CCC #4: Confession - Part 1
The Corrupt Christian Concepts Series
(All scripture references are BSB unless otherwise noted.)
Please read my previous article if you haven’t since repentance and confession have close ties:
As usual, I received a resource that matches my current discussion. Feel free to listen to this as a synopsis of my article. My article details the defense of this position:
https://andrewfarley.org/highlights/no-daily-confession-needed/
Note: Andrew mentions that admitting you are a sinner is necessary for salvation - I do not disagree.
At first glance this could seem to contradict some aspects of my repentance article. It does not, but I will address that towards the end of this article.
Confession Itself is not Corrupt
I want to be abundantly clear, confession itself is not corrupt. Far from it. Like repentance, it should be a tool that believers consistently use.
But, like repentance, our concept of confession may be a bit warped compared to scripture - particularly the nearly exclusive tie of confession to sin.
I will get into the specifics later, but confession is basically “verbal repentance.” After you change your mind about truth (repent) - confession is verbal assent with that truth.
Note:
It is not apologizing.
It is not listing your sins.
It is not asking for forgiveness.
It can be about sin - but most often in scripture it is not.
It's easy to see how both repentance and confession can be corrupted in similar ways since they are closely tied together. You cannot honestly confess anything without repenting first.
Deceptive English Dictionary
Perhaps again, we have been led astray by the English dictionary. Here is the religious definition of confession from the Cambridge English Dictionary:
“Confession is the activity of telling God or a priest what you have done wrong so God will forgive you.”
This is wrong on many levels compared to scripture. Are we going to let the dictionary or scripture tell us what confession means?
In this article, I hope to accurately convey that this dictionary meaning is wrong and convince you that the scriptural meaning is best.
Confession of Sin
I will start with the biggie verse, but get into more details later, because I want to make a point.
1 John 1:9 - “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
The word translated confess here is “homologeó”. Other Greek forms are “exomologeó”, and “homologia”.
These words show up only 35 times in the new testament. Of those times only 4 have any association with sin. Of those 4:
3 have the direct object of sin.
1 relates indirectly to sin (in Acts).
2 relate to the same story in Matthew and Mark.
Only 2 references are in an epistle - instruction to the new covenant church (James and 1 John).
So, there are a total of 3 specific references to confession with the direct object of sin. In all cases, 1 John 1:9 is the only place where God's forgiveness is on the line.
So, only 3/35 with the direct object of sin. That percentage is even lower than repentance, less than 10%. And only two that would be considered new covenant epistolic church instruction.
I have been in church nearly 50 years and the number of times sermons, prayers, etc. refer to ongoing confession of sin would lead one to believe every epistle covers this concept extensively.
Paul never once mentions confession of sin. If this was an essential Christian action, why did he not instruct the Romans, Corinthians, Colossians, Philippians, etc, to do it?
One particular religion has booths to promote listing of sins for forgiveness based on essentially two verses. But while Protestants mostly get the priesthood of believers right, they still mess up confession.
Apparently, people love to constantly connect sin to everything - even when scripture does not! But, I find it curious.
So much distraction, effort, and waste of time based on one or three verses. And, money, for building booths! And we spend all this time and effort and still many don't do it right.
Thus, many twist the definition of confession, but my first argument is that an overemphasis on confession of sin compared to scripture is also a major issue.
The Non - 1 John 1:9 Verses
I John 1:9 is the biggie because it connects forgiveness with confession. So, I am going to focus on that one in this article.
However, the others are relevant of course. The Matthew, Mark, and Acts references are tied together - they are all stories about how other people acted - they are not instruction.
Note: We must be careful if we look at the actions of people in scripture and try to take doctrine from that or mimic it. Only if there is direct epistolic instruction that confirms the action should we follow it.
Otherwise, that is how you get snake handling in churches and other harmful activities. Just because people in scripture did something doesn't mean it is a universal instruction for the church for all time, even in the new testament.
James 5 talks about confessing sin one to another. This verse can be confusing, especially if you don't understand the scriptural meaning of confession. It does not mean “elevate sin by listing it off to one another”.
Hopefully, if you don't already, you will have a better understanding of confession after this article.
Thus, I will be writing a follow-up bonus article about James 5 and some additional confession references. I want to make sure I cover all my confession bases.
But, There is 1 John 1:9, Right?
Yes, 1 John 1:9 does exist. So, let's check it out. Is it a prescription of ongoing listing of sins for believers?
More importantly, does that action enact the forgiveness of God on a case by case basis as we confess?
Is it some kind of spiritual scrubbing kit to help believers clean up our spirit on a regular basis?
Amazingly, some folks try to connect Christ washing the disciple's feet to confession, as if confession is getting Christ to come along and spiritually wash our feet.
Note: That was all about demonstrating a servant attitude. The Lord of all creation was washing their feet as a servant…but I digress.
Again, it is mind blowing the lengths people will go to justify their need to obtain God's gifts by works - and even use scripture as cover.
ALL means ALL
Ok, the easy part first - read the verse. This confession of sin is indicated to “forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.”
Note: it says ALL.
Did you notice the 'all'?
Logic would dictate this only happens once. We confess our sins once and we are forgiven and cleansed of all unrighteousness. All of it - past, present, and future.
If it is all cleansed, and that is the purpose of the confession, then no further confession is needed for that purpose. Right?
Once for all forgiveness and cleansing is an essential new covenant gospel promise. (See Hebrews 10, etc.)
So, this fits with the “once for all time” message of the gospel. Why is this an issue for some?
I will continue to study 1 John 1 in a bit, but first some thoughts on why we feel compelled to make 1 John 1:9 about us as believers.
Obsession With Sin and Sin Listing
Why has this teaching permeated Christian society and teaching? Why is this such a big deal for many Christians?
Those who read my writing are sadly a quiet bunch in the comments, but one of my few comments was a warning against Andrew Farley's teaching.
I don't want to listen to, much less promote, someone who teaches poorly. When I asked the commenter for more specifics on what bothered him, to his credit he answered.
It was mainly the teaching on confession of sin. Hmm.
Clearly this is a subject near and dear to many believers. Some refuse to repent of wrong ideas of it when presented with clear truth.
This dear reader clung to his idea of confession of sin so tightly that he would not recommend a teacher based on their teaching about this one topic.
Interesting. I have a feeling he would not recommend this article either.
Why Do We Feel Compelled to List Off Our Sin?
If I can show you from scripture that the typical idea of a believer's ongoing confession of sin is not valid, how would that make you feel?
By typical, I mean a ritual whereby we list off our sins to God, say we are sorry, and ask Him for forgiveness. (And in the worst case, think we are not forgiven until we do this ritual.)
This is not what the Greek word for confession means. As I mentioned, it is not a list or an apology. But we will get to that soon.
Note: I am not saying there is something wrong with sorrow over sin or even apologizing to God. Sorrow is clearly scriptural. However, these are not confession and you do not gain forgiveness from God for them.
Forgiveness is a gift we obtained at salvation. There is no act that obtains ongoing forgiveness. For me, I prefer gratitude over apologies. When I stumble, I praise the finished work of Christ because I am forgiven and only through that power can I say no to sin.
I have often pondered and asked God to help me understand how and why this damaging incorrect concept of confession is so pervasive.
I suspect it is based in a works mindset as I alluded earlier. We simply don't trust the gift of God's promise to “remember our sins no more”. (Hebrews 8:12; 10:17)
We feel bad when we sin and this feels like something we can do to make restitution to God in some way. That makes us feel better - ultimately it is self-serving.
It is an action we can take that we trust will somehow resolve our angst with God because we sinned.
Note: If you have read any of my writings, I hope you can easily see how wrong this idea is: it is not of faith.
Faith would trust the work Christ already did when we sin, not some action on our part. There is no restitution to God needed; Christ did it all. We spit on His finished work with this attitude.
As we will soon see, the true meaning of scriptural confession is the opposite of this.
Listing of Sin as a Crutch
I can only answer for myself as to why I felt compelled to list off my sin. It took me awhile after I stopped the ritual to realize why I did it.
After much soul searching and asking God for wisdom, and some repentance, I was finally able to admit to myself why.
For me, it was the easy way out. I was never taught how to walk by the Spirit (had sadly barely heard of it), so I was on a cycle of success and failure.
But, rather than stop, take a reckoning, and figure out whether this cycle was legitimate or not - I had my emotional “easy pass”. When I would fail, which was often, I was quick to 'confess' (or at least my unscriptural idea of it.)
I mean, I had tried really hard to stop sinning (turn from sin). It worked - for awhile. But when it ultimately didn't, then I had my 'confession' ritual to make myself feel better about my failures.
Is that really what scriptural confession is? An apologetic crutch for failures? A way to get on God's good side again by admitting you sinned? Is that faith?
I admitted it - and quick man. I got really good at it. I was an apology expert. Mostly because it did make me feel better - for awhile. I had checked the “confession box” (not to be confused with “confession booth” - checking the box is more Protestant.)
I mean, who cares that I was earning wages of death for myself and those I love, I could just admit my sin to God and all was well…or at least I felt better about myself. Talk about a corrupt idea!
The Crutch was not of Faith
Ultimately though, there was no hope in this mindset. I tried all the mainstream Christian world offered to stop sinning. It never worked. So, I fell back on the confession crutch.
But, like all fleshly things, it eventually stopped working too. The ritual began to feel as shallow and pointless as it really was.
You see, because I did not understand repentance, my “sin listing” was not connected at all to true repentance. My grand efforts to turn from sin were fleshly, but I simply did not understand. I thought I was doing it 'right'.
Get Rid of 'Crutches'
Once my “confession crutch” failed, I had to face the fact that my life was a secret roller coaster of failures. And it wasn't getting better, it was getting worse.
For awhile it did get worse. But losing faith in the ritualistic sin-listing crutch forced me to ask that all important question: why? Why was my version of 'Christianity' not working?
Ultimately answering ‘why?’ has led to john540.org. and it came down to the fact that nearly every 'Christian' idea I had was corrupt in some way.
Basically, all I had right was “Jesus died, was buried, and was resurrected.” In some ways it would have been better to stick only with that!
I have to say that finally learning the true scriptural meaning and context of confession is one of those truths that have greatly impacted my life.
It has certainly saved me time to pursue worthwhile things - like learning to walk by the Spirit - rather than waste time overly focusing on sins that Christ has already taken away.
Read the Manual
This just hit me as I was writing this. As I have said before, repentance and confession are valuable spiritual tools gifted to us by God.
But, like all tools, finally reading the manual (and even the glossary!) to learn how to use them properly makes all the difference.
Much like I discussed in my last article, I feel like we often just listen to how other people use the tools, rather than look at the 'manual' itself!
We are trusting that they actually read and understood the manual, and are describing it accurately. But did they? Or did they just listen to other people who maybe never understood the manual either?
Not that listening to teachers isn’t helpful; they just can't replace the manual.
I have had to repent of this attitude myself, and still do. Part of how I got into my mess was being lazy and taking everyone else's word for what 'Christianity' looks like - without checking out scripture in depth for myself.
With scripture as our manual, it is highly important that we truly understand what these tools are and how to use them. The stakes are too high.
The difference can mean spiritual death for an unbeliever. Or reaping corruption from sowing to the flesh for a believer.
Once you truly understand the scriptural meaning of confession, I hope you will begin to use this valuable tool often to enable more dependency on Christ and to help you grow.
If you already understand it properly, then hopefully this encourages you to use it even more.
Confession - What Is It Really?
Well, let's start with the Greek word meaning and description from Discovery Bible on biblehub.com.
3670 homologéō (from 3674 /homoú, "together" and 3004 /légō, "speak to a conclusion") – properly, to voice the same conclusion, i.e. agree ("confess"); to profess (confess) because in full agreement; to align with (endorse).
Literally confession in the Greek means “come together and speak to the same conclusion”. In other words, it is verbally agreeing with someone. It is a verbal alignment of ideas or beliefs.
This is definitely not an apology or a listing of sins. (Again, how did we come up with that?). The majority of the usage of confession in scripture has the object of Christ, so this doesn't make sense anyway.
Are we apologizing for Christ? Of course not. But, we are verbally agreeing with God that “Christ is the living son of God; that Christ was all God and all human; that He died, was buried, and was raised the 3rd day.”
There…I just confessed Christ. I did it in written form, but I still verbally agreed with what scripture, and thus God, says about Christ. That is confession.
Repentance/Confession
Confession is verbally agreeing with someone about something. It is tied closely with repentance, as I have mentioned.
Just as a quick review, scriptural repentance means “to change your mind” or “to believe differently”.
When you believe one thing, are presented with evidence (truth) contrary to your belief, and then change your mind to believe the truth, that is repentance. (See my article above.)
Can you see how these are tied together? These are two sides of the spiritual growth tool - they work together. It's like confession is an attachment for the repentance tool.
Repentance is mentally aligning with truth; confession is verbally expressing that alignment with truth.
Let's say you have a wrong idea about Christ or the gospel (or yes, even about sin). Truth comes along and causes you to change your mind (repent).
Now your thinking aligns with God's thinking. Thus, you can verbally assent to this new mindset (confess).
Confession in scripture is verbally agreeing with God and His truth. (The person can be anyone, but most often agreeing with God is implied.)
This obviously happens at salvation - I will cover this later. But these are also active tools for the believer.
Note: Scripture emphasizes repentance more than confession. This is simple logic - having a true change of mind is more important than always verbalizing it.
Some people talk a good game, but it is useless without an internal change of mind. However, if we really believe something, we should not be ashamed to say it.
Confession also plays into the human psyche. Sometimes it helps confirm a belief by saying it out loud. So, thus, while true repentance is more important, don't hesitate to use the confession attachment!
What About Sin and 1 John 1:9?
We still have 1 John 1:9, and it does tie confession to sin. So, based on what we just learned, how does this apply?
Well, John is saying that if a person disagrees with God about sin, particularly when they are being verbal about it, they should change their mind and verbally agree with God about sin.
Note: As I have emphasized, the meaning of confession in scripture simply does not lend itself to being a “sin list”. You can agree (or disagree) with God about sin without listing it.
I personally believe that the idea of “sin listing” is an enemy idea because it helps set our mind on our sin, not our Savior. As humans, we more easily fall into those things that we think/talk about.
However, as we will see in my next article, there may be specific times where we are being stupid and persist in disagreeing with God over a specific sin. In those cases, we must learn to agree; and often we need to verbalize it by confession.
Confessing False Ideas
Why was John so worried about someone verbalizing their false belief about sin? Both verse 8 and 10, surrounding verse 9, indicate this false confession.
While John does not use the word 'repent' in this passage, it is implied. A true confession requires repentance, otherwise it is fake. People say all sorts of disingenuous things as I just mentioned.
Scriptural confession is a true heart based change of belief that you express verbally for yourself and others to read or hear.
However, just as a believer can genuinely confess Christ and the gospel; false teachers also confess what is in their wicked hearts. You can confess anything - even evil.
Remember, confession is just verbal agreement with a belief system. It is whether the belief system matches God's truth that matters - not the act of confession itself.
The question is: was there anyone in the church to whom John was writing who did not verbally agree with God about sin? And, was the fact they were verbal about it important?
I believe there is both scriptural and historical evidence that there was.
Early Gnosticism
There is a general consensus that there were several different forms of early Gnosticism that influenced the early church, and specifically at Ephesus (John's audience).
Understanding this heresy and the fact it was an influence in the early church is key to understanding the Johanian epistles - especially 1 John.
Here is a quick article explaining why:
https://www.blogos.org/exploringtheword/1-john-gnosticism.php
I have some issues with Got Questions, but they do explain early Gnosticism well:
https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-gnosticism.html
And finally, if you are a glutton for punishment and want all the details:
https://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/gnosticism.html
Why This Matters?
Please feel free to read the above resources, but I will cut to the chase:
One of the main Gnostic type beliefs was that the spirit and the body were disconnected. The body (or physical matter) was inherently evil, and the spirit was inherently good.
This meant that they believed humanity was born good at their core. There was the pesky body that was evil, but in reality, humanity has no issues.
The two main errors that these false teachers in the church were promulgating based on this belief system were as follows:
Because sin was done by the body, this did not impact the spirit. So, sin, as an entity, was not an issue.
The incarnation was not real because Christ could not have had a physical body, since it was inherently evil.
You can see they these are some major false beliefs - truly heretical. They both totally undermine the gospel (definition of heresy).
If sin is not an issue, what are we being saved from? And if Christ was not human, how could He save us? If humanity is born good, why is the sacrifice of Christ even needed?
This was a major issue in the Ephesian church. And these folks were slick talkers - Greek philosophers who mixed a bit of Christianity into their lies.
When you understand that John was writing to fight back against these false teachers, and these specific teachings, then 1 John will make a lot more sense.
As noted in my CCC #2, while John did write to the church at Ephesus to help believers repel this false teaching, sometimes he was addressing the false teachers or unbelievers influenced by them, not only believers.
John Clearly Confirms the Bad Ideas He is Confronting
But how do we know that is why John was writing them? The above resources mention this, but just to be clear - John himself says so:
1 John 2:26 - “I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.”
1 John 4:1-3a - “1-Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2-By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
3-and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.”
John's use of 'spirit' here referring to the false teachers could be confusing. Some want to turn this into something ‘spooky’, but it's not.
While all false teaching is ultimately the “doctrine of demons”, as some epistolic writers put it, that is not John's point here.
John is literally throwing the Gnostic teaching back in their faces. Because they believed the human spirit was intrinsically good, he was eviscerating this concept.
It is quite clever (Holy Spirit inspiration always is.) He is saying that these people spouting about how they are intrinsically good are confessing something that shows they are not!
It is one or the other. Either you confess Christ came in the flesh and died for your sins so He could give you a new spirit which makes you good; or you are not good.
John is showing how the false teaching destroys it's own validity by default - the gospel defends itself!
If Christ did not come in the flesh, then He could not have died and resurrected.
As Paul would say, no resurrection = no salvation. John proves that these “good spirits” speaking this nonsense were not of God.
But, they were slick talkers and sounded so wise. They were fooling believers and unbelievers alike in the church. They were disrupting the true work of the gospel for everyone.
And as John stated, 1 John is a massive attack on these people and their evil doctrine and influence in the church.
What Does This Have to do With Confession of Sin?
Ok, so remember that confession is verbal agreement with truth - particularly God's truth. Here is an example of God's truth:
Romans 5:12 - “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.”
Does what the Gnostics were confessing in the church about sin align with this truth? Of course not.
They were verbally agreeing with a false doctrine, not God's truth. They were publicly confessing lies.
This was extremely destructive all around. If an unbeliever in the church believes this, they will never get saved.
And if a believer believes this, they will start participating in destructive behavior thinking that sinning against the body was fine.
You can see how even today these ideas take hold. There are elements within the church that promote immorality as being fine. Some use the new birth to promote this!
And many people think they are basically good, or good enough, so they don't need Christ. Or they think they can deal with their sins in their own power.
As usual, false teaching takes elements of truth and twists them. The new birth is how we have the power to say no to sin, it is not an excuse to give into sin!
Based on what we have learned about this false teaching, let's take a look at 1 John 1 in depth.
Fellowship
My next CCC will be about 'fellowship'. Most of these concepts play off of one another, so it's hard to study them in a certain order.
This is another Princess Bride moment where the word in scripture doesn't always mean what many think it means.
We often think of fellowship like a potluck dinner at church. A group of people getting together, having conversation, and sharing time. We think of the verb: 'fellowshipping'.
That is not the main scriptural idea of fellowship. In scripture, fellowship is a group of people with a common calling or purpose: it is a noun.
Think “Fellowship of the Ring” by Tolkien. Yes, the group ate together, but that was not the point of calling it a fellowship. It was a group of people working together with a shared mission.
Likewise in scripture 'fellowship' describes the shared calling and bond believers obtain with the Trinity and each other when we are born of God.
Christ prayed in John 17:21 “that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
He was describing the divine fellowship of believers - connection and oneness with God - and all the other promises and gifts we share with Him and other believers.
I will leave it there for now, until my next article. But here is the lynchpin verse for fellowship:
1 Corinthians 1:9 - “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (ESV)
As with all gospel related things, bringing us into the fellowship is a work of God for and to us. It is all about Him, not our actions.
Sadly, as with all ideas that corrupt the gospel, we want to make it about us and our communion with God.
Our ongoing communion with God is only enabled by the fact that He has birthed us into the fellowship of His body. We are not maintaining the fellowship by our communion.
This mindset about fellowship is a critical error that plays into the meaning of 1 John 1:9.
What Does Fellowship Have to do With Confession?
If you think fellowship with God is an ongoing work in 1 John 1, then it will follow that everything else in the chapter is too.
But if you recognize that joining the fellowship of God's family is synonymous with salvation, then it clarifies the rest.
John is writing to a mixed audience - some are believers, some are not, and some are false teachers. And even false teachers can be saved! I mean, Saul of Tarsus was!
So, based on what I have just discussed, how do you read:
1 John 1:3 - “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.”
Once again, this fellowship is a noun, not a verb. It is being a partner with Christ - part of God's family. The word 'have' is really stronger, more like 'possess'.
John and his fellow apostles were in this fellowship with God and Christ, but some in his audience were not.
As I mentioned above, this is connection and union with the Trinity - this is not a daily quiet time. You are either in or out - and this is a permanent fellowship.
He is writing so that those false teachers and other unbelievers might get their act together, repent, confess, and join the fellowship of God along with the other apostles and believers.
For those who are already in the fellowship, but are experiencing doubt or other negative effects of the false teaching, John is reassuring them of their place.
Being in or out is not based on daily works - it is based on faith in Christ. At your new birth, you are born of God -into the fellowship.
This starts an entire series of hypothetical statements intended by John to categorize and contrast those who are in the fellowship of Christ with those who are not.
If you are in already, if you are a believer, then you can be reassured by these words that there is no action for you to take other than gratitude.
However, if you are not in, you need to heed the warning of John and repent and confess. Where you place yourself when reading these words makes all the difference.
The Hypothetical Statements
John makes several hypothetical statements starting with “If we…”
Note: Again, some try to say that because 'we' is used, John is including himself - thus his audience is only believers. But as we will see, John already indicates he does not fit some of the conditions.
The hypothetical statements are meant as a contrast. There are two groups of people contrasted. You must decide which group you are in.
Again, with a hypothetical, if the shoe fits, wear it. If you are already a believer, then many of the 1 John 1 shoes do not fit.
There are two main categories of hypothetical statements:
Those who walk in the light vs. those who walk in darkness.
Those who admit sin vs. those who think sin is no issue.
Fellowship with Christ, forgiveness and cleansing of sin, and being indwelled by Christ are all tied to whichever hypothetical group you are in.
Note: One important thing about John is he likes to use imagery to describe Christ. He is the one who called him the living Word. He is the only one who writes about Christ's self-description as the Way, Truth, Life, and Light.
Fellowship, Cleansing, and Walking in the Light
1 John 1:6-7 - “6-If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7-But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Group 1: claims to possess fellowship with Christ, yet they walk in the darkness. They are liars, and have a practice of lying. They do not possess fellowship with Christ.
Group 2: walks in the light, possesses fellowship with believers (and Christ), and the blood of Christ cleanses them from all sin.
Now - which group is believers and which group is unbelievers? Which group is John in? Didn't he already say that the fellowship he possesses is with Christ?
Do unbelievers have all or even any of their sins cleansed by Christ? No.
Note: Some who want to make this about ongoing works do some funny business with the tense of 'cleanses'. They says because it indicates ongoing action then it is tied to ongoing works of the believer.
However, though all of our sins are forgiven and cleansed, past, present, and future, you still have to commit future sins. Thus, the forgiveness and cleansing is automatic, but until you actually sin, nothing needs to be forgiven or cleansed!
John has already indicated that he is in the fellowship group. Thus, he walks in the light and his sins are cleansed by the blood. And so are all believers!
But the Gnostic false teachers were not in fellowship, they walked in darkness, and their sins were not cleansed.
Sin Deniers vs. the Word, the Way, the Truth, and the Light
1 John 1:8-10 - “8-If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9-If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10-If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.
Please remember this is a contrast with early Gnostic beliefs. This is not a true believer who gets caught in a sin and lies about it to avoid trouble.
This is a person who denies the very concept of sin. When they “say they have no sin”, they mean none, nada, they have never sinned. So, once again, the contrast of two groups:
Group 1: says they have never sinned; the Truth and Word does not live in them; their sins are not forgiven and cleansed.
Group 2: freely admits they have sinned; have the Word and Truth living in them; all their sins are forgiven and cleansed.
Which group is unbelieving Gnostic false teachers? Which group is believers?
And is John including himself in group 1 by using 'we'? Of course not.
He has already said he was in fellowship. These are hypothetical statements to contrast false teaching with the gospel. John was not denying the concept of sin (probably ever as a Hebrew).
The only action a believer should take after reading 1 John 1 is to confess that because of the finished work of Christ and our new birth we:
Possess (own) fellowship with Christ. He is in us, and we are in Him. The Word, the Way, the Truth, the Life, and the Light dwells within us.
All of our sins have been taken away and we are cleansed. We are the righteousness of God.
We can walk in the light because all of this is true.
We can continually verbally agree with God in all things (confess), including sin, because this is true.
We have full access to or communion with God at all times because of this - nothing interrupts this.
Yet, if we believe Gnostic heresy and think that Christ's blood is not real, then clearly we do not agree with God about our sins.
Thus, we need to repent of that false belief and confess that we are sinners so that we can turn to Christ for salvation.
1 John 1:9 Investigated Further
I hope I have convinced you that 1 John 1:9 is primarily for sin-denying unbelievers. It does not institute an ongoing practice for believers.
As a believer, you have already agreed with God that you have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You are not a Gnostic.
But there are clues in the verse itself that further confirm this idea. Let's repeat it again for clarity sake:
1 John 1:9 - “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
If we (anyone who disagrees) verbally agree with God about our sins (that sin is real - that we have sinned), God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to purify us of all unrighteousness.
John is directly addressing “denial of sins” here. We know that there is more faith required than this for salvation. As I said before, there is implied repentance.
Here is the repentance / confession 'formula' for salvation:
Romans 10:9 - “that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Gnostic beliefs do not allow this. They do not believe God physically raised Christ from the dead. And by confessing that they had never sinned, they could not confess “Jesus is Lord”.
Only by Jesus being Lord, with the power to take away the sins of the world, can we be saved.
If anyone truly believes they have no sins to deal with, then they cannot admit Jesus is Lord. This heresy impacted many truths of the gospel.
All Means All - Confess for Forgiveness?
Again, my strongest argument within the verse is the word 'ALL'. Only a believer is cleansed of all unrighteousness. We have literally become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
And again, the other main issue is that forgiveness from God is directly tied to this confession - thus you only receive forgiveness when you confess.
If this is to be an ongoing action by a believer, then the once for all time forgiveness enacted by the sacrifice of Christ cannot be true.
This is worse than the old covenant: their sins were forgiven every year on the day of atonement. If 1 John 1:9 is for believers, then we get our sins forgiven one by one, little by little, as we confess them.
But thankfully, this verse is not for believers. Of that I am fully convinced.
Argument Against my Logic
The main argument that this is for believers, (besides interpreting fellowship incorrectly and 'we'), is the type of word confess is in the Greek.
In 1 John 1:9, it is “present subjunctive active”. Now, in one sense, this actually confirms my argument because subjunctive is used for hypotheticals.
This is another confirmation that John is speaking hypothetically.
However, present subjunctive active also means an “ongoing action”, thus some take this to mean that confession of sin is an ongoing action of a believer.
If this is the case, then you still have to deal with the other issues. You can't say that we are forgiven once for all, for all time, by the work of Christ and say 1 John 1:9 is for believers.
There is a very simple explanation of John's usage here, perhaps too simple for scholars to notice. (I jest, of course!)
The word confess is also first person plural. Which means it is referring to one action of multiple individuals.
John is referring to the ongoing action of salvation occurring as someone who previously would not admit they are a sinner verbally agrees with God about their sin.
It is the ongoing confession, through a time period, of many people who have denied their sin.
And that is a perfectly legitimate explanation that does not create the conundrum of ongoing forgiveness based in our work of confession.
1 John 1:9 Conclusion
John was simply saying that there is a group of people who confess that they have no sin, and thus the truth is not in them, they walk in darkness, and they are not in the fellowship of believers.
Hypothetically, this group of sin deniers, each one at a different time, but in an ongoing way through a period of time, could change their mind or repent of their false idea about sin, and then confess that they are sinners.
This is very specific: these people have publically denied sin as an issue. They needed to verbally acknowledge their sin publically. John was getting at their heart issue, not making a new way to be saved.
He was not changing what Paul said -that believing and confessing Christ brings salvation. But their belief about sin prevented this.
If they would agree with God about their sin, it would result in them turning to Christ for salvation, admitting that He was Lord, came in the flesh, and died for their sins.
And it would help the church - that is why it needed to be verbal. They needed to help fix the lies they told.
Thus, they would have the Way, the Truth, the Life, the Light, and the Word living in them; they would join the fellowship of believers and Christ; and begin a practice of walking in the light.
Ultimately as John writes in verse 4:
“We write these things so that our joy may be complete.”
John was not a hypocrite. He truly loved these false teachers and wanted them to come to a knowledge of the truth. He was not trying to beat them up.
But he hated the damage they were doing to the church, and he wrote his epistles to try and get the believers in the congregation to put a stop to it.
But first, they had to realize they were in the fellowship, they were indwelled by the truth, and they were walking in the light. They were different from these Gnostics.
Only then could they be bold and reject the false teaching. And today, we need to take this same reassurance from 1 John 1 - not the doubt that is so often taught from this passage.
Repentance of Sin
In my last article about repentance, I made the case that repentance directed exclusively at sin was not required for salvation.
And certainly, the work of “turning from sin”, as many misdefine repentance, is not required. That would be akin to “works salvation”.
However, in 1 John 1, we see an example where repentance towards sin is needed for salvation - these Gnostics did not believe sin was an issue and they were verbal about it.
This prevented them turning to Christ for salvation. They needed to change their mind or repent about their belief towards sin and John was calling for them to be verbal about that repentance.
Of course, they also needed to change their mind about Christ and believe that He came in the flesh and died for their sins. But John's point is that their belief about sin itself was key in preventing their salvation.
Thus, we see that there are many mindsets that prevent turning to Christ for salvation, including towards sin.
Admitting You are a Sinner
So, you may think this is semantics, but I said above I agreed with Andrew Farley that you must admit you are a sinner in need of salvation before you will seek out the answer to that problem.
You may think this negates my arguments about scriptural repentance, however it does not. You can agree with God that you are a sinner in need of salvation and yet never come to Christ for that salvation.
Ultimately this means that it is repentance towards Christ preventing your salvation, not sin. Can you see this? Am I explaining it well?
Most religious people are not Gnostics. They are religious because they intrinsically understand they are flawed - they have a problem called sin. And they are religious because they are seeking to deal with that problem.
However, I would argue religion is one of the biggest obstacles to faith in Christ. People try to fix their sin problem in all sorts of ways that do not follow the gospel.
Legalism is ultimately trying to fix your sin problem in non-gospel ways - either before or after salvation.
So, you see, yes, ultimately you do need to recognize your sin problem in order to realize you need a solution. But that is no guarantee of salvation.
Just like the Pharisees and other Jews of Christ's day, agreeing with God about sin is not enough. You also must confess the correct solution for your sin - Christ.
And that is the point of how scripture handles repentance and confession. Whatever mindset is blocking faith in Christ should be jettisoned.
And this is true both before and after salvation. Thus, my arguments about scriptural repentance and confession still stand.
Scriptural Confession
As I have said, like repentance, confession is a tool for repeated use by the believer. It is verbalizing your repentance, confirming to yourself and others your belief in truth.
Yes, sometimes it is good to talk to yourself! This is healthy self-talk.
Repentance is changing your mind and mentally agreeing with God; confession is verbalizing this agreement.
What About Sin for a Believer?
While I hope to have convinced you that 1 John 1:9 is not instruction for a believer, does that mean that we should never confess sin?
If, by confess, you mean “make a sin list”, then I would say no. That is an utter waste of time. When you sin, don't list it, just stop, thank Christ He has it covered, and ask for wisdom to not be stupid again in the future.
However, based on the true meaning of confession in scripture, shouldn't we verbally agree with God about sin? Of course - absolutely!
Agreeing with God and His truth on all topics (including sin) should be a lifestyle for a believer! As we grow in grace and knowledge we should agree more and more. And we should not be afraid to verbalize it.
Again, like repentance, restricting confession only to sin greatly weakens this tool God has gifted us.
Final Thoughts
I realize that these CCC studies are long, but they are important. We must learn to change our mind to align with God's truth and be willing to verbalize that alignment when needed.
My goal is never to stir up controversy or poke anyone's sacred cows, but if the study of scripture does this, then so be it. Your response is between you and God.
Nor do I claim to know everything perfectly - much less communicate it well. My writing is a sacrifice to God; He can use it as He chooses.
The truth always sets you free. If this truth about confession helps even one person break free from the enemy bondage of obsession with sin and sin listing, it is worth it.
Mainly because now you have more time to focus on using confession as scripture intended!
And that is perfectly encapsulated in Ephesians 4 so I will leave you with this as my final admonition for now:
Ephesians 4:14-15 - “14-Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.
15-Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.”
If you are a Gnostic, change your mind about sin and confess it - ultimately confessing Christ.
If you are a Judaizer, then change your mind about your false religion, believe the truth about Christ, and confess Him.
If you are a believer, stop listening to those who are not agreeing with what God says about sin, Christ, the gospel, or anything else - even confession! And don't just accept teaching (even mine) without studying it yourself.
When you confess anything, but especially the gospel: “speak the truth in love.”
More than ever, I want to grow in that mentality. And I hope and pray you will too. So, joyfully confess from your new heart! What a privilege it is that God has gifted us this ability. Use it well!