THE CONFESSION (1 JOHN 1:9)

OUTLINE

THE CONFESSION

I. Those who have not been saved, those who have not come to the Light, fear the Light because their deeds will be exposed. However, those who have been saved do not fear the Light; in fact, they flourish within that Light because the darkness is not a natural part of them as a New Creation. (1 John 1:5; John 1:4–5, 7–9; 3:19–21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35–36, 46; Rev. 21:23)

II. If we do walk in the Light, if we walk with Jesus, we share activities and relationships with those who are also believers because we are cleansed of our sins through the blood of Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:6,7; 2:4,11; 4:20; John 8:12, 55; Isaiah 2:5; 1 Timothy 6:16; Titus 2:14)

III. There is not one person on this earth who has not sinned and keeps sinning, including those who have accepted Jesus as their Saviour. (1 John 1:8; Job 15:14; Prov 20:9; Rom 3:10; James 3:2)

IV. God knows at any moment the full extent of a person’s unrighteousness - He knows our sins. However, each believer is responsible for acknowledging whatever the Light of Christ reveals to them, and when they do so, a complete and perfect cleansing is granted to them. “There is thus no need to agonize over sins of which one is unaware.”1 (1 John 1:9; Ps 32:5; Prov 28:13; Titus 2:14)

We all, even Christians, are sinners. There is not a day that goes by in our lives that we do not sin, whether we realize it or not. However, when we confess our sins, we know we committed God is faithful to forgive those sins, as well as the ones we may not have realized we had committed. Love Ya’ll Pastor Cary

1 Zane C. Hodges, “1 John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 886.