Eddie Responds to Questions About 1 John 5 Print | Bookmark (CTRL-D) What was John was referring to, in 1 John 5:16, where he talks about a sin unto death and a sin not unto death? Hello there! I think that John had too much wine when he wrote about the sin unto death and not unto death. He doesnt explain it, but many assumptions have been made aboutthe passage by people and the pulpit. So much so that people have speculated from the sin of blasphemy to the sin of unbelief, to the sin of rejection, to the sin of objection, to the sin of congestion and constipation. :) :) :). I think John enjoyed keeping people under fear, confused and guessing. Many bible scholars like those from Harvard University, UCLA and other top-notch schools, not too long ago taught on the disciples Pleasurism. According to a female teacher of religious studies at N.Y.U., history teaches that many of the disciples after the death and resurrection of Christ attempted to outdo one another in their writings. I dont know how true this is, but I dont doubt that it could very well have happened. But heres my take on your question regarding 1st John 5. Oh! -- It Is Finished simply means that just as God rested and sat back and admired on the 7th day the great work of His creation, the same exact thing happened when Jesus rose from the dead and presented to the Father the new covenant that had been once, and for all, and for ALL, done at the cross through the shedding of His blood for the remission of all sin. God sat back in His recliner, put His hands behind His head, thanked The Son, gave Him a hug, smiled and said IT IS FINISHED! :) :) :) Sister, you already know from reading many of my articles how I feel about brother John. You probably agree with me that when it comes to the preaching of Gods grace John did not have too much in common. We dont find too many instances in the bible where John and Paul had a great relationship with each other. Yet they were both loved of God unconditionally and equally. However, I am grateful and thankful to God for deciding to appear to Paul on his way to Damascus, and giving Paul the revelation of this grace the which we all now stand and rejoice in. Romans 5:1-2. Why Paul and not John? I think the evidence is clear when we read and compare the letters of John to those written by Paul. Pauls letters are full of grace while Johns letters are full of the works of the law and very little grace. The letter of John -- 1st John that is -- can easily be understood by reading the first 3 verses of chapter one, the 4th verse of chapter 3 and the very last verse of chapter 5. It is clearly obvious from these verses I just mentioned above that 1st John was not being address to the church but to Jews. When John gave the apostle Paul the right foot of fellowship in Galatians 2:9 who did John say that Paul should go out and preach to? Wasnt it the Gentiles? And then John said that he would go with Peter and James and preach to the Jews? What did the Jews identify with the most? Wasnt it the law? Didnt Paul rebuke Peter, James and John for mixing the preaching of Gods grace with the law? What were the Jews often rebuked of worshipping? Werent they worshipping IDOLS? John 5:21; 1st Corinthians 10:7. Why did Jesus choose to appear to Paul and give Paul the revelation of His grace? Why not men who had already walked with Jesus, and had been taught of Jesus? I think the answer to your question can easily be explained by what John, Peter, and James suggested that Paul should do as recorded in Acts chapter 21 verses 21 through 24. John, Peter and James were still trusting in the law and preaching the law mixed in with grace and Jesus knew that this would happen so He decided to choose Paul and thank God He did. If there is still a sin unto death and another that is not unto death, then Jesus better come back and die for it because none of us know what that sin is, since John never really explained it. All I know is: John wrote these letters to Jews and made much mentioned of the law, and Christ has set us free from the law and sin. If we are going to doubt the grace of God based on a legalistic verse that is often taken out of context to prove that somehow, somewhere, at some point, there is still a sin out there that will lead to death; one that there is no forgiveness for, then we might as well call Jesus a hoax and a liar. John no doubt had many good things to say in his letters, but like the book of Revelation, thank God that Jesus went to the cross to prevent those doom and gloom things mentioned by John in Revelation from happening. The same goes for the sin issue of 1 John 5. Trust I may have been of some help. But I am one who is not afraid to teach that John and Paul had nothing in common as far as grace is concern and I see more common sense out of the teaching of Paul than those of John. No doubt they were brothers in Christ, but Paul never once hinted that we should continue to preach law and grace, while John did. Grace N Peace Eddie Narvaez
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 13:45:36 +0000
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