On this site, I have addressed many concerns and objections concerning the message of Grace. I have even allayed some myths about grace teaching. Recently I came across a concise list of objections to the message of Grace.
With such a concise list of objections, I felt compelled to give a detailed response. So far I began addressing the issue of who 1 John was addressed to and answered if it was to Christians or not. Today, I would like to address this issue of confessions of sins so we may be forgiven of our sins.
On this site, we have addressed this issue several times. Each time, addressing different perspectives on the issue of confession. I will proceed with fresh insight on this matter of confession but want to allow you to study the issue further. You can find further study here, here, and here.
Are confessions of sins so we may be forgiven of our sins the system God designed in the New Covenant? Think of how this reflects on Jesus' once for all sacrifice for all of our sins. If we no longer have to offer lambs as a sacrifice for our sins to be covered but still must offer the "sacrifice" of apologizing, acknowledging, and admitting that we sinned to receive forgiveness for that sin, what does that say of Jesus' sacrifice? It says His sacrifice, His shed Blood, is insufficient and we must add our apologies and admission in order to be forgiven.
Let's use the Word as the final authority on this subject. If we wish to believe in a "doctrine" that says after conversion, acceptance of Jesus' and being born again, each and every time we sin thereafter we must confess it or acknowledge it so we can be cleansed from unrighteousness and receive forgiveness for it, we must consider some important truths. What truths? Let's look closer at the Word as a whole.
For one to believe the premise of confessing to be forgiven, one has to overlook, disregard, and ignore some important Bible facts. First fact, we are only forgiven of sins by the shedding of blood not our apologies or admissions of guilt. Look at the Word;
In fact we can say that under the old agreement almost everything was cleansed by sprinkling it with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9:22 TLB
Let's look at the second Bible fact. We as believers are forgiven of all our sins once and for all time. This is Jesus' sacrifice alone not His plus ours equaling forgiveness.
12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, Hebrews 10:12 NASB
Let's look at the third Bible fact. We are forgiven of all our sins. Not just forgiven of our past sins. Not forgiven only up towards the time of conversion. No, we are forgiven of all our sins past and present and future.
14 who bought our freedom with his blood and forgave us all our sins Colossians 1:14 TLB
13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. Colossians 2:13 NLT
12 I am writing to you, little children (believers, dear ones), because your sins have been forgiven for His name’s sake [you have been pardoned and released from spiritual debt through His name because you have confessed His name, believing in Him as Savior]. 1 John 2:12 AMP
Let's look at yet another Bible fact. Truth is established in the mouth of two or three witnesses. 1 John 1:9 is the only place that tells us to confess our sins so we can receive forgiveness. If we must admit it before we are forgiven, this concept should be repeated throughout the entire New Covenant.
This will be the third time I am coming to you. “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” 2 Corinthians 13:1 NKJV
When we allow the Word to be the complete truth and final authority we can see how some ideas can't hold up to scrutiny. Another truth we must look at is the context of the Epistle. John is not contradictory as an Apostle.
Look at his words in the second chapter of 1 John. John specifically addresses Christians who have sinned. Why didn't he tell them to admit it? Why didn't he tell them to acknowledge it? Why didn't he tell them to apologize?
Doesn't John know if they don't apologize they won't be forgiven? Doesn't John know if they don't admit it their sin will go on being unforgiven? What is John thinking?
The Apostle John is not contradicting himself. In 1 John 1:9, he points sinners to their admission of sins, so they will see the need for a savior. He points to the acknowledgment of sins so they will receive the Grace of once for all forgiveness. In 1 John 2, John points believers to Jesus and not themselves. He points those who have sinned to Jesus and reminds them of His sacrifice, not theirs.
In summation, the facts are clear. 1 John is not teaching believers we must confess in order to receive forgiveness. The second chapter of John proves this. John reminds us of Jesus' sacrifice. He reminds us of our forgiveness in Jesus. We don't confess to be forgiven under the New.
When we sin, we confess what Jesus did about our sins. We confess who we are because of Jesus despite our sins. We confess our Righteousness and redemption in Christ when we sin. Because we are forgiven we can freely admit when we have failed and know we are not condemned. This is the Good News of Grace.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
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