Confessing Sin 1 John 1:9

With the acrostic for depending on God, PASSS, we looked at the P, Passage, with its emphasis on going to the Bible. We also reviewed the A, for AWARENESS that we are dependent on God.

PASSS

P = passage: go to the Bible

A = Awareness: we are dependent on God

Now we come to the first S, for SIN. We have to deal with the sin in our lives. The best-known verse for dealing with sin in the life of the believer is , where it says “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

In a sentence diagram, this is a complicated verse. But breaking it into smaller chunks we can see the CORE of the verse, which becomes key to understanding confession and forgiveness of sins so that we are able to be dependent on God. By eliminating certain parts of the verse (temporarily!), we can find that core and see a basic biblical truth.

From this core, we can arrive at this truth: Forgiveness of sins is based on the character of God. Before discussing this whole idea of confession, we must remember the three most important principle of interpretation: Context, Context, Context. Why did John write these words? What has he been saying?

Notice three times in this chapter that a verse begins with this clause: “If we say”. He then explores three false ideas that may be presented, along with an answer to the truth. This verse is the answer to the second of those false ideas found in verse 8, where someone might say they have no sin, meaning, they don’t have a sin nature. Such a person is not even a true believer, so John says that the true Christian is constantly confessing his sins, and thus is being forgiven by God. Something similar is said for each of the false ideas found in verses 6 and 10.

False Idea: I have reached a spiritual plateau: I no longer have a sin nature.

Such a person is not even a true believer, so John says that the true Christian is constantly confessing his sins, and thus is being forgiven by God.

The Expectation of Confession

True believers confess their sins. While it is not stated specifically that the confession of sins is made to God, it is clearly implied that such is the case. This is confession that is a habit of our life (present tense). Sins are committed, then sins are confessed. It is expected that Christians will confess their sins.

The Foundation of Confession

Why would God accept our confession rather than just rejecting us? The answer is in the core part of our verse: He is faithful and righteous. He will not turn His back on those who have been adopted into His family.

The Result of Confession

When confession of sins are made, then God (because of His faithfulness and righteousness),

God forgives our sins: He sends them away from us

God cleanses us: He makes us clean

Sins did not end our relationship with God, but they have interrupted our fellowship with Him. Confession restores that fellowship.

Conclusion

How do we deal with our sins? We confess them. That is what God expects us to do. We may confess them to others as a way of accountability. We may confess sins to those who were impacted by our sinful deeds. We may even need to confess them publicly. Circumstances will dictate such open confession. But Foremost and most importantly, our sins are against our Creator and our Father, and must be confessed to Him.