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October 5, 2025 |
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“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Between 1 John 1:6 and 2:1, John makes six statements beginning with the word “if.” This is not the “if” of prescription, as in saying, “If you do this or that, then you will be a Christian.” Rather, John is describing the genuine believer. He is not explaining how to be saved, but contrasting the claims of false belief (vv. 6, 8, and 10) with what true faith believes and lives out. True believers walk in the light (v. 7), confess their sins (v. 9), and hold Christ as their personal advocate and propitiation for their own sins (2:1–2). While all three verses are filled with rich gospel truth, verse 9 stands out in a special way. The true Christian knows his or her sin and confesses it, while the false believer denies, justifies, or rationalizes it. The confession described in verse 9 is a continual acknowledgment of our sins—an agreement with God about what they truly are. Too often we address our sins euphemistically, but saving faith calls sin what it is and what God declares it to be. As King David tells us, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight…” Psalm 51:3–4 Since we continually fall short of God’s glory, we continually have reason to confess. But here’s the good news: John says that God is faithful and righteous to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Unlike our ongoing confession, God’s forgiveness and cleansing are decisive and complete. In the Greek text, John writes the verb for “confessing” in the present active tense, emphasizing continuous action in the present time. God’s actions—“forgive” and “cleanse”—are written in the aorist tense, expressing a completed act. So, because we are sinners, we confess our sins in the knowledge and hope of God’s gospel promise—His perfect, fixed, and complete forgiveness and cleansing. We have no fear of judgment in our confession, because we believe God’s promise of salvation in Christ alone. As the writer of Hebrews says, “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Hebrews 10:10. And again, “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Hebrews 10:14. Finally, “…let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Knowing that where sin increases, grace abounds all the more (Romans 5:20), let us draw near to God daily, confessing our sins with humble confidence in His gospel promise—trusting that He is faithful to forgive and to cleanse us by His grace alone, through Christ alone, received by faith alone. |