1 John 5:16-18

Living Bible

¹⁶If you see a Christian sinning in a way that does not end in death, you should ask God to forgive him, and God will give him life unless he has sinned that one fatal sin. But there is that one sin which ends in death, and if he has done that, there is no use praying for him. ¹⁷Every wrong is a sin, of course. I’m not talking about these ordinary sins; I am speaking of that one that ends in death.^[a]

¹⁸No one who has become part of God’s family makes a practice of sinning, for Christ, God’s Son, holds him securely, and the devil cannot get his hands on him.

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Footnotes

1 John 5:17 that one that ends in death. Commentators differ widely in their thoughts about what sin this is and whether it causes physical death or spiritual death. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit results in spiritual death (Mark 3:29), but can a Christian ever sin in such a way? Impenitence at the Communion Table sometimes ends in physical death (1 Corinthians 11:30). And Hebrews 6:4-8 speaks of the terrible end of those who fall away.