Why does God take the life of a believer who persists in sin?
God may take the physical life of a believer who persists in sin and refuses to come away from that lifestyle, lest they keep bringing reproach to His name. This is the sin unto death, a matter in God’s hands that other believers must not pray for.
Les explains from John’s words that there are sins which do not cause God to take a believer out of physical life, but there is also a sin unto death. If a believer refuses to come away from a sinful lifestyle, and after being dealt with again and again, they may suddenly be gone—through a sudden heart attack or car accident. God takes them home lest they keep on bringing reproach to His name. A believer can come to the place where God will take his life. Les also connects this to Galatians 6:1, where the spiritual are to restore a fallen one in meekness, lest church leaders be taken in just as great a sin, because every human being is prone to fall. Yet no believer or church body has the right to pray for the death of an erring believer; that is never permissible, and it is in God’s hands.
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.
More Questions
What can happen to a believer who refuses to turn away from a sinful lifestyle?
A believer who refuses to come away from a sinful lifestyle can be dealt with repeatedly and then suddenly die by a heart attack or car accident.
Do believers who commit the sin unto death lose their salvation?
Believers who commit the kind of deep, open sin that God removes from physical existence by death do not lose their salvation—Scripture says God takes them out of their physical existence, but they are still saved.