5:14-15 Prayer is another expression of the believer's trust in Jesus Christ and confidence toward God (cf. 3:21).
"Prayer is not a battle, but a response; its power consists in lifting our wills to God, not in trying to bring his will down to us . . ."172
In the preceding context the subject is mainly obedience to the will of God (vv. 3b-13). John's point is that whenever we need help, but particularly help in obeying God, we can ask for it in prayer confidently (cf. 2:28; 3:21; 4:17). He conditioned the promise "whatever"(v.15) with "according to His will"(v. 14). God hears all prayers, of course, because He is omniscient. However, He hears them in the sense that He hears them favorably because we are His children asking for help to do His will. He will always grant that kind of request.173We know what the will of God is through Scripture.
"But, if prayer is to be made according to God's will, why pray at all? Surely his will is going to be accomplished, whether or not we pray for it to be done? To speak in such terms is to assume that God's will must be understood in a static kind of way, as if God has made a detailed plan beforehand of all that is going to happen--including the fact that we are going to pray in a particular way and at a particular time. But while the Bible does speak of God's plan and purpose for the world, to speak in such deterministic terms is inconsistent with the freedom which the Bible itself assigns to God's children, and it wreaks havoc upon the biblical idea of the personal relationship which exists between God and his children."174
Trust in Jesus Christ is therefore as basic to success in the Christian life as it is to obtaining eternal life.
5:16 John explained that prayer should extend to the needs of others. He did this to clarify further what loving one's brethren involves. The general subject of this verse is prayer for a sinning Christian. We can clarify the sense of this verse and the next by inserting the word "premature"before each instance of the word "death."Some sins bring God's swift judgment and result in the physical premature death of the sinner (e.g., Acts 5:1-11; 1 Cor. 5:5; 11:30). Others do not. The fact that it is very difficult, if not impossible, for us today to distinguish these types of sins should not lead us to conclude that a distinction does not exist (cf. Heb. 6:4-6; 10:26-29).
Under the Old Covenant sinners who repudiated that covenant died because their repudiation represented a major rejection of Yahweh's authority. The writer to the Hebrews warned his readers that repudiation of the New Covenant would result in inevitable judgment with no possibility of repentance (Heb. 6:6; 26-27). Repudiation of the New Covenant involves rejecting Jesus Christ. That may be the sin leading to death that John meant here.
"The early church took much more seriously than we do the possibility that a person may sin beyond hope of redemption."175
In the case of sin leading to premature death, John revealed that prayer will not avert the consequences. Therefore praying in these situations will not avail. However, John did not say we should refrain from praying about them. We may not know if a sin is one that God will judge with premature death. In such cases we can pray that God will bring His will to pass for a sinning Christian.176
". . . John's warning against sin, and the failure to maintain orthodox faith (2:24; 2 John 8-9), shows that while he expected his readers to walk in the light as sons of God (1:7; vv 18-19), he did not ignore the possibility that some believing but heretically inclined members of his community might become apostate."177
Many Christians have failed to realize that sinning always leads to dying even among Christians (Rom. 6:23). While it is true that no Christian will ever experience spiritual death (eternal separation from God), we do normally experience the physical consequences of our sinning. The fact that we all die physically is the proof of this. Of course, the exception is Christians whom God will translate when the Lord Jesus returns for His own.
"A further question is whether the sin that leads to death can be committed by those who are truly God's children. . . . A number of scholars have tried to show that this could not have been John's meaning. Thus it has been argued that the people in question had merely masqueraded as believers but had never at any point truly believed in Jesus. Consequently, the sin that leads to death is to be understood as a sin of unbelievers which believers cannot in principle commit.178However, this point must remain doubtful. The fact that John needed to warn his readers against the possibility of sinning and failing to continue in the truth and in the doctrine of Christ (2:24; 2 Jn. 7-11) suggests that he did not altogether exclude the possibility that a person might fall away from his faith into apostasy [cf. Heb. 6:4-6; 10:26-31]. Nevertheless, it was his clear expectation that his readers would continue in their faith without falling away from it."179
5:17 Because some sin does not lead to premature death we should pray for our brethren when they sin (cf. 1:9). Prayer for a sinning Christian is a concrete demonstration of love for that brother or sister (3:23).
These verses are not distinguishing between mortal (unpardonable) and venial (pardonable) sins as Roman Catholic theology uses these terms.
We should demonstrate concern about the obedience of others as well as our own obedience. When we become concerned about our obedience we will become concerned about the obedience of our brethren. God gives us eternal life, but we can give physical life to others in some situations as we ask God in prayer to be merciful to them.
