1 John 1:5-10
Sins and Forgiveness
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out 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, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
Luke 18:9-14
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
When we realize that we are sinners, then we can confess our sins and be closer to God...If we claim that we do not sin, then we are deceiving ourselves...But if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us of our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness...God hears the humbled and not so much those that exalt themselves...
Author and Priest Brennan Manning wrote, “The sinners to whom Jesus directed His messianic ministry were not those who skipped morning devotions or Sunday church...His ministry was to those whom society considered real sinners...They had done nothing to merit salvation...Yet they opened themselves to the gift that was offered them...On the other hand, the self-righteous placed their trust in the works of the Law and closed their hearts to the message of grace."...