What am I before God? How does God see me? These are important questions. They likely elicit various responses and answers. A primary concern I should have is being sure that I align myself with what God thinks!
This is the thought behind 1 John 1:8-10. John is talking about our condition of being a sinner and our common failure of committing sin. He says first, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (v. 8). John claims we are sinners, to say otherwise is to deceive ourselves. We all fail and sin before the holy God of the world (Rom. 3:23).
But John doesn’t stop there. He says in the next verse, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (v. 9). We miss something in our English versions through the word confess. The greek term means to “say the same thing as another, to agree with, to concede, to profess, to confess.” It isn’t simply just saying your sins, it is agreeing with God that you are a sinner. John’s thought is this, “God says you are a sinner . . . you must agree with that thought and confess that sin . . . it is only then that you have cleansing (v. 9).
John reiterates his thought by adding, “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (v. 10). See the connection. If we say, “Nope, I am not a sinner,” then we are not agreeing with God. This is huge! We are saying God is a liar, because God has decreed us as sinners. When we do such we reject the Word of God which would convict us of our sin.
So what is confession? Confession is when we say to God, God you are right! I am a sinner. Here are the sins I have done and I confess them to you. You are just and righteous in decreeing my actions sinful. I fall upon your grace and mercy for forgiveness which is offered through Jesus Christ.
Do you agree with God about yourself? Don’t make God into a liar!
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This short post focuses on confession of sin. If you would like to read more about salvation and how to be saved through belief, repentance, confession, and baptism click on this post or contact me.
