What about 1 john 1:9?

What about 1 john 1:9?

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

Do we have to ask God for forgiveness every time we sin?

In my opinion a lack of basic understanding of the finality of the Cross of Jesus Christ is what causes this confusion of forgiveness.

The death / sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross resulted into two major things.

1. It took away the sins of the world. Don't let that pass you by, He did not cover sins but took them away.

2. His death ushered in a New Covenant.

One of the things we miss in Christendom is that God does things differently from us.

His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.

According to the bible, what is God's way of forgiving sins? It is and has always been through sacrifice.

In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Hebrews 9:22)

The writer of Hebrews then goes ahead in Hebrews 10 to talk about the sacrifice Jesus made of Himself and concludes with this verse.

Then he adds, “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary. (Hebrews  10:17,18)

There are numerous passages in the New Covenant that talk about the death of Jesus Christ having taken away the sins of the world, one time and forever.

·        And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.( Hebrews 10:10)

·        But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26)

·        He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.( Hebrews 9:12)

·        The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. (Romans 6:10)

·        That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:19)

These are just some of the passages of the New Covenant (there are more) which state that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was for propitiation of sins. His sacrifice did not cover sins for a while but took them away forever.

God concluded this New Covenant in Hebrews 8:12 "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

 So with all this evidence, when you come across a passage like 1 John 1:9, the only passage of its kind in the New Covenant that talks about asking God forgiveness, should that not raise a red flag in your mind?

A lot of headache would be avoided if or when we come to understand that the entire bible is written for us, but not every verse is addressed to us or written about us.

 In 1 John, the last living Apostle was addressing a concern that was brought to his attention about the church in Ephesus; a group had crept into that city and was corrupting the minds of the believers. This group was called the Gnostics.

1 John 1:9 is in response to 1 John 1:8 "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us".

The Gnostics were claiming that sin wasn't really sin, it was just an illusion. Do you as a believer in Christ claim that you have no sin? Do you as a believer possess The Truth (Jesus Christ)? Why then do you think that John was addressing you in this verse?

 The same writer, Apostle John, goes further in 1 John 2:1 to address believers; "My dear children, I write this to your so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One."

  So what about 1 John 1:9?

The only sin that will be held against us is the sin of unbelief (John 16:9), so think about the cross when you ask for forgiveness from God. Do you believe that Jesus Christ accomplished what He came to do on the cross?

In my opinion, asking God for forgiveness is more of a sin than the sin you are asking God to forgive you of, because it is a clear sign of unbelief in Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on the Cross.

So the next time you kneel down to confess your sins, why don't you confess what God has done first before you confess what you have done? If you confess what God has done you will come to the same conclusion that I have. That God was in Christ reconciling the world to Him; in Christ, not counting our sins against us. He does not remember your sins, so which sins are you asking Him to forgive?

The other thing I want to talk about is sin itself. Most if not all of the people who hold onto 1 John 1:9 claim to be believers in Jesus Christ. These are people who claim that they have been saved and they have eternal life.

We have so watered down sin, that the true consequence of sin has been lost in all these religious practices.

According to the bible, the consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

 So according to people who hold onto this verse, every time they sin, they lose their eternal life and after they confess and ask God for forgiveness and God somehow forgives them, they regain their ETERNAL life.

Do you truly see how ridiculous that sounds? Eternal life lasts forever or it is not eternal. And the life we have in Christ is eternal not because of what we do, but because of the eternal consequences of the cross.

We must rest in the finished work of Christ instead of trying to improve upon it. If not, like the Israelites who because of unbelief never entered the Promised Land, most of us, saved, born again, Christians will die in the desert and never enter our Promised Land (Jesus Christ and His finished work)

1 John 1:9, confession booths, asking God for forgiveness will never take away your sins. Only the cross of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice that He made of Himself 2000+ years ago would. Put your trust and dependence in what He did, not in what you through religion are doing.