1John 5.16, “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.”
The questions are:
1
WHAT IS “… A SIN WHICH IS NOT UNTO DEATH…”?
A sin “not unto death” is the committal of crimes that are not sinful before God. The example I gave earlier is preaching the gospel in a place where such had been criminalised. If you are caught, you will most likely pay the supreme price (physical death). BUT you wouldn’t have to die the second death.
So, for such you PRAY for them that God would give them life.
Daniel is an example. There was a law criminalising prayer unto any other god except the emperor in Daniel 6.6-10. Daniel committed this crime by praying three times daily to the Almighty God. He was sentenced to die in the lions den. But God was faithful. He gave him LIFE.
Queen Esther is another example. In Esther 5.1-2, she committed a crime by breaking the Palace protocol. She was supposed to die but God gave her LIFE
AND
2
WHAT IS “… A SIN UNTO DEATH…?
Like I mentioned before, in the sight of God, sin is sin and the consequences of all sins is death.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
But the goodnews is that all sins are pardonable. And all you need for your sins to be pardoned is to believe in and accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.
The only unpardonable sin is the sin of blasphemy. And that only applies when the blasphemer fails to repent and surrender his or her life to Jesus Christ before he or she dies.
Blasphemy has been interpreted to mean a sin against the Holy Spirit or ascribing the work of the Holy Spirit to acts of Satan.
The reason why Blasphemer’s sin is unpardonable is because the Blasphemer refuses to believe on the redemptive work of God through His Son, Jesus Christ, as stated in John 3:18b “… but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
God does not take pleasure in the death of sinners. Hence He sent His only Son to die in place of the sinner so that the sinner will not die the second death. Matthew 12:31; John 3:16
The Bible teaches that sin is sin and all sins lead to death irrespective of whether it is small sin or big sin, the wages of sin is DEATH.
There are two types of death. The physical and the spiritual. Physical death happens when someone exits the world. But spiritual death occurs when the soul of someone is forever separated from God; when such souls are banished into lake of fire eternally.
A backslider who continues to turn his back at God and despise the sacrificial death of Jesus is a blasphemer. Such has committed “a sin unto death”. This is the second death.
Hebrews 10:26-28 “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses”
