“If any one see his brother sinning a sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More not unto death, he will ask, and he will give him life, for those that do not sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More unto death. There is a sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More to death: I do not say of that that he should make a request” (1 John 5:16).

Since it says in many translations: “There is a sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More to death”, it is believed that a certain sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More is meant here that cannot be forgiven but leads to eternal damnation.

As the context shows, it is a matter of brotherly intercession for a Christian who has sinned and is therefore chastised by God (cf. Jas. 5:15–16). The death mentioned here is not eternal damnation, but bodily death. We have seen that the salvationSalvation is part of God's plan of saving people. Those who are in danger and cannot help themselves need salvation. We owe our salvation to our Savior, who went to... More of believers is certain. But if a believer sins, God, in His holinessIt generally denotes something separate from the ordinary or even evil. Holiness is, above all, an attribute of God; He is glorious in holiness, He sits on his throne of... More and righteousness, can chastise him for it without calling into question his eternal salvationSalvation is part of God's plan of saving people. Those who are in danger and cannot help themselves need salvation. We owe our salvation to our Savior, who went to... More in the least.

Two examples in the New Testament may illustrate this. In Corinth, many were “weak and infirm”, and a good number of them had “fallen asleep”, i.e. died (1 Cor. 11:30). They had so dishonoured God by their behaviour at the Lord’s supper that He had called them away from the earth. Ananias and Sapphira, in the bright beginning of the assemblyThe literal meaning is “called out”: • called out of "the darkness" (1. Pet 2:9)—this refers to the area where there is a lack of light about God Himself, His... More, had publicly lied to God and His Holy SpiritThe Holy Spirit is God, a divine person in the Trinity of God; in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit works, for example, in creation or on individuals. The Holy... More and therefore died on the spot (Acts 5:1–11). In the case of the believers in Corinth, it is explicitly added that the sicknesses and deaths were a punishment because they had not judged themselves. They were chastened by the Lord so that they would not be condemned with the worldThe word is used with different meanings. It can mean the whole of humanity (Gen 41:57) or the created world (Rom 1:20), but also a moral system that is opposed... More (1 Cor. 11:32). This makes it quite clear that they really were true believers. In the case of Ananias and Sapphira this is not stated so clearly, but there is no reason to doubt that they too were believers.

So the “sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More to death” does not mean a particular sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More that cannot be forgiven and leads to eternal damnation. In Corinth it was a matter of dishonourable behaviour at the Lord’s supper, and in Ananias and Sapphira’s case it was a lie. When John writes: “There is a sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More to death”, then in principle it could well be any sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More, which under certain circumstances in which God is seriously dishonoured, that could lead to bodily death. To recognize this and to know that in such a case no intercession should take place, the Holy SpiritThe Holy Spirit is God, a divine person in the Trinity of God; in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit works, for example, in creation or on individuals. The Holy... More can make clear to a spiritual and sober Christian.

That God our Father does not forgive certain sins of His beloved children even if they are sincerely confessed is a thought that is completely contrary to the teaching of Scripture. The blasphemy of the Spirit, on the other hand, which cannot be forgiven, was a sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More committed by unbelieving enemies of the Lord Jesus (see the chapter, ‘Blasphemy of the Spirit’). Every sinner who comes to the Lord Jesus in repentanceWhile remorse (Greek metamellomai) means to regret a previous act or behavior and to have a different way of thinking about it, Repentance (Greek metanoia) goes further than that: It... More and faith receives eternal forgivenessIn Scripture, forgiveness is presented to us from two points of view. • The side of God: God’s thoughts towards the sinner whom he forgives. On the basis of Christ’s... More of all his sins, and every child of God who has sinned and confesses this is granted perfect forgivenessIn Scripture, forgiveness is presented to us from two points of view. • The side of God: God’s thoughts towards the sinner whom he forgives. On the basis of Christ’s... More by God the Father: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and clean us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9; see the chapter, ‘Forgiveness’).