True Confession

True Confession

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

In the first epistle that bears his name, John was writing to believers. Thirty times in these five short chapters, he used the word know in order to drive home the reality that we can have assurance of the salvation freely offered to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the same John who once was a carefree Galilean fisherman, who eventually made his way into our Lord’s inner circle along with his brother James and Simon Peter. This is the same John who leaned upon the Lord’s breast during the Last Supper in the Upper Room. And it is the same faithful follower who stood with Mary at the foot of the cross when all the others had forsaken Jesus and fled (Mark 14:50).

Now John drives home to our hearts one of the real secrets of maintaining fellowship with Christ, and that is the forgiveness of sins. The word translated forgive in our English versions finds its origin in a Greek word that means “to send away.” The same word is used when describing the scapegoat that was sent away by the high priest into the wilderness, symbolically taking with it the sins of the people of Israel. It is also the word used in detailing how the fever left a certain person after the touch of Jesus. And it is God’s desire to send away our sins from us. He has provided a way, and this is the issue at hand in 1 John 1:9. Here we discover how to get our sins sent away so that, as the psalmist said, they may be separated from us “as far as the east is from the west” and remembered no more (Psalm 103:12).

FORGIVENESS IS CONDITIONAL
“If we confess our sins”

Many of God’s promises are conditional on certain requirements to be met by His children. In this devotional we have already seen this truth in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If My people . . . will humble themselves . . . then I will hear from heaven.” The forgiveness talked about in 1 John 1:9 all hinges upon the “Big If ”: “if we confess our sins.” Thus, we are immediately confronted with the reality that the forgiveness of our sins is conditional upon the confession of our sins.

The word confession is a compound word in the language of the New Testament. It comes from a word meaning “to say” and another meaning “the same as.” Confession literally means that “we say the same as God” about our sin. We agree with Him regarding it. Sin is not some little vice that we can laugh off. It is not something we can excuse by saying everyone is doing it. It is not some sort of mistake that we can minimize by trying to convince ourselves that it is not as bad as the sins many others commit. Sin is so serious that it necessitated the cross. Often, our own guilt is God’s way of saying, “You have sinned.” Confession, then, is our way of saying, “I agree with You, God. I have sinned.”

FORGIVENESS IS CONFESSIONAL
“confess”

As we have seen above, confession is agreeing with God about our sin. We say, “Oh, that is not worry; it is simply concern.” We say, “That is not anger; it is righteous indignation.” We say, “That is not lust. Just an appreciative glance.” But confession does not say those things. Confession agrees with God about our sin. What we may camouflage as concern, God calls the sin of worry. What we may refer to as righteous indignation, God, who knows our hearts, calls it the sin of anger. What we may try to say is just an admiring glance, God calls the sin of lust in our heart. Confession gets open and honest with God, and there is no forgiveness without it.

Anyone who has raised children has had the occasion of a spilled glass of milk at the breakfast table. Think about it. The glass tumbles over. The mother exclaims, “What happened?” Everyone scrambles to stand up and starts mopping the table with the napkins . . . except the guilty one who sheepishly asks, “Yeah, what happened?” And so here we are. We cheat on a business deal, and God asks, “What happened?” We reply, “Oh, it was the pressure of the economy.” Someone gets into an illicit affair, and God asks, “What happened?” We reply, “It was simply one of those inevitable things that just happened.” But confession says, “I knocked over the glass . . . I cheated someone else . . . I perpetrated the sin of passion . . . I am to blame . . . I take responsibility.” Confession agrees with God on the matter. It does not say, “If I have sinned.” It confesses, “I have sinned.” The good news is that Jesus Christ died on the cross bearing our sins in His own body and taking the punishment for them all. Forgiveness is free to all . . . but it is conditional and confessional.

FORGIVENESS IS CONTINUAL
“If we confess our sins”

Note carefully it is our sins that are at issue here and not our sin nature. God deals with our sin in 1 John 1:7 saying, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Sin is singular here because the verse refers to our sin nature that Christ dealt with on the cross. There are important distinctions between the root (sin) and the fruit (sins). First John 1:9 deals with our sins—which we are to continually confess when we are made aware of them through conviction in our hearts.

Our sin was dealt with on Calvary. When we were converted to Christ, we did not have to confess all our sins. Who of us could remember through all the years a fraction of them? It is our sin that is dealt with in our relationship with God, and that relationship cannot be broken. It is our “sins” that come into play regarding our ongoing fellowship with Him.

When our daughter was young, she took piano lessons. When she would attempt to learn a new piece, she would make it through the first staff, and invariably about halfway through the second, she would make a mistake. She would start over, much louder, go all the way until she made the same mistake, at which time she would repeat the whole process again and again. How many times can you listen to “I Dropped My Dolly in the Dirt” without losing your sanity?

I thought about my daughter when writing this chapter. Her piano practicing reflects the way many of us attempt to live the Christian life. We have tried to start over a thousand times. I don’t need a new and louder beginning. I already know the first five bars of the Christian life by heart. I need to keep going, to confess my sins and finish the song. True confession leads to true forgiveness!

As you memorize this verse, meditate on the wonderful way God has made for us to live a life free from the sins of guilt that shackle so many. He dealt with our sin once and for all on the cross. He now deals with our sins by cleansing us in response to our continual confession. As God brings issues to your mind during times of devotion and meditation, agree with Him and live in the solid promise that is yours in 1 John 1:9: “He is faithful and just to forgive!”