1 John 5:17Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

But concerning the sin unto death he says: let him not ask, that is, let him not pray. For he will not be heard, because he asks not for good.

He means the man who shows no conversion whatever. For the only sin unto death is that in which repentance is not offered.

Judas was sick with this sin and underwent eternal death. Those who remember wrongs also sin unto death, for Solomon says: "the ways of those who remember wrongs lead to death" (Prov 12:26).

For those who remember evil and do not cease from anger against their neighbor do not turn to repentance. Rather, they sin unforgivably.

Jesus Christ said: "Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come" (Mt 12:31-32).

Every sin and every blasphemy which, according to the Lord's word, is remitted or forgiven to men is, in the words of John the Theologian, a sin not unto death. But blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will not be forgiven a man either in this age or in the age to come, is a sin unto death.

The Apostle Paul speaks of this unforgivable sin, or of the sin unto death, in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit. And have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and mock Him" (Heb 6:4-6). "For if we sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins" (Heb 10:26).

In the words of Jesus Christ, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, as the circumstances of the Lord's preaching show, must be understood as the stubborn unbelief of the Jews. It rejected the evident truth of Christ's teaching, confirmed by great signs and miracles. In the words of the Apostle Paul, stubborn or hardened apostasy from the true faith is indicated, an apostasy that does not allow repentance and correction.

Taking these cases into account, in the Epistle of Saint John the Theologian the sin unto death must be understood as a sin that does not allow repentance, or that rejects the merciful grace of the Lord and Savior. Such are stubborn unbelief, falling away from the faith while refusing correction, and hardened persistence in destructive heretical delusions and grave vices.

By a sin not unto death one may understand every sin of human weakness that does not reject repentance. It is every sin into which a Christian falls, yet recognizes his guilt and turns with sincere contrition to the mercy of the Lord and Savior. Or, by the counsel and persuasion of brotherly love, he can readily be brought to this state of repentance.

From the fact that the holy Theologian speaks without explanation about sin not unto death and sin unto death, one may conclude that these expressions were understandable to the Apostle's contemporary readers. They knew of sins unto death and sins not unto death. The explanation given agrees with this supposition.

"If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not unto death, let him pray, and God will give him life," that is, to the one sinning not unto death. According to the Apostle's instruction, if someone sees a brother, or a Christian, sinning through human weakness but not alien to repentance for the sin, he must pray to God for him. He must ask that God, by the power of His grace, grant the sinner to offer true repentance, forgive him the sin, and establish him on the path of salvation. He prays in the hope that God will hear the prayer and give him life, that is, restore his inward life of grace, weakened or suppressed by sin.

"There is sin unto death; I do not say that he should pray for that." The Apostle does not call us to prayer for those sinners who reject every means that serves for their correction. They stubbornly remain in unbelief and error, or rise up against the evident truth of the gospel preaching. They remain impenitently hardened in vices, despising every means of God's care that calls them to faith in Jesus Christ and to conversion to the path of salvation.

The Apostle does not forbid praying even for such sinners, but neither does he command it. Their unbelief, obstinacy, hardness, and fixed persistence in errors and vices oppose the success of prayer for them.

"All unrighteousness is sin; but there is sin not unto death." Everything that does not agree with righteousness, with the law, or with the commandments of God, is sin. Therefore all of this is blameworthy for man. It debases him, subjects him to the wrath of God, and deserves punishment.

Yet not every sin is such that it subjects the sinner to separation from God and eternal death. In this addition, "all unrighteousness is sin," the Apostle instills attentiveness to the strict keeping of God's commandments. Every violation of a commandment is sin, and sin must be feared. But not every sin threatens the danger of spiritual death. Not every sin deprives the soul of gracious spiritual life and subjects it to eternal condemnation.

From the Gospel (Mt 12:31) we see that the unforgivable sin, or what is the same, the mortal sin, is properly called blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This means stubborn unbelief that resists evident truth and calls it falsehood, as the Jews did with regard to Christ's miracles.

Blasphemy against the Spirit of God is also the deliberate distortion of Holy Scripture, written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and of the writings of Church authors. The Apostles already lament this (2 Pet 3:15-16 and elsewhere). The rejection of His gift of life and of the blessings He sends us is also absolute blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. So too is the use of these gifts for evil by corrupted men, that is, using them not for life but for its destruction.

Comparing this general concept of mortal sin with the Apostle John's division of sins into mortal and non-mortal, we find that he calls non-mortal those sins which do not prevent men from being children of God. These are involuntary sins, sins of weakness and ignorance.

On the contrary, mortal sins are those which mark the children of antichrist and the children of the world. Such are, according to the Apostle, the denial of the truth of the Incarnation of the Son of God (1 Jn 4:3), the failure to practice righteousness, and hatred of one's brother (1 Jn 3:10). Or, as the Seventh Ecumenical Council defines it in canon 5, they occur "when certain persons, sinning, remain without amendment" (Theophylact, on this passage).

But from the connection of the discourse, one may think that the Apostle has in view what was said above, in verse 12. "He who has the Son of God has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." Therefore by sin unto death one should understand chiefly the rejection of the Incarnation of the Son of God.

The Apostle Paul speaks of this directly (Heb 6:4-6): it is impossible for those once enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit. Tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then fallen away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again the Son of God for themselves and put Him to shame.

Thus the meaning of the Apostle's teaching is this. Believers should pray only for those of their brethren who acknowledge the Incarnation and death of the Son of God, and who remain in the faith and in communion with the Church.

A Christian should not pray for those who have broken their bond with Her, such as heretics and apostates. Nor should he pray for those who are not in communion with Her, such as unbelievers and the non-Orthodox. This is confirmed by the canons of the holy Apostles, 10 and 45, and by the conciliar canons, Antioch 2 and Laodicea 33.

As for grave sinners within the Church Herself, the possibility of their conversion and repentance remains in them as long as they are alive. Therefore the Church does not cease Her prayers for them, if they remain in visible communion with Her.

Saint John Chrysostom also says concerning those guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: "This guilt too was forgiven to those who repented. Many of those who had spewed blasphemies against the Holy Spirit later believed, and everything was forgiven them" (On Matthew, Homily 41:3).

But it is clear that such prayers cannot be offered for suicides. By their suicide they showed a lack of faith in God's providence and of hope in His mercy. Seeking relief and rest from imagined or real evils, not in the mysteries and prayers of the Church but in violent death, they thereby broke their bond with Her and deprived themselves of the right to these prayers.

Only a special and extraordinary action of God's power can bring such a sinner to life. In the same way, the almighty power of God brought to life the dead whom Jesus Christ raised.

Among the particular kinds of mortal sins, Jesus Christ named blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Concerning it He said that this sin will not be forgiven either in this life or in the life to come.

Of course, no lesser sin was the blasphemy against the Son of God committed by the heretics who rejected His divine dignity from morally evil motives and self-serving aims.

Perhaps the apostle is speaking of this mortal sin. Yet so that no one might think that other sins, which the heretics also rejected, are not serious, the apostle adds that every departure from the law of righteousness is sin.

Though such sin does not lead at once to death, it still must not be committed by a Christian.

These words of the apostle about sin unto death and sin not unto death have the same meaning as the words of the Lord Jesus Christ that every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, or pardoned, to men. But blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven men, either in this age or in the age to come (Mt 12:31-32).

A sin not unto death is every human sin that arises from the common weakness of mankind. It is a sin cleansed by sincere repentance and heartfelt contrition, and therefore it does not subject the sinner to spiritual death.

A sin unto death, or a mortal sin, is a grave sin by which a man becomes incapable of repentance. These are sins of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Such sins include stubborn unbelief in known Christian truth, obstinate apostasy from the faith that accepts no correction, and hardened persistence in destructive heretical errors and grave unrepented sins.

Nevertheless, the apostle does not positively forbid prayer for one who sins a mortal sin, though he gives no command to do so.

"Apparently, the apostle only shows that he cannot guarantee, or be certain of, the power of prayer for a neighbor who sins a mortal sin. The success of such prayer is resisted by the unbelief, obstinacy, hardness, and persistence in errors and vices of the sinner himself."