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. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death. (1Jo 5:16-17)

This passage has seen many wrestlings. It has been twisted out of joint to teach doctrines it did not contain. Rather than speculate on a particular sin that produces death, John's contextual emphasis focuses on believers praying for each other during times of temptation and of actual sins committed. A "brother" commits the sin not unto death. All sin leads to death, but apparently John considered some sins more serious in this consequence than others. It could refer to such a heinous sin that God visits it with speedy death, literal physical death. We have at least one New Testament example of such an event in Ananias and Saphira. (Ac 5:1-11) We might not view this particular sin as particularly insidious, but God did, and He visited prompt death upon it. Given the obvious Biblical truth that all sin eventually leads to death, it may be that John here refers to particularly heinous sins that lead to untimely and immediate death. Could he refer to some other form of "death" than physical death? Perhaps he could, but to make that interpretation requires a bit of questionable allegorizing.

The passage contains no specific justification for the idea that John referred to one particular sin. "...a sin" does not contain a supporting Greek word to justify the definite article here in most manuscripts. More likely John intends either a particularly heinous sin or a particularly insidious and obvious motive for the sin that makes it more damaging than ordinary.

In keeping with the flow of John's writing we should move forward and investigate the proper response to observed sin, not speculate either on the sin that brings unnatural death or on the nature of the "death" it produces.

What does the Bible teach us to do if we witness a brother in the act of sinning? We should take special note here that John deals with a personal eyewitness of the sin. You "see" your brother in the act of sinning. Sometimes faulty response to sin observed will cause as much damage to our Christian testimony as the sin itself. If you see the brother sin and begin telling other people about it, either to accuse or to excuse the act, you violate John's example. Spreading knowledge of the sin, regardless of your reason, increases the damage caused by the sin. Do not fall prey to that temptation! John exemplifies one response and only one. Pray for him! John just completed a powerful lesson on the interaction between faith and answered prayer. We normally think of prayer, especially intense prayer, in terms of personal needs or circumstances in our own life. John comforted us with the amazing assurance we find in the very realization that God hears our prayer. This event flows out of that context. It offers his first actual example of active intercessory prayer. You see your brother sin. Rather than deciding who to tell and how to describe the sordid details of the sin, you quietly and earnestly take it to God in your prayers. You ask God to spare the sinner's life.

The Bible contains instructive examples of such intercessory prayers. One of the most fascinating appears in the first chapter of Job. One measure of Job's exceptional righteousness appears in the fact that he offered regular sacrifices for his children in the event they had sinned. Unlike the prideful parent who pretends his or her children are perfect models of humanity, Job demonstrated righteous character by acknowledging the sinful humanity of his children. Technically he prayed for them and offered sacrifices to God before they sinned, or for sins they committed outside Job's personal knowledge.

We tend to think of sin from a pride-filled attitude. Never confess it. Pretend it didn't happen. When all else fails, confess to it but call it an illness. Or fall back on the tried-and-true tactic of passing the blame to someone else. All these strategies exhibit a flawed and failed attitude toward sin. Remember the quote in the last chapter that described gnosticism, the error John exposes here, as an unloving pride-filled emphasis on pretentious knowledge that never impacted lifestyle at all. Do you see even in this in-the-trenches example John's emphasis that Biblical Christianity follows the beat of a different drummer?

To immediately respond to observed sin by praying to God distinctly implies that God retains the power and ability to restore the sinner and to forgive the sin. The prayer does not ask God simply to look the other way and ignore the sin. Ac 17:30 reminds us clearly that God refuses such trivialization of sin. Can we honestly justify this idea in the face of Jesus' incarnation for our sins? Follow the idea carefully. You witness the sin. Do you pretend you didn't see it and simply ignore it? No, you take it to God in prayer. You ask Him to involve Himself in this person's life, to convict, to chasten them until repentance occurs.

Does this practice eliminate the option of personally confronting the sinner? Not at all, the fact that you witnessed the sin should prompt a personal conference with the sinner. Plead with them for repentance. Urge them to consider the consequences of sin. God allows no sin to go unnoticed. He will not permit sin without consequences. Likely this person has gone through some faulty rationalization of the sin before engaging in it. Avoid the policeman's role! You need not accuse or attempt to impose guilty emotions in them. A far better tactic involves asking the person to describe their reasons and justification for the sin. Help them limping step by step to retrace the mental gymnastics that opened the door to this sin in their mind. Perhaps you might help them identify the error of thought that opened the sin-door to their conduct. If you go to the person with a strong prayer to God, He might well use you to regain the brother.

Don't practice the policeman's role, but also don't minimize the sin. If you go to a person in the midst of a sin and respond to their sin as if it were no big problem, you will not gain their repentance! "Oh don't worry about it, God loves you anyway" may well be one of the most dangerous half-truths you could possibly repeat. Never in a single instance recorded in Scripture did one believer confront a sinning brother or sister with this casual attitude toward sin. Your prayer and your conduct toward the sinner should take the role of a co-operating accomplice with God! If God calls the conduct sin, don't call it neutral. Be sincerely honest with the person about the fact of their sin. Be fearfully open about your concern for the consequences of their sin, both for them personally and for the bad example their sin will set before others. Be appropriately humble as you consider that you are not immune from this or other sins. It could be you in the sinner's role and that brother or sister appealing to you for repentance.

The role of prayer in this situation must remain prominent. Alone our approach to the sinning person may provoke angry rejection. They might accuse you of meddling into their private life, as if sin is ever private when God is involved! You approach the process cautiously and humbly, dependent on God to lead the process and to influence the outcome. You cannot convict their conscience. Don't try to! You can't empower transformation. At best you can serve as a tool in God's hand to recover an erring child from the jaws of the adversary. And you only serve that role when you follow God's leadership and empowerment.

In almost every case, regardless of the particular sin, pride complicates the recovery process. God has a far better success record at neutralizing pride than any of us. And you will certainly fail to recover the erring brother or sister if you allow your own pride to influence your contact with this person. "...considering thyself lest thou also be tempted," (Ga 6:1) must weigh heavily on our minds as we encounter the erring person.

Lastly we must consider that God's restoring power has no limits. We may view a situation as impossible, but He loves to reverse seemingly impossible situations. And we should also keep prominent in our minds that He requires His church to follow His leadership in recovering sin-sick sinners. We need never face a situation thinking that God can restore the sinner, but we cannot. If God restores the person, we must honor God's success!

We have seen God's involvement in human existence from several perspectives throughout this letter. None can claim more personal intimacy that His involvement with an erring sinner. Chastening, convicting, forgiving and restoring require His hands-on best. Celebrate His success and pray for it repeatedly!

1Jo 5:18-21 - We know

1Jo 1:1-3 - Implications of the Incarnation

1Jo 5:13-15 - Knowing Faith