John’s intention is to emphasize the need to pray for brothers, not to forbid prayers for unbelievers. At the same time, John’s persistent dualism limits the scope of such prayers. Christians are to pray for brothers who sin under the presupposition that a true brother will confess and repent. The Antichrists, on the other hand, are persistent idolaters unwilling to accept that Christ died to remove sins (see comment at 5:6). Marshall, 249, observes that “when a person himself refuses to seek salvation