TOTAL FORGIVENESS
HAPPENED AT THE CROSS
1 JOHN 1:9 HAS BEEN MISUNDERSTOOD
Paul did not ever mention that a person should ask God to forgive their sins in any of his letters. There is only one verse used by some to justify asking God to forgive their sins but this verse was written after the New Covenant, which came into being after the death of Jesus on the cross and that verse is 1 John 1:9. People have used this scripture to attempt to justify asking God to forgive their sins, which were actually all forgiven and taken away at the cross.
John 1:29 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
When you compare 1 John with the greetings found in 2 John and 3 John, you can see that John greets believers directly in the other two letters.
In 2 John 1 he writes, “…..To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth…..Grace, mercy and peace will be with you from God…..”,
In 3 John 1 he writes, “…..To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth; Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”
In stark contrast, there are no greetings to believers in 1 John 1. Why is that? It is because John was not writing to believers in the early church but to unbelieving Gnostics who are heretics and did not believe in the existence of sin. That is why John wrote:
1 John 1:7-10 “ But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
According to Greek language scholar and professor at the renowned Dallas Theological Seminary, Dr. John Best, the *Literal Greek translations of 1 John 1:8 –10, John used the editorial “we” in his writing, but we know that this does not mean that he did not believe in the existence of sin. This passage was clearly written to the unbelieving Gnostics to encourage them to stop their denial of sin, acknowledge the truth that sin exists and acknowledge that they have sinned. It was written to bring them to the realization that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”…..“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, (agree with God concerning our sins), He is faithful and just to “have forgiven” us our sins* and to "have cleansed" us from all unrighteousness*. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
So, in context, we see, in verse 7, that the blood of Jesus Christ is responsible for cleansing us from sin. So, the means by which we are cleansed is not dependent upon our actions (ie confession), but based upon what Jesus Christ has already done for us by His death on the cross. Even in the Old Testament, confession was made, but forgiveness was the result of a blood sacrifice. Of course, the doctrine that sin is cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ is found throughout the New Testament. The New Testament also indicates that this cleansing by the blood of Christ also results in forgiveness of sin.
Essentially, John was preaching the gospel to the Gnostics. That is why at the beginning of 1 John 10, John said, “….that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” John was clearly preaching to non-believers (in this case, the Gnostics) about Jesus and His finished work, and inviting them to fellowship in Christ with the other believers in the early church.
With this context in mind, it becomes clear that 1 John 1:9 was not written to believers.
You do not need to confess your sins again and again to be forgiven again and again. You are already forgiven! Today, you can be honest with your Father about your mistakes and failures, knowing that He loves you and has already forgiven you. You don’t confess your sins to Him in order to be forgiven. Confessing means only that you are acknowledging and admitting you sin, not asking for forgiveness of sins you may commit.
While chapter 1 of 1 John was written to the Gnostics, John directs his attention to believers when it comes to chapter 2:11, It becomes immediately clear that he is talking to believers once the chapter begins because he writes, 1 John 2:11 “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation of our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
Right after John addresses the believers, he states clearly that if anyone of us sins we have an Advocate with the Father! Notice that there is no mention of confession or asking for forgiveness of sins at all. This is the same John who wrote 1 John 1:9, which has been wrongly used to teach believers that they have to confess all their sins to receive forgiveness and to keep short accounts with the Lord in order to have fellowship with Him. When we as believers fail to live righteously, our Advocate defends us from any and all accusers and declares our righteous position in Christ Jesus. Our Advocate shows any accuser His nailed-pierced hands as a receipt for the payment that He made for our sins at the cross. Whenever we fail today, there is no power in confessing our sins or asking for forgiveness, but there is power in confessing our righteousness in Christ, our identity in Christ and our unmerited favor in Christ!
Furthermore, in verse 12 of the same chapter, John states, “I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.” Here, John takes it for granted your forgiveness of sins without confessions. It would be a strange double-talk for John to speak or write 1 John 1:9 and 1 John 2:12 both to believers.
Instead of being sin-conscious, we should become righteousness-conscious, and by the power of God step out of that sin that seems to have a grip on us. By the power and wisdom of God we can turn around any failure in our life. Sin-consciousness will make you depressed and keep you in a cycle of sin even when the unmerited favor of God is on your side. Every time you search your heart for sin and failings, guess what? You will find something! Instead of looking at your own failures, turn away from yourself and look at Jesus. Look at His heart of love and His forgiveness toward you. When you know that you do not deserve His grace (unmerited favor), and yet receive it, how can you help but be transformed? How can you help but want to worship Him? How can you help but want to serve and obey your savior.
The more you renew your mind and are conscious of your righteous identity in Him, the more you are transformed by His unmerited favor, the more the desire to sin dissipates and the more you become a true worshiper. Believers who know that their entire life of sins were forgiven and taken away at the cross once and for all by the blood of Jesus won’t want to sin. Instead, they become true worshipers of Jesus not focusing on sin but on their righteousness in Christ Jesus their Lord and Savior.
Knowing how much you have been forgiven of is the secret to loving Jesus! In other words, we will only love Jesus much when we experience His lavish grace and unmerited favor in taking away and forgiving you of all your sins – past, present and future. But His grace is cheapened when we think that He has only forgiven us of our sins up to the time we got saved, and after that point, we have to depend on our confession of sins to be forgiven.
God’s forgiveness is not given in installments. We shouldn’t go around thinking that when we confess a sin, He only then forgives us for that sin. Then, the next time you sin, you need to confess your sin again for God to forgive you again. Such is the kind of belief that cheapens Gods’ Grace and the sacrifice of Jesus.
With one sacrifice on the cross, Jesus blotted out all the sins of your entire life! You should not cheapen Gods’ unmerited favor with your own imperfect efforts by continually confessing all of your sins and asking to be forgiven again and again. Receive this free gift that Jesus has given you and experience His unmerited favor today and forever!
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