According to Jesus, his death and resurrection ushered
in the New Covenant of Grace. With the New Covenant of Grace, complete
forgiveness was ushered in (Matthew 26:27 and Luke 22:20). Under the Old Covenant of Law, forgiveness was conditional. Conditional forgiveness was God
forgiving us based upon our forgiveness of others. Complete forgiveness is God forgiving us of all our sins because Jesus died for all our sins. Through faith, we receive his complete forgiveness. Colossians 2:14 says “He (God) forgave us all our sins.” Because God has forgiven us of all our sins
through faith in Jesus, we no longer have to keep asking him to forgive us of
sin, instead we thank him for forgiving us and rest in the fact we are forgiven. Many people who have never been fully taught the truths
of the New Covenant of Grace typically respond to the message of complete
forgiveness of all our sins by asking about the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:12 ,
14-15) and 1 John 1:9, since both refer to confessing sin to be forgiven by
God. They will ask, “What about the Lord’s
Prayer and 1 John 1:9?”. This is a good question. It is the same question I
asked when first learning about complete forgiveness under the New Covenant of Grace. So let's take a look at the Lord's Prayer and 1 John 1:9 in light of the New Covenant of Grace. At the end of The Lord's Prayer, Jesus
says that unless we forgive others, God will not forgive us (Matthew 6:14-15,
see also Matthew 18:35). Jesus is saying that forgiveness from God is based
upon our forgiveness of others. Matthew 18 clarifies how many times we must
forgive to be forgiven, seventy- times seven, or every time we are offended, we
must first forgive others before God will forgive us. This isn't good news.
Jesus is saying that forgiveness is conditional upon our forgiving others. How
many people could be completely forgiven based on conditional forgiveness?
None! When did Jesus teach this truth on forgiveness? It was under the Old Covenant of Law. The New Covenant had yet to replace the Old Covenant. When
Jesus died, the new covenant went into effect replacing the Old Covenant (Matthew
26:27; Luke 22:20: Hebrews 8:13 & 9:15-17). As a result, God set aside the Old Covenant of Law to establish the New Covenant of Grace (Hebrews 10:9-18). Under the New Covenant of Grace,
ushered in by the death of Jesus Christ and explained to Paul by Jesus Christ
(Acts 20:24, Galatians 1:11-12, Ephesians 3:1-3), forgiveness is no longer
conditional, but complete. Forgiveness under the new covenant of grace is not
based upon our ability to forgive others but is based upon the death of Jesus
Christ and our faith in his full payment for our sins. Since he fully paid our
sin penalty, we are now completely forgiven. What do we do with this forgiveness we
have received? We extend it to those who offend us. Paul says, as he teaches
under the new covenant, to forgive one another in the same way God has forgiven
us (Ephesians 4:31; Colossians 3:12-13). How has God forgiven us? Completely.
Now, we are able to extend the grace of forgiveness to others the same way God
has to us. Under the Old Covenant of Law,
forgiveness was conditional upon our earning it through perfectly forgiving
others. The law demanded perfection. No one could perfectly forgive. Therefore,
under the Old Covenant, no one could be forgiven unless they participated in
the animal sacrificial system of the Old Covenant. Under the New Covenant,
forgiveness is complete because Christ completely paid our sin penalty and we
receive this forgiveness by faith. Unfortunately, most Christians never come to this full
revelation of the Old and New Covenants and cannot fully understand their
Bible. It is important people are brought to the full revelation of
forgiveness understood through the New Covenant of Grace. In doing this, they
can understand their Bible. Now let’s go to 1 John 1:9. The proper way to discover the meaning of a
verse is to study the verse in context. First, determine the author of the book
containing the verse. Second, determine the reason the author is writing the
book. Third, know the context of the verse. Fourth, know whether you are in
the Old Covenant or New Covenant. In other words, has Christ died yet and has
Jesus instructed Paul about the message of grace (Galatians 1:11-12; Acts
20:24). Only by studying 1 John 1:9 in context can a proper interpretation of this
verse be reached. So let’s take a look at 1 John 1:9 in context. John is the author of 1 John. False teachers had
infiltrated the church and were seeking to lead believers away from the truth that Jesus was the Christ (1 John 2:26; 4:1-4) and that he was the propitiation for our sins, meaning he completely took God's punishment for our sins upon himself (1 John 2:2, 4:9-10). These false teachers
claimed to have fellowship with Christ and to teach the truth (1 John 1:6). It
seems that some of these teachers were like the Pharisees. They were claiming
to know God and have fellowship with him, but were denying they had sinned (1
John 1:6, 8). Isn't that what the Pharisees did? John used the same description
to expose the hypocrisy of these false teachers as Jesus did to expose the
hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Jesus told the Pharisees "nor does his word
dwell in you" (John 5:38), "I know you do not have the love of
God in your hearts” (John 5:42), "Every one who sins is a slave to
sin” (John 8:34), "you belong to your father the devil, and you
want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer. …not holding to the
truth..there is no truth in him...he is a liar…” (John 8:44-45). “…I
would be a liar like you" (John 9:55). These are the strong words
Jesus used as he exposed the Pharisees as false teachers. They did not know
God, even though they claimed to know him, they were liars and did not have the
truth and the love of God was not in them. They totally rejected Jesus as the
Messiah and completely denied they were sinful. This sounds exactly like the situation
that is going on in the church John is writing to. However, before we look
deeper into 1 John 1:9, lets look at what the Bible says about those who have
place their faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Put your trust in the
light...so you may become sons of the light." (John 12:36). Paul said
in Ephesians 5:8, "For you were once darkness but now you are light in
the Lord." The contrast between light and darkness is seen as believer
in Christ (light) and an unbeliever not in Christ (darkness). Now with this understanding about how Jesus addressed
the false teachers and a biblical understanding of light and darkness, lets
look at 1 John 1:9. John begins by giving his credentials as a teacher of the
truth. John said I have seen and touched the risen Christ. He states he is in
fellowship with Christ. (1:1-4). He establishes his credibility so that those
whom he was writing to would trust him rather than the false teachers seeking
to lead them astray. This message is in 1 John 1:5-10. It is given to help
the church test to see if what a person is teaching in the church is actually
true and to see if those who are teaching can actually be trusted as credible
teachers. It is the same test Jesus used with the Pharisees. First, in 1 John 1:5-6, anyone claiming
to have fellowship with God, like the Pharisees did, and walk in darkness is
lying and not living by the truth. To walk in darkness, is to reject Jesus as the Christ as the Pharisees and the false teachers did in
the church John was writing to. It is obvious anyone who denies Jesus Christ is
not in the light but the darkness. These teachers are liars and are not
teaching the truth. Like the Pharisees, the false teachers at the church denied
Christ and were teaching lies. They were living in the darkness (1 John 2:22-23;
1 John 4:1-4). Many teach that this verse applies to a
Christian who is living in sin. However, it is clear this is not the context of
the 1 John 1: 1-10 as seen in the entire book of John. The person walking in
darkness is a person who is denying that Jesus is the Christ and anyone who
denies Jesus is the Christ cannot be in fellowship with God. He is a liar and
the truth is not in him. This person is clearly in the darkness. The believers
John were writing to were living in the truth because they believed Jesus was
the Christ and had accepted his payment for their sins (1 John 2:21). 1 John 1:7 says that if we walk in the truth
(believing Jesus is the Christ) then we have fellowship with each other because
real fellowship begins with belief in Jesus Christ. Because we have placed our
faith in him, his blood purifies us from all sin (the New Covenant). This is
consistent with the fullness of forgiveness taught by Paul. 1 John 1:8 says that anyone who claims
to have never sinned or have never broken God's laws has not come to the
understanding of the fact they are sinful and have broken his laws. This
exactly what the Pharisees were claiming, as well as the false teachers
infiltrating the church. The Pharisees of Jesus time were convinced they had
never broken any laws. However, Jesus pointed out to them on the Sermon on the
Mount that they had. In the same way, John is pointing out these
were false teachers because they, like the Pharisees, were claiming to be without
sin. The truth was not in the Pharisees or the false teachers infiltrating the
church. So far, these teachers are failing the test of whether they can be
trusted as teachers in the church. Now we come to I John 1:9. This verse
says, "If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The word “confess” means to
admit the truth about something. In this verse, confess means to admit the
truth about our sins. We are admitting the truth to God that we have broken his
laws. We are not like the false teachers denying they have sinned, thus proving
they are liars and the truth is not in them. We are admitting the truth. We
have sinned. Once we admit the truth about our sins
as unbelievers, God is faithful and just
to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The word “faithful” means he will do what he
said he will do. God keeps his promises. The word “just” means he will do the
right or legal thing. What is the right thing God will do for us out of his
faithfulness to us? Forgive us. The
reason he can forgive us is because Christ paid the full penalty for our sins.
John is writing to convince the church about the accomplishments of the cross.
He says Christ is the propitiation for our sins in 1 John 2:2 and 4:10. This
simply means Christ paid the full payment for our sins and God's justice is
satisfied. He did this out of love. Once we confess our sins as an unbeliever,
then God is faithful and just to forgive us all our sin based upon Christ's
death. This happens at salvation and is consistent with the New Covenant of Grace. It's interesting to note that John is writing to a group of people whose
sins had already been forgiven (l John 2: 12), rather than to those who needed
to keep confessing their sins to stay forgiven before God. It is sad that
people can quote 1 John 1:9 but can not quote 1 John 2:12. Not only does God totally forgive us,
but he also cleanses us from all unrighteousness. This means he declares us
righteous (totally cleansed from all sin) in his sight forever. Again, this is
consistent with Paul’s teaching in Romans which says we have been declared
righteous in God’s sight by faith (Romans 3:21-22) and have received the gift
of righteousness (Romans 5:17). Finally, 1 John 1:10 says that by claiming to have
never sinned we are calling God a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
God has given the law to show us our sin. Romans 3:19-20 says the whole world
stands guilty before God. Romans 3:10 says that all are unrighteous before God
as unbelievers. Anyone claiming to have not sinned is obviously calling God a
liar. How can the truth of God’s word be in a person who rejects the basic
truth that "all have sinned"? It can't. And it wasn't in these false
teachers. These false teachers miserably failed the test of a true teacher. 1 John 1:10
cannot be talking about believers since to become a believer in Jesus is to
admit that we have sinned. The liars of 1 John 1:10 were the same liars of 1
John 2:22-23 and 4:1-3. It was those who denied they had sinned, who denied
Jesus was the Messiah, and who denied that Jesus came in human flesh. Certainly,
these were not believers John was referring to, but the false teachers.
Actually, John referred to the believers he was writing to as being in the
truth (1 John 2:21). The rest of 1 John deals with the inability to love by
those who claim to be in the truth. What does being in the truth produce in the
heart of people who know God? Love and right living. The Pharisees certainly
had a problem loving during the life of Jesus. Those who come to know God are
given a new set of desires to love and to live right. John is confronting the
biggest fear of a legalist, which is if people know they are forgiven and
righteous in God's sight they will just keep on sinning. John says to a
legalist that isn't possible because this person has been born of God and
can't continue to live in rebellion to truth because the Spirit of God in him
will not allow that since the Spirit brings us into a loving relationship
with our Father and we become like him as we get to know him (l John 3:1-10).
It is not that we will not struggle with our flesh and be tempted to sin. We
will. The battle between the Spirit of Jesus in us and our flesh will be a part
of a believer’s experience (Romans 7:14-25 and Galatians 5:13-18). However,
deep inside the heart of a believer is a desire to please God and live a life
of purity and love. As you can see, 1 John 1:9 clears up in the light of
proper Bible interpretation. It is not a verse for Christians to continually
confess their sins to God for forgiveness. It is a verse stating a simple truth
of the Gospel. If you admit as an unbeliever you have sinned, then God will forgive
you and make you righteous before him. This happens the day you come to Christ
and is consistent with the new covenant. Some will ask, "Then what do we do when we sin?
Are you saying we do not need to confess our sins to God?". No, that is
not what I am saying. True believers will be bothered by their sin. When we
sin as loved children of God, we go to our loving Father and acknowledge our
sin to him and thank him we are forgiven and righteous before him asking him to
change us. We are honest with him about our sin. It is important to understand
sin will still have consequences in the life of a saved person. Jesus does not
take away the consequences of sin but he does take away the condemnation of sin
for the one who has come to faith in him. Please join with me in sharing the good news of God's grace with others by clicking the Share button at the bottom of this blog. Also, if you would like to be updated when Brad posts a new blog, simply complete the form on the Contact page and you will be sent an email when each new blog is posted. |