1 John 5_16_17

Summary: If a Christian brother sees another Christian brother engaged in a continuation of sin which will not lead to God forfeiting his life, the Christian brother should intercede on that brothers behalf {also gently reproof him} and God will grant preservation of life to him as long as it is not a sin which leads to (physical) death. There is a sin that leads to (physical) death, if this person commits this sin (willfully, continually, and persistently) the fellow brothers prayers are useless. All sin is unrighteousness but not all sin leads to one forfeiting his life early.

Is sin unto death an act of mercy/grace?

How can we recognize “sin unto death?” I’m not certain that we can, however, it is willful and persistent sin in the life of a Christian.

Are there examples of sin unto death in the Bible? Moses smote the rock twice, Aachen’s sin, Samson, Saul, Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), the man of Corinth who has taken his father’s wife (1 Cor. 5:1-5).

Why is “zoe” used to describe the life God will give to the one committing a sin not unto death, this Christian already possess eternal life. Zoe seems out of place, but in the English translation eternal is often added in the translation to indicate “Eternal life.” The idea is that the person’s life will not be forfeited but preserved.

Dr. Harold Wilmington: The Bible teaches that our union with Christ is so strong that nothing can break it; but our communion is so fragile that the slightest sin shatters it.

It is possible for a true believer to fall into sin, (16a). If and when this happens, fellow believer is to pray for him, (16b). As a result God will give the sinning Christian preservation of physical life (not eternal life, for this life is unforfeitable). However, this intercession is effective only in the case of sin not unto physical death, (16c).

There is a sin unto death, (16d). This is persistent, willful sinning in a believer in which the flesh is destroyed (physical death) so that the spirit might be saved (1 Cor. 5:1-5; Acts 5:1-11; 1 Cor. 11:30). Both Saul and Samson are types of this very severe chastening in the Old Testament. This sin is not to be prayed for because it involves the execution of an immutable law of God unaltered by prayer, (16e). All unrighteousness is sin, but there is a sin not unto physical death (involving lesser chastisement, 1 Cor. 11:30).

Sees (x1) VERB = literally means “appear” if a Christian sees (not hears) sin appear in the life of another Christian he should respond in prayer. Paul also tells us that when we see a fellow Christian fall into sin we are to gently “restore’ that person. Guide them back on the right track, John says one of the ways to do this is by prayer. The Christian should be watchful of those around him.

Committing/ Commit Sin (2x) (Vs.16) VERB (Present Active) = to act or intend contrary to the will and law of God. (hamartanō)

Sin (3x) (Vs. 16,17) NOUN = Wrong doing (hamartia)

Death (4x) (Vs. 16) NOUN = Dying (thanatos)

Ask (1x) (vs.16) VERB = Request (aiteō)

Give him (1x) (Vs. 16) VERB= grant. Could John be saying God will let the Christian EXPERIENCE life, ie live on.

Pray (1x) (Vs. 16) VERB = Ask for, request. (erōtaō) John does not forbid praying for such cases; he simply does not command prayer for them. He leaves them to God.

Unrighteousness (1x) (vs. 17) NOUN = Unjust deed, Wickedness, evil, wrong doing. (adikia)

Exegesis

These verse (16,17) are linked with the preceding verse by their mention of prayer. In verse 14 and 15, we know that we can have confidence in prayer and John continues that train of thought by writing, “if we see our brother in sin we can pray for him and God will allow him to physically keep living.” However, we see a glimpse of a time when a person has shattered their communion/fellowship with God and the Christian is told that praying for this person will not do any good.

John writes, “if a man sees his brother.” The man mentioned is a Christian and the brother refers to a fellow Christian(because John is writing to the Church). it is possible for a Christian to fall into sin, the wording of Committing sin is a verb which simply means “sinning.” It is important to note that the Christian sees the sin, these puts forth the idea that Christian are to watch out for each other after all we are family and called into to unity with Christ and each other. But sees also denotes the seen appearing in front of him, the Christian should not investigate into the life of his brother or trying to catch him in his sin, but that it appears to his sense of seeing. This also leads us to be cautious of another sense, the sense of hearing, this is how harmful rumors begin. When the Christian personally witnesses his brother in sin he is called to action.

The Christian who witnesses his brother’s sin is called to ask God, or to pray for him. Christian brothers should intercede on behalf of our brothers asking God to spare his life. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. John goes on to write that God will give him life, this life is not eternal life because as a Christian he already possess it. The life that we have in Jesus cannot be forfeited! “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” John 10:28. Whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption Eph. 4:30b. One must keep in mind the context of this letter; John says “I write to you that you will know you have eternal life” 1 John 5:23.

Eternal life cannot be forfeited however physical life can be. Could it be that the Christian in deliberate sin forfeits his life as an act of God’s mercy? Paul tells us of a man handed over to the destruction of his flesh so that his spirit will may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Since in this letter the reoccurring theme in knowing you are a son of God (1 John 5:13) and knowing that you have fellowship with God, perhaps at the conclusion of this letter, John is saying you can know that you are a child of God and be so far out of fellowship with him that you are removed from the earth in order to keep you from continuing in sin. Thus sin unto death. I don’t believe it is a particular sin but a continual willingness to sin though bought by the blood of Jesus.

Are there instances in the Scripture that show a believer dying perhaps before his time due to sin? Moses was to lead Israel into the Promised Land, but in the wilderness he took it upon himself to rebuke the people and take credit for God’s great work, this caused him to forfeit his entering into the promise land. God took him before he could enter it. “But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, because you did not trust me to demonstrate my holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them.” (Num. 20:12) Shortly after this took place at Mt. Hor God spoke to Moses and Aaron “Aaron will be gathered to his people, he will not enter the promise land I have given the Israelites because you both rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah.” (Num. 20:24). At the end of the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, God took Moses according to his word while in Moab just across from Jericho. (Deut. 34:5).

There are other examples, Achan who willingly disobeyed God at Jericho by taking spoils of the battle, a cloak, some silver, and a bar of God caused Israel to be defeated by Ai (a people much fewer than Israel). After the defeat, Josh called all Israel to assembly tribe by tribe and the Lord pointed out Achan as the culprit of sin, Achan and his family due to Achan’s rebellion was stoned to death. God deals with rebellion. We see this in the life of Samson, a nazerite from birth but continually rebelled against God’s law, thus God allowed him to be captured by the Philistines and placed into servitude. At just the right moment, Samson brought down the temple of Dagon upon himself and the philistines. Saul the king forfeited his life due to continual rebellion, but are there any examples in the New Testament?

In the New Testament we find Ananias and Sapphira, who sinned willfully by acting Pius when they were not. They sold a piece of land and acted as though they gave all they had to the Lord. But it was a lie, and they fell dead. (Acts 5:1-16) Paul tells of a young immoral believer in Corinth who took his father’s wife and paid the price. The people around him did not even mourn his sinfulness thus he was removed from the earth, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (1 Cor. 5:5).

Sonship is rock solid but fellowship is fragile, there comes a point on time that God will say, enough is enough, and I will cut you off and there is nothing that can be done. At this point God will not hear or respond to your prayers on behalf of this person. You may think this is far reaching but have you read Jeremiah? Judah had rebelled for so long and to such an extent of idolatry that God pronounced judgment on the whole nation. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet was broken hearted and prayed for the people of Judah but God said, “As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you. (Jer. 7:16) Then again, So the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. (Jer. 14:11) Again, Then the Lord said to me, “Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be this people; send them away from My presence and let them go! (Jer. 15:1-2)

John

1 John 5:16-17 “Fragile Fellowship”

Intro: Christmas Story – Fragile “Major Award” plastic leg lamp which breaks (“I don’t know what happened, I was watering my plants”) Dad… “Get the glue” Mom… “We are out of glue” Dad… “You used up all the glue on purpose.” The glue couldn’t hold the shattered lamp together.

If you follow the themes in 1st John you find the reoccurring themes are sonship and fellowship. Sonship means by grace through faith we are a Child of God… Fellowship means that we are constantly walking in an unhindered and unbroken relationship with God.

The Bible teaches that our union with Christ is so strong that nothing can break it; but our communion is so fragile that the slightest sin shatters it.

Last week we spoke of prayer and how to have a powerful prayer life. 1) We pray according to our position 2) We pray according to God’s will 3) we pray according to faith. Here in this text John continues to write about prayer but shifts focus to praying for your brother/sisters in Christ, when to pray, what to pray, and when not to pray.

CPS: The Bible teaches that God hears our prayers and will answer our prayers. The Bible teaches we are to pray for our brethren in intercessory prayer, but is there a time when we are not to pray? Or perhaps a time when our prayers will do no good? Today we will touch on this difficult subject.

The intercessory prayer God responds to 5:16A

Can a true believer sin? Sins (3X)[define] Death [Physical life]

Moses (Rock of Moriah)

Peter (Denial – but go tell Peter)

What do you do when a true believer sins?Sees (appears) we must be watchful

Pray for them

Restore them Gently (Gal. 6:1) (correction)

Can the true believer be restored to fellowship?Give him life {zoe} out of place… Forgiveness/ Continued life

Moses (continued to meet face to face with God, but life was cut short)

Peter (5,000 saved at Pentecost, his shadow healed, inspired writer of Scripture)

App: It should be just as natural to pray for the cure of the soul as it is to pray for the cure of the body. It may be that there is nothing greater that we can do for those who are straying away and who are in danger of heading for disaster in their lives than to commit them to the grace of God.

The intercessory prayer God does not respond to5:16b-17

The fragileness of fellowship sin separates

ILL: One Halloween and man turns to his friend as they have been carving pumpkins. He say “will you please keep an eye on my fragile pumpkin?” His friend replied, “I will gourd it with my life.”

The forfeiting of fellowship

Achan’s sin (Josh 7:21)

Samson’s breaking of Nazerite vow (Judges 16:17)

Ananias/Sapphira (Acts 5:1-16)

Unnamed man of Corinth (1 Cor. 5:1-5

The Finality of forfeited fellowship

God will not hear this prayer(Jer. 7:16)

God will not respond to this prayer(Jer. 15:1-2)

The cause of this forfeited fellowship

How can one get so severely wrapped up in sin that God takes his life? Persistent/willful/continuation

We all know that the first time we do something wrong, we do it with some degree of horror and with fear; and, after we have done it, we feel grief and remorse and regret. But, if we allow ourselves again and again to flirt with temptation and to fall, on each occasion the sin becomes easier; and, if we think we can escape the consequences, on each occasion the self-disgust and the remorse and the regret become less and less; and in the end we reach a state when we can sin without any qualms at all. It is precisely that which is the sin that is leading to death.

As long as people in their heart of hearts hate sin and hate themselves for sinning—as long as they know that they are sinning—they are never beyond repentance and, therefore, never beyond forgiveness; but, once they begin to revel in sin and to make it the deliberate policy of their lives, they are on the way to death, for they are on the way to a state where the idea of repentance will not, and cannot, enter their heads.

Those who have listened to sin and refused to listen to God so often that they love sin and regard it as the most profitable thing in the world, GUARD YOURSELVES AGAINST SIN!

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