Do not pray for them?

In I John 5:16 we read this serious passage:

"...There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. (ESV)"

This is one of the warnings John uses to conclude his first book after giving believers several tests with which to "check" their faith with. The tests he give us include following Christ's commands and not loving the world (ch. 2), not practicing sin and loving one another (ch. 3).

Earlier in the book he gives us some very encouraging promises about God's patience and forgiveness in Christ:

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)"

"But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins (I John 2:1,2a)."

"I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. (I John 2:12)"

With all of John's assurance for the forgiveness of sins, how are we supposed to view the sin in which we are not supposed to pray for, especially after he says in 5:16 "If anyone sees his brother committing a sin...he shall ask, and God will give him life." Here is where we need to apply the principle of letting scripture interpret scripture and not reading our own views into the passage. If we look back into the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, we will see a similar phrase:

"As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. (Jer. 7:16)"

Let's look at the situation Israel was in for a moment: They had forsaken God and His commands (1:16,6:19), they were not loving their brother or neighbor (7:5-6), they were trusting in the things of this world (2:13; 5:12), and they were unrepentant (continuing) in thier sin (2:20a,2:25;5:3).

Israel had drifted so far away from God and become so hard-hearted that instead of taking God up on His generous offer of repentance and restoration, they went as far to say "I have not sinned (Jer. 2:35)", which makes God a liar (I John 1:10).

Israel had fallen away from the Living God, all of His commandments, and had become completely apostate.

How does this tie in with the sin in I John 5:16? I think it has alot to do with I John 2:19, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us." I believe the people John is referring to had totally alienated themselves from the Church and what they were being taught from Scripture. John Calvin states that there is no forgiveness outside the Church, and these covenant members (because they had at been part of the Church or they couldn't have left) had cut themselves off from all hope of repentance and forgiveness. What led them away from the Church? Calvin in his commentaries also states that alienation from God is a slow gradual process. It could have started with drifting in the areas John gives us (obedience, loving one another, not loving the world, not practicing sin), and grew from there into full blown apostasy (leaving the Church).

What's John's message to us today? "Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us eternal life (I John 2:24-25)." Don't drift, abide in Christ.