If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1Jn 1:9
Many use this verse for salvation. However, if read carefully and in context, we see that the book of 1 John was written to believers (1John 5:13). With this being the case, then how does 1 John 1:9 apply to the believer (if it were for salvation, the book would have been written for the unbeliever)?
John's intentions for writing this book to his audience is so that their "joy may be full" (1 John 1:4), they would "not practice sin" (1 John 2:1), and "you who believe in the name of the Son of God.....may know that you have eternal life." (1 John 5:3) |
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Some believe they must sit for a lengthy period of time, remembering their sin, asking the Holy Spirit to bring sin they have committed to remembrance, confess each sin, and even tarry for hours, asking forgiveness.
"This would be like a person who heard that aspirin could help them with a headache, but instead of following the instructions and using the aspirin properly, they beat themselves on the head with the bottle. After a while, they decide that aspirin doesn't work and actually makes things worse." ---Tony Cooke
John is not preaching Old Law (confess to be forgiven). We must be careful to keep the Law of the Old Testament in the Old Testament.
How does this apply to believers living under the New Covenant?
As Paul in Romans 4:7-8, John is using terms and scripture familiar to his audience to relate something new to the people. What is he teaching? The same as Paul did when He quoted this verse from the Old Testament to the people: We are blessed through faith not works.
Confess, in the Greek, simply means to agree with, to acknowledge, or say the same thing as another. Confession with the mouth is speaking in agreement with what you believe in your heart. It is the same as what believers do when we receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; (9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Rom 10:8-10
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"First John 1:9 is a glorious invitation to us, when we have missed it, to "...come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). Option 1 is that we had not sinned to begin with, but Option 2 is that Jesus remains our Advocate! He is for us, not against us! We can come to Him, be honest with Him, and in faith acknowledge—not simply our failure—but also his great mercy and kindness.
We act on 1 John 1:9 the same way we act on any Scripture - in faith!
When we confess a sin, we are not groveling before God or wallowing in our sin. We are not trying to "earn" forgiveness, and we are not questioning whether He still loves us or will give us a second chance. No! We come in faith to the One Who promised us cleansing, and we receive a fresh application in our lives of the wonderful forgiveness that He procured for us 2,000 years ago when He shed His precious blood for us." Tony Cooke in his article Why You Don't Have to Confess Sins(You Didn't Commit)
Through faith, we speak out acknowledging our sins, yet speaking in agreement with God's Word regarding our sins; knowing that we have an advocate in Christ Jesus who paid the price for our sins once and for all 2000 years ago.
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