“1 JOHN 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:
“1 JOHN
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.” (1 John
5:16)
Dear Reader, why couldn’t
John just put it beyond
all doubt and say either …
“I do say
that he shall not pray for it”
or
“I do say
that he shall pray for it.”
I mean that would make it
crystal clear wouldn’t
it?
But he doesn’t does he? No.
He comes across as
obscure and unsure … and maybe deliberately as well.
I believe that John is
saying “I’ll leave it up to
you … you can pray for it or not.”
And Dear Reader, I believe
this is where the
meaning lies.
We must remember that we
follow Paul, and how he
would handle things, and what he would say on any matter … not John …
or James
… or Peter.
All things in the Bible are
not equal.
Paul says that we are to
follow Paul as he follows
Christ
Indeed Peter does not have
the understanding of
Paul
(2 Peter 3:16).
And James has confused many
a scholar with the word
‘justified’ (James 2:21;James 2: 24;James 2: 25.)
Dear Reader, there is only
one unforgiveable sin,
and that is to die unsaved.
Indeed many of us
personally know of friends and
family that we continue to pray for, and their
salvation.
But at the present moment,
this is their sin unto
death.
Would John be saying “Don’t
continue to pray for their
salvation as God has made them this way (1 John 5:10)?”
I think not, as Paul says
to pray without
ceasing and to let your requests be made known unto God
(1Thessalonians 5:17; Philippians 4:6); and indeed Samuel under the Old
Testament (1 Samuel 12:23).
Dear Reader, you can
request anything you like from
God, and if it be his will, he will grant it.
You can pray and request
God for Putin’s or Xi
Jinping’s salvation … even though they seem to be on the course of
everlasting
burnings of unbelief … a sin unto death.
There came a point in time
when after Pharoah had
hardened his heart against God, that God irrevocably made sure that
that
Pharoah’s heart remained hardened.
I mean Moses had just spent
40 years in the desert
… alone with God … and knew, that he knew, that he knew that praying
for
Pharoah’s change of heart was not God’s will.
Dear Reader, would you
claim that same surety of
God’s decision to harden someone’s heart?
I’m sure God has hardened
some people’s hearts, but
I wouldn’t be so arrogant to guess … how about you?
I’ve read where people have
prayed for a person’s
salvation for forty years … before they got saved.
I’m sure some might have
given up … you know …
“It’s no use praying for them anymore!”
But in my humble opinion, err
on the side of
caution … do not set yourself up as God … as judge, jury
and
executioner … in deciding who you will pray … or not pray for … as
having a sin
unto death.
Make sense?
It is God’s will that all
be saved come to
the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).
Let me leave you with this
… in paraphrasing John,
I believe he is saying the following …
“I
am not
saying you shall pray for it, and I’m not saying you shall not pray for
it.
I’ll leave it up to you.”
Harley
Hitchcock
August
2026
This
website’s front page is:
www.
“PRAY
FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM”
“Pray FOR the peace of Jerusalem …”
(Psalm
122:6)
