CONFESSION OF SIN

  

In 1 John 1:9 we have a conditional promise:  The condition - “If we confess our sin”; the promise - “he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. 

As this letter of John’s is a pastoral letter written to believers, the promise contained in this verse is a promise of restoration not salvation.  The unbeliever is exhorted to “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ” for forgiveness of sin and subsequent salvation Acts 13:38, 16:31, but believers are told to confess their sins for forgiveness and cleansing.

In Galatians 5:16-18 we are told that our old nature is at enmity with the Spirit and that we should live or walk in the Spirit so that we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.  Verse 18 concludes the passage with: But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law (we live out from under the Law).  The opposite of this must also be true; if we live according to our old nature we are trying to live by fulfilling the law and in doing so, are subject to the Laws judgement, Galatians. 3:10. 

We cannot live to the Law’s standards and when we try to do so we sin.  We are then judged and condemned by the Law and are, as it were, separated from God.  Not an eternal separation, because that has been overcome by the new birth, but our fellowship with the Father is broken (1John 1:6-7).  When we confess our sins it is an act of faith and repentance, an acknowledgement of our need of the Saviour, and on the basis of that faith God is justified in forgiving us those sins and restoring us to fellowship with himself. 

Faith is and always has been the way to a right standing with God.  It cannot be by works because our works will always be imperfect and therefore wrong, but our faith is righteous simply because it is a right assessment of the situation.  We can do nothing and must rely on God’s righteousness and his grace.

Confession of sin is of paramount importance to the Christian because we all sin (1 John 1:8), our sins separate us from God (1 John 1:6), and we are restored to fellowship only when we confess them (1 John 1:9).