Should you confess your sins?

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1st John 1:9)

You may very well wonder why the title of my blog today expresses uncertainty whether or not we shall confess our sins - especially when you read the Bible scripture above, quoted from 1^st John 1:9. And you may as well wonder why many Christians believe that they have to confess their sins every time they sin - and if they do not, they may lose their salvation…..

Based on the scripture above, this seems to be a correct understanding - that you have to confess every time you sin. But what did Jesus say to Nicodemus when He was talking about the need to be born again? John 3:14-15 says: ”And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life”. Here, Jesus refers to a story which you can read about in Numbers chapter 21. The Israelites had spoken against God, and God sent fiery serpents among the people, and the serpents bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. Moses prayed for the people and God told Moses to make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole. Everyone who was bitten, when he looked at the serpent on the pole, lived. Each and every Israelite could raise his eyes and look at the serpent and thereby he would live.

Jesus said that just as people back then could look at the serpent on the pole and live, people now who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life because Jesus was lifted up. There was no requirement for confession when looking at the serpent on the pole - as there is no requirement for confession when believing in Jesus Christ. In fact, that you actually look upon Jesus Christ and believe in Him, is a confession that you cannot save yourself but that you need Him.

But why then does it say so clearly in 1^st John 1:9 that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins? When reading the Bible, it is important to find out about the context - for example why the letter was written and to whom it was written. The author of this letter in the Bible was probably writing this to several churches of his time in the Ephesus area. In churches at that time, there was a development of false prophets and those were the predecessors of the gnostics. These false prophets denied that Jesus was Christ and that He was the Son of God. They also denied that Jesus became a man. But 1^st John 4:2 says: ”By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in flesh is of God”. Many people of today have similar opinions. There are even people who believe that there are other ways to heaven than just through Jesus Christ.

The false prophets also claimed to be free of sins without Jesus. This letter was written to confirm the faith of the true believers. One example of that you can read in 1^st John 1:8, where it says: ”If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us”. And in verse 10, it says: ”If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us”. One purpose of this letter was therefore to make it clear that everyone has sinned and that we cannot be free of sins without Jesus Christ. It is in this context we should read and understand the scripture in the beginning of today’s message. If saying that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

In the second chapter of this letter, the author explains that he writes this so that we may not sin. It is his clear intention to let us know that Jesus Christ forgives us of our sins and that He cleanses us from all unrighteousness. We cannot say that we are free of sins without Jesus Christ. But when we have Jesus Christ, the intention is that we should not sin.

Everyone knows, though, that also believers commit sins. 1^st John 2:1-2 says: ”… 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 for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world”.

Believing in Jesus Christ is a confession that we depend on Him. And when we believe in Him, we also believe that He is with God the Father. There, He is our Advocate. And when you believe in Jesus Christ, God looks at you through Jesus Christ and He sees no sin in you.

So, what do I do when I, being a believer, commit a sin, you may wonder. The answer is: look upon Jesus Christ! Remind yourself that He has already taken your sin upon Himself. Believe that He sits at the right hand of God to represent you. Thank Him and praise Him for that!

If you should also ask God for forgiveness for your sins, He would not know what you were talking about! Because He sees you through Jesus Christ and therefore, in His eyes, you are clean as if you had never ever sinned.

The above concerns our relationship with God. When it comes to our relationship with other people, of course we should confess and ask for forgiveness. But then we confess and ask for forgiveness to repair a human relationship. Our relationship with God is already repaired - Jesus Christ completed that work on the cross about 2,000 years ago.