[newberger]

Thank you for this detailed answer. I had seen I John 5:16,17 as a 'simple' definition. It is startling, then that my own Eastern Orthodox church NEVER uses those terms, at least in anything I have read or heard. It has never been brought up in confession, either.

After reading your take on the passage, I looked up the passage in the Orthodox Study Bible. It said:

"5:16 What about those Christians who have not been living righteously? Sin leading to death is willful, continual disbelief in the grace of the Holy Spirit towards us."

In other words, I take it to refer to non-repentance together with willful and continual lack of faith that God will forgive.

It is gratifying to find myself on (almost) the same page as my Protestant brothers and sisters.

[Luircin]

It’s gratifying to hear the same from my Eastern Orthodox brothers and sisters too!