Who NOT to pray for

If the title shocked you, then I succeeded in getting your attention =). Pastor Fry preached a sermon a couple weeks back from 1 John 5:16, where we read:

“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."

Some obvious points from the first sentence:

(1)John presupposes that local Christian churches have a close-knit community

(2) Christians sin before other believers

(3) There are sins not leading to death

(4) Some sins lead to death (implied from the first statement, and confirmed in the next)

(5) If you see a fellow believer committing a sin not leading to death, pray for him and God will grant him repentance

This by no means exhausts what can be said from the first sentence, but it is sufficient for my purpose here.

As Christians, we should pray for each other. When we see another fall into sin and temptation, rebuke him with gentleness by pointing him in the right direction.

Then there is that second sentence. Pastor Fry spent much of the sermon on the first statement before expositing the rest of the verse. I was anxious to hear his thoughts.

The Apostle informs us that there is a sin leading to death and that we are not to pray for those who commit this sin. What is this sin leading to death? Pastor Fry believes it to be apostasy – those who abandon the fellowship and blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

Three relevant passages:

Hebrews 6:4-6, “4For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”

The author speaks of those who were enlightened to the truths of the gospel, benefited in many ways by the blessings of the Holy Spirit upon the Church, even tasted the word of God, then fell away. We are told that it is impossible to renew them again to repentance for they openly shame the name of Christ.

Hebrews 10:26-29, “26For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. 28Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?”

The author here writes that those who willfully go on sinning by trampling Christ under foot have no claim to the benefits of Christ, but await the terrifying Day of Judgment. These God-offenders have insulted the Spirit of grace! (Let me quickly point out that contrary to the beliefs of some, Reformed Christians are not “Bi-natarians.” Or to say it another way: I am not afraid of the Holy Spirit or His ministry. Okay, where was I …).

1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”

Before John wrote of the sin leading to death he wrote about those who went out from the fellowship. They left because they were not really of us. Their going out demonstrates that they were never part of the family of God.

The sin leading to death probably refers to those who abandon the church and reject the things of God. Indeed, they hate Christ and His people. And John does not command us to pray for men such as these. It is not our duty as believers.

If you’re like me you had never really given much attention to the latter part of verse 16 (1 John 5:16). This was brand new information to me. In fact, I felt a great burden lifted off my shoulders! Out of my many friends that embraced heresy, all but three have come to repentance (one of whom was my best friend growing up). Believing it was my duty to pray for them, I made frequent mention of them to God. It was painful. No matter how diligent I was in remembering the good times we had, I would also remember the bad times. Now after considering this text, I will not make regular requests for them. I trust that God has determined their ends, and that is enough for me.

One more quick comment – John does not forbid us to pray for apostates. However he does not consider it the Christian’s obligation to pray for them.

I am truly thankful for this passage of Scripture. This is another example that God's Word is fully capable to function in all things pertaining to life, godliness, faith and practice - Sola Scriptura.

In Christ,
Case of Base