Think carefully. He's not writing to unbelievers, he's writing to the church.
Think carefully. He's not writing to unbelievers, he's writing to the church.
Agreed! This passage refers to sin(s) that lead to immediate physical death. Point is, mortal sin, so called, in this passage does not refer to sins of a believer that subsequently results in eternal damnation, but rather results in temporal death.
However, if, as you may assert, it refers to eternal death, then we are NOT to pray about it.
think carefully.
“Think carefully. He’s not writing to unbelievers, he’s writing to the church. “
Correct.
I may be wrong here (working theory), but in the context of the letter I believe John is talking about the false teachers who are the backdrop of his contrasts. The “sin that is mortal” is what they have done: denying that Jesus Christ has come in the FLESH, and teaching that because of this it didn’t matter what one did in the body.
No need to “pray about that” as they have yet to believe. They are “antichrists”.
Some have linked “sin that is mortal” to the demise of Ananias and Sapphira, and also those who were not judging the Lord’s Supper properly. Not sure if 1 John can apply to those.