Which sin is 1 John talking about?

[kaikeline]

1 John 5:16-17: If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

Which sin that leads to death and the sin that doesn't lead to death is he talking about? I'm really confused b/c I thought all sin led one to death when you didn't believe in Jesus (Romans 6:23). In these verses though it sounds like he is talking to christians specifically, so we are already saved from our sins, but still there is one sin that if we commit it, it leads to death? I know all sin is bad regardless and as christians we should pray every day to avoid them, but I didn't know certain sins were worse then others? And it may be something that's very obvious that I should know by now, something like denying Christ or denying God or saying bad things about them is what I'm thinking, and it might be something I've probably read in previous books, but I'm just drawing blanks when I read this. I want to know the right answer, not just guess or assume from my own pathetic/human understanding. My main concern is b/c I do pray for myself and the people around me when I sin myself, and/or see others sinning, and I don't want to make any errors and pray for someone who is sinning that is committing this sin that leads to death, as the passage says not to do, or did I not understand that part either clearly? Also, I surely want to know what it is so I can just stear as far away from it as possible and also tell people around me that may need to know it too. I hope the answer wasn't revealed somewhere in 1 John and I look like an idiot b/c I did read it and I completely missed it, lol. I haven't read 2 John yet so it's a good possibility the answer could be in there too.
Anyway, any fellow wise brothers and sisters want to help clarify this for me?
Thank you for your time!

 

[azuredepths]

John Gill wrote something about this in his bible commentary, Ill quote a passage:

"There is a sin unto death; which is not only deserving of death, as every
other sin is, but which certainly and inevitably issues in death in all that
commit it, without exception; and that is the sin against the Holy Ghost,
which is neither forgiven in this world nor in that to come, and therefore
must be unto death; it is a sinning wilfully, not in a practical, but doctrinal
way, after a man has received the knowledge of the truth; it is a wilful
denial of the truth of the Gospel, particularly that peace, pardon,
righteousness, eternal life, and salvation, are by Jesus Christ, contrary to
the light of his mind, and this joined with malice and obstinacy; so that
there is no more or other sacrifice for such a sin; there is nothing but a
fearful looking for of wrath and fury to fall on such opposers of the way of
life; and as the presumptuous sinners under Moses's law died without
mercy, so must these despiteful ones under the Gospel; Matthew
12:31,32 ; Hebrews 10:26-29)

All unrighteousness is sin; All unrighteousness against God
or man is a sin against the law of God, and the wrath of God is revealed
against it, and it is deserving of death; yet all unrighteousness is not unto death, as the sins of David, which were unrighteousness both to God and man, and yet they were put away, and he died not; Peter sinned very foully, and did great injustice to his dear Lord, and yet his sin was not unto death;
he had repentance unto life given him, and a fresh application of pardoning grace

We know that whosoever is born of God, &c.] Who is regenerated
by his Spirit and grace, and quickened by his power; who has Christ
formed in him, and is made a partaker of the divine nature, and has every grace implanted in him

sinneth not; the sin unto death; nor does he live in sin, or is under the
power and dominion of it, though he does not live without it;

but he that is begotten of God; the Vulgate Latin version reads, “the
generation of God keeps or preserves him”; that is, that which is born in
him, the new man, the principle of grace, or seed of God in him, keeps him from notorious crimes, particularly from sinning the sin unto death, and from the governing power of all other sins."

I hope it helps

God Bless!

 

[Davy]

Hi Kaikeline.

The Bible is quite clear in stating their are two forms of sin, JESUS himself said this at Matthew 12:31, 32, (NASB). Jesus spoke of sin that "will not be forgiven," that is, sin against the holy spirit, and sin that will be forgiven: "Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."

Sinning against the holy spirit is rebelling against its revelation and teaching through the Bible, as the holy spirit was sent to teach and inspire the the contents of the bible through the apostles. Sinning against the holy spirit is referring to people who choose to stay in a perpetual state of unrepentance. However, this does not refer to everyone who backslides and falls in to sin. Remember king Manasseh's sins, gross as they were, the kind you might think would incur death, but later he repented as 2　Chronicles 33:12, 13 shows, (NASB): "When he was in distress, he entreated the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God."

So what may appear as a sinning against the holy spirit, may not be, if they repent later. Sinning against the holy spirit is a perpetual state of unrepentance, and can only really be identified when a person is judged by Jesus Christ. So be careful not to infer someone is sinning against the holy spirit, because if they later repent, they clearly were not sinning against the holy spirit because they will receive forgiveness.

 

[kaikeline]

Thank you both for replying. I understand it now. I remember reading that in Matthew now, but how I remembered it wasn't entirely correct, so I am thankful you both clarified that to me.
Thankfully I haven't committed this sin, swoo! lol!
Thanks again for yall's time!

 

[Eagle_Eyes]

The question you have to ask yourself is, "what, exactly, is sin?"

Is it murder, adultery, abortion, coveting etc. The answer is none of these. All these are attributes of sin. Sin is actually unbelief! That brings death. Attributes can lead to death.

Eve disbelieved God's Word and chose to believe what the Serpent said, and it brought 'death' to the whole human race. When Jesus came 2000 years ago, He said that man should not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. In Revelation, it says that if anyone adds anything then the plagues of the Book will be added to them, and if they took anything away then their names would be taken out of the Book of Life. The whole christian walk is based upon believing what the Word says.

I trust this is helpful.

 

[stephen]

Hi Kaikeline.

The Bible is quite clear in stating their are two forms of sin, JESUS himself said this at Matthew 12:31, 32, (NASB). Jesus spoke of sin that "will not be forgiven," that is, sin against the holy spirit, and sin that will be forgiven: "Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."

Sinning against the holy spirit is rebelling against its revelation and teaching through the Bible, as the holy spirit was sent to teach and inspire the the contents of the bible through the apostles. Sinning against the holy spirit is referring to people who choose to stay in a perpetual state of unrepentance. However, this does not refer to everyone who backslides and falls in to sin. Remember king Manasseh's sins, gross as they were, the kind you might think would incur death, but later he repented as 2　Chronicles 33:12, 13 shows, (NASB): "When he was in distress, he entreated the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God."

So what may appear as a sinning against the holy spirit, may not be, if they repent later. Sinning against the holy spirit is a perpetual state of unrepentance, and can only really be identified when a person is judged by Jesus Christ. So be careful not to infer someone is sinning against the holy spirit, because if they later repent, they clearly were not sinning against the holy spirit because they will receive forgiveness.

A good answer indeed and I would say correct as I too understand the passage.

All sin is forgivable except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit Mtt. 12:31-32. Since this sin is the only one unto death, that is unforgivable, it is useless to pray for it.

The people who commit this unpardonable sin, are those who wilfully reject the the grace of our LOrd Jesus Christ, and the forgiveness of sin which He alone can offer.