1Jn 5:16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.
Not a sin unto death.
When we sin, we transgress the laws of God. We stop loving God and stop loving others and the actions we commit, the sin we do proves that we are NOT loving God and not loving others.
When we ask for forgiveness we are admitting our wrong in a humble, truthful way- because if it is anything but humble and honest our God knows! When we admit our wrong doing, our ceasing to love God and/or others, and truly desire to be forgiven so that we might not be guilty of that sin, when we desire to have a chance to go and LOVE God and LOVE others as we are supposed to, then we are forgiven!
The sin that is unto death is the sin of us NOT asking forgiveness, it's the sin of denying God, denying salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, of rejecting the Holy Spirit as He strives to enlighten us to truth, it is shunning truth. The sin that is unto death is the sin of unbelief, there is no hope if there is no believing.
Being able to ask for another person to be forgiven is to ask for them to be forgiven of the sins- all the sins they might commit- but that one sin of unbelief. How can we ask God to forgive one who doesn't believe in Him and ask Him to allow that person to have eternal life with Him- One He doesn't even believe? We must ask our God to soften the hearts of the unbelievers to bring them to His love, to believe in Him. But God will NOT force ANYONE to believe in HIM, not ever! We cannot ask God to force anyone to believe in Him, He cannot do that it would go against all He stands for- love.
By the grace of our God may we choose to believe always! May we choose to desire to love in truth with the love of God, the love of our Savior, the love of the Holy Spirit.
And all by His love may we find it in our hearts to pray for others. When we see another sin, we CAN ask our God to forgive them. We SHOULD ask God to forgive them because only then can we really forgive them ourselves. When we ask God to forgive them we are praying for their eternal life, desiring eternal life for them. Some might argue that it's presumptuous of us to assume someone is sinning, but the truth is we can often see others sin, can't we? Right in this verse we are studying it says--
1Jn 5:16 If any man see his brother sin…
We CAN see others sin. And it doesn't mean we are condemning them. If we point out their sin to them or maybe to others, then often it seems to come across as judging to the point of condemnation, but it's NOT. Oh, I'm not saying some people don't condemn when they judge, but that is NOT our place. We have NO right to EVER judge someone's eternal life, not ever- that is reserved for God and Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, they alone have that right. We do however have to judge actions and judge but NOT condemn.
So when we witness someone sinning we SHOULD ask our God to forgive them, shouldn't we? Our love for others should extend to them to that point, yes? It reveal our love for them. We need to ask for forgiveness for others when we SEE them sin. Will that save them to the point of eternal life? It's possible, it really is.
1Jn 5:16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and HE SHALL GIVE HIM LIFE for them that sin not unto death.
He shall give him life.
We cannot ask forgiveness for the sins we do not see, we haven't a clue when others sin privately out of our sight. We cannot presume they are sinning behind closed doors, sinning when they leave our view. If they are that's between them and God, but if we SEE someone sin we really, really should ask God to forgive them. And if someone is in the process of sinning against us, we need to forgive them and it helps to forgive them when we recognize they are sinning against us and God needs to forgive them too. If we ask God to forgive them it really does make it easier for us to forgive them- because if GOD can forgive them, what right have we NOT to forgive them?
My mother told me and my sisters on more than one occasion that she heard God speak to her once and that was after my father passed away and she felt heavy with guilt, that maybe he would have lived if she'd driven him to the doctor's rather than his driving himself. She distinctly remember as she was feeling the weight of that grief heavy upon her as she walked up the cellar stairs, hearing a voice speaking to her saying- 'If I can forgive you, why can't you forgive yourself?' How true! When we recognize the truth of God forgiving others, we have NO right not to forgive them, none. When a person sins against us they are sinning against God as well, because God commands that we do NOT sin against others. God forgives and we need to forgive and we need to ask God to forgive others too- it's not presumptuous, it's not arrogance, it's truth! Satan would have us believe we sin when we do that, because Satan loves to pervert the truth in any way He can.
May God bless us, may God keep us in HIM forgiving and being forgiven.
Not a sin unto death.
When we sin, we transgress the laws of God. We stop loving God and stop loving others and the actions we commit, the sin we do proves that we are NOT loving God and not loving others.
When we ask for forgiveness we are admitting our wrong in a humble, truthful way- because if it is anything but humble and honest our God knows! When we admit our wrong doing, our ceasing to love God and/or others, and truly desire to be forgiven so that we might not be guilty of that sin, when we desire to have a chance to go and LOVE God and LOVE others as we are supposed to, then we are forgiven!
The sin that is unto death is the sin of us NOT asking forgiveness, it's the sin of denying God, denying salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, of rejecting the Holy Spirit as He strives to enlighten us to truth, it is shunning truth. The sin that is unto death is the sin of unbelief, there is no hope if there is no believing.
Being able to ask for another person to be forgiven is to ask for them to be forgiven of the sins- all the sins they might commit- but that one sin of unbelief. How can we ask God to forgive one who doesn't believe in Him and ask Him to allow that person to have eternal life with Him- One He doesn't even believe? We must ask our God to soften the hearts of the unbelievers to bring them to His love, to believe in Him. But God will NOT force ANYONE to believe in HIM, not ever! We cannot ask God to force anyone to believe in Him, He cannot do that it would go against all He stands for- love.
By the grace of our God may we choose to believe always! May we choose to desire to love in truth with the love of God, the love of our Savior, the love of the Holy Spirit.
And all by His love may we find it in our hearts to pray for others. When we see another sin, we CAN ask our God to forgive them. We SHOULD ask God to forgive them because only then can we really forgive them ourselves. When we ask God to forgive them we are praying for their eternal life, desiring eternal life for them. Some might argue that it's presumptuous of us to assume someone is sinning, but the truth is we can often see others sin, can't we? Right in this verse we are studying it says--
1Jn 5:16 If any man see his brother sin…
We CAN see others sin. And it doesn't mean we are condemning them. If we point out their sin to them or maybe to others, then often it seems to come across as judging to the point of condemnation, but it's NOT. Oh, I'm not saying some people don't condemn when they judge, but that is NOT our place. We have NO right to EVER judge someone's eternal life, not ever- that is reserved for God and Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, they alone have that right. We do however have to judge actions and judge but NOT condemn.
So when we witness someone sinning we SHOULD ask our God to forgive them, shouldn't we? Our love for others should extend to them to that point, yes? It reveal our love for them. We need to ask for forgiveness for others when we SEE them sin. Will that save them to the point of eternal life? It's possible, it really is.
1Jn 5:16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and HE SHALL GIVE HIM LIFE for them that sin not unto death.
He shall give him life.
We cannot ask forgiveness for the sins we do not see, we haven't a clue when others sin privately out of our sight. We cannot presume they are sinning behind closed doors, sinning when they leave our view. If they are that's between them and God, but if we SEE someone sin we really, really should ask God to forgive them. And if someone is in the process of sinning against us, we need to forgive them and it helps to forgive them when we recognize they are sinning against us and God needs to forgive them too. If we ask God to forgive them it really does make it easier for us to forgive them- because if GOD can forgive them, what right have we NOT to forgive them?
My mother told me and my sisters on more than one occasion that she heard God speak to her once and that was after my father passed away and she felt heavy with guilt, that maybe he would have lived if she'd driven him to the doctor's rather than his driving himself. She distinctly remember as she was feeling the weight of that grief heavy upon her as she walked up the cellar stairs, hearing a voice speaking to her saying- 'If I can forgive you, why can't you forgive yourself?' How true! When we recognize the truth of God forgiving others, we have NO right not to forgive them, none. When a person sins against us they are sinning against God as well, because God commands that we do NOT sin against others. God forgives and we need to forgive and we need to ask God to forgive others too- it's not presumptuous, it's not arrogance, it's truth! Satan would have us believe we sin when we do that, because Satan loves to pervert the truth in any way He can.
May God bless us, may God keep us in HIM forgiving and being forgiven.
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