If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he should ask God, who will give life to those who commit this kind of sin. There is a sin that leads to death; I am not saying he should ask regarding that sin.
Parallel translations
- WEB If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life for those who sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death. I don’t say that he should make a request concerning this.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.
- NASB If anyone sees his brother or sister 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 sin leading to death; I am not saying that he should ask about that.
- NLT If you see a fellow believer sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Believers should pray for a brother sinning in a way that does not lead to death, and God will grant him life; but there is a sin leading to death. Intercession for the erring is a vital duty.
Overview
John encourages prayer for fellow believers caught in sin, promising restoration to spiritual vitality. He distinguishes a 'sin not leading to death' from a 'sin leading to death,' which faithful interpreters understand in various ways, most commonly as the deliberate, final rejection of Christ by the false teachers who had left the church (apostasy). John does not forbid praying for such a person but does not command it, leaving the focus on ready intercession for struggling believers.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 30
- Heb 6:4–6It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
- 1 Sam 2:25If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the LORD intended to put them to death.
- Jer 11:14As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to Me in their time of disaster.
- Mark 3:28–30Truly I tell you, the sons of men will be forgiven all sins and blasphemies, as many as they utter.
- Heb 10:26–31If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
- Luke 12:10And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
- Matt 12:31–32Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
- 2 Pet 2:20–22If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first.
- Jer 14:11Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people.
- Jer 7:16As for you, do not pray for these people, do not offer a plea or petition on their behalf, and do not beg Me, for I will not listen to you.
- Jas 5:14–15Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
- Exod 34:9“O Lord,” he said, “if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our iniquity and sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
- Exod 32:10–14Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
- Num 15:30But the person who sins defiantly, whether a native or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That person shall be cut off from among his people.
- Jer 18:18–21Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”
- Gen 20:7Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet; he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, be aware that you will surely die—you and all who belong to you.”
- Gen 20:17Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children—
- Job 42:7–9After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.
- Exod 32:31–32So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made gods of gold for themselves.
- Jer 15:1–2Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go.
- 2 Chr 30:18–20A large number of the people—many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun—had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah interceded for them, saying, “May the LORD, who is good, provide atonement for everyone
- Amos 7:1–3This is what the Lord GOD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts just after the king’s harvest, as the late spring crop was coming up.
- Ps 106:23So He said He would destroy them—had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.
- John 17:9I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those You have given Me; for they are Yours.
- Num 12:13So Moses cried out to the LORD, “O God, please heal her!”
- Deut 9:18–20Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.
- Num 14:11–21And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?
- Num 16:26–32And he warned the congregation, “Move away now from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.”
- Ezek 22:30I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.
- 2 Tim 4:14Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Jesus is the Word of life made manifest, the propitiation for our sins, the Son in whom is eternal life — 'that you may know that you have eternal life.'
How 1 John 5:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.
How traditions read this
Four faithful readings of a notoriously hard text.
The "sin that leads to death" is a true believer''s decisive apostasy — a deliberate, final abandonment of Christ — which other sins are not. Read by those who hold that the genuinely regenerate can fall away.
Key points · Sin unto death = apostasy of a believer; other sins forgivable; rejects unconditional eternal security.
I. Howard Marshall; Stephen Smalley; Ben Witherington III
Both the sinning "brother" and the one who sins unto death are nominal or unbelieving; the deadly sin is a settled, decisive rejection of Christ rather than any single act.
Key points · Both figures unbelieving/nominal; deadly sin = rejecting Christ; not a list of mortal acts.
John Stott; Irvin Busenitz
"Life" and "death" are physical: God may discipline an erring believer with bodily death (as with some at Corinth), without any loss of salvation. The passage concerns chastening, not damnation.
Key points · Death = physical discipline of a believer; salvation not lost; cf. 1 Cor 11:30.
B. B. Warfield; James Montgomery Boice
The non-deadly sin is any sin a believer commits (always forgivable in Christ); the "sin unto death" is any sin characteristic of an unbeliever, supremely the apostasy of leaving the community — the view this essay judges most likely.
Key points · Believer''s sin vs. unbeliever''s sin; apostasy in view; commended as the best reading.
Colin Kruse; Robert Yarbrough; Sam Storms · The Gospel Coalition
Each view is stated as that tradition would put it, with representative sources. Limitless Word presents them side by side and endorses none — see the methodology.