Don’t Pray For Sinners Whose Sins Lead To Death?

1 John 5:16 – 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.

1 John 5:17 – All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

Some people consider this a difficult to understand text. The difficulty is in two major aspects. First, why is sin categorized into sin leading to death and that which does not lead to death? We have been taught and convinced that all sins are the same. Isn’t sin just sin? Do we have categories of sin? Are some sins worse than others?

The second problem is when the text tells us not to pray for some sinners. Do not pray for sinners whose sins lead to death. The problem is that the only solution to sin is praying for forgiveness. If the instructions are that do not pray, how then will the sin be forgiven. Why shouldn’t we pray?

Those two problems have made the text of our consideration today to be thought to be a difficult text. Some think it contradicts the rest of scripture. What does this text mean?

Matthew 12:31 – And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Matthew 12:32 – Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Sin that leads to death, is another name for sin that Jesus referred to as unpardonable sin. If sin cannot be forgiven then that sin will cause the sinner to end up in hell. Sin that is not forgiven will ultimately bring eternal death. It is sin that leads to death.

What is unpardonable sin? Unpardonable sin is any sin that one refuses to repent. We repent, when the Holy Spirit urges us to repent. We repent when the Holy Spirit convicts us that we are wrong. When we refuse to repent, we are defying the Holy Spirt. When we refuse to repent, we are sinning against the Holy Spirit who is pleading with us to repent. Such sin is unpardonable and therefore leads to death.

1 John 1:10 – If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

When we refuse to repent, we are abusing the Holy Spirit by saying He is a liar. When the Holy Spirit tells us to repent and we refuse, we are declaring that the Holy Spirt is lying about us. We are saying we are right and He is wrong. How can God be wrong and we mere mortals right? Isn’t that abusing, insulting, offending and sinning against the Holy Spirit who is God?

This sin leads to death because anyone who rejects the forgiveness of sin will not get into eternal life. No unrepentant person will get into heaven. Unless you confess and repent, you will end up in eternal death in hell. That is why this is sin that leads to death!

Revelation 16:9 – They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but THEY REFUSED TO REPENT and glorify him.

Excerpts from the seven last plagues show that hell will be full of unrepentant sinners. Those will die forever are outrightly unrepentant. Those who will be punished by God are those who would not repentant under any circumstances. They have committed the unpardonable sin, the sin that leads to death, the sin of refusing to repent!

The last difficulty is why shouldn’t we pray for them? We shouldn’t pray for them because repentance is personal. No one can repent for you. No one can repent on your behalf. A very religious funeral will not cause God to forgive the deceased of sins that he or she refused to repent.

The Bible doesn’t say the sinner shouldn’t pray for sins leading to death. The sinner can seek repentance and will surely be forgiven. The Bible tells us, we shouldn’t pray for forgiveness on behalf of someone who has refused to repent. Do not pray for sins that lead to death. Do not pray for sins that the sinner has refused to repent.

All sins are wrong. Sins we repent do not lead to death. Sins we refuse to repent are sins that lead to death. No other person can repent for us, if we refuse to repent.

We refuse to repent out of habit of repeating the same sins until we forget that it is wrong and consequently we don’t repent. We refuse to repent when we dispute certain biblical teachings and insist that our understanding is right and those teaching us are wrong. We refuse to repent when we defend our habits by saying, “I don’t see anything wrong with this….”

May God save us and help us to repent. May we be repentant. In Jesus’s name, Amen!

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