Lesson 21: Assurance and Prayer

1 John 5:13-17 · Know-So Salvation and Confidence in Prayer

John has given test after test, witness after witness, all pointing to one conclusion: those who believe in the Son of God have eternal life. Now he states his purpose explicitly. He did not write to make believers doubt — he wrote so they might know. And from that knowledge flows confidence in prayer — a confidence that prays for a brother who stumbles and trusts God to answer according to His will.

Read the Text

13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. 16If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life — to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
— 1 John 5:13-17 (ESV)

That You May Know

Verse 13 is the key that unlocks the entire letter: "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life."

John wrote his Gospel so that people might believe and have life (John 20:31). He wrote this letter so that those who believe might know they have life. The Gospel is for evangelism; 1 John is for assurance. John is not writing to make believers doubt but to settle their doubts. He wants us to move from "I hope so" to "I know so."

The word "know" (oida) means absolute, settled certainty. Not a know-so based on feelings or guesses but on the objective tests John has laid out: the moral test (walking in the light), the love test (loving the brethren), the doctrinal test (confessing Christ), and the Spirit's witness. These are not reasons for pride but grounds for peace. God intends His children to be secure in their relationship with Him.

ReflectionAdrian Rogers said: "Somebody said if you could have it and not know it, you could lose it and not miss it. Truth of the matter is, if you have it, you ought to know it, and if you do have it, you can't lose it." Assurance is not arrogance. It is the rightful confidence of a child who knows his Father's love. A Christian should not be a question mark, bent over with doubt, but an exclamation point, standing straight in the confidence that comes from God's promise.

Confidence in Prayer

Verses 14-15 draw a direct line from assurance to prayer: "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him."

The word "confidence" (parrēsia) is the same word John used in 3:21 and 4:17 — boldness, open access, freedom to speak. Assurance of salvation produces boldness in prayer. The child who knows he is loved and accepted does not cringe before the Father but runs to Him with confidence.

The condition is crucial: "according to his will." This is not a blank check for anything we want. It is the prayer of the one who abides — whose desires have been shaped by God's Word and Spirit so that what he wants aligns with what God wants. When our will is submitted to His, our prayers are answered because we are asking for what He already intends to give.

Notice the progression: we know He hears us; therefore we know we have what we asked. The certainty is not in the outcome we can see but in the relationship we trust. A child who asks his father for something good does not need to see the gift to know he has been heard. The hearing itself is the ground of confidence.

The Sin That Leads to Death

Verses 16-17 introduce one of the most difficult passages in the letter: "If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life — to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death."

John is not naming a specific sin. He is distinguishing between two categories of sin in terms of their outcome. Several interpretations have been offered, but the most natural reading in the context of 1 John is this: the "sin that leads to death" is the deliberate, final rejection of Christ — the apostasy of those who "went out from us" (2:19). It is the sin of the antichrists who denied the Son and rejected the truth. This sin leads to spiritual death because those who commit it have rejected the only remedy for sin.

But John's focus is not on that sin. His focus is on the brother who commits a sin that does not lead to death — the believer who stumbles, falls, fails. For that brother, John says: pray. Intercede for him. Ask God to restore him. And God will give him life — not salvation (he already has that) but restoration, forgiveness, renewal.

This is the practical outworking of love in the life of the church. When we see a brother sin, we do not gossip, condemn, or write him off. We pray. We ask God to restore him. We become instruments of God's grace in his life.

The Sin That Leads to DeathJohn does not specify what this sin is, and the church has debated it for centuries. The context of 1 John suggests it is the conscious, deliberate rejection of Christ — the final apostasy of those who were never truly born of God (2:19). It is not a single act but a settled state of willful unbelief. A believer who is troubled about whether he has committed this sin is, by that very concern, showing that he has not. The one who commits the sin that leads to death does not care about it. John's point is pastoral: do not waste your prayer energy on those who have hardened themselves beyond repentance; focus your intercession on the brothers and sisters who stumble and need restoration.

Key Terms to Remember

Check Your Understanding

1. According to verse 13, why did John write the letter of 1 John?

a) To make believers doubt their salvation and examine themselves
b) To correct false teaching and nothing more
c) So that believers may know they have eternal life
d) To convince unbelievers to trust in Christ
c) So that believers may know they have eternal life. This is the stated purpose of the entire letter. John distinguishes his Gospel (written that unbelievers might believe — John 20:31) from his letter (written that believers might know — 1 John 5:13). Assurance is not optional; it is what God intends for His children. The tests John has given — moral, love, doctrinal, the Spirit's witness — are all means to this end: settled, confident knowledge that we belong to Christ.

2. What condition does John attach to answered prayer in verses 14-15?

That we ask according to His will. This is not a restriction but a description of the abiding life. When we walk in fellowship with God, our desires are shaped by His Word and Spirit so that what we want aligns with what He wants. Answered prayer is not getting God to do our will but the natural fruit of living in His will. The child who knows his Father's heart asks for what the Father already intends to give.

3. What is the "sin that leads to death" (v. 16)?

The deliberate, final rejection of Christ — apostasy that cuts one off from the only remedy for sin. In the context of 1 John, this is the sin of those who "went out from us" (2:19) and denied the Son (2:22-23). It is not a single act but a settled state of willful unbelief. John's focus, however, is not on that sin but on the brother who stumbles — for that brother, we are to pray. The one who commits the sin that leads to death does not care about it; those who are troubled by their sin show by that very concern that they have not committed it.

4. What practical ministry does John call believers to when they see a brother sinning?

To pray for that brother's restoration — to intercede rather than condemn. "If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life." Our first response to a brother's failure should not be gossip, condemnation, or withdrawal but prayer. We are to ask God to restore him, and God promises to use our intercession as a means of granting life and renewal. This is love in action — the practical outworking of the love test in the life of the church.

Primary Resource

Read: Adrian Rogers, "The Simplicity of Salvation" — the sermon covering 1 John 5:13. Rogers emphasizes that salvation is a personal relationship with God that brings pardon, purity, power, His presence, and ultimately perfection — and that we can know it.
Read: 1 John 5:13-17 in at least two translations (e.g., ESV and NIV or KJV). Pay close attention to how "sin leading to death" is translated, and compare how different versions handle the confidence-in-prayer language.

Before Next Lesson

Read 1 John 5:18-21. Ask: What are the three things John says we "know" — and what does it mean to "keep ourselves from idols"?

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