Somebody please help me!

[Diane_Windsor]

I posted this about a week ago, but nobody responded but a moderator I am confused and hurt that I am not receiving any help in interpreting the verse below.

How do you interpret the following verse? To me, it seems to teach that Christians can commit a mortal sin and lose our salvation:

I John 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.

I John 5:16

I can't see any other interpretation for this verse. Somebody please help me.

TIA
Diane

 

[GreenEyedLady]

Ok, I will try to help you.
First look at 1John5:13.
This one of my favorite verses.
You shall KNOW that you have eternal life.
I think that there is a sin unto death.
Possible John is reffering to people who have not truley accepted Christ as the son of God, disobedience to Gods commands and failing to love one another which are spoken about in this epistle. This is proof of a person who has not been born again which must happen or we will face death as punishment for our sin.
A sin not unto death
Would mean sins that have no rebellion against God. These are the sins that we as believers struggle with. The battle of our flesh.
Hope I have made sense.
GEL

 

[seebs]

I always assumed that's what it meant. This is one of the verses that suggests to me that OSAS is not entirely true.

 

[GreenEyedLady]

I diagree.
But you know, that is a never ending thread (OSOS). I believe once you are saved, you CANNOT lose your salvation.
I think that one verse is a far stretch as proof that you can lose your salvation. Anything that would involve work , would take away from the work that Christ did on the cross. If you lose your salvation, you have to "work" to get it back. Ok, I am getting off the subject. That is another thread.
sorry, hope I helped Diane

 

[Iollain]

I hope this link works, see the scroll down arrow, some on this verse here.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/popup/1089480563-9860.html#15

 

[Sword-In-Hand]

Before I get into that verse, here is what people need to understand about OSAS. We need to look at what the whole Bible says about the subject and not just one verse. One verse interpretation can often lead to a misuse of the verse and have it taken completely out of context. It's like this, when we read a book we don't read the beginning and then skip to the end and just guess what happens in the middle. We read the entire book to see how the beginning became the end. Same with OSAS. If you look at the entire Word of God there is more than enough proof to show that it's real.

Ok, now onto 1st John 5:16. Let's try to break it down as we go.
Sin leads to death in two ways: Physical and Spiritual and there are sins which cause death, like murder, a drug overdose, or even perhaps dying from a disease caught from committing acts of sexual immorality.

There is one sin that leads to eternal death and that is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, or rejecting Christ as the only Savior. This is what I believe the verse to be talking about. God can't give life to someone who commits the sin unto death (rejecting Him) because they have rejected Him. They must come to that realization that they are sinners who need Jesus in order to have eternal life.

The rest of the verse simply says that when we see a fallen brother committing sin, we should pray for them and have the faith that God will give them life or in other words take them out of the grip sin has on them. I believe it's mentioned in 1st Peter that if a Christian continually falls into sin at some point there is a breaking point and God will take them out of the world. Mind you, I didn't say take their salvation. He will take them out of the world so they won't cause further harm to His name.

Believers in Christ can't commit the sin that leads to eternal death, because we have accepted Him and not rejected Him.

 

[GreenEyedLady]

Amen my brother, way better explaination that I gave!

 

[Diane_Windsor]

I diagree.
But you know, that is a never ending thread (OSOS). I believe once you are saved, you CANNOT lose your salvation.
I think that one verse is a far stretch as proof that you can lose your salvation. Anything that would involve work , would take away from the work that Christ did on the cross. If you lose your salvation, you have to "work" to get it back. Ok, I am getting off the subject. That is another thread.
sorry, hope I helped Diane

Yes, OSAS is a never-ending thread on practically every board I've been on! Thank you for your post-it was helpful.

di