Today’s devotion comes from 1 John 5:16-17.
“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. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.” 1 John 5:16-17.
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We have just finished reading about the power of prayer in 1 John 5:14-15: “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”
What a good use of this power of prayer is presented by today’s devotion! “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. …” Verse 16.
“and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” James 5:15-16.
Regarding the “sin leading to death”, it seems to me that sin is unbelief. Both Scriptures refer to prayer for fellow Christian believers. Today’s Scripture refers to “his brother” which I think means Christian brother. The prior verse in the James Scripture clearly refers to those in church when it states: “Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;”. James 5:14.
Now, we can certainly pray that God will give faith to those who do not believe, causing them to become believers. But, we should not simply ask for that sin of unbelief to be forgiven.
God will not give life to those who do not believe in Jesus Christ. Remember the very clear verse earlier in this chapter of 1 John 5: “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” 1 John 5:12.
God will not bring unbelievers into His Kingdom of Heaven. “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?” 2 Corinthians 6:14-15. “the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers.” Luke 12:46
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 