if you confess

1:9 Having described his opponents’ claim (to be without sin) and the concomitant reality (their self-deception), the author now puts forward a counterhypothesis in another conditional sentence. The sentence begins with the words, If we confess our sins.… The author projects a situation in which people acknowledge their sins in an ongoing way. He portrays authentic Christian living as involving honest and ongoing acknowledgement of one’s sins.²⁶

Confession of sin is not a theme that is found often in the NT. It is found in only four other places. It occurs in the Synoptic accounts of the ministry of John the Baptist when people came confessing their sins to be baptised by him (Matt 3:6; Mark 1:15). It is also found in James 5:16, where, in the context of praying for the sick, people are urged to confess their sins and pray for each other that they may be healed. People in Ephesus confessed their ‘evil deeds’ and burned their magical books during the ministry of Paul in that city (Acts 19:18). In each of these cases confession of sin was public, not private (i.e., not just between the individual and God). It may then be the case that here in 1:9 the author also has in mind public confession of sin.

The conditional sentence is then completed: [If we confess our sins,] he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Here the author sets forth two aspects of God’s response to people who confess their sins: God forgives their sins and purifies them from all unrighteousness. God’s forgiveness means that he no longer holds people’s sins against them; he cancels their ‘debt’ (cf. Matt 6:9–15; 18:21–35). God’s purifying them ‘from all unrighteousness’ (cf. 1:7, ‘purifies us from every sin’) means that he removes the defilement which their sins had produced. When the metaphor of defilement is unpacked, it also denotes the removal of the impediment to fellowship with God through forgiveness of sins (cf. Ps 51:1–2). Both verbs, being aorist subjunctive in form, portray forgiveness and purification as complete, rather than ongoing actions.

In forgiving and purifying, the author says, God is both ‘faithful’ and ‘just’. The context does not make exactly clear what the author means by saying that God is ‘faithful’ (pistos) when he forgives and purifies. In the OT individuals speaking in later books (Num 14:18; Neh 9:17; Pss 86:15; 103:8; 145:8; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; Nah 1:3) keep harking back to Exodus 34:6–7 (‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin’) because they know God will be faithful in fulfilling his promise to forgive. In the NT there are only three places where God is said to be faithful in doing something or other. These are 1 Corinthians 1:9; 10:13 and 2 Corinthians 1:18. In each case God’s faithfulness is expressed in providing for his people in various ways (presenting believers blameless on the Day of our Lord Jesus; providing a means of escape from temptation; and remaining true to his word by fulfilling his promises). It would seem reasonable, then, to infer from these references that God’s faithfulness is his trustworthiness in fulfilling the commitments he has made to his people. A similar meaning would be entirely appropriate here also: God is faithful to believers in that he is carrying through on his commitment to forgive and purify those who confess their sins, something which necessitated the giving of his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for their sins (4:9–10, 14).

The author says that God is not only faithful but also ‘just’ (dikaios) when he forgives and purifies those who confess their sins. The adjective ‘just’/‘righteous’ (dikaios) is found in four other places in this letter (2:1, 29; 3:7, 12). In 2:1 Jesus Christ, who speaks to the Father in our defence, is described as ‘the Righteous One’ (dikaios). In 2:29 the readers are reminded that if, as they know, God is righteous (dikaios), they may also know that ‘everyone who does right has been born of him’. What we find in 3:7 is very similar: ‘He who does what is right is righteous (dikaios), just as he [God] is righteous (dikaios)’. And finally in 3:12 Cain is said to have murdered his brother, ‘because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous (dikaios)’. From the author’s use of dikaios elsewhere in this letter, it is clear that to be righteous means to act in a righteous way. So when he says that God is righteous when he forgives sin and purifies sinners, he means that in doing so God is acting righteously. What seems to lie behind this is the problem of how God can be said to be righteous when he forgives the guilty. It is a problem which the apostle Paul had to deal with when explaining his gospel in Romans 3:21–26, and his resolution of the problem was that God can be both just and the justifier of sinners because he set forth Christ as the atoning sacrifice (hilastērion) for their sins. The author of 1 John does not state the matter as clearly as Paul does, but it is plain that he, too, understands God to be righteous in forgiving those who confess their sins because he sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice (hilasmos) for those sins (cf. 2:2: ‘He is the atoning sacrifice [hilasmos] for our sins’; 4:10: ‘This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice [hilasmos] for our sins’).¹

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [1 John 1:9].

“If we confess our sins.” Here is another one of our “if’s.” We have seen several of them: “If we say that we have fellowship” (v. 6); “If we walk in the light” (v. 7); and “If we say that we have no sin” (v. 8). Now here is the right method for bringing together a sinful man and a holy God: confession of sins.

What does it mean to confess our sins? The word confess is from the Greek verb homologeo, meaning “to say the same thing.” Logeo means “to say” and homo means “the same.” You are to say the same thing that God says. When God in His Word says that the thing you did is sin, you are to get over on God’s side and look at it. And you are to say, “You are right, Lord, I say the same thing that You say. It is sin.” That is what it means to confess your sins. That, my friend, is one of the greatest needs in the church. This is God’s way for a Christian to deal with sin in his own life.

The other day I talked to a man who got into deep trouble. He divorced his wife—he found out that she had been unfaithful. He lost his home and lost his job. He was a very discouraged man. He said to me, “I want to serve God, and I have failed. I am a total failure.” I very frankly said to him, “Don’t cry on my shoulder. Go and tell God about it. He wants you to come to Him. Tell Him you have failed. Tell Him you have been wrong. Tell Him that you want to say the same thing about your sin that He says about it. Seek His help. He is your Father. You are in the family. You have lost your fellowship with Him, but you can have your fellowship restored. If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive you your sins.”

After we confess our sins, what does God do? He cleanses us. In the parable, the Prodigal Son came home from the far country smelling like a pigpen. You don’t think the father would have put a new robe on that ragged, dirty boy, smelling like that, do you? No, he gave him a good bath. The Roman world majored in cleanliness, and I am confident that the boy was bathed before that new robe was put on him. The next week he didn’t say, “Dad, I think I will be going to the far country and end up in the pigpen again.” Not that boy.

When you have confessed your sin, it means that you have turned from that sin. It means that you have said the same thing which God has said. Sin is a terrible thing. God hates it and now you hate it. But confession restores you to your Father.²

We Can Confess Our Sins (1 John 1:7, 9)

John gives two interesting titles to Jesus Christ: Advocate and Propitiation (1 John 2:1–2). It’s important that we understand these two titles because they stand for two ministries that only the Lord Himself performs.

Let’s begin with Propitiation. If you look this word up in the dictionary, you may get the wrong idea of its meaning. The dictionary tells us that “to propitiate” means “to appease someone who is angry.” If you apply this to Christ, you get the horrible picture of an angry God, about to destroy the world, and a loving Saviour giving Himself to appease the irate God—and this is not the Bible picture of salvation! Certainly God is angry at sin; after all, He is infinitely holy. But the Bible reassures us that “God so loved [not hated] the world” (John 3:16, italics added).

No, the word “propitiation” does not mean the appeasing of an angry God. Rather, it means the satisfying of God’s holy law. “God is light” (1 John 1:5) and, therefore, He cannot close His eyes to sin. But “God is love” (1 John 4:8) too and wants to save sinners.

How, then, can a holy God uphold His own justice and still forgive sinners? The answer is in the sacrifice of Christ. At the cross, God in His holiness judged sin. God in His love offers Jesus Christ to the world as Saviour. God was just in that He punished sin, but He is also loving in that He offers free forgiveness through what Jesus did at Calvary. (Read 1 John 4:10, and also give some thought to Rom. 3:23–26.)

Christ is the Sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, but He is Advocate only for believers. “We [Christians] have an Advocate with the Father.” The word “advocate” used to be applied to lawyers. The word John uses is the very same word Jesus used when He was talking about the coming of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 26; 15:26). It means, literally, “one called alongside.” When a man was summoned to court, he took an advocate (lawyer) with him to stand at his side and plead his case.

Jesus finished His work on earth (John 17:4)—the work of giving His life as a sacrifice for sin. Today He has an “unfinished work” in heaven. He represents us before God’s throne. As our High Priest, He sympathizes with our weaknesses and temptations and gives us grace (Heb. 4:15–16; 7:23–28). As our Advocate, He helps us when we sin. When we confess our sins to God, because of Christ’s advocacy God forgives us.

The Old Testament contains a beautiful picture of this. Joshua (Zech. 3:1–7) was the Jewish high priest after the Jews returned to their land following their Captivity in Babylon. (Don’t confuse this Joshua with the Joshua who conquered the Promised Land.) The nation had sinned; to symbolize this, Joshua stood before God in filthy garments and Satan stood at Joshua’s right hand to accuse him (cf. Rev. 12:10). God the Father was the Judge; Joshua, representing the people, was the accused; Satan was the prosecuting attorney. (The Bible calls him the accuser of the brethren.) It looked as if Satan had an open-and-shut case. But Joshua had an Advocate who stood at God’s right hand, and this changed the situation. Christ gave Joshua a change of garments and silenced the accusations of Satan.

This is what is in view when Jesus Christ is called our “Advocate.” He represents believers before God’s throne, and the merits of His sacrifice make possible the forgiveness of the believer’s sin. Because Christ died for His people, He satisfied the justice of God. (“The wages of sin is death.”) Because He lives for us at God’s right hand, He can apply His sacrifice to our needs day by day.

All He asks is that when we have failed we confess our sins.

What does it mean to “confess”? Well, to confess sins means much more than simply to “admit” them. The word confess actually means “to say the same thing [about].” To confess sin, then, means to say the same thing about it that God says about it.

A counselor was trying to help a man who had come forward during an evangelistic meeting. “I’m a Christian,” the man said, “but there’s sin in my life, and I need help.” The counselor showed him 1 John 1:9 and suggested that the man confess his sins to God.

“O Father,” the man began, “if we have done anything wrong—”

“Just a minute!” the counselor interrupted. “Don’t drag me into your sin! My brother, it’s not ‘if’ or ‘we’—you’d better get down to business with God!”

The counselor was right.

Confession is not praying a lovely prayer, or making pious excuses, or trying to impress God and other Christians. True confession is naming sin—calling it by name what God calls it: envy, hatred, lust, deceit, or whatever it may be. Confession simply means being honest with ourselves and with God, and if others are involved, being honest with them too. It is more than admitting sin. It means judging sin and facing it squarely.

When we confess our sins, God promises to forgive us (1 John 1:9). But this promise is not a “magic rabbit’s foot” that makes it easy for us to disobey God!

“I went out and sinned,” a student told his campus chaplain, “because I knew I could come back and ask God to forgive me.”

“On what basis can God forgive you?” the chaplain asked, pointing to 1 John 1:9.

“God is faithful and just,” the boy replied.

“Those two words should have kept you out of sin,” the chaplain said. “Do you know what it cost God to forgive your sins?”

The boy hung his head. “Jesus had to die for me.”

Then the chaplain zeroed in. “That’s right—forgiveness isn’t some cheap sideshow trick God performs. God is faithful to His promise, and God is just, because Christ died for your sins and paid the penalty for you. Now, the next time you plan to sin, remember that you are going to sin against a faithful loving God!”

Of course, cleansing has two sides to it: the judicial and the personal. The blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross, delivers us from the guilt of sin and gives us right standing (“justification”) before God. God is able to forgive because Jesus’ death has satisfied His holy Law.

But God is also interested in cleansing a sinner inwardly. David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Ps. 51:10). When our confession is sincere, God does a cleansing work (1 John 1:9) in our hearts by His Spirit and through His Word (John 15:3).

The great mistake King David made was in trying to cover his sins instead of confessing them. For perhaps a whole year he lived in deceit and defeat. No wonder he wrote (Ps. 32:6) that a man should pray “in a time of finding out” (lit.).

When should we confess our sin? Immediately when we discover it! “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Prov. 28:13). By walking in the light, we are able to see the “dirt” in our lives and deal with it immediately.³

1:9 Though John uses we primarily to refer to himself and the other apostles as eyewitnesses of Christ (v. 1), here the term includes all believers who confess (acknowledge) sin. God says that we are sinners in need of forgiveness. To confess is to agree with Him, to admit that we are sinners in need of His mercy. If a believer confesses his or her specific sins to God, He will cleanse all unrighteousness from that person. The believer need not agonize over sin of which he is not aware. Forgiveness and cleansing are guaranteed because God is faithful to His promises. Those promises are legitimate because God is just. God can maintain His perfect character and yet forgive us because of the perfect and righteous sacrifice of Jesus, His own Son (2:2). Our salvation costs us nothing; it is a gift of God. But salvation is costly; it cost God the death of His Son. Since John is speaking to believers, the forgiveness here is not for their initial justification-salvation. His concern is sanctification-salvation. Christ accomplished the first portion of our salvation on the Cross while on earth (John 17:4). The second part of our salvation is before the throne of God, where Christ makes intercession for us (Heb. 4:15, 16; 7:23–28). the sins: The Greek text does not really say “our” sins, as is indicated by the italics in the English text. Literally the text reads, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us the sins.” It is probably that the sins of which John speaks are those we confess, not just any and every sin we commit. John proceeds on to say that Christ also, along with this forgiveness, cleanses us from all unrighteousness in our hearts. We should be careful to distinguish this family forgiveness of the Father for His children from the forgiveness we received at our redemption. This passage is written to those who are already saved from eternal judgment due to their sins but now are children of God in need of forgiveness for failures in their children walk.⁴

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

But on the contrary, if we confess our sins, if we apply ourselves to him suitably to the condition of sinners, confessing ourselves such, with that self-abasing sense of sin which may dispose us to accept and apply his offered remedy, (upon which it is implied we will do it,) he is faithful, so true to his promise, and just, fidelity being a part of justice; or there is with him that equity and righteousness, (which sometimes signify goodness, or clemency, 1 Sam. 12:7; Psal. 112:9, and which, more strictly taken, permit him not to exact from us the satisfaction which he hath accepted in the atonement made by his Son, in his own way applied, and upon his own terms to be reckoned unto us,) that he will not fail to forgive us our sins. And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness; which may either be added as a further expression of the same thing; or may, moreover, signify his vouchsafing that purifying influence of the Spirit of Christ, (obtained also by his blood,) which shall both purge away, and prevent, the defilements that would render us incapable of his own holy communion.⁵

9. If we confess. He again promises to the faithful that God will be propitious to them, provided they acknowledge themselves to be sinners. It is of great moment to be fully persuaded, that when we have sinned, there is a reconciliation with God ready and prepared for us: we shall otherwise carry always a hell within us. Few, indeed, consider how miserable and wretched is a doubting conscience; but the truth is, that hell reigns where there is no peace with God. The more, then, it becomes us to receive with the whole heart this promise which offers free pardon to all who confess their sins. Moreover, this is founded even on the justice of God, because God who promises is true and just. For they who think that he is called just, because he justifies us freely, reason, as I think, with too much refinement, because justice or righteousness here depends on fidelity, and both are annexed to the promise. For God might have been just, were he to deal with us with all the rigour of justice; but as he has bound himself to us by his word, he would not have himself deemed just except he forgives.1

But this confession, as it is made to God, must be in sincerity; and the heart cannot speak to God without newness of life: it then includes true repentance. God, indeed, forgives freely, but in such a way, that the facility of mercy does not become an enticement to sin.

And to cleanse us. The verb, to cleanse, seems to be taken in another sense than before; for he had said, that we are cleansed by the blood of Christ, because through him sins are not imputed; but now, having spoken of pardon, he also adds, that God cleanses us from iniquity: so that this second clause is different from the preceding. Thus he intimates that a twofold fruit comes to us from confession,—that God being reconciled by the sacrifice of Christ, forgives us,—and that he renews and reforms us.

Were any one to object and say, that as long as we sojourn in the world, we are never cleansed from all unrighteousness, with regard to our reformation: this is indeed true; but John does not refer to what God now performs in us. He is faithful, he says, to cleanse us, not to-day or to-morrow; for as long as we are surrounded with flesh, we ought to be in a continual state of progress; but what he has once begun, he goes on daily to do, until he at length completes it. So Paul says, that we are chosen, that we may appear without blame before God, (Col. 1:22;) and in another place he says, that the Church is cleansed, that it might be without spot or wrinkle. (Eph. 5:27.)⁶

1:9 Being God’s people does not mean denying sin (1:8), but confessing it. Because all people are sinners, Jesus had to die. Because sin is not completely eradicated from the lives of those who believe in Jesus, God graciously gave his followers provision for the problem of sin. John explained it here in a nutshell: If we confess … he is faithful and just to forgive.

To confess our sins means to agree with God that an act or thought was wrong, to acknowledge this to God, to seek forgiveness, and to make a commitment to not let it happen again. Confession of sins is necessary for maintaining continual fellowship with God, which in turn will enable people to have good fellowship with members of the church community.

Confession is supposed to free people to enjoy fellowship with Christ. But some Christians do not understand how it works. They feel so guilty that they confess the same sins over and over; then they wonder if they might have forgotten something. Other Christians believe that God forgives them when they confess, but if they died with unconfessed sins, they would be forever lost. These Christians do not understand that God wants to forgive people. He allowed his beloved Son to die just so he could offer them pardon. When people come to Christ, he forgives all the sins they have committed or will ever commit. They don’t need to confess the sins of the past all over again, and they don’t need to fear that God will reject them if they don’t keep their slate perfectly clean. Of course, believers should continue to confess their sins, but not because failure to do so will make them lose their salvation. Believers’ relationship with Christ is secure. Instead, they should confess so that they can enjoy maximum fellowship and joy with him.

That God is faithful means he is dependable and keeps his promises. God promises forgiveness, even in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 31:34; Micah 7:19–20). God wants to forgive his people; he wants to maintain close fellowship with them. But this can only happen when the way to him is cleared of sin’s debris—and that can only happen through confession.

That God is just means that he could not overlook people’s sin. He could not decide to let people get away with sin or to make the penalty less severe. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Sacrifices had been offered for sin, and blood had been spilt from the beginning. This could not change because God does not change. Justice would have to be done in order to decisively deal with sin. But instead of making people pay for their sins, God took the punishment upon himself through his Son. In this way, justice was done, and the way was paved for God to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. Those who confess their sins to God can trust in his forgiveness because they can trust in his character.⁷

If we confess our sins. God’s forgiveness is given as soon as we admit our need of it, not on the basis of any acts we have done to earn it, but solely because of His grace. The free gift of forgiveness carries with it purification from unrighteousness. God accepts us as righteous because He imputes to us the righteousness of Christ. That is, the very righteousness of Christ our sin-bearer is reckoned to our account.⁸

1:9 Christians must confess (their) sins, initially to receive salvation and then to maintain fellowship with God and with one another (v. 3). faithful and just to forgive. God is “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression” (Num. 14:18). Yet John also makes it clear (1 John 3:6, 9) that persistent unrepented sin is not the mark of a Christian—God “will by no means clear the guilty” (Num. 14:18).⁹

1:9 confess our sins. Honest acknowledgment of one’s sins is a prerequisite for forgiveness. faithful and just and will forgive us our sins. God is faithful to his promises when he forgives his people (cf. Exod 34:6-7), and he is also just when doing so because he sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for sins (1 John 2:2; 4:10, cf. Rom 3:25-26). When God forgives people, he no longer holds their sins against them; he cancels their “debt” (cf. Matt 6:12; 18:21-35). purify us from all unrighteousness. Removes the defilement our sins produce, thus removing the impediment to fellowship with God.

1 Kruse, C. G. (2000). The letters of John (pp. 68–70). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.

2 McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Epistles (1 John) (electronic ed., Vol. 56, pp. 32–34). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

3 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, pp. 481–483). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

4 Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible commentary (1 Jn 1:9). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.

5 Poole, M. (1853). Annotations upon the Holy Bible (Vol. 3, p. 930). New York: Robert Carter and Brothers.

6 Calvin, J., & Owen, J. (2010). Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles (pp. 167–169). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

7 Barton, B., Comfort, P., Osborne, G., Taylor, L. K., & Veerman, D. (2001). Life Application New Testament Commentary (pp. 1152–1153). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale.

8 Sproul, R. C. (Ed.). (2005). The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (p. 1828). Orlando, FL; Lake Mary, FL: Ligonier Ministries.

9 Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (pp. 2430–2431). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.