16If anyone sees his brother [or sister] committing sin not to death, he will ask and he will give life to him, to those committing sin not to death. There is a sin to death; I am not speaking about that in order that you should pray. 17All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not to death.
This verse helps us think about praying for others. Since God answers our prayers when they align with his will, does he not desire that all people come to repentance and salvation (2 Peter 3:9)? If so, then our prayers should lead to the salvation of others. This verse is difficult to translate and understand. The word “sin” is used four times. The phrase committing sin is literally the redundant “sinning a sin.” The repeated use of the root with the attributive participle and noun adds emphasis to the wrong way the brother is going. Another word needing clarification is the verb he will give (dōsei). As with many places in the New Testament, the subject of the verb is not clearly stated, as we do with English; therefore, we must look at the context. Since only God can give eternal life, God must be the unstated subject of this verb.
Other questions arise when looking at the thought of this verse. John notes two types of sins: those that lead to death and those that do not. Two issues arise for consideration: 1) what are these sins, and 2) what is meant by death? Answering one question depends on answering the other. Is death here physical death? If so, some sins obviously are more detrimental to our physical well-being and will bring harm and possible death. Is death more spiritual in nature? If so, then John is categorizing or weighing different sins. Some people might say, “I just told a little white lie,” thinking that this is not as significant as a lie that causes great harm to others. God is the ultimate judge of these things.
One obvious conclusion from this verse is that prayer is the remedy for sin. Prayer will keep us safe from sin. Prayer is our connection to the source of Light and Life. Through prayer, we humble ourselves before God in confession, acknowledging God’s sovereignty over our lives. This verse also calls us to pray for others. A sin to death might be when a person has closed his or her heart off from God. Our prayers cannot overcome people’s free will to choose God, but our prayers can make a difference. Unrepentance will lead to eternal death. God will put signposts in the lives of those we pray for, but it is up to them to choose to follow these signs to Jesus. It does no good to try to categorize sins into deadly and not so deadly. All sin is bad (unrighteous and “lawlessness,” 3:4), but some sins push people even further from God and the direction of new life. We should not use these verse as an excuse for sin, thinking that some sins are ok because they do not lead to death. Any sin is a problem and will result in unrighteousness. God has better things planned for us than to be trapped in sin and the alienation that comes from it.