What Is the “SIN THAT LEADS TO DEATH” in 1 John 5:16?

Let’s read the passage in question:

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 5:16

The topic is a fellow believer seen committing a sin and the reader being encouraged to pray for him/her, which is encouraged elsewhere in Scripture as well (James 5:15 & Galatians 6:1). Then John adds that he’s only talking about a believer whose sin does not lead to death followed by the fact that there is a sin that leads to death and it’s useless to pray for that person. Notice that he doesn’t say you can’t pray for this individual, he just implies it’s useless to do so.

First of all, John is not referring to physical death here even though there is evidence in the New Testament of genuine believers receiving the judgment of premature physical death due to their sinful actions (1 Corinthians 11:28-32 & Acts 5:1-10). This does not mean they’re not saved, but they’ll have to answer for their sin at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). How do we know for sure that John’s not referring to physical death? A few reasons:

‘Context is King’ is a hermeneutical rule and physical death does not fit the context. For instance, the antithesis of death is life and the seven times that John uses ‘life’ in chapter 5 all refer to either eternal life or spiritual life and not solely physical life. Verses 11-12 are a good example. Moreover, in the very verse in question—John 5:16—John refers to ‘life’ and it’s clear he’s talking about spiritual life (in the sense of fellowship with God) since the person in question is already physically alive.
The only other time John refers to death in this entire epistle—twice in John 3:14—he’s clearly referring to spiritual death and the corresponding eternal death.
The idea of physical death wouldn’t ‘work’ in regards to John’s instructions in the verse. To explain, John implies that we shouldn’t pray for the believer who has committed the sin that leads to death. If John was referring to divine discipline in the form of physical death, how would we know if a brother or sister has committed a sin that has incurred the judgment of physical decease? For instance, in the case of 1 Corinthians 11:28-32 some believers were getting sick and some dying because, as Paul put it, they “eat and drink judgment on themselves.” The answer is that we wouldn’t know and thus we would apply the aforementioned verses on praying for those who have sinned and are sick (i.e. James 5:15 & Galatians 6:1). The exception of course would be if the Holy Spirit informed you specifically not to pray for a certain believer who has sinned because it has incurred the judgment of premature death. But, let’s be honest, how many believers then or now are able to discern the Spirit’s leading with accuracy concerning something which would compel the person to disregard the clear teaching of Scripture in such matters (that is, praying for those who have sinned and are now sick)?

So John was talking about a sin that a believer can commit that leads to spiritual death & the corresponding eternal death. What sin is that? The book of Hebrews explains:

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age ⁶and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

Hebrews 6:4-6

The topic of these verses is believers who have “fallen away” even though they had once been enlightened to the truth of the message of Christ, tasted of the heavenly gift (Titus 3:5), were filled with the Holy Spirit, had fed well upon the word of God and evidently had experience with the gifts of the Spirit. If a believer experiences all of this they obviously have some degree of spiritual maturity. In other words, we’re not talking about a Christian slipping into sin or struggling with sin (1 John 1:8-9 & Isaiah 1:18), but rather someone who knows the truth and has walked with the Lord as a mature believer to some measure, but has willfully chosen to turn away from the faith in outright denial and rebellion.

This is the sin of apostasy, which means the abandonment or renunciation of one’s faith. This is why the sin is referred to as “fallen away” and not merely falling down. Believers who fall down can get right back up and continue moving forward (Proverbs 24:16) whereas those who willfully fall away have abandoned the road of Christian faith altogether and have set a new course that doesn’t include the LORD or the rightly-divided Holy Scriptures.

This is what John was talking about in 1 John 5:16—apostates—since he was earlier addressing those who had left the worldwide Church (which is different from leaving a particular assembly) and deny that Christ is the Messiah (1 John 2:19 & 2:22). Don’t pray for apostates like this because it’s useless seeing as how it is impossible for them to be brought back to repentance (Hebrews 6:4-6). Again, John was talking specifically about those who were reasonably spiritually mature, not young believers struggling with a sin problem, like many of us have done with reoccurring relapses.

I’ll give you a modern example. A dozen years ago Carol & I were part of a fellowship wherein a new family joined the assembly and the husband, who was in his late 30s, was an experienced praise & worship leader. He shortly became one of three such leaders and he would effectively lead the congregation in praise & worship. A year and a half later the Lord called Carol & me out of that fellowship to serve elsewhere, but I eventually reunited with the man a few years later. We would have friendly chats now and then, mostly on Christian doctrine and current issues; sometimes debates.

Everything was great until he started becoming increasingly contentious, arguing for the sake of arguing, which I found curious (and reveals a lack of the peace of God). Then one day he dropped a bomb by saying that the Holy Scriptures were written by the devil, blah, blah, blah. It was a bunch of gobbledygook, but he was totally serious. I couldn’t believe it. This was once a formidable man of God who led the Lord’s people in praise & worship. Now he’s outrageously contentious and blathering about God’s Word being of the devil. Go figure.

I bring this sad story up because this man is a modern example of an apostate—someone who has left the Christian faith altogether and is actively preaching gross error. It’s useless to pray for him since he was a relatively mature believer in a leadership position who had chosen to turn away from the faith. This is the sin that leads to death, as John put it.

Let me hastily that, if you’re in a situation where it appears a seasoned believer has committed the sin of apostasy and you feel led of the Spirit to intercede for him/her then, by all means, do so.

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