1 John 5:16-17 [ESV2011]  If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

I know that when I read this passage, my mind is drawn to “the sin that leads to death” and I fail to see something else here. If we see someone who is a brother (I assume that John is using this term to refer to a fellow Christian) committing a sin, we should pray. We spend a great deal of time praying for temporal needs for ourselves and for others, but precious little time for the spiritual needs of our brothers and sisters. It is past time to realize that we must engage spiritual energy in prayer to focus on the spiritual needs around us. We see sin all around us. We see friends and family enslaved to sin, enslaved to harmful habits, enslaved to their lusts and desires. How can we fail to see that these are serious offences, serious problems, that need to be addressed. These are not just personal choices, personal problems, personal failures. These are sins that stand against God, grieve His Spirit, hinder the church, and hurt both the perpetrators and those around them. We cannot sit idly by while the spiritual lives of others stand in jeopardy.

We must act, but what can we do? We cannot play the role of the Spirit in their lives and seek to bring conviction. We cannot force them to stop sinning. We must not rant and rail against them. We should not gossip about them and their sin to others. We may be able to share a word, to keep the door open and the lines of communication clear, to assist them when they are ready to repent. But we can always pray and should pray. Now, some may wonder how prayer for a sinning brother will help the situation. First, we can pray that God will be merciful and forgive them for their actions. That is the prayer Jesus prayed from the cross on behalf of those who were scoffing and mocking in disbelief. That is the prayer that Stephen prayed for those who falsely convicted him of blasphemy and were stoning him to death. That is the type of prayer Jesus encouraged us to pray “for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:28). We must not gloat over another’s sin. we must not revel in their misery and agony, we must not shrug it off, thinking that they deserve this. When Israel had sinned against God and deserved His punishment, and when He told Moses He would wipe them off the face of the earth and make a nation from him, Moses stood and pleaded for Israel (Exodus 32). Prayer from a heart of love is needed on their behalf.

Second, we can pray that God’s Spirit will bring strong conviction on them, so that they will realize the magnitude of their sin and turn from it. It’s easy to turn a deaf ear to God’s Word and refuse to listen and obey. We often seek to justify our sin or to minimize the magnitude of it. We find ways to say that this command in God’s Word doesn’t apply to me in this situation. I see this so clearly in children. They didn’t do it. They didn’t mean to do it. They didn’t say that. They didn’t mean it. Everyone else is doing it. No one else is being punished for it. They actually didn’t break the rule. It was someone else’s fault. Minimizing our blame and pointing a finger toward another are ways of seeking to avoid the blunt truth that we have sinned and deserve the consequences. Pray that God will pull away the veil over their eyes, Pray that He will reveal to them their self-deception. Pray that they will finally face their sin so that they can seek God’s gracious pardon and forgiveness.

Third, we can pray that God will bring people into their lives and use circumstances in their lives to show them their need. Whether with Joshua at Ai, Moses with the serpents in the wilderness, or David taking a census of a people exalted in pride, God can use circumstances to bring us to our knees and point us to a gracious and forgiving God. Like Samuel, Elijah, or Nathan, God may choose to use us by giving us the words to confront their sin and show them their need. Prayer prepares us for the ministry opportunities and challenges that result when we pray for a brother in sin. Do not underestimate the power of prayer. “The prayer of a righteous man is mighty in its working.”

This passage in John brings to our attention that there are situations where our prayers are ineffective. There is a “sin unto death” and it is one for which prayer will not work. 

1 John 5:16 Sin not leading to death is sin for which forgiveness is possible because (1) forgiveness is sought and (2) God is willing to grant it. Death and eternal life are present spiritual states as well as ultimate actual destinies (hell, heaven).Sin that leads to death is probably sin that is (1) unrepented of and (2) of the kind or nature that John has warned about throughout the letter: resolute rejection of the true doctrine about Christ, chronic disobedience to God’s commandments, persistent lack of love for fellow believers—all indications of a lack of saving faith—which will not be forgiven. [ESV Study Bible note]

Jesus tells of such a sin. 

Matthew 12:31-32 [ESV2011] Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

The context makes clear that the sin against the Holy Spirit is having such spiritual blindness to the work of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of Jesus that one would attribute it to Satan instead. When Jesus cast the demon out of the blind and mute man, the Pharisees accused Him of acting in the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. At some point, a heart becomes so seared, so hardened to the truth and so insensitive to the work of the Spirit that one absolutely refuses to listen, to relent, or to repent. Just as Pharaoh hardened his heart to God’s message through Moses and refused to listen, even becoming increasingly obstinate, so there are those who so harden their hearts against the work of the Spirit in their lives. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, a person cannot be convicted, regenerated (born again), or grow in grace. There are those who think that they have committed this sin by making some thoughtless or angry remark against God, cursing Him or foolishly lashing out at Him. Others fear that they have committed this sin by becoming so enslaved to some sin that they have gone too far. I protest that the person who has committed this sin would feel no such concern, fear, or regret. These persons, much like the antichrist, will be so emboldened to commit evil that they will feel they are actually carrying out the will of God. Evil will be seen as good, and good as evil. So hard and coldhearted, they will feel no shame for their shameful behavior.

Confident living is learning to pray and to extend our concern for others in need of prayer. As we grow in our knowledge and practice of prayer, we will see God answer our prayers and we will grow in confidence.