Confidence in Prayer, Part 2

1 John 5:14-17

November 9, 2003

 

            This morning we are dealing with one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament to understand. Many interpreters have dealt with this passage in many different ways, and many godly men have disagreed over the intended meaning of these verses before us. When we come to such a section of Scripture that is very difficult to interpret, it is important that we remember two things.

            First, we must not be intimidated or afraid of such difficult passages. These verses are just as inspired as any other verses in the Scripture, and God has put them in His Word for a reason. There is something He wants us to know from these verses, and we will certainly miss out if we just skip over them because they are difficult. So, even though these verses are difficult and very perplexing, we must not avoid them or neglect them. Often, the more difficult the passage, the more rewarding is the truth when it is discovered. John Piper puts it like this, “Raking is easy, but all you get is leaves. Digging is hard, but you might find a diamond.” So just because these verses are demanding, let’s not give up our shovels in search of an easier task.

            Secondly, because these verses are so difficult, we must be careful not to be too dogmatic about them. The interpretation that makes most sense to us is what we should believe, and we should pray that God would help us see what we don’t see if we are missing an important part of the meaning. But when it comes to such a difficult passage, we must never divide with other believers who are in every way doctrinally sound, yet who have a different view of this passage. So let us study hard so that we might rightly divide this passage and understand it, and let us love much so that we might not unnecessarily create division with another believer.

            These four verses, verses 14-17, are the logical extension of the confidence the Apostle speaks of in 5:13. We can know with absolute certainty that we have eternal life, and when we know this, our prayer lives are greatly affected. When we know that we are accepted by God, that we are His children, we can have confidence that He will receive us and hear our prayers. We should have great confidence in prayer if we are convinced of our salvation. The Apostle has outlined this confidence, as I told you last week, in this way.

First, he has exhorted us to confidently pray according to the will of God. There are certain things we know to pray for because God has explicitly told us in His Word that they are His will. He wants us to be sanctified. He wants us to be thankful in everything. These things are according to the will of God, and if we are actively seeking these things in prayer, we know that we are praying according to the will of God. We should pray this way often. We should often pray in ways that we know without a doubt are according to the will of God. We should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, even in our prayers. These things are His will for us, and therefore we would benefit greatly by spending more time praying confidently according to the will of God.

Secondly, we must confidently pray with faith that God will grant us these things that are according to His will. God will not turn a deaf ear to us. God will not ignore our prayers. If we are His children, and we ask Him for something that is according to His will, we know that we have that very thing. Jesus put it like this in Luke 11:11: Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? There is no better gift than the gift of the Holy Spirit. If God is more than willing to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him, there is no limit to God answering all of our prayers that are according to His will. He is so much greater than any earthly father. He is infinitely more good; He is infinitely more righteous; He is infinitely more generous; He is infinitely more loving; He is infinitely more gracious; He is infinitely more glorious and full of riches! If God is willing to give us the Holy Spirit, certainly He will also give us a thankful heart! Certainly He will also sanctify us if we ask Him! We must pray according to the will of God with confidence that He will hear us!

Thirdly, we must confidently pray for our brothers and sisters who have areas of weakness, sin, and temptation in their lives. This is where we left off last week, and this is where I want to pick up this week. The point of these two verses is this: Confidently pray for other Christians who have not sinned unto death, and God will grant that person life. Confidently pray for other Christians who do not commit sin unto death, and God will grant them life. That is a very difficult doctrine to put into practice, mainly because we have a hard time understanding what John means by this. What is he saying? There are questions, aren’t there? Let’s try to answer them one at a time, and then step back and look at the doctrine again, and see if it makes more sense after we unravel the confusing details. Here are the questions: 1) What is meant by a sin leading to death? What does John mean by that statement? 2) Why doesn’t John say we should pray for the person committing sin leading to death? Why not pray for that person? 3) Why pray for the brother not sinning toward death? What difference does it make if God is sovereign? Those are the questions, let’s try to take them one at a time.

 

1. What is the sin leading to death?

 

            In verses 16 and 17 John writes, If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death. Now, the obviously difficult part of this text is this teaching about a sin leading to death. What is it? To answer that question, we must ask another. We must first ask, What kind of death does John mean in this verse? Two answers to that question have generally been given.

            The first, and probably more common answer to this question is that the Apostle is meaning physical death. He is talking about sin that leads to the physical death of the sinner. This interpretation is built on different instances in the Bible when we see illustrations of people sinning and God taking their lives as a result. The classic example used is from Acts 5:1-11. In that passage we read of Ananias and Sapphira. They sold a piece of property and came and brought some of the proceeds to the Apostles as a donation to the church. Ananias lied to the Apostles, saying that he had given the full price of the property to the church when he had kept back some of the price for himself. As a result of this sin, which Peter describes in verse 3 as lying to the Holy Spirit and again in verse 5 as lying to God, Ananias and Sapphira both physically die. This is what many have understood the Apostle to mean at this point. They say that there is sin that leads to physical death, sometimes directly at the hand of God. Perhaps sexual immorality that results in AIDS would be classified under this heading. That would be, according to this view, a sin leading to death. So some have taken this to mean physical death.

            Others, however, have taken it to mean spiritual death. They would teach that the Apostle John is discussing sin that causes the one who commits it to die eternally. In this interpretation, death is eternal death that results in separation from God forever in the lake of fire. If a person were to commit sin of this nature, it would result in eternal condemnation.

            How we understand death in this passage is critical to how we understand the passage. It is my understanding that the type of death to which the Apostle is referring is spiritual, eternal death. I do not believe he means physical death. Now, why do I believe this? Let me begin by explaining why I do not take it to mean physical death.

            First, the context does not seem to support this view. Physical death is foreign to what John is discussing in this section, indeed, in his entire letter. You see in verse 5:12, He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. What type of life is he talking about? Obviously it is eternal life. It is the same thing in 5:20. We are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. There it is very directly spelled out. The life is eternal life, not physical life. So sandwiched between these two teachings on eternal life we have this teaching about death. It is also important to notice the word life in verse 13, the context that immediately precedes these verses. There the Apostle writes, These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. Once again, the type of life described is spiritual, eternal life. Also, notice in verse 16 the word life is used again. He shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. If that means physical life, then we have a very different meaning without any flags from John that he is using this word in a radically different way. Through the whole passage he uses life to mean eternal life. Therefore, in this section, death must be the opposite of life, and if the type of life is eternal life, then the type of death must be eternal death if John is going to be consistent with his terms. I believe that if John had meant physical life, he would have given us some indication of it in the context, but the context both before and after these verses is clearly discussing eternal life and, by extension, eternal death. So the idea of physical life and death does not fit this context.

            Secondly, this passage would be virtually impossible to apply if it meant physical death. What sins lead to physical death? None is spelled out in the New Testament. We don’t have any sin in the New Testament that has a consequence of physical death every time it is committed. Not everyone who lies dies like Ananias and Sapphira did. Clearly, hardly anyone dies for lying. How could we know when a person had committed this sin, and when a person had not? It seems to me that the Apostle sees this as something we could observe and recognize. It appears that we should be able to recognize the type of sin that leads to death. But if physical death is what is meant, then we could never know that until the person died. It seems to me that these verses would be quite inapplicable if physical death is what is meant here. It certainly would not allow us to know when we are praying according to the will of God. I think taking this as physical death renders the passage impossible for us to apply with any degree of certainty, and it is certainty and confidence that the Apostle is anxious that we should have in our prayer lives.

            Now, let me explain why I think it means spiritual death. First, the equal and opposite reason from the first objection above to physical death. It fits the context. It is in the middle of a section on eternal life, and the life spoken of in verse 16, I believe, must fit that context and be eternal life. It cannot be physical life if it is going to flow with what is before it and what is after it.

            Secondly, this view accords with other Scriptural passages about sin leading to eternal spiritual death. The clearest example of this, I believe, is in Hebrews 10:26-27. Hebrews 10:26-27 describes eternal death as a result of specific sin. The writer says, For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.  This judgment and this furious fire is not physical death. It is clearly spiritual, eternal punishment for sin. If a person goes on sinning willfully, which seems to me to be a parallel to 1 John 5:16, that person can only expect eternal destruction at the hand of God. We will explain this a little more when we look at what this type of sin is. There are other examples in the Bible of this, many in the Old Testament, and we will see them in a few minutes.

            Thirdly, this view makes the verse applicable. There is sin in the New Testament, even in the entire Bible, that we know results in eternal death. It is a promise that if we commit a certain type of sin, we will die eternally and suffer eternal wrath from God. So if we know what that sin is, then we can tell quite easily whether or not someone in the church has committed it, and we can know whether or not we are commanded to pray for that person and can expect an answer of “yes” to our prayer for their spiritual life. A view of physical death does not afford this application, and I believe these words were written for us to apply in our prayer lives.

            If, then, we can agree that the type of death involved here is spiritual death, we are ready to answer the question, What is sin unto death? What sin is it? The sin that I believe John means by this is apostasy. The sin that leads to death is forsaking Christ for another Gospel. It is to turn your back on Jesus and His Church. That is sin that always and without fail leads to death. If you reject Christ, you will die eternally, and that is as certain as certain can be. Now, how can we prove that John means apostasy here? I want to show it to you from this letter, from the letter of Hebrews, and from the Old Testament.

            The Apostle John is dealing with people who have left the church when he writes 1 John. We saw that in 2:19. He wrote, They went out from us, but they were not really of us. He is describing apostasy. These people who went out at one time appeared to be brothers and sisters in Christ. They had every look of a genuine believer, yet the apostatized. They left the church. They forsook the truth. They rejected the truth about Jesus Christ. They denied that Jesus is the Christ (v. 22). They denied that He had come in the flesh (4:2-3). They denied that He is the Son of God (5:1). At one point in time they were perhaps leaders in the church, but as time went on, their true colors began to show, and eventually they left the faith and even started their own churches and religious sects. They committed sin that leads to death. The letter of 1 John teaches very strongly that these people are antichrists. They are as far away from salvation as anyone could be. This type of sin leads to death, and he has been describing it for us over and over again in this letter. Even in 5:6-12 he took pains to once more show that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. He put forward witnesses to show the error of these antichrists. So when he discusses the sin that leads to death, from the context of the letter it would appear that he is meaning apostasy. He is talking about those who appeared to be brothers, but who turned out to be wolves in sheep’s clothing. The context of 1 John argues very strongly for this sin to be apostasy.

            If we take Hebrews 10:26-27 to be a parallel passage, which I believe it is, we also see another strong argument for apostasy being this deadly sin. Let me read it to you again. For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. What is he talking about? He is obviously talking about people who have, at one time, known the truth about Jesus. They people have received the knowledge of the truth. They go on with their willful sin following a time in the Church, understanding and being taught the truth about Jesus. What, then, does he mean by sinning willfully? I  believe the key is in the phrase, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. How could there not be a sacrifice for sins? What is the only way there is no sacrifice for sins? The only way that can be is if you reject the one, true sacrifice of the Son of God for sins! If you have heard of Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins, you know that it is true, and you turn away from it willfully after having professed it for a while, what is left for you? Nothing! There is no other sacrifice for sins. If you reject Jesus, there is nothing else to save you. There is no other way to have atonement. There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. The problem that the writer of Hebrews is addressing is the problem of people in the church being tempted to drift back into Judaism. These Christian Israelites were being tempted by their Jewish friends to go back to depending on animal sacrifices and the Law for salvation and to forsake the Messiah. If they did this willfully after having heard of the Messiah, they would have no sacrifice for their sins. Bulls and goats would not atone for their sins! The only thing they could expect in this case is eternal judgment and torment and death.

            The writer of Hebrews shows us this is what he means in 10:39. He writes, But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. He clearly means eternal death for the one who commits apostasy, and eternal life for the one who perseveres. The sin that leaves you without an atonement is shrinking back away from Christ into something else. That is the sin that leads to death.

            There are many parallels to this in the Old Testament prophets. Let me show you one in Jeremiah 7:16. In Jeremiah 7 God is promising to destroy the nation of Israel because of their sin. He is promising judgment upon them. In Jeremiah 7:16 we read, As for you (God is speaking to Jeremiah), 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. Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes to the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to spite Me. Here God tells Jeremiah not to pray for Israel, which is very similar to John’s statement in 1 John 5:16. Why should he not pray? Because they have rejected God willfully after having known Him. These Israelites had a great knowledge of God, and they had seen Him do many signs and wonders. They had seen His glory and heard of His fame, yet they rejected Him for other gods. The nation of Israel was, at this point, apostate. They did not worship the one, true God, even though they knew Him to be the only true God. Therefore, God tells Jeremiah that they are beyond salvation. He is not to pray for them, and even if he did pray for them, God would not hear or answer that prayer. That is very similar to what John says: There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this.

            Apostasy is a very serious sin. When someone knows the truth about Christ, and they have heard His Word, and they have had fellowship with His people, and they have enjoyed the bounty of the Holy Spirit, and they turn away, they have committed the sin that leads to death. The sin that leads to death is apostasy. It is turning away from the one, living, true God and His Son, Jesus Christ, after having known Him to be the true way of salvation. It is to reject the glory of God revealed in Christ after having been a part of the visible church. There is no sacrifice for sins if you reject Jesus; there is only certain and fearful judgment.

 

2. Why not pray for the apostate?

 

            This leads us to our second question: Why not pray for this person? Why does John say, I do not say that he should make request for this? It would seem that this person is more in need of prayer than any other, so why not encourage us to pray for this person? I think the answer is rooted in the context. We are being encouraged and even commanded to confidently pray according to the will of God. We cannot know that God will ever regenerate a non-believer. We have no guarantee that God will save an unbeliever. If we pray, God is faithful to hear and answer, and many times He does save people as a result of our praying for them. But we cannot know that it is the will of God explicitly for any one person to be saved. Only God knows these things with certainty. And this passage is about praying according to the will of God with confidence.

            We do know that the will of God is to give life to His children. God’s will is certainly to save and give life to all who call on Him. So we are commanded to pray for this because we can be confident that if a person is a child of God, and we pray that God would bring them to repentance for a sin that does not reject Christ as Savior and Lord, that God will do just that.

            The apostate, however, is a different story. The Apostle does not say we should pray for that; on the other hand, he does not forbid it either. He is merely making a side comment that there is no guarantee about someone who has become apostate. Someone who has denied Christ may not receive life as a result of prayer. He is merely helping us understand this is not a blanket promise for everyone, but only for those who remain in the truth. So, the Apostle says, I do not say that he should make request for this, I believe, because he is trying to explain to us that there is no guarantee that God will give life to the person who has sinned unto death. We may or may not pray for such a person, but we do not know whether that prayer is according to the will of God. We do know, however, that prayer for a believer who still clings to Christ will be answered, restoration is promised, and eternal life will be given to that brother or sister who has so sinned but not rejected Christ as Lord and God.

            John makes an interesting comment in verse 17. He says, All unrighteousness is sin. Why does he say that? I believe he says that to warn us against taking sin lightly. A sin that does not lead to death is still unrighteousness. It is still wrong and dangerous and damaging to the individual Christian and to the body of Christ. It still defiles. But there is a sin not leading to death. That would be better translated, there is sin not leading to death. For the believer, all unrighteousness is sin, but it does not lead to death, eternal, spiritual death. Nevertheless, unrighteousness is sin, and it must not be downplayed because it isn’t going to send us to hell. It is still evil, and it is still sin.

 

3. Why pray for this?

 

            This leads to the third question. How serious is this? Why pray for the brother who has not committed sin unto death? I mean, what difference does it make? We believe in the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. What that means is that we believe that everyone whom God has foreknown, predestined, called, and justified will be glorified (Rom 8:29-30). No one is lost whom God saves. A believer will persevere in his or her faith until the end. We are not those who shrink back to destruction, but those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. We don’t shrink back, but we will persevere if we are truly in Christ. That being said, why should we pray for life for believers who sin if we know they’ll persevere to the end and get life anyways?

            That is really part of a larger question. Why pray at all? Why pray for salvation? Why pray for your needs being met? If God is sovereign, and if He knows the end from the beginning, and He has foreknown and predestined and called and justified and glorified His elect, why preach the Gospel? Why go do missions? This is a perplexing question. Here’s my answer: God has ordained not only the end, but also the means by which the end will be accomplished. What do I mean by that? Let me explain it briefly.

            God has ordained that certain people be saved. But He has not ordained only the result, which is salvation. He has also ordained the means, namely, the preaching of the Gospel. God’s plan to save sinners does not only include their ultimate and final salvation; it includes the means to get them there – the preaching and hearing and receiving and believing of the Gospel message.

            When we apply that to this passage, here’s what it looks like. God has ordained and decreed and promised all believers that they will never perish but they will have eternal life. That is the end result. Our final salvation is secure. But God has also ordained and decreed the means by which we shall obtain it. He has told us to pray for one another, because that is the means He uses to cause us to persevere. We don’t just persevere in a vacuum. We persevere because God has so arranged it that others prayers are a help to our perseverance and actually they are at times the means of it. That is to say that if others didn’t pray for us, we would not persevere. But thank God that He has ordained that they will pray and the means are also in place! We are secure because God has ordained it all from beginning to end. He has planned everything, both the means and the end. Here John is telling us one of the means of our perseverance is our fellow-Christians prayers on our behalf.

            The practical implications of this are astronomically huge! We are a body, and as a body we need each other to persevere. We need each other to encourage us not to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. We need each other to encourage us toward righteous living. We need each other to pray for us so that we would not ruin our lives and fall away because of sin. And God has given us these wonderful means of perseverance and told us about them in His Word.

            So, your perseverance and my perseverance is in some way dependant upon other people’s prayers for us. We will not persevere if we don’t have the prayer support of other Christians. But, if we are true believers, God has ordained that we will be prayed for as we need it. God will ensure that others are praying for us so that we do persevere. Our final salvation is secure because God has ordained the means and the end.

            So, is someone’s salvation dependent on your prayers? No, it’s not. It is dependent upon God, and God will make sure that the prayers that need to be said are said for you and for me and for anyone who is His child. So, you can say to yourself, “Well, then, it’s not that important for me to pray. God will make sure someone gets the job done, so it’s not that urgent for me to do it.” If you think that way, then we will pray for you, because you have committed a sin not leading to death, and we are absolutely sure that God will give you life and you will realize how needful it is for you to be praying for your brothers and sisters in the Lord.

            Let us pray for one another. We all sin. We all stumble in many ways (Jas 3:1). None of us is perfect. When we see a brother or sister fall into sin, let’s not gossip about them. Let’s not judge them. Rather, let’s pray for them. Let’s go to God on their behalf so that we can be used by God in their ultimate salvation. God is going to raise someone up to pray, and maybe you’re the one He is using. What an incredible privilege to be so used by God! So, when we fail, not if, but when, let’s pray for one another, and know that God is hearing, and God will give life to those who remain true to the Gospel, and who commit sin not unto death. Let’s pray.

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