1 John 5:13-21

1 John 5:13-21 English Standard Version (ESV)
That You May Know
13 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. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 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.
16 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. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.
19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

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Here's the summation of the entire book, not condemnation, but assurance and confirmation of your salvation.  John has been very "in your face" as he dealt with rank hypocrisy and apostasy in the Church.  We are saved not because of how good we are, but because of how good He is and His finished work that we can put our trust in as we abide in Him completely, trusting Him to change us, make us more like Him and provide for every need.  We can be confident that He hears our prayers and answers them according to His good and perfect will.

This idea of "a sin unto death" is something I freely admit that I don't completely understand, but here's my take away from this part of the passage.  First, it doesn't seem like something I have to worry about as long as I don't live in sin and deal with my sin immediately.  When I die is completely up to God and I hope that He is never put in a position where the best thing for me and the Church as a whole is for life to end because I'm doing something that is a cancer to me and the entire Body of Christ (the Church universal).  Also I know from this passage that I'm not just supposed to pray for myself, but for others that they might be in a right relationship with God--this might apply to people that have never been saved or people that have been saved but are currently in a state of broken fellowship because of unconfessed sin or living in rebellion against God.  The last thing that I think we get from this particular portion of the passage is to not pray for the dead because there is nothing more that can be done for them after death.  Their punishment or blessings whatever they will be are fixed at that point and there is no more chance for confession, repentance or salvation at that point.  See the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31.

There are then some short thoughts to wrap things up and make sure that we've caught the main points of the letter:

1. Our actions must be consistent with our identity.  If we are born again and citizens of the kingdom of God then we cannot live in sin and act like citizens of the kingdom of darkness..  A butterfly once it has undergone metamorphosis cannot continue to act like a caterpillar.
2. The world hates us because it is under the control of Satan who hates God and everything that comes from Him (His Son, His Word, His commandments,, His kingdom, and the citizens of His kingdom).  The fact that the world hates us too is evidence that we belong to God.  If we did not belong to God and still belonged to Satan then the world should love us.
3. Jesus came that we could know the Father--not just head knowledge, but to have a relationship with Him--and to learn how to abide in Him and find everything we need to life and godliness in the Son (Jesus Christ).
4. Jesus is the only way to eternal life.
5. We are to keep ourselves from idols (anything that takes the place of God in our hearts and/or takes the worship from us that only God deserves).  God will share His glory with no one and nothing else.