John concludes his letter with two final thoughts. Both are worth a read.
First, Jesus is the one and only True Son and only way into heaven. He brings three “witnesses” to state his case, the Spirit, the water and the blood. I can think of some other evidences that were effective in convincing me, like the fulfilled prophecies, but for whatever reason John chooses these three. They are powerful examples, and make their case well.
Secondly, the command to love one another continues into this chapter. John says that we can have anything within God’s will when we pray, so we should pray that God will help those who “sin” in a way that doesn’t lead to death.
Hmmm. That must be the “unintentional sins” that I have mentioned before. We should pray that God will convict those who have fallen into bad practices, so that they can repent and be restored. Interestingly, John doesn’t say that we should pray for those who have sinned on purpose.
I think I will stop short of saying we shouldn’t pray for people who have intentionally sinned (because that’s going to leave a whole bunch of us out). But rather that we shouldn’t pray that God will keep those in communion that are openly rebellious. John says their is a type of sin that doesn’t lead to death. Probably the sin of falling short of what is possible due to human weakness. The sin of doing wrong because of ignorance, not because we choose not to follow Jesus. We should pray, and continue to pray for those who desire to serve God but sometimes get it wrong.
Pray for leaders who do their best but sometimes make wrong decisions. Pray for teachers and ministers who study and prepare, but sometimes say the wrong thing. Pray that God will guide the counselor as well as the cook and custodian.
We aren’t perfect, and we always need prayer.
Praying for you.
PR