What is the sin unto death in 1 John?
Scripture mentions a sin unto death in John's epistle, a sin so serious that John warns believers not to pray for it. The context links it to God's chastening, as the Corinthians suffered sickness, weakness, and death for partaking of the Lord's table unworthily.
Les explains that the sin unto death is mentioned in John's epistle, but the specific sin is not identified in this passage because there is no time to look it up. In the context of 1 Corinthians 11, Paul addresses the Corinthians who partook of the Lord's table with wrong attitudes, revelry, and enmity against fellow believers. Because of this, God was already chastising them: many were sick and weak, and many were asleep. This chastisement is connected to the warning about the sin unto death, and John warns believers not to pray for it.
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.