“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Verse 9 is the reverse of verse 8. Confession of sin is the opposite of the claim that we are not guilty of sin. This verse is a counter-claim to verse eight that Christians are not guilty of sin. The Christian who denies guilt deceives himself.
Verse 7 is cleansing from the principle of sin, whereas verse 9 is cleansing from the practice of sin.
If
The “if” here is hypothetical. Maybe we will confess, and maybe we will not confess. It is conditional on our will or volition.
we confess
The word “confess” means to speak the same thing, to assent, accord, agree with, concede, acknowledge. The idea is to confess by means of admitting guilt. Confession is saying what God says about our sins – that they are violations of God’s character. Sins are not blunders or mistakes but the desecration of the character of God. There is a danger in losing fellowship with God if we conceal our sins.
PRINCIPLE:
Confession based on the blood of Christ is our authority for fellowship with God because it acknowledges any violations of His character.
APPLICATION:
Walking in the light involves increased consciousness of our sinful unrighteousness and taking active steps to rid ourselves of that sin by claiming God’s forgiveness and cleansing through open confession of sin before God.
Believers who desire to walk with God confess their sin openly and frankly to God. We make the judgment that our sins are awful before God. We agree with God in condemning sin.
Confession does not mean to plead with God for forgiveness, feel sorry for sin, to pray for forgiveness, to feel sorry for sins, or to make restitution for our sins. No, the idea is to accept the idea that our sins violate an absolutely holy God and that our only solution for sin is the death of Christ on the cross.
Some claim that there is no need to confess sin because we already have forgiveness (Ep 1:7). This idea confuses positional forgiveness with experiential forgiveness. God finally and fully forgives us in our positional forgiveness. In this sense, we never need forgiveness again. God forensically forgives us forever in positional forgiveness. However, when it comes to fellowship with God, we need to confess specific violations to God’s character.
The forgiveness of 1:9 is experiential forgiveness. God always bases our experiential forgiveness on our positional forgiveness. A son may fall out of favor with his family, but he is still a member of the family. The issue in experiential forgiveness is not acceptance by God but fellowship with Him. Continual forgiveness allows us to fellowship with God on an ongoing basis.
We always view sin for what it really is – a violation of God’s character. That is why God will forgive our sin based only on the cross of Christ. God forgave sin when Christ paid the penalty for that sin. Jesus meets all of the Father’s holy demands by His payment for sins on the cross. Jesus died in the sinner’s stead; He died in our place. It cost Jesus Christ a great deal to qualify us for forgiveness.
For a detailed study of 1 John 1:9, go to this link: http://versebyversecommentary.com/articles/running-exploration-of-1-john-1/
Ken, that is indeed the article. Thanks for locating the site.
This is a great thread because this verse is the only New Testament verse regarding the confessing of sins.
As a Pastor in Scotland (Australian born), I am frustrated that so many believers are not living in a "New Covenant context". The church seems to be living out of a "confession mentality" that has been borne out of an old covenant thinking. We have replaced the blood of bulls and goats with the blood of Jesus despite Hebrews 8:11-15. The new testament writers are clear in regard to warning us against this.
1 John 1:9 is the only verse in the "new covenant" that speaks about confessing sin. It cannot, and must not "trump" all other scripture with regard to the our righteousness identity and position of BEING righteous (2 Corinthains 5:21). This is the message that the Apostles preached. Our behaviour is an expression of our new nature as is "fitting for the saints".
When I sin, I say "thank you Lord that despite my failure, I am still righteous because of You and your sacrifice". I don't pray…"Jesus, please forgive my sin so i can have fellowship with you again". That would be praying for something I already have.
Thanks for reading this post which comes with humitlity because this is such a crucial area that we all need to get right.
Peter Hall
Apologies. The reference is Hebrews 9:11-15 (not chapter 8).
Peter
Peter, thanks for your contribution to this blog. Note further discussion at this page: http://versebyversecommentary.com/articles/running-exploration-of-1-john-1/ This study is still in formation and not finished by a long shot but I will post a notice on this page when it is ready for discussion.
Kenneth and others, I have done as much work on 1:9 as I give time to do at this time. The work is not complete but I am open to discussion with an open attitude. Find the page here: http://versebyversecommentary.com/articles/running-exploration-of-1-john-1/ We are leaving on vacation and will not be able to reply for some time.
Preach Christ continually. Praise God for the desire to want to know him more accurately. I am always reminded to boast in the Lord. If my confessing sin or sins continually keeps me in fellowship with God, what is the point of me having a shepard seeing that I am just a sheep that at times goes astray. It is the shepard that presents me blameless because he is blameless.
The word states that the law bring the knowledge of sin. However when some hear the law they state that they have kept the law, deceiving themselves. All have sinned and fallen short. The only way we can be cleansed of all unrighteousness speaks of becoming saved. 1 John 1:9 is a salvation scripture not a sanctification process scripture. Jesus stated, "they that have been cleansed, don't have to be cleased all over again." Teaching continual confession for fellowship in this context is not biblical. The fellowship spoken of in 1 John is that of being saved, not that of being on speaking terms for the moment.
Chapter 2 speaks of Christ being our advocate, and how we know that we come to know him if we keep his commandments. Not keeping the law because no one can do that and Christ freed us up from that responsibility with his work on the cross. The word says that he lives always making intercesssions on our behave. He continually asks his father to forgive us and because of the righteousness of Christ that has been given to those who believe it is finished. 2:12 says our sins have been forgiven for his name's sake, and if you know him, he wants you to know this.
Grace – giving us what we don't deserve, and Peace – freedom from guilt of sin, a clear conscience, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In Love.
Jermaine Simmons
The Christian "Bar of Soap" – 1 John 1:9
1 John 1:9 has become the “Christian’s bar of soap” but very few have actually studied the verses before and after (as we should always do) to put the verse in context.
If you apply the antithesis rule to the verse, you will see it is obviously not for Christians….”If we DO NOT confess our sins, He is NOT faithful and just to FORGIVE our sins and to CLEANSE us from all UNRIGHTEOUSNESS”.
All our sins HAVE been forgiven past, present and future. As Christians we cannot ask Jesus Christ to do something He has already done.
John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Jesus HAS taken away our sins. The sin issue has been dealt with.
John was writing a letter to the elders/pastors who had mixed congregations of saved and lost. There were Gnostics in the congregations who believed that Jesus hadn't come in the flesh and was an apparition and that they were without sin – John was correcting them. He did that in 1 John 1:1 "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon andour hands have handled, of the Word of life. He then explained in 1 John 1:8 that they were with sin “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us”…… He then explained in 1:9 how to get saved. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". He then followed up in verse 10 " if we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us".
This whole notion of Christians asking for forgiveness is incorrectly based on 1 John 1:9. There is not ONEverse in Scripture where this is commanded. Don't you think the writers of the New Covenant would have mentioned what a Christian should do after they had sinned? There is no mention of it because they understood the finished work of Christ on the cross. Jesus said "It is finished".
Read Hebrews and it becomes clear. God remembers our sins no more. The Holy Spirit doesn't convict believers of their sins – how can He when you read Hebrews 10:11-18
11 "And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. 15. Wherefore the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 16. This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
Of course a Christian must acknowledge when he has sinned and agree with God that his actions are wrong but nowhere in Scripture is the believer told to confess his sins in order to be forgiven.
People equate the word "confession" with asking for forgiveness. Confession simply means to"agree with".
We often hear about “parental forgiveness” and “judicial forgiveness” as relating to “breaking of fellowship with God” when we sin. This is a man made teaching and is nowhere to be found in Scripture. 1 Cor. 1:9 (fancy that) says we have been brought into fellowship with God through Jesus Christ. We are brought into fellowship when we get saved – never to be broken.
We cannot go in and out of fellowship neither can we go in and out of light and darkness. Light in Scripturealways refers to salvation and darkness always to a lost condition – every single time these words are used they refer to that –WITHOUT EXCEPTION.
How can we, by our actions make ourselves more acceptable to God? That’s works. We didn’t WORK to get our salvation and we can’t WORK to keep it.
The teaching that 1 John 1:9 is for Christians, keeps Christians in a state of confusion and does not allow them to “enter into the rest”.
What do they do about the sins they have forgotten about and don’t “confess”? They live in a constant state of worry – I used to do that. I would start my prayer time with “Lord, please forgive me for the sins I’ve committed knowingly and unknowingly…..”. That’s just not Scriptural. The Lord HAS forgiven our sins. Thinking like this is not believing in the finished work of the cross.
What I have found when sharing this with Christians is that they put forward all sorts of arguments/points, none of which are based on Scripture.
I hope this will help some Christians out there like it helped me.
Norman, I agree with you that the Christian is already forgiven and he/she is not to ask for forgiviness. However, confession of sin is not asking for forgiveness. See my extensive study of this verse:
http://versebyversecommentary.com/articles/running-exploration-of-1-john-1/
I agree with Norma and Peter. Chapter 1 is to or about unbelievers. Verse 3 says, "that you MAY have fellowship with us", implying they didn't. I'm amazed there's any confusion at all. I think the Lord smiles, like Jesus marvelled at faith, when we simply trust in him when we don't live up to our calling. Let's remember the Gospel was kept secret, except to Abraham, but now it is everything to us! We shouldn't allow anything to dim the Gospel. If a verse seems to contradict the Gospel find out what's wrong with our understanding of the verse rather than tarnish the Gospel.
Wow this was alot to read throught.
I have a point of discussion that I wonder is valid or not concerning John 1:9
Out of all the things being discussed it seems as a hinging point is mentioning that the word "confess" is the perfect tense. It is my understanding according to A.T. Robertson that this tense cannot be considered to dominate the idea that it is continual. Only when surrounding qualifers are added is it normally made clear.
Present tense by itself does not automatically convey continuous action. Context and/or qualifying words must be present.
An example of continuos:
Hebrews 13:15 "Let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise.” Here the “let us offer” is present tense. In order to make in to continue into the future the author added the qualifier “continually”
Now one by example where it is not continuous:
Consider the individuals who are found guilty of various offenses before a magistrate in a court in the times of the ancient Roman Empire – New Testament times. The magistrate declares before the group of guilty people in koine Greek, the language of the New Testament, in a statement that directly parallels the second half of Jn 3:16, 'Whoever pays his fine shall not perish in jail, but have freedom to go, with his life.' Does the present tense of 'Whoever pays' demand continuous – uninterrupted payment of the fine in order for an individual to "have freedom to go, with his life?" The answer is obvious, the present tense does not always demand continuous uninterrupted action in the present.
Where are the qualifiers that make this present tense "confess" have the ability to be something that should be repeated for a believer?
Dr. Richison,
Based off of your interpretation of 1John, it seems that the work of Christ is not sufficient to please the father on our behalf. The Scriptures say our best righteousness is filthy rags unto the Lord. Confessing sin would be included in that righteousness for continued fellowship. The only thing the Bible says without this it is impossible to please God, is faith. But you are basically stating that without confessing sin it is impossible to please God for continued fellowship. Now the only time God does not fellowship is where there is unrighteousness. However in Christ there is no unrighteousness. So the only way for a believer’s fellowship with God to be broken would be if the source of the righteousness becomes unrighteous. Since the completed work of Christ we can enter into the throne of grace with confidence in Christ. However it sounds as if works of righteousness by which you’ve done if how you maintain your fellowship. But your access to the father is through Christ alone. But if you believe it is by what you do, I have to believe that you may be the recipient of Hebrews 5:13 through the beginning of 6. “By now you should be teachers of righteousness, but need someone to teach you the oracles of God all over again.” Righteousness in Christ Jesus is where continued fellowship always resides because he remains a High Priest forever. You basically saying sin can still separates a believer from God. But the Word says NOTHING SHALL EVER separate us from the love of God. Fellowship with God is based off God’s love for us and the finished works of Christ. Sounds like you believe he is Lord (God in the flesh) but not Savior.
Jermaine, I agree with your statements about justification by faith through grace alone. That is certainly true for salvation. There are two different issues. On the one hand we have an eternal status with God and on the other we have an experiential relationship with Him. This verse is not a salvation verse but a verse that addresses believers and their daily walk. Even with our daily walk "confession" is a faith term indicating we must rest on or acknowledge what Jesus did about breaking our fellowship with Him. Only faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross can save us eternally and only by faith in that work can we have fellowship with Him on a day by day basis. The act of confession is irrelevant to forgiveness; it is on the action of trusting what Christ did. Feeling sorry for our sins does not forgive us either.
If we look at 1John 1;9. People say that John is writting to beleivers. If we read this letters and apply them to us (believers) would we not get the wrong interpretation of the Word. As there are things in the letters specifically for believers and unbelievers. We can not mix them up. Paul addressing the church is it not like a Pastor today addressing his congregation of believers. Who are in the churches? Believers, non believers, false teachers, wrong doctrine and so forth. He may be addressing believers but he also addressing non believers. – 1 JOHN 1 IS A TIPICAL EXAMPLE WAS HE ONLY ADDRESSING BELIEVERS ? OR ALSO UNBELIEVERS AND FALSE TEACHERS???? – THERE WERE 3 THINGS IN ERROR.
1) THEY DID NOT BELIEVE THAT CHRIST CAME IN THE FLESH. (John 3 x emphasizes WE HAD HEARD, FELT , SEEN AND HAD FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM)
2) HAD WRONG FELLOWSHIP. (IF WE SAY WE HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM AND WALK IN DARKNESS, WE LIE AND NOT PRACTICE THE TRUTH)
3) THEY BELIEVED THEY DID NOT SIN. VERSE 8 ( IF WE SAY WE HAVE NO SIN WE DECEIVE OURSELVES AND THE TRUTH IS NOT WITHIN US) no truth unbeliever. – THAT IS WHY VERSE 9 SAYS “ IF WE BELIEVE WE ARE SINNERS AND CONFESS HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE OUR SINS.” THEY HAD TO BELIEVE THAT THEY WERE SINNERS IN NEED OF A SAVIOUR?
FOR SALVATION. IF Paul was only writing to believers Would these people in the church that did NOT believe that Jesus came in the flesh, they had no sin and had no Fellowship with the Jesus be believers ?no they had to unbelievers, needing salvation. To say that believers need to confess their sins after salvation to keep fellowship with god one would have to find more scriptures telling believers to confess tjeir sins today. Please can any one find me scriptures in new testiment that instruct, command or beleivers to cobfess their sins after salvation. There is not one scripture that says believers must confess their sins after salvation. If there are I would love to have them
Mario, what you say about the purpose of First John is exactly the opposite of what the apostle John says about his purpose–“1:3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” He wrote First John so that Christians will have fellowship with God. The exclusive purpose of the epistle was written to Christians, not non-Christians. It is true that John warns against incipient Gnosticism (probably by Cerinthus) but he is warning Christians about the problem. The epistle was not written for non-Christians but for Christians.
I suggest that you read my Introduction to First John. Also, I suggest you read a more developed exegesis of 1:9 found in http://versebyversecommentary.com/articles/running-exploration-of-1-john-1/
This verse and chapter has caused a lot of confusion. So if we confess and a habitual sin persists did we not repent. Do we not have fellowship with God, what sin keeps our fellowship on hold? I used to think I experienced fellowship after repentance, but now I don’t know if it was a time of complete indwelling of the spirit, or baptism of the spirit. Either way repentance does have role to play in sanctification, without it we can’t turn from many sin problems with the help of God.
Hi Dr. Richison. Back in 2013, you and I discussed here (see “Older Comments”) the meaning of 1 Jn. 1:9. I later wrote on the issue. The essay can be found at my website at Christianitywithoutcompromise.com. The essay is entitled, “Does 1 John 1:9 Teach That Christians Must Confess Their Sins To God To Be Forgiven?” The essay demonstrates that John was teaching Christians at 1 Jn. 1:9 that if heretical unbelievers later became believers and confessed their sins, God would forgive them of their sins and cleanse them from all unrighteousness. The essay also demonstrates the verse is not teaching that Christians confess their sins to God to be forgiven; instead, the Christians’ sins, past, present, and future, already have been forgiven. If you have an opportunity, let me know what you think. Thanks!
K, it looks like you have done very thorough research on an opposing view to mine. Your sources are good. However, due to a health problem in my family, I do not have time to critique your document.
May I suggest a couple things about your site? 1) place an “About” on the site so that people know who you are and your background. 2) You have done a great amount of work on “confession” and put a Copyright on it. Since you have done this, I would not allow people to edit your documents as you do now.
Thanks for the good work.
Thank you for your suggestions Dr. Richison. Re the health problem in your family,
“… God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.” (Heb. 6:10)
“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.” (2 Cor. 1:3-5)
Let these words comfort you.
1 John 1:9 follows 1 John 1:8. Who is the audience in 1 John 1:8? The audience is those in the early church that claimed they had had no sin, but John tells them that “the truth is not in them”.
Does that sound like a Christian? Someone who doesn’t have the truth in them? Consider that this same author, the apostle John, in his gospel chapter 14, verse 6 (John 14:6) quotes Jesus, who states that HE is the truth. So if a person doesn’t have the truth in them, then it’s safe to assume they do not have Jesus in them. If Jesus is not in a person, are they a Christian or not?
No true Christian would ever claim they have no sin in them since admitting we are sinners is necessary to need a Savior. It is very obvious the target audience in verse 8 is not a saved person but one who is lost, claiming they don’t have any sin and doesn’t have the truth in them.
1 John 1:9 is an appeal by the apostle John to the lost person(s) in verse 8 to admit, agree with God that they ARE in fact sinners and come to Him for the forgiveness Christ provides at regeneration. A person’s unrighteousness will then be cleansed and righteousness, Christ’s righteousness is then the result.
1 John 1:9 is not a “bar of soap” for a believer, but an appeal for salvation to the unbeliever.
David’s comments are correct. I thought I would give a quick summary of what my above mentioned essay says. The issue is whether 1 Jn. 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” – requires that Christians confess their sins in order for those sins to be forgiven by God. The answer is a resounding no.
1. Mt. 9, and in particular 9:2, record Jesus forgave a paralytic of his sins. Nowhere in the account did Jesus require the paralytic to confess his sins to be forgiven and nowhere in the account did the paralytic confess his sins. The account says that “seeing their faith,” He forgave the paralytic.
2. Lk. 7, and in particular 7:47-48, record Jesus forgave a woman who was a sinner. Nowhere in the account did Jesus require the woman to confess her sins to be forgiven and nowhere in the account did the woman confess her sins. The account says her sins were forgiven “for she loved much.”
3. 1 Jn. 2:12, Eph. 4:32, Col. 2:13, & Col. 3:13 all phrase God’s act of forgiveness as a past act. Nowhere in Jesus’s teaching through His apostles’ letters to Christians does He teach that He currently forgives Christians; instead, the apostolic teaching is that God has already forgiven Christians of their sins. As to sins Christians committed before they were Christians, sins Christians commit now, and sins Christians commit in the future, these verses teach that God’s act of forgiveness of these sins is a past act; He has already forgiven them. In particular, as to sins Christians commit in the future, these verses will read exactly the same at that future time: God’s act of forgiveness of those sins is a past act; He has already forgiven them.
4. Note John wrote not only 1 Jn. 1:9 but 1 Jn. 2:12. If 1 Jn. 1:9 requires that Christians currently confess their sins to be forgiven by God, how can this be reconciled with 1 Jn. 2:12, where John phrases the act of God’s forgiveness as a past act?
5. Because God’s act of forgiveness of Christians is a past act, the result is that we have—right now—the quality or condition of forgiveness. Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14. Neither verse refers to confession of sins.
6. Each verse at 1 Jn. 1:6-10 contains “if we”. This makes each verse a conditional statement. Each verse is also a hypothetical statement. They are hypothetical because they assume for sake of argument that something is true. It is important to distinguish (1) a conditional, hypothetical statement that assumes for sake of argument that something is true from (2) a statement that something is true.
a. Background: Mt. 21:25-27 give examples of conditional, hypothetical statements. At verse 25, Jesus asked the chief priests and elders, “The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” The verses continue: “And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 26 “But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.” 27 And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.”
The chief priests and elders, saying among themselves, “If we say,” assumed for sake of argument that they said, “From heaven.” Next, saying among themselves, “If we say,” they assumed for sake argument that they said, “From men.” The chief priests and elders were not in reality saying among themselves that John’s baptism was “From heaven” or “From men.” Instead, the chief priests and elders were using conditional, hypothetical statements to consider what in reality to say to Jesus. In reality, the chief priests and elders wound up not telling Jesus whether John’s baptism was from “From heaven” or “From men.”
b. Gal. 1:8-9 give another example. “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” Paul would never in reality preach a contrary gospel. And Paul, a Christian, could never in reality be accursed (because, e.g., there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1) and Christ became a curse for us (Gal. 3:13)). But Paul is teaching: assume for sake of argument that “we”—even me Paul—preach a contrary gospel; let him be accursed! A person accursed is an unbeliever. Because Paul concludes that if “we” preach another gospel, he is to be accursed, and because an accursed person is an unbeliever, “we” must refer to an unbeliever. One of the reasons Paul wrote Galatians was to alert Christians that certain heretical unbelievers were intentionally misstating the truth. (Gal. 1:7: “there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ”; Gal. 3:1; 5:4, 7-12.)
c. 1 John was written to Christians. But this is causing people to conclude erroneously that “we” in 1 Jn. 1:8-10 must refer to Christians. It does not. Note 1 Jn. 1:8 says the “the truth is not in us.” But, by definition, “the truth” is in Christians (2 Jn. 1:2: “the truth which abides in us”; also Jn. 14:16-17; also Jn. 17:17 & 1 Jn. 2:14) So “the truth is not in us” is a reference to unbelievers. Because John concludes that “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us,” and because “the truth is not in us” refers to unbelievers, “we” in 1 Jn. 1:8 refers to unbelievers. One of the reasons John wrote 1 John was to alert Christians that certain heretical unbelievers were intentionally misstating the truth. (1 Jn. 2:26: “These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you”; 1 Jn. 2:19.)
d. Similarly with 1 Jn. 1:10. That verse says, “His word is not in us.” But, by definition, His word is in Christians. (1 Jn. 2:14; Jn. 15:7.) So “His word is not in us” is a reference to unbelievers. Because John concludes that “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us,” and because “His word is not in us” refers to unbelievers, “we” in 1 Jn. 1:10 refers to unbelievers.
e. 1 John was written to Christians. At 1 Jn. 1:8 and 10, John is alerting Christians that heretical unbelievers are making false statements that the heretical unbelievers have no sin and have not sinned, respectively. 1 Jn. 1:9 is sandwiched between those two verses. 1 John 1:9 is a conditional, hypothetical (“if we confess”) statement. In that verse, John is teaching Christians that heretical unbelievers need to make a different statement about sins. The different statement is: confession of sins. In 1 Jn. 1:9, even though John is a Christian, he asks his readers to assume for sake of argument that “we” – John and others – are heretical unbelievers who later become believers and confess their sins. He teaches that in that instance God will then forgive sins. John is not talking about confession of sins by people who are already Christians.
f. The fact that God already has forgiven Christians is not a license to sin. And Christians must repent of their sins. But repentance is a change of mind resulting in turning away from sin and towards God in behavior. And Christians do not repent to be forgiven; they are already forgiven.
7. If 1 Jn. 1:9 is teaching that Christians must confess their sins for God to forgive them, this makes forgiveness conditional. But 1 Jn. 1:7 teaches that Christians are, by definition, unconditionally cleansed from all sin. Doesn’t the above mean that forgiveness of sins is conditional under 1 Jn. 1:9, but cleansing from all sin is unconditional under 1 Jn. 1:7?
8. If 1 Jn. 1:9 is teaching that Christians must confess their sins for God to forgive them, the verse is also teaching that Christians must confess their sins for God to cleanse Christians from all unrighteousness; this makes that cleansing conditional. But 1 Jn. 1:7 teaches that Christians are, by definition, unconditionally cleansed from all sin. Doesn’t the above mean that cleansing from all unrighteousness is conditional under 1 Jn. 1:9, but cleansing from all sin is unconditional under 1 Jn. 1:7?
9. Paul said at Romans 14:23 that “whatever is not from faith is sin.” If 1 Jn. 1:9 is teaching that Christians must confess their sins, doesn’t that mean Christians must continually confess whatever is not from faith?
10. It is frequently taught that 1 Jn. 1:9 requires Christians to confess only their “known” sins. But Rom. 14:23 teaches that it is sin to act with doubt that what one is doing is right. Why wouldn’t 1 Jn. 1:9 require confession of this as well if the verse requires Christians to confess their sins?
11. The Apostle Paul never taught that Christians must confess their sins for God to forgive them (nor did any other apostle). Most Christian scholars believe he died in the 60’s A.D. Most also believe John wrote 1 John in the 90’s A.D. What about Christians who sinned after Paul died in the 60’s A.D. but before John wrote 1 Jn. 1:9 in the 90’s A.D.? If 1 Jn. 1:9 requires Christians to confess their sins for God to forgive them, these Christians could not have known that; 1 Jn. 1:9 had not yet been written. Did God forgive those sins during that approximate 30-year period absent confession, or did they remain unforgiven?
What a terrible commentary! 1 John 1:9 is to unbelievers. Just read 1 John 1:8 and 1:10. The best commentary I have seen is from gracecoach.org/1-john-1-9
Frank, go to my commentaries on 1:8,10 and read the Introduction at the top of the page.
Calvary greetings,
What does Mathew chapter 6 verse 12 imply?and who was Jesus addressing?
We must be very careful not to abusé the grâce of God.At salvation,we were born into à convenant family, when we sin ,we must do the needful as soon as we réalisé it.Luke chapter 15 verses 12&20
Shalom.
Adinoyi, see my study on Mt 6:12 here: https://versebyversecommentary.com/2008/05/03/matthew-612/