1 John 5:17 - Sin That Does Not Lead to Death

1 John 5:17 - All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.

James 4:17 - To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it is sin.

The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), thus all sin leads to death. The whole world has been made sinners due to Adam's disobedience, and thus all are under the condemnation of death. (Romans 5:12-19) However, in 1 John 5:17 and James 4:17, the words are not referring to the world of mankind, but rather believers who have been regenerated, begotten again, as new creatures in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17) As new creatures in Christ, they are not under the condemnation in Adam. -- Romans 5:1

Thus, for the believer, the sin leading to death would not be the death that is in Adam (1 Corinthians 15:21,22), since the blood of the covenant covers all sin attributable to Adam, which results in the Adamic death. The death spoken of in 1 John 5:17, therefore, refers to a death beyond that of the death in Adam. Revelation 2:7; 20:6,14; 21:8, this death is spoken of as the "second death". The word "sin" appears to always mean any unrighteousness, that which is crooked, not justified (straight), anything that is not in harmony with the glory of God, whether it is done in ignorance, with knowledge, or without knowledge. Thus, a baby, before he is even born, is attributed to being sinful, by nature, a child of wrath, due to the sin of Adam. God has made all the world of mankind in Adam crooked, unjust, unrighteous, due to Adam's sin. -- Ecclesiastes 1:15; 7:13; Romans 3:23; 5:12-19; Ephesians 2:3.

We need to understand that the word "sin" is used in two basic ways in the Bible. One is personal sin, and the other is the overall "sin" of the world (John 1:29) counted as due to Adam's disobedience. Additionally, personal sin may also be understood in different aspects with different results.

One who has not been sanctified by the blood of the new covenant may commit a sin that could have two results: (1) it may be fully attributed to the weakness of the flesh (Romans 8:3) due to Adam's sin, or (2) a person who has not been sanctified by the blood of the new covenant may also commit a sin that is to some extent willful, for which there is no forgiveness, a kind of sin that will need much purging in the age to come, lest the sinner should receive the judgment symbolized by Gehenna during the judgment day. -- Matthew 10:15; 11:22-24; 12:31,36,37; 23:33; Luke 10:12-14; 12:10,47,48.

James 4:17, however, evidently speaks of a sin of a believer, and yet the sin may still have been influenced through weakness of the sinful flesh that is due to Adam. Such a sin of weakness does not bring the second death, but it would merit chastisement. However, the words of James 4:17 could apply to the unsanctified (those not sanctified in the blood of the covenant) as mentioned in the last paragraph, but we believe that James was speaking specifically of a believer who sins.

For the justified, the believer, those who have received sanctification through the blood of the new covenant, if that one sins with partial knowledge that he is sinning, but the sin is influenced by weakness of the flesh, such a sin may merit chastisement, but not necessarily mean that the one who is sinning has come under the condemnation of the second death. (Luke 12:47,48) However, until the mark of the high calling is attained, the new creature, if he willfully sins, could possibly also be counted as going into Gehenna, symbolizing the second death. -- Matthew 5:29,30; 10:28; 18:9.

The blood of Jesus covers all sins that are attributed to the sinful condition of Adam, but there are still those sins that grieve the spirit through which one has been sanctified. -- Ephesians 4:30; Romans 15:16; Hebrews 10:29.

Such sins do not automatically merit the second death, but do indicate that some or much discipline will need to be applied so that the heart may be purged of these kinds of sins. -- Luke 12:46,47; Hebrews 12:7,8.

However, the sanctified one can also commit or practice sin in full willfullness. The blood of the covenant does not cover such sin, and there is no more sacrifice for such a sin. (Hebrews 10:26) Such a sin is not attributed to the sinful flesh (Romans 8:3), but to the new creature. Such a sin results in the second death, for this is the death that can bring harm to the new creature if he has made he has personally overcome as did Christ. -- Revelation 2:11.

In the age to come, in the regeneration of the world, each individual is released from the Adamic death condition when he is first raised to be judged. If he were not, then he would still have been that which cannot be made straight, and there would be no purpose of another day of judgment beyond the judgment already upon mankind in Adam. In being restored for the day of judgment, he is reckoned or counted as a "new creation"* in the age to come, and yet at the same time, it appears that he will still have all of the personal ambitions, desires, etc., that he himself built up from his former life. Any sinful desires or ambitions will need to be expiated from the heart if the law of God is to be written in their hearts, so that the regeneration may be completed to what Adam could have been. -- Jeremiah 31:33.

For the sake of understanding, we could call those old desires and ambitions his "old man", the man that he needs to put away. He will still be unclean in the sense that his "old man" still has sinful desires until those desires have been expiated or purged. The highway of holiness in that age to come will be for those who are so unclean in their mind, that they clean up their ways. Thus they will need to be taught the laws of God, not according to the law covenant inscribed on stone, but rather with the law that is to be written in their hearts. The new creature of the age to come must still put on incorruption before he can no longer be harmed by the second death. Only those who are thus cleansed will be able to pass over that highway of holiness, so as to have their name written in the book of life of that age; the rest will be figuratively thrown in the lake of fire, the second death. -- Isaiah 2:2-4; 25:8; 35:8; 1 Corinthians 15:53,54; Revelation 20:11-15.
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*Many Bible Students apply the term "new creation" only to those who receive the spirit bodies in the resurrection. Actually, the term "new creation" is based on the new creation of the age to come, when God makes all things new, and the old things pass away. (1 Corinthians 5:17; Revelation 21:1-5) Thus the designation "new creation" applied to believers in this age actually comes about by reckonedly reaching into the age to come and its regeneration. -- Matthew 19:28; Hebrews 6:5.