Responding When Others Sin

“If anyone see 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. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.” 1 John 5:16-17

In these verses John provides instruction for how to respond when we see someone engaging in sin. Specifically, two different categories of sinning are mentioned here: (1) sin that does NOT lead to death (2) sin that leads to death. The first category likely refers to a fellow believer (i.e. John uses the word “brother”) who is sinning in some way. The sins of a follower of Christ are not sins that “lead to death” because the one whose faith is in Christ has already been set free from sin and death (John is likely using the word “death” here to refer to spiritual death and eternal separation from God, as opposed to simply physical death). Though the Christian’s sin does not lead to death and separation from God, we are still instructed to pray that any fellow Christian who is in sin might see their need to confess and repent.

The second category likely refers to sin that is committed by one who is NOT a follower of Christ, so that their judgment for sin still remains upon them. A person who dies physically in this spiritual condition will face spiritual death (i.e. separation from God) for eternity. This idea fits with the context of John’s letter, in which he repeatedly points out that one’s eternal destiny is dependent upon acceptance or rejection of  Jesus as God’s Son and the only sacrifice for sin that has been accepted by God. The false teachers in John’s day had rejected Christ, so their chosen and settled posture of rejection will result in their eternal separation from God upon death. The last phrase of v.17 seems to suggest that John considers it optional whether or not we pray for those in this category, much like Jeremiah was eventually instructed by the Lord NOT to pray for Israel once it was clear that they had set their hearts against the Lord (cf. Jeremiah 7:16, 14:11).

Admittedly these are tricky verses to interpret and apply, and there are certainly other ways of understanding them that are different than what I have suggested above. Perhaps a main takeaway for us is to remain firm in our faith in Christ, so that we can have assurance of salvation and also be committed to praying for and encouraging fellow believers to increasingly forsake sin and live in submission to God.