THE WICKED LAWLESSNESS OF SIN - 1 JOHN 5:17

Verse 17: All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.

John now summarizes verses 14–17 concerning prayer with a gentle warning and a calm assurance.1

 

Sin Categorized

John has previously characterized sin as lawlessness (3:4). God’s commands presented throughout Scripture, including the Ten Commandments, encompass His laws for all mankind to uphold. Even though believers of the Church Age do not live by the commands of the Mosaic Law, there are many commands given that believers today are to obey in thought, word and deed. Disobeying God’s mandates places the believer in a position of lawlessness. John assured us that His commandments are not burdensome (5:3), meaning they do not carry the psychological stress of constraining and challenging mandates; this is just as Our Lord guaranteed “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30).

But in this verse, John advances the issue by asserting that all unrighteousness is sin. The Greek word for unrighteousness (adikia) indicates that which is contrary to what is right in accordance “to the standard of His holiness and righteousness.”2 Swanson characterizes it as unjust deed, wickedness, evil, wrongdoing.3 Further expanding upon the concept of wickedness, Zodhiates states:

This wickedness is seen more particularly in the neglect of the true God and His laws and in an adherence to the world or to idolatry; hence, adikía means impiety, ungodliness, contempt of God, as opposed to truth or piety toward God…those who impede the worship of the true God.4

This implies that the believer who sins has substituted their faithfulness to God for selfish ambitions by indulging in the fleeting enticements and pleasures of this world (Romans 2:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:10–12; 2 Peter 2:15).

Reassurance of Our Relationship

Next, John encourages believers that there is a sin condition that does not result in the divine discipline of death. Robertson asserts that: “Sin is a terrible reality, but there is no cause for despair. Sin not unto death can be overcome in Christ.”5 We should recall that there is no sin that God would refuse to forgive us for and to cleanse us from its stain. The fact is that all our sins (and the sins of the whole world) were judged on the cross, having satisfied the just demands of the Father (1 John 2:2).

And yet we should never be dismissive of the fact that we may receive corrective discipline for unconfessed sins. However, this can be avoided if we keep short accounts with God. This requires an acute awareness of personal sins and diligence in confessing sins (1 John 1:9); for confession of sin is by necessity self-judgement, as explained by the apostle Paul:

But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. (1 Corinthians 11:31–32)

We must keep in mind that if God were not to discipline us, then regarding our vital relationship with Him, we would be considered “illegitimate children and not sons” (Hebrews 12:8). Thus, the reason for corrective discipline of those “whom the Lord loves” (Proverbs 3:12) is plainly stated by the writer of Hebrews:

All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. (Hebrews 12:11)

The Life of Righteousness

The writer to the Hebrews instructs us to once and for all time to “lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). But note that the writer to the Hebrews characterizes our life of righteousness as a race. This is a direct contrast to the perception of some in Christian assemblies today, where many equate the Christian way of life with a journey. The Greek word for race (agon) is where we get our English word agony. Elsewhere Paul uses this word for fight in 1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7, conflict in Philippians 1:30 and struggle in Colossians 2:1. Paul further instructs us to “run in such a way that you may win” (1 Corinthians 9:24), meaning to race like the rabbit and not trudge along like the tortoise. As our example, Paul could rightly boast: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

Therefore, the Christian life is not some tranquil, idyllic excursion down a dreamy country lane. It is fighting the good fight, finishing the course, keeping the faith—this is our race, our life of righteousness. Anything else is a distraction from attending to the primary spiritual needs of the believer: the study of His Word and the absorption of His truth to establish the foundation of our belief structure. It is only with this basis for our faith that we live the righteous life. This is the formula advanced by Paul:

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17; cf. Romans 12:1–2)

Final Thought

Note the writer to the Hebrews’ apt conclusion:

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20–21)

Are we striving to “do the things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:22)? Are we determined to finish our race? The key is: that we must run; and to do so unrestrained by the unrighteousness of sin.

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[1] Smith, David (1990). The Expositor’s Greek Testament (Nicoll, W. Robertson, Ed.), Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 5.198.

[2] Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 2.326.

[3] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek New Testament. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., G94

[4] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G93.

[5] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1 John 5:17.

 

© 2026 David M. Rossi 

 

THERE IS A SIN LEADING TO DEATH - 1 JOHN 5:16

Verse 16: 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.

Previously, in the last post, it was discussed how the faithful believer is to pray for a fellow brother in Christ who may be entangled in sinning. It is important that they not ask God to coerce the erring brother but that the Lord might appeal to his will in order that the erring brother might confess and seek to be restored to fellowship with God.

What follows in the remainder of this verse is a truth that many have found difficult to comprehend. Since the Holy Spirit led the apostle John to write this text, we must endeavor to understand its full import of how it applies to us today.

Sin Resulting in Death

In the final phrase of this verse, John assures us that there is indeed a sinful condition that will result in the physical death of the believer. Again, as in the opening phrase of this verse, the English translation reads a sin but the Greek text does not specify one particular sin. Instead, this implies a continual state of sin in which the believer is abiding while persistently refusing God’s summoning to repentance and restoration to abiding fellowship with Him. James describes this believer as one who “strays from the truth…the error of his way” (James 5:19–20). The apostle Peter portrays them as “forsaking the right way, they have gone astray” (2 Peter 2:15). The right way which Peter refers to is “the way of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:21), which is synonymous with being in fellowship—walking in the Light (1:7).

So what John is telling us is that believers who continue to live in a status of sin, the longer they prolong their rebelliousness to the will of God for their life that at some point the Lord will remove them by death. We have no idea of how long the Lord will allow the erring brother to maintain their sinful status before He administers this final discipline. This means that we need to continue intercessory prayer that the Lord preserves their life.

But when the unfortunate event of the final disciple occurs—the removal of the sinning brother by the Lord in death—John states that we should not make request for this. Here the Greek word for request, erotao (ἐρωτάω), is different than the Greek word for ask, aiteo (αἰτέω), that John used earlier. This word (erotao) normally “provides the most delicate and tender expression for prayer or request with the one asking and the one being asked being on an equal level, such as the Lord Jesus asking of the Father”1 (cf. John 14:13, 14). Trench states that this is the only passage in the New Testament that seems to contradict the normal usage of this word erotao and that in no other instance is it “used in the New Testament to express the prayer of man to God, of the creature to the Creator.”2 Whereas, aiteo generally indicates a request made by “one who is lesser in position than he to whom the petition is made; e.g., in the case of men in asking something from God.”3

Therefore, we are discouraged from making an appeal to God for “intercession for any believer who has experienced divine judgment in the form of death. Such prayer for the dead would be contrary to God’s will.”4 This indicates that we must leave the matter in God’s hands. Also, we should consider these two biblical truths pertaining to this particular divine judgment: there are no Scripture that authorizes praying for those who are dead, and that what we ask for in our prayers must be according to His will (v. 14); thus the discipline dispensed by the sovereign will of God cannot be reversed by a believer’s prayer. 

A Final Note

We ought always to be mindful of the spiritual well-being of our fellow believers. But if we become aware of a brother entangled in sin then we “who are spiritual” (free from unconfessed sin, walking in fellowship) are to follow the apostle Paul’s command “to restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness” (Galatians 6:1). This would imply that any confrontation should to be tactful and in private. However, it isn’t possible or even practical to be aware of every sin of our fellow brother. For outside of our immediate family, we should be cautious and not become arrogant and overly absorbed in or actively intruding upon the privacy of other believers, thus becoming a spiritual busybody.

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[1] Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G2065.

[2] Trench, Richard (1975). Synonyms of the New Testament, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, p. 145.

[3] Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). In Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 2.40.

[4] Harris, Murray J. (1986). In The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Brown, Colin, Ed.), Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 3.1205–1206.

 

© 2026 David M. Rossi 

 

SIN NOT LEADING TO DEATH - 1 JOHN 5:16

Verse 16: 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.

In the previous two verses, John provided the confidence we now have that God hears our prayers and answers according to His divine will. Now he illustrates an example of this principle as it applies to intercessory prayer.

John begins with if, meaning in the event that we should observe a brother committing sin. The Greek text literally reads “sinning sin” while our English text reads committing a sin, for John does not identify a specific sin. This denotes the nature or essence of sin, referring to a status rather than a specific sin. For their present status is residing outside of the sphere of abiding fellowship with the Lord, having reverted back to their sinful condition prior to salvation. But John does qualify the sin as that which is not leading to1 death, referring to physical and not spiritual death, for believers cannot lose their salvation.

In the next phrase John asserts that upon seeing such a brother entangled in sin we are to pray on their behalf for intercession. Since will give is God’s response to shall ask, hence, He [God] will give life, on the basis of him (who shall ask), to those who commit sin not leading to death. Therefore, the response to what we ask for is emphasized by what God gives: continued life rather than death, the ultimate discipline for the erring brother.

Now let us determine if this aligns with verse 14, that “if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” First, is it God’s will that all believers continually reside in an abiding fellowship with Him? Yes, for it is a mandate from Our Lord Himself: “Abide in Me” (John 15:4), in order to fulfill the purpose of having been saved to bear much fruit (John 15:5); which cannot be accomplished if the believer remains in a sinful condition. Second, what is the correct prayer for the erring brother? That God will provide an intervention in order to convince the fellow believer of the error of his ways. It is important to note that we should not pray for God to withhold His discipline apart from them returning to fellowship. Third, we should not pray that God should employ measures to coerce the believer to conform and obey. God always appeals to the believer will, that it is their personal responsibility to make a rational decision to obey or face the certainty of discipline of their disobedience. This is the true meaning of Our Lord’s statement in Revelation 3:19–20:

“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”

The knock on the door is for the erring brother to respond to Our Lords summoning him to dine with Him and thus to be restored to fellowship. This favorable result is conditioned upon if anyone hears and opens the door. The opening of the door is synonymous to confession and cleansing of sin (1 John 1:9), for it is impossible to have fellowship with a holy God if we walk in the darkness of sin (1 John 1:5–6).

Therefore, it becomes important that faithful believers pray earnestly upon seeing a fellow believer who appears to descend spiritually into a state of sinfulness, recognizing that the beginning stage of their downfall is not leading to death. Although that may change depending upon how long they remain in their sinful status.

This should alert all believers to be vigilant of all personal sins and to maintain consistent fellowship with God by confessing their sins without delay.

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[1] “To the point of, to the extent of,” Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). πρὸς, In Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. New York: United Bible Societies, 1.692.

 

© 2026 David M. Rossi 

 

ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES OF PRAYER - 1 JOHN 5:14-15

Verses 14-15: This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

Before closing out his epistle, John provides some principles regarding the believers’ prayers.

Confidence/Boldness

This confidence John refers to can be defined as courage, boldness, fearlessness,1 being the exact opposite of cowardice, timidity, fearfulness.2 John has previously mentioned three other times in this epistle the potential confidence the believer may have: at His coming (2:28); before God (3:21); in the day of judgment (4:17). Confidence is a characteristic of the mature believer, one who acquires the boldness to live and speak their faith, being in fellowship with their Lord and guided by the Holy Spirit. This was demonstrated by the early disciples when they boldly proclaimed God’s truth (Acts 2:29; 4:13; 14:3).

And it is this same confidence we also can have before Him—literally, face-to-face3 with God in prayer, as the writer of Hebrews states:

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16 cf. 10:19)

However, it is one thing to have the needed confidence to stand before the Lord in prayer, but it is another thing to know the exact parameters of how we ought to pray. For prayer is not a giveaway for just any self-seeking whim or desire, nor is it intended to resolve spiritual problems as a crutch for the spiritually weak. The true function of prayer results in the consistent learning of God’s truth and understanding His grace provision. Thieme correctly explains:

The more the believer knows and understands God, the more he knows how to communicate with Him (John 15:7). In other words, effectiveness in prayer increases with spiritual growth and reaches its peak in the hands of the spiritually mature.4

John explains the extent of our confidence in prayer is that “if we ask anything...He hears us.” We should be gratified knowing that God indeed hears all of our prayers; it is only when there is sin in our lives that He turns a deaf ear to our prayers (Psalm 66:18; Proverbs 15:29; John 9:31). This does not mean that He provides the answer that we might desire, for the answer to prayer is strictly God’s decision. “God alone has absolute power and integrity to hear the believer’s requests and provide the response He knows is best.”5 We should never forget what Our Lord proclaimed: “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8; cf. Luke 12:30). This led Paul to remind us that since the Father provided the greatest gift, the sacrifice of His Son, “how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). To which Peter concurred:

Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:3)

Now it is true that the word anything denotes everything that may involve others, ourselves, our country, etc. But does it mean unconditionally all the desires of our heart? This notion has been disseminated based on a faulty interpretation of Psalm 37:4: “Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.” Within the context of David’s Psalm, he never describes the desires of our heart as self-seeking materialistic cravings, but instead as virtues: righteousness (v. 6); cessation of envy (v.1) and anger (v.8); resting and waiting patiently for the Lord (v.7). 

We can now understand the reason that John adds the phrase that what we ask must be according to His will. The desires of our heart must coincide with the divine will of the Father. Thus it is imperative that we endeavor to know His will and pray accordingly, if we are to have the confidence that our prayers are effective (cf. James 5:16).

Result of Correct Prayers

In verse 15 John’s summarizes that since it is true that we know He hears the prayers that we ask according to His will, then we also know with full assurance that the requests we have made and now possess are the results of following the correct procedure of prayer. To obtain what we ask for is not to be considered a miracle; for this is the expression of the Father’s divine will for our life.

Again, the key to this entire passage, as well as the correct principle of the believers’ prayers, is that whatever we ask must be according to His will. The logical question for the believer should be: “How do I know what His will is concerning the request that I make?” The apostle Paul emphasizes how important this is when he commanded: “So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17). 

Throughout the epistles the will of God for the believer is outlined. Note just a few examples: To be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18); Be always thankful (Ephesians 5:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:18); To live and please God separated from sin (1 Thessalonians 4:1, 3); Submit to human authorities (1 Peter 2:13-15).

Paul summarizes the exact method in order to know and exhibit His will in our lives:

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

For believers to be transformed requires the daily study of God’s Word, not merely reading the Word, but a comprehensive discovering and absorbing of His truth that renews (literally, renovates) their minds. It is an extensive undertaking that the believer cannot afford to engage casually; but when avidly undertaken the results will enable believers to love God and endeavor to serve Him, so that as the light of the world we will reflect His glory to others (Matthew 5:16; cf. 2 Peter 2:12).

Lest We Forget

Prayer is listed by Paul’s as a part of the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18), provided for believers to enable them to “stand firm against the schemes of the devil” (6:11). Therefore “prayer is a weapon for the spiritually strong.”6 It is for our advantage that we understand and utilize this spiritual armament according to His will.

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[1] Arndt, W., Gingrich, F. W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (1979). In A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p. 630.

[2] Zodhiates, S. (2000). δειλία, In The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G1167.

[3] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1John 5:14.

[4] Thieme, R.B., Jr. (2022). Thieme’s Bible Doctrine Dictionary, Houston, TX: R.B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries, p. 203.

[5] Thieme, p. 202.

[6] Thieme, p. 203.

 

© 2026 David M. Rossi