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The Apostle John lived in perilous times. He sometimes spoke in a kind of code so that his letters would not be redacted or even destroyed because of the tremendous persecution prevalent against Christians of the time. However, we can take what he wrote at face value, and we have a rich and beautiful assurance of God’s love and devotion to His beloved children. That assurance is evident throughout his first letter, in fact he tells us that is why he is writing, so that we may be assured of the Truth, specifically that our “joy may be full.”

His warnings were given so that we would be wary not only against Satan, but against our sinful nature just as Paul and Peter warned us. In Acts chapter five the new believers in Christ were given an example of the power of God when Ananias and Sapphira lied about how much they sold their land for, and saying they gave all of it for the care of the church. Each one dropped dead at Peter’s feet: A lesson hard-learned.

There actually is Scripture that talks about God taking a believer home when that believer continues in rebellion. Okay, so it doesn’t say exactly that. Look for yourself:

1 John 5:14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. 16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.

The word John uses for death is thanatos which literally means separation of the soul from the body, not eternal spiritual death, but physical death (whether natural or violent). According to Vines, here are some other examples of it:

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

Psalm 104:29 You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.

2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 Peter 1:13 Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, 14 knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.

Probably the most clear is in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 5:3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.

We are instructed to pray within the will of God according to His will. There is sin that leads to death for believers. This whole letter of John's is to and for believers. This one verse carries a terrible implication. It is very possible for a believer to sin the final one that is at the end of God's tolerance for His child. In other words, it is the final embarrassment of God and He just yanks that rebellious child home. In this case, the sin that leads to death, it is a deliberate and conscious choice to sin knowing full well it is sin, and committing it anyway without any thought to repentance. However, there is more to it than just that. All Christians at some time or another have knowingly and deliberately sinned. God knows the heart of each child; and He knows the future of each child. Therefore, He knows when His child will finally repent, turn back to Him and become a fruitful witness for Him. When there is no repentance in the Christian’s future, and only failure to forsake it, never to repent of it, that kind of sin leads to physical death.

Paul speaks of it in 1 Corinthians 5:5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. And in 11:30 when Paul talks about many being sick and asleep (dead).

God takes those out of the fold so that they will not pollute the church.

There is a responsibility the church is to uphold. God expects the congregation to outcast those who deliberately continue in sin (Matthew 18:15-17) and to treat them as heathens if there is no repentance. When Jesus is instructing how to handle sin within the church, Jesus identifies the offender as "brother" meaning a member of the Family of God—a believer. Here is the difference: God knows the future, we do not.

John says there is no prayer for this kind of sin, 1 John 5:16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.

The question is not “Do you believe that an individual, who is continuing in a sinful lifestyle, can, at the same time, have and be appropriating saving faith?” It isn’t a question we can answer for we do not see into the hearts of humans as does God. The Holy Spirit recognizes Himself in others, we can know a sibling at the right time through the Holy Spirit but that isn’t what this discussion is about.

Let’s take a look at King Saul: 1 Samuel 10:9 And it came about, that when he went away from Samuel, God gave him a changed heart: and all those signs took place that day. God changed Saul from the fearful young man he was re: 1 Samuel 10:22. The Spirit of God came upon him and he ruled as Israel’s king. The trouble began when Saul disobeyed the words of Samuel who wrote in a book how Israel’s king should behave.

God removed the kingdom from Saul’s authority, but there isn’t any scripture that states God took back the changed heart He had given Saul. The disobedience that Saul exhibited built a wall between him and God to the point not even the prophets (of which he was one) could disintegrate the stubborn streak.

Earlier, I wrote a series on worship. I have studied the differences between early biblical worship, and today’s worship. I’ve studied how the New Testament churches worshiped and how some Christians of today seek the warm fuzzies rather than the glory of God.

It is so sad we are set on this path of desensitized, and rebellious behavior on one hand; and on the other we profess Jesus is Lord. Where is the sincerity of real worship? Where is the lifestyle that proclaims Jesus is Lord?

"'Christ in You...'" from Dale Krebbs

Origin Of Nations