1 John 5:16-17 “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not to death. There is sin to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. (17) All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not to death.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle John teaches us about two distinct types of sin, i.e. a sin to death and a sin not to death. The death that John speaks about in this passage is not physical death but rather He is talking about spiritual death, for all men die physically whether they receive forgiveness for their sins or not (Hebrews 9:27). This passage of scripture is also referring specifically to sins that Christians can commit and not those in the world. The reason we know that is because John says “If anyone sees his brother sinning”. Those in the world are not our brothers, only those in Christ are our brothers. And so we see in this passage that the Holy Spirit teaches us that there are two distinct types of sin that Christians can commit. They can commit sin not to death and they can commit sin to death. The New King James version unfortunately added the word “leading” in this passage of scripture, i.e. “There is sin leading to death.” The original text does not have the word “leading” in it however, and so I have quoted the text above as it was originally written. Someone said why does that matter? It matters because the passage then misleads us by implying that there are certain sins that lead to death, while there are other sins that will not lead to death. But that is not what the Holy Spirit is saying at all, for all sin, without exception, eventually leads the Christian to spiritual death (Romans 6:21). And so what the Holy Spirit is teaching us in this passage is that there is a sin that believers can commit, which is fatal to the spirit of the believer. He differentiates this sin from every other sin, by telling us that all other sins do not kill the born-again human spirit. He then goes on to teach us that we can pray for the brother who commits sins that do not kill the spirit, no matter what they are. So what are we to pray for when we see a brother committing sins that are not fatal to the born-again spirit? John teaches us that we are to ask our Lord Jesus to forgive them their sin, and that when we do then our Lord Jesus will forgive their sin and give them life.
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit once again confirms the truth to us that all sins that believers commit can be forgiven, for He teaches us that in order for the believer to have their sins forgiven, all they need to do is confess them to the Lord and repent of their sins. But I want you to notice that the Holy Spirit does not mention any special category of sins, He just mentions sins. The reason for that is because, other than the sin to death, there is no sin that the believer can commit that cannot be forgiven, which is why John says that we are cleansed from “all” not “some” unrighteousness.
Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul teaches us that no matter what sin a believer may commit they can, and should, still be restored. For in this passage the Holy Spirit refers to “any trespass” that a Christian may commit. And so the Holy Spirit uses that phrase to reaffirm to us once again that, other than the sin to death, there is no sin that the believer can commit that cannot be forgiven.
1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (2) And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
Scripture plainly teaches us that believers have been freed from sin (Romans 6:7). And so it is the perfect will of our Heavenly Father that we should not sin, and in the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit admonishes us not to sin. But God in His mercy knew that, even though through the sacrifice of His Son sin no longer has dominion over us, some believers would still commit sin. And so He made provision for us when we do sin, in that we have an advocate with the Father, i.e. Jesus Christ the righteous. And so when we do sin Jesus pleads our case for us before God, by pointing to His own precious blood that has been shed for our sins. Notice in this passage that the blood of Jesus was not only shed for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world. However the world can only be cleansed from their sins if they confess Jesus as Lord. And so in the same manner believers can only receive forgiveness for their sins if they confess them before the Lord. Once believers do that the Lord is then faithful and just to forgive their sins. Once again we see that in this passage of scripture the Holy Spirit does not mention any special category of sins, He just mentions sins. The reason for that is because, other than the sin to death, there is no sin that the believer can commit that cannot be forgiven.
Michael E.B. Maher
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