1 John 5:16-17 (KJV) If anyone sees his brother sin in a sin that is not to death, he will ask, and it will give him life for those who sin that are not to death. There is a sin of death: I do not say that he will pray for him. 17 All injustice is sin, and there is sin that is not death.
The same two verses from the Greek manuscript, a transliteral version:
1 John 5:16-17 If anyone perceives that his brother is missing [harmartano] (to sin), to miss [harmartia] (sin) not towards death he-will-be-asking he-will-be-giving-life-to-the-missing [harmartano] (some-sinning) not towards death is missing [harmartia] (sin) toward death not about (with respect to) what I’m-saying he-should-be-asking for. 17 All (all) lack of justice (injustice) (harmartia) (sin) is and lack (sin) not towards death
I have to say up front that this is what I reluctantly call an ‘annoying’ passage of Holy Scripture and not because it really is an annoyance, but because of the idiots and numb skulls who misinterpret it and interpret all sorts of perverted lies. . nonsense around him and him, making him a nuisance to those of us who know what it is about or know what are talking about.
So what do these people do that makes you such a nuisance? They simply say that there are some sins that lead to death and others that do not. Hello, excuse me, should I write that again, because it’s a cookie? Yes, I will: They interpret this to mean that John is saying that there are some sins that lead to death and other sins that do not lead to death. DOH!
Having said that there is are two slightly different Greek words at play here, so this means that two types of sin are described but unfortunately these differences do not translate into KJV English (now there’s a surprise). However, first we will deal with the simple things by asking this question: Is John countering what Anointed Yashua said right at the beginning of his Word regarding the issue of sin?
Genesis 2:16-17 (KJV) And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat; for in the day you eat of it you will surely die.
OK, let’s be very clear about this, because if we sin we die, and we deserve to die, eternal death with no new life in the first resurrection, and it doesn’t matter what the sin is, so what is John talking about when he says he’s a sin of death and a sin that is not of death and, even more interesting, there are those who sin but do NOT sin of death? Is it okay to sin now?
Now, as I’ve already said, there are two types of sin at stake here and both are worthy of the eternal death penalty, but has John created a conundrum in which one type of sin is forgivable and another unforgivable? Well, there are some very weird people out there who think it does, but in truth, if we are of The Truth, Yashua Anointed, we know that cannot be, because sin is always sin, so what is happening and where? ? begin in order to gain a true understanding of these verses?
Right here in 1 John 1, the first epistle of John, where we learn that John’s letters were worded appropriately, where necessary, for non-believers and also appropriately, where necessary, for believers. Please review and study my article titled: “1 John 1 – Explanation of Chapter 1 of the Letter of John”, for all the details. Also, to make things easier, I’ll copy a verse or two here to clarify my point:
1 John 1:1-3 (KJV) What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at, and what our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life; 2 (For life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show you eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us;) 3 What we have seen and heard, we announce to you, to that you also HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH US: and our fellowship truly is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. (emphasis mine)
Pay close attention here, because John is making a statement: “what was from the beginning” and that means it is NEW NEWS and he is making it clear to these NOVICES that they too can fellowship with that congregation. In other words, these were people who were not yet in fellowship with the brothers in that congregation. They were sinners, lost and unsaved, and what were their sins? Easy, they were sins that were of death and in the Greek language they are known as ‘harmartia’ sins which means to sin or do evil or break the Law (The Commandments).
And Paul confirms it:
Romans 6:23 (KJV) For the wages of sin (harmartia sin) is death; but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (mine in parentheses)
Notice, eternal life is through Anointed Yashua, not through fear-based obedience to Law, i.e. salvation instead of slavery under Law.
1 John 1:7 (KJV) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we walk in The Light, and who is The Light? Yashua Anointed is The Light. If we walk in The Light then we have communion with Anointed Yashua and with those who also walk in The Light, and we, and they all your sins are forgiven. now what if this people sin? Would his sins be sins of death, that is, ‘harmartia’ sins? God forbid, because now ALL your sins are forgiven, and you live under Grace, so your sins are sins that are not for death. How come I hear you ask? Again that is easy, because by being Born Again they already have eternal life:
1 John 5:11 (KJV) And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
Eternal Life is in the Son of the Father, that is, believing in Yashua Anointed and in no one else, or in anything else. There is no eternal life in obedience to the Law based on fear or for anyone trying to save themselves by obeying or thinking they can remove sin from their lives: none.
So what are these sins that are NOT for death? They are ‘harmartano’ sins, not ‘harmartia’ sins, also known as sins of “missing the mark” or sins of “not measuring up,” not sins of deliberately doing wrong. The fact is that these ‘harmartano’ are sins, sins? Yes, of course they are sins, but they are sins that only a certain type of man or woman can commit, that is, a saved man or a saved woman. The lost and the unsaved cannot commit sins that would be considered “missing the target sins.” that is, the ‘harmartano’ sins. How is that? Easy, because a born again believer now has an innate desire not to sin knowing that he already has sinless perfection as a sinless being, born of God. This is a condition that he or she already has through salvation and belief and faith in Anointed Yashua. That is why John says elsewhere:
1 John 3:9 (KJV) Everyone who is born of God commits no sin; for his seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
Hey, but that doesn’t make any sense to me, I hear you say. If someone who is Born of God cannot sin, what does John mean when he says that there are sins, even if they are ‘harmartano’ sins, not ‘harmartia’ sins, that are being committed by those who are Born of God? Again, that’s simple, because Born of God believers still reside in dead bodies of sin that still occasionally sin. As long as we remain in these vile bodies of death, we will sin. This, however, is not the problem, because the born again believer, as a new creation, a new man or woman, perfect and sinless, has an innate desire not to sin. The unsaved and lost man or woman has no such innate desire because they still reside in LIVING bodies of sin. They will sin and make excuses with virtually no repentance, perhaps some remorse or carnal pain, but that is all.
So, if we see our brother in The Faith committing a ‘harmartano’ sin, we must pray and ask the Father to point it out, wake him up and take him back to the right path. If, on the other hand, we see a lost soul committing a deadly sin, let us still pray that he or she may be called by the Father and saved, but do not ask that he or she be forgiven, because the Father definitely will not. listen to that prayer request.
I hope I have cleared up this complicated and ‘annoying’ topic for EVERYONE to understand.