Topic #22 The Second false Claim – Part 2
RESTORATION TO FELLOWSHIP
Review
The second false claim begins in verse 8 with The Alleged Claim, “If we claim that we have no sin nature.” Then the Admonishing Censure, “we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” We close the second false claim with verse 9, The Amazing Cure:
1 John 1:9
If we 1 confess [acknowledge] our sins [to God the Father], [then] He is faithful [He always does it because He is immutable] and just, with the result He will forgive us our sins [sins that we are aware of], and He will cleanse us from all wrongdoing [sins unknown and forgotten]. 2
Introduction
After censuring those who taught that the believer does not have a sin nature, John explains the true doctrine. Since sin will separate us from fellowshipping with God, and since we sin after salvation, a divine remedy is needed. The barrier of personal sin is removed when we confess to Him our sins. This gracious provision is special and unique, and for those who are born again, members of the family of God. This passage is about restoration to fellowship.
This is to be accomplished through prayer. In a prayer of confession, we privately cite our sin to God; we name the sin. In seeking forgiveness, the priority is to go to God in prayer and acknowledge our sins. Be specific! Father, “I was angry and spoke out in anger, saying hurtful things, attacking the person rather than the problem.” Father, “I gossiped, spreading hearsay about another person.” You see, homologeo means “name the sin, cite the sin.” Since this doctrine has had such a long history of abuse and distortion, we have compiled a list of mistaken ideas about the subject of confessing our sins.
Mistakes Often Made
Not A Public Confession of Sins:
This word is often used to confess something publicly, to make an open and free declaration of something, such as in 1 John 2:23; 4:2,3; 4:15. However, this is not a public confession, but a private confession of sin to God the Father through prayer. This is where we start. It is the same idea that we find in David’s confession of sin in Psalm 51:4, “Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight.” There is a time when we go to another believer and confess the wrong we have done to them. Still, John’s focus is on the restoration of the believer to fellowship with God, not mending fences with other believers. 3 In other words, we are to give top priority to our relationship with God. After confession, it might be necessary to resolve the problems with others our sin may have hurt.
No Intermediaries
There are no intermediaries in this passage. You represent yourself before God. You are responsible for your sins, known and unknown, because they come from your own volition connected to your sin nature. You are to acknowledge your sins to the Father and not to a priest or a pastor. In a chapter on “Counseling and Prayer,” Dr. Jay Adam’s developing the concept of “False Ideas about Prayer” speaks out regarding Catholic practices:
The Roman Catholic view of prayer also must be opposed. Prayer to saints and to Mary amount to (1) a rejection of the accessibility of God in Christ (the only mediator) and (2) an ascription of attributes to glorified human beings that belong to God alone. 4
Also, the concept of the confessional box, where the Catholic goes to confess their sins to a priest, has no Biblical warrant. We are to go directly to God.
Non-meritorious
There are two points to be made. First, like salvation, confessing our sins is a non-meritorious activity. In God’s perfect plan of grace, He does the work, and we reap the blessings and benefits. In salvation, only God accomplishes anything meritorious. He possesses all the merit, and He receives all the glory. This is the clear teaching of Scripture. For instance:
Ephesians 2:8, 9
8) For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9) not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
What must I do to be saved? This question is offered with the view that there is some work that you can do for salvation. Like, “I will be a good person, or I will go to Church.” This is utter nonsense. People who want to do something for their salvation do so because they are so filled with themselves, but salvation is not about them, “and that not of yourself.” They are blinded by their arrogance so that they cannot see that the Word of God calls upon them to believe in Christ “through faith,” and it is “not a result of works.” Why? “So that no one could boast” about how they have done something to earn their salvation. God does not ask you to do anything for salvation, accept to believe in Christ. Here is the important take away from this passage, believing in Christ is a non-meritorious act. We hold onto His nail-scarred hands. He did the work. It is “faith alone in Christ alone.” Remember, it is a gift!
Secondly, confessing our sins is also a non-meritorious act. The Father forgives us our sins and cleanses us from all wrongdoing on no other condition than confessing that sin to God. He saves us on no other condition than to believe in Christ as Savior. 5 This is God’s magnificent grace in action. For this reason, we reject the entire concept of works for forgiveness. The arrogant believer invents their own substitutes for this gracious provision from God. They will seek forgiveness by doing penance-giving up certain things for a short period, such as in Lent. They will beat their breast, show great emotion, feel sorry for their sins, and promise God never to do it again. These actions have no spiritual value. For instance, you may see people with ashes on their forehead in the form of a cross. This is the beginning of Lent. A time when the Christian community shows contrition for their sins and enters into the suffering of Jesus. This is evil, a great lie, a deception, and a distortion of Biblical teaching. It is a false and hollow substitute for true repentance and confession and, again, has no spiritual value. Divine forgiveness for the believer is conditioned on the confession of sin, not giving up coffee for forty days.
Nothing But The Blood
The grace provisions of salvation and confession are freely given to us, but our Lord paid a heavy price for them. Dr. Zane C. Hodges writing about confession makes this point quite clear:
This has nothing to do with our initial salvation which is fully guaranteed to us at the moment of our faith. Rather it has to do with the righteousness of God in permitting His far from perfect children to live in His presence and to share the light where He is. Nothing less than the blood of Christ could make this possible, and no Christian has ever enjoyed so much as a single moment of fellowship to which the Savior’s sacrifice, in all its value, has not been contemporaneously applied! 6
Not Emotion, But Repentance
Emotion is not repentance. The idea that repentance must be accompanied by hand wringing emotion is not accurate. This caricature is misleading. The word repentance means “change of mind.” The great Greek scholar of the last century, A.T. Robinson, laments that we have hooked all sorts of emotional connotations on METANOIA (repentance). He says, “It is a linguistic and theological tragedy that we go on using repentance for metanoia.” 7 He prefers “change of mind and life.” This is confused with another word METAMELOMAI” which means “to be sorry about.” People can feel sorry about a lot of things, but their emotional guilt is no substitute for true repentance.
When we confront our sins, emotions are involved, but feeling sorry for our sins, by itself, has no spiritual benefit. For when the tears are dried up, we are still the same persons we were before. Repentance leading to the confession of our sins is God’s way to restore us to fellowship with Him.
You may ask, “John doesn’t say anything about repentance.” True enough, but John is not teaching a step by step procedure on how to be restored to fellowship with God. 8 Some things come before confession and some things after. John does not talk about how repentance logically comes first, nor does he explain how reconciliation with other persons must follow. 1 John is not the only book in the Bible, and therefore, there is a broader treatment of this subject to be found when other Scriptures are examined. The danger in interpretation occurs when we make this verse a private interpretation, 1 Peter 1:21.
John shows that confession is provided based upon the character of God. Of the ten leading attributes of God, two are mentioned: Immutability and Justice.
God’s faithfulness is an extension of His immutability. From His immutability stems His great faithfulness:
Lamentations 3:22–23
22) The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed NEVER cease, For His compassions NEVER fail.
23) They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
God is unchangeable, “For I, the LORD, do not change” Malachi 3:6. With God there is “no variation, or shifting shadow” James 1:17.
The Scripture in several passages declares God’s faithfulness:
He is faithful to keep His promises:
1 Kings 8:56
“Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant.
Not one promise He has given has ever failed. We are promise breakers, but He always keeps His word.
He is faithful in keeping us saved.
1 Corinthians 1:9
God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The call to salvation imparts to us all eternal life. Paul wrote to Titus:
Titus 1:2
in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,
He is faithful to sustain us in times of great pressure:
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
He is faithful in strengthening and protecting us from Satan.
2 Thessalonians 3:3
But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
Lastly, He is faithful in forgiving us of our sins. In fact, faithfulness is a characteristic of our Lord, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever” Hebrews 13:8. Due to His faithfulness to the Father’s plan, He was honored with the title, “The Faithful Witness” Revelation 1:5.
A second picture is drawn from the fact of God’s justice. It is God’s justice at work that frees God to forgive and cleanse the confessing believer. This would not be possible if it weren’t for the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on the cross. We have already learned from John that “the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin” verse 6. God’s amazing grace is fully on display at the cross. Every blessing we have proceeds from the cross.
It is such a shame that we do not understand the great blessing that is ours that comes through His strategic victory on the cross. What He endured so that we might be able to commune with Him. He did the dying so that we can confess our sins and remain in fellowship with Him. When we lose sight of the cross, that glorious all-sufficient work of Christ on our behalf, we deceive ourselves in believing that our good deeds will cleanse us from all sin. This is spiritual madness.
Dikiaios is sometimes translated righteousness, at other times, justice. A good question is, “When does it mean righteousness, and when does it mean justice? Righteousness refers to the perfect standard of God. All of His attitudes and actions conform to this flawless standard. “He is righteous in all His ways,” Psalm 145:17. Perfect, free of sin, cannot be tempted, infinitely good are all features of His righteousness. They point to His Person, and it is what makes God, truly God.
He is also just, and these two attributes work together to protect against any compromise of His divine character, Psalm 89:14. What righteousness rejects, justice condemns. When the righteousness of God is violated, the justice of God is activated. Divine justice is best exemplified in God’s plan of redemption. It was on the cross that Christ took our place and on which He was judged for all our sins. We will return to this theme when we complete the third false claim and study the Doctrine of Propitiation, 1 John 2:1,2.
The promise of forgiveness is assured us because God has never failed to keep His word. He is immutable. Also, this remedy is embedded in the Justice of God. He forgives our sins, for they have been judged. Justice has been satisfied. When you confess your sin, remember that the penalty in which your sin merits have fallen on Christ. I would have loved to be in Dr. Chafer’s class when he taught 1 John 1:1- 2:2. Here is his summary of what we have been studying.
So, likewise, this divine forgiveness and cleansing are not said to be acts of divine mercy and kindness, being wrought rather on the basis of absolute righteousness which is made possible through the fact that the penalty which the sin merits has fallen upon the Substitute—God’s provided Lamb. Since the Substitute has endured the penalty, God is seen to be just rather than merciful when He justifies the unsaved who do no more than to “believe in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26), and just rather than merciful when He forgives the Christian who has sinned, on no other condition than that he “confess” his sin (1 John 1:9). In forgiving the Christian who confesses his sin, God is “faithful” to His eternal character and purpose and is “just” in so doing because of the penalty which Christ has endured. The basis for this provision whereby the Christian may be forgiven and cleansed in the faithfulness and justice of God is found in the declaration which consummates this context (1 John 2:2), where it is said that “he is the propitiation for our sins.” Since this context is concerned only with the sins of Christians, the great aspect of propitiation for a lost world is mentioned here only incidentally. Too much emphasis cannot be placed on the fact that Christ is the propitiation for our sins. By His death He has rendered God propitious and free to forgive and cleanse the Christian who confesses his sin. 9
Confessing your sin may seem all too easy when you first hear about it, but it wasn’t easy for our precious Lord. He was bruised for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities, Isaiah 53:5. It is the blood of Christ that cleanses our sins, nothing else will remove its stain.
The first Result: The Forgiveness of sin
Judicial Forgiveness
In our previous lesson, we learned about a great lie foisted upon the church. It is that we have no sin nature. If this is true, why do I still sin? In this remarkable passage, we learn about our Heavenly Father’s remedy for personal sin in the life of a child of God, AFTER SALVATION. This is not to be confused with what happens to our personal sins when we are saved. When we trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, the full benefits of saving grace became ours. Immediately! Completely! Without merit on our part! These blessings are ours forever. In the enumerated list of thirty-eight salvational blessing 10 numbers seven through nine are especially significant:
#7. THE BELIEVER’S CONDEMNATION IS REMOVED - John 3:18; 5:24; Romans 8:1.
#8. THE BELIEVER ‘S SINS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE ARE JUDGED BY THE DEATH OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS - Romans 4:25; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 2:24.
#9. THE BELIEVER HAS ALL THEIR SINS FORGIVEN AND THEIR TRANSGRESSIONS BLOTTED OUT- Isaiah 43:25; 44:22; Ephesians 1:7; 4:32; Colossians 1:14; 2:13; 3:13.
Parental Forgiveness
“Secondly, as believers, we are going to need daily cleansing from personal sin. What great relief to know that our Heavenly Father forgives us of “all [kinds of] sin.” The regular maintenance for personal sin in the life of a believer is coming up and found in 1 John 1:9 “confessing our sins to God.” 11
The Second Result: Cleansing From All Wrongdoing
The Concept of Unknown sins
Dr Hodges writes:
But, of course, it is obvious in all this that one can only acknowledge what the light shows him. There can be no question of confessing unknown sins, since a man cannot confess what he does not know…. In a word, when we make a clean breast of the sins the light discloses, not only are these faults forgiven, but ALL else that is not right in our lives—however ignorant we may be about it—is at the same time thoroughly cleansed away 12
In Summary:
What kinds of sin is involved in “all wrongdoing?” Sins of ignorance, sins we know nothing about in our lives, and sins we commit that we have not grown in grace enough to see. Here is the real truth: sin is more subtle and more persuasive in character than we think.
The Conclusion:
The blessings of being restored to fellowship are these:
1. Confession restores the filling of the Spirit.
2. Confession restores our continuing fellowship with the Father and the Son.
3. Confession resumes of our spiritual walk.
Contrast this with the effects of sin?
1. Sin causes a loss of fellowship.
2. Sin shuts us off from the power of the Holy Spirit.
3. Sin places us under divine discipline.
4. Sin causes a loss of rewards.13
The concept of the restoration to fellowship is described in different ways in the Scripture. Here is a list of passages to consider that contains the idea of restoration to fellowship. For instance:
1. Acknowledge your iniquity, Jeremiah 3:13; 14:20; Psalm 32:5; Psalm 38:18.
2. A personal analogy of self-examination is found in 1 Corinthians 11:31:
1 Corinthians 11:31
But if we judged ourselves rightly [confess our sins], we would not be judged [receive divine discipline].
See Also: 1 Corinthians 11:28
Self-judgement is what we do as we confess our sins. We judge ourselves. We have sinned.
3. In a military analogy Paul said:
Romans 6:13
and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves [restoration to fellowship] to God as those alive from the dead [outside the circle of fellowship], and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
Present yourself is that aspect of confessing our sins when our conviction moves us to submit to God.
4. Athletic analogy, Paul would write:
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside [restoration to fellowship] every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us [resumption of our spiritual lives],
5. Priestly analogy
Hebrews 12:9
Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits [repentance leading to the confession of our sin], and live [reside inside the circle of fellowship]
6. Worship Analogy
Hebrews 12:12,13
12) Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble [under divine discipline],
13) and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame [out of fellowship] may not be put out of joint [receive more discipline], but rather be healed [restored to fellowship].
7. Resurrection Analogy
Ephesians 5:14
For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead [out of fellowship], And Christ will shine on you [restored to fellowship].”
See Also: Romans 13:11
8. The Clothing Analogy
Romans 13:12
The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside [confess our sins] the deeds of darkness and put on [walk in the light as He is in the light] the armor of light [restoration to fellowship].
See also: Romans 13:14; Ephesians 4:22,23; Colossians 3:8,9.
__________
1 The inclusive use of the first-person plural, John and his audience, and since this was written to us as well, we are included.
2 See Exegesis of 1 John 1:9 that supports the expanded translation. Click here
3 The principle is this. All sins require confession to God, but only some sins require confession to other persons as well. In the case of reconciling a broken relationship in the Body of Christ, the person wronged and the offender are seen walking toward each other to repair their relationship. Both are responsible, the person wronged must follow the Lord’s counsel in Matthew 18:15, while the offender follows the pattern of Matthew 5:23,24. The steps of reconciliation that the Scriptures teach begins “privately” between the two persons. Jesus teaches this when He instructs:
Matthew 18:15
“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.
4 Jay E. Adams, More Than Redemption, Presbyterian and Reform Publishing Co., Phillipsburg, New Jersey, 1979. Chapter 6, Counseling and Prayer, pp. 61 – 87. The entire chapter is excellent and practical.
5 Chafer, L. S. (1993). Systematic theology (Vol. 2, p. 337). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
6 Bibliotheca Sacra: A quarterly published by Dallas Theological Seminary. (1955–1995). Dallas, TX: Dallas Theological Seminary. “Fellowship and Confession in 1 John 1:5-10, Zane C. Hodges, Vol 129, Issue 513, 1972.
7 Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (2 Co 7:9). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.
8 Step by step procedure begins with:
1. Repentance – We must repent of sin, Revelation 2:5.
This requires us to change our minds toward sin. Repentance rises from the distress and grief from divine discipline that comes from God, 2 Corinthians 7:10.
2. Confession – We must confess our sin to God,1 John 1:9.
We acknowledge our sins to God in prayer, calling it what God does. We do not need to ask God for forgiveness; he promises it when we fulfill the condition of confession.
3. Reconciliation -If we have hurt others, we must go to them and ask for their forgiveness, Mathew 5:23-24; 6:12, 14-15.
9 op. cit Chafer, Vol. 2, p. 337
10 This list is found in the Reference Section, and the article is “The Riches Of Divine Grace.” Click here.
11 See Topic #20, The First False Claim, where Judicial and Parental forgiveness is explained. Also, See Jay E. Adams, More Than Redemption, Presbyterian and Reform Publishing Co., Phillipsburg, New Jersey, 1979, especially pp. 213 – 214 “God’s Forgiveness of Us.” I highly recommend this for Adam’s compares judicial forgiveness with parental forgiveness showing their similarities and differences.
12 Hodges, Z. C. (1972). Fellowship and confession in 1 John 1:5–10. Bibliotheca Sacra, 129, 58–59.
13 See “The Alarming Contradiction” Topic #18, the paragraph on the “Awful Consequences of Sin.”