1 John 5:17

17 Everything we do wrong is sin, but not all sin is fatal.

1 John 5:17 Meaning and Commentary

1 John 5:17

All unrighteousness is sin
All unrighteousness against God or man is a sin against the law of God, and the wrath of God is revealed against it, and it is deserving of death; yet all unrighteousness is not unto death, as the sins of David, which were unrighteousness both to God and man, and yet they were put away, and he died not; Peter sinned very foully, and did great injustice to his dear Lord, and yet his sin was not unto death; he had repentance unto life given him, and a fresh application of pardoning grace:

and there is a sin not unto death;
this is added for the relief of weak believers, who hearing of a sin unto death, not to be prayed for, might fear that theirs were of that kind, whereas none of them are; for though they are guilty of many unrighteousnesses, yet God is merciful to them and forgives, ( Hebrews 8:12 ) , and so they are not unto death.

1 John 5:17 In-Context

15 And if we're confident that he's listening, we know that what we've asked for is as good as ours.

16 For instance, if we see a Christian believer sinning (clearly I'm not talking about those who make a practice of sin in a way that is "fatal," leading to eternal death), we ask for God's help and he gladly gives it, gives life to the sinner whose sin is not fatal. There is such a thing as a fatal sin, and I'm not urging you to pray about that.

17 Everything we do wrong is sin, but not all sin is fatal.

18 We know that none of the God-begotten makes a practice of sin - fatal sin. The God-begotten are also the God-protected. The Evil One can't lay a hand on them.

19 We know that we are held firm by God; it's only the people of the world who continue in the grip of the Evil One.