My dear readers,

Answers to Remaining Questions from Calvary Pandan Church Camp 2025 (8)

Question: 1John 5:16: "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." With reference to 1 John 5:16, what exactly is "the sin unto death" that we should not pray for those who commit such sins? Different commentators interpret and explain this verse differently.

Answer: The complete context is the doctrine of prayer -- 1 John 5:14-17: “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: ¹⁵And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. ¹⁶If 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. ¹⁷All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not
unto death.”

The fundamental teaching on prayer is that all prayers must be in accordance with God’s will so that they can be heard and answered by God.

Some say that verse 16 refers to the sin against the Holy Spirit. That cannot be true because all the sins man commits are against the Holy Spirit. Remember what sin Peter charged Ananias for committing? Acts 5:3: “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?” A few hours later, Peter also charged Ananias’ wife, Sapphira, for the same sin. Acts 5:9-10: “Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. ¹⁰Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.” Both husband and wife sold a piece of land and brought a portion of the sale proceeds to give to the Lord. They said that it was the whole proceeds. They lied. They were charged with sinning against the Holy Spirit! All the sins we commit are against God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead.

Could the sin in 1 John 5:16 refer to what some have termed an unpardonable sin? There is no such thing as an unpardonable sin because there isn’t any sin God will not pardon in Christ! Christ’s death is of infinite value, therefore there is no sin that the blood of Christ cannot cleanse. He needs to repent of his sin. God will never reject any sinner who sincerely repents and asks Him for forgiveness for Christ’s sake. To teach that there is a sin that God cannot and will not pardon, even when the sinner repents and asks for forgiveness in Christ, is seriously erroneous. This reduces the death of Christ to a finite value! God would never allow such a limitation to be placed on the infinite value of the efficacy of the death of Christ.

What is the sin unto death? It has to be a future death.

There are only three types of death taught in the Bible.

“Sin unto Physical death”? – Every sin committed results in physical death. Physical death is defined as a sinner who dies in sin and is cast into hell. Genesis 2:16-17: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: ¹⁷But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”Matthew 5:29-30: “And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. ³⁰And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”

God commands us to pray for loved ones, family, and friends to be saved from their sins against God. All humanity is a sinner from birth. Only Jesus Christ, who was born of the virgin Mary, was born without sin. We can pray for all the sins we commit today concerning physical death. The Bible teaches believers to pray for the salvation of loved ones so that they do not need to die physically as a sinner.

It cannot refer to capital punishment for crimes committed because believers can pray for God’s mercy to move the hearts of the authorities to grant clemency and change the death penalty to life imprisonment. The text does not refer to a “sin unto physical death.”

“Sin unto Spiritual death”? – When Adam fell into sin, all humanity from the moment he begins to exist in the mother’s womb is born spiritually dead and blind. They cannot see, i.e. understand, the spiritual realm. One good example is that they cannot understand the Bible because it will not be applied correctly. Sin will remain in their lives, for there is no repentance before God because they cannot repent without Christ. Unless they turn to Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour who died on the cross for their sins, they will remain spiritually dead. Can believers pray for such sins committed by sinners? Definitely. Isn’t this what salvation in Christ means, that when God forgives a person in Christ he is born again, i.e. made spiritually alive? All sinners in bondage to sin are spiritually dead. Since all sinners are born spiritually dead already, it cannot be a “sin” that they commit in the future that will result in a “sin unto spiritual death”!

“Sin unto Second Death”? – The meaning of the second death is explained in Revelation 20:13-15: “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. ¹⁴And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ¹⁵And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” When God said that hell will deliver up her dead, it refers to the resurrection of damnation. John 5:29: “And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” The second death refers to all sinners who will experience the resurrection of damnation from hell and will be cast into the Lake of Fire at the Great White Throne Judgment. They will all spend eternity in great pain and torment with the Devil, Antichrist and the False Prophet.

All believers cannot pray for those who died in sin not to be cast into the Lake of Fire ultimately.

Therefore, “sin unto death” has to be the “sin unto the second death.” All sins committed by sinners that result in their dying in their sin without Jesus Christ as their Saviour is the sin unto death. This includes those who have never heard of the gospel of Christ, who will die in their sins. God will judge and condemn them based on His creation. Romans 1:18-23: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; ¹⁹Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. ²⁰For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: ²¹Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God,


neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ²²Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, ²³And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.” Believers cannot pray that God will show mercy and not cast them into the Lake of Fire, the second death.

All those within Christianity who have God’s Word but did not sincerely receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour will die in their sin and be cast into the Lake of Fire. They continue to live in sin as they live their hypocritical lives, deceiving many into thinking they are believers because of their theological training, service in the church, or even because they are ordained ministers and elders, preaching and teaching God's Word. All these will be condemned and be cast into hell at the Great White Throne judgment, for God is no respector of persons. Matthew 7:21-23: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ²³And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Therefore, we cannot pray that God will not send them to the Lake of Fire, i.e. the second death.