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1 John 5:16-18

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.

16. Si quis viderit fratrem suum peccantem peccato non ad mortem,
petet; et dabit illi vitam peecanti, dico, non ad mortem: est peccatum
ad mortem; non pro illo, dico, ut quis roget.

17. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

17. Omnis injustitia peccatum est; et est peccatum non ad mortem.

18. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is
begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

18. Novlinus quod quisquis ex Deo genitus est, non peccat; sed qui
genitus est ex Deo servat seipsum, et malignus non tangit eum.


16 If any man The Apostle extends still further the benefits of that
faith which he has mentioned, so that our prayers may also avail for
our brethren. It is a great thing, that as soon as we are oppressed,
God kindly invites us to himself, and is ready to give us help; but
that he hears us asking for others, is no small confirmation to our
faith in order that we may be fully assured that we shall never meet
with a repulse in our own case.

The Apostle in the meantime exhorts us to be mutually solicitous for
the salvation of one another; and he would also have us to regard the
falls of the brethren as stimulants to prayer. And surely it is an iron
hardness to be touched with no pity, when we see souls redeemed by
Christ's blood going to ruin. But he shews that there is at hand a
remedy, by which brethren can aid brethren. He who will pray for the
perishing, will, he says, restore life to him; though the words, "he
shall give," may be applied to God, as though it was said, God will
grant to your prayers the life of a brother. But the sense will still
be the same, that the prayers of the faithful so far avail as to rescue
a brother from death. If we understand man to be intended, that he will
give life to a brother, it is a hyperbolical expression; it however
contains nothing inconsistent; for what is given to us by the
gratuitous goodness of God, yea, what is granted to others for our
sake, we are said to give to others. So great a benefit ought to
stimulate us not a little to ask for our brethren the forgiveness of
sins. And when the Apostle recommends sympathy to us, he at the same
time reminds us how much we ought to avoid the cruelty of condemning
our brethren, or an extreme rigor in despairing of their salvation.

A sin which is not unto death That we may not cast away all hope of the
salvation of those who sin, he shews that God does not so grievously
punish their falls as to repudiate them. It hence follows that we ought
to deem them brethren, since God retains them in the number of his
children. For he denies that sins are to death, not only those by which
the saints daily offend, but even when it happens that God's wrath is
grievously provoked by them. For as long as room for pardon is left,
death does not wholly retain its dominion.

The Apostle, however, does not here distinguish between venial and
mortal sin, as it was afterwards commonly done. For altogether foolish
is that distinction which prevails under the Papacy. The Sorbons
acknowledge that there is hardly a mortal sin, except there be the
grossest baseness, such as may be, as it were, tangible. Thus in venial
sins they think that there may be the greatest filth, if hidden in the
soul. In short, they suppose that all the fruits of original sin,
provided they appear not outwardly, are washed away by the slight
sprinkling of holy water! And what wonder is it, since they regard not
as blasphemous sins, doubts respecting God's grace, or any lusts or
evil desires, except they are consented to? If the soul of man be
assailed by unbelief, if impatience tempts him to rage against God,
whatever monstrous lusts may allure him, all these are to the Papists
lighter than to be deemed sins, at least after baptism. It is then no
wonder, that they make venial offenses of the greatest crimes; for they
weigh them in their own balance and not in the balance of God.

But among the faithful this ought to be an indubitable truth, that
whatever is contrary to God's law is sin, and in its nature mortal; for
where there is a transgression of the law, there is sin and death.

What, then, is the meaning of the Apostle? He denies that sins are
mortal, which, though worthy of death, are yet not thus punished by
God. He therefore does not estimate sins in themselves, but forms a
judgment of them according to the paternal kindness of God, which
pardons the guilt, where yet the fault is. In short, God does not give
over to death those whom he has restored to life, though it depends not
on them that they are not alienated from life.

There is a sin unto death I have already said that the sin to which
there is no hope of pardon left, is thus called. But it may be asked,
what this is; for it must be very atrocious, when God thus so severely
punishes it. It may be gathered from the context, that it is not, as
they say, a partial fall, or a transgression of a single commandment,
but apostasy, by which men wholly alienate themselves from God. For the
Apostle afterwards adds, that the children of God do not sin, that is,
that they do not forsake God, and wholly surrender themselves to Satan,
to be his slaves. Such a defection, it is no wonder that it is mortal;
for God never thus deprives his own people of the grace of the Spirit;
but they ever retain some spark of true religion. They must then be
reprobate and given up to destruction, who thus fall away so as to have
no fear of God.

Were any one to ask, whether the door of salvation is closed against
their repentance; the answer is obvious, that as they are given up to a
reprobate mind, and are destitute of the Holy Spirit, they cannot do
anything else, than with obstinate minds, become worse and worse, and
add sins to sins. Moreover, as the sin and blasphemy against the Spirit
ever brings with it a defection of this kind, there is no doubt but
that it is here pointed out.

But it may be asked again, by what evidences can we know that a man's
fall is fatal; for except the knowledge of this was certain, in vain
would the Apostle have made this exception, that they were not to pray
for a sin of this kind. It is then right to determine sometimes,
whether the fallen is without hope, or whether there is still a place
for a remedy. This, indeed, is what I allow, and what is evident beyond
dispute from this passage; but as this very seldom happens, and as God
sets before us the infinite riches of his grace, and bids us to be
merciful according to his own example, we ought not rashly to conclude
that any one has brought on himself the judgment of eternal death; on
the contrary, love should dispose us to hope well. But if the impiety
of some appear to us not otherwise than hopeless, as though the Lord
pointed it out by the finger, we ought not to contend with the just
judgment of God, or seek to be more merciful than he is.

17 All unrighteousness This passage may be explained variously. If you
take it adversatively, the sense would not be unsuitable, "Though all
unrighteousness is sin, yet every sin is not unto death." And equally
suitable is another meaning, "As sin is every unrighteousness, hence it
follows that every sin is not unto death." Some take all
unrighteousness for complete unrighteousness, as though the Apostle had
said, that the sin of which he spoke was the summit of unrighteousness.
I, however, am more disposed to embrace the first or the second
explanation; and as the result is nearly the same, I leave it to the
judgment of readers to determine which of the two is the more
appropriate.

18 We know that whosoever is born of God If you suppose that God's
children are wholly pure and free from all sin, as the fanatics
contend, then the Apostle is inconsistent with himself; for he would
thus take away the duty of mutual prayer among brethren. Then he says
that those sin not who do not wholly fall away from the grace of God;
and hence he inferred that prayer ought to be made for all the children
of God, because they sin not unto death. A proof is added, that every
one, born of God, keeps himself, that is, keeps himself in the fear of
God; nor does he suffer himself to be so led away, as to lose all sense
of religion, and to surrender himself wholly to the devil and the
flesh.

For when he says, that he is not touched by that wicked one, reference
is made to a deadly wound; for the children of God do not remain
untouched by the assaults of Satan, but they ward off his strokes by
the shield of faith, so that they do not penetrate into the heart.
Hence spiritual life is never extinguished in them. This is not to sin.
Though the faithful indeed fall through the infirmity of the flesh, yet
they groan under the burden of sin, loathe themselves, and cease not to
fear God.

Keepeth himself. What properly belongs to God he transfers to us; for
were any one of us the keeper of his own salvation, it would be a
miserable protection. Therefore Christ asks the Father to keep us,
intimating that it is not done by our own strength. The advocates of
freewill lay hold on this expression, that they may thence prove, that
we are preserved from sin, partly by God's grace, and partly by our own
power. But they do not perceive that the faithful have not from
themselves the power of preservation of which the Apostle speaks. Nor
does he, indeed, speak of their power, as though they could keep
themselves by their own strength; but he only shews that they ought to
resist Satan, so that they may never be fatally wounded by his darts.
And we know that we fight with no other weapons but those of God. Hence
the faithful keep themselves from sin, as far as they are kept by God.
(John 17:11.)