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 rigor 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 front the preceding. Thus he initiates 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 today or tomorrow; 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, (Colossians 1:22;) and in another place he says, that the Church is cleansed, that it might be without spot or wrinkle. (Ephesians 5:27.)
If yet any one prefers another explanation, that he says the same thing twice over, I shall not object. 2
Monday, April 12, 2010
John Piper; 1 John 1:9
Confession and Forgiveness
Verse 9 we have already discussed in connection with verse 7. But let's review its meaning. We can see it best when we put verses 6–7 and verses 8–9 in parallel columns to show their similarity.
Verses 6–7
Verses 8–9
If we say that If we say that
we have fellowship with him and we walk in darkness we do not have sin
we lie we deceive ourselves
and we do not do the truth. and the truth is not in us.
If we walk in the light as he is in the light If we confess our sins
we have fellowship with one another
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
One of the many insights we get from these parallels is that denying our sin is part of what it means to walk in darkness, and confessing our sin is part of what it means to walk in the light. Which implies further that denying our sinfulness cuts us off from fellowship with God (just the opposite of what we are prone to feel); and confessing our sin opens the channel of forgiveness and cleansing.
Some people say that a Christian should never pray for forgiveness because his sins are all forgiven in Christ. It is finished in the cross and no more forgiveness is possible. There is truth in this. But to me it smacks of artificiality. At least we should say, "Father, I have sinned and am not worthy to be called your child. Please apply the blood of Christ to this my sin and count it among those which you forgave when he died for me on the cross."
But if that is too complex, I am sure the Father would gladly receive the words, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us."
Calling God a Liar
Finally, verse 10 repeats verse 8 with a stronger warning: "If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." The claim to sinlessness is not only self-deception, but blasphemy. It amounts to calling God a liar.
This means that God's assessment of us is not positive. He calls us evil. If we deny our evil, we call him a liar. John uses strong words so we will be strong people.
Let these simple, straightforward, weighty truths sink into your mind and you will have a great ballast to keep your boat from capsizing in the winds of contemporary fads and fashions and trends.
Verse 9 we have already discussed in connection with verse 7. But let's review its meaning. We can see it best when we put verses 6–7 and verses 8–9 in parallel columns to show their similarity.
Verses 6–7
Verses 8–9
If we say that If we say that
we have fellowship with him and we walk in darkness we do not have sin
we lie we deceive ourselves
and we do not do the truth. and the truth is not in us.
If we walk in the light as he is in the light If we confess our sins
we have fellowship with one another
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
One of the many insights we get from these parallels is that denying our sin is part of what it means to walk in darkness, and confessing our sin is part of what it means to walk in the light. Which implies further that denying our sinfulness cuts us off from fellowship with God (just the opposite of what we are prone to feel); and confessing our sin opens the channel of forgiveness and cleansing.
Some people say that a Christian should never pray for forgiveness because his sins are all forgiven in Christ. It is finished in the cross and no more forgiveness is possible. There is truth in this. But to me it smacks of artificiality. At least we should say, "Father, I have sinned and am not worthy to be called your child. Please apply the blood of Christ to this my sin and count it among those which you forgave when he died for me on the cross."
But if that is too complex, I am sure the Father would gladly receive the words, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us."
Calling God a Liar
Finally, verse 10 repeats verse 8 with a stronger warning: "If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." The claim to sinlessness is not only self-deception, but blasphemy. It amounts to calling God a liar.
This means that God's assessment of us is not positive. He calls us evil. If we deny our evil, we call him a liar. John uses strong words so we will be strong people.
Let these simple, straightforward, weighty truths sink into your mind and you will have a great ballast to keep your boat from capsizing in the winds of contemporary fads and fashions and trends.
John Macarthur; 1 John 1:9
...There is no way a forgive person can then be reversed, as it were, out of that condition of forgiveness and held before the judgment bar of God to pay ultimately for his own sins. I just want to make it very clear that all our sins are forgiven and yet in spite of this gracious, merciful generosity on God's part toward all of those who repent and embrace Jesus Christ we are still, according to 1 John 1, we are still known as Christians because we continue to confess our sins. And that is what verse 9 is saying, if we are confessing our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And we looked at that in some detail and pointed out that is not a command, that is a statement of fact. True believers are habitual confessors who therefore demonstrate that their sins are continually being forgiven. We are still known as penitent. We are still known as eager to repent, as confessors of sin.
In our previous study we looked into this verse and into the context a little bit and we saw that John is providing one of these several tests to verify a true believer. There were those people with whom John was dealing who claimed to be in the light. They claimed to have fellowship with God. But in actuality they walked in darkness because they refused to confess their sins. They are so described in verses 8 and 10. Very different is the pattern of a true Christian. It is the pattern of our lives to be constant confessors, never denying our sin but always acknowledging our sin and always enjoying the on-going benefits of that confession and that repentance. In fact, we never come to the table of the Lord without the attitude of confession. We never come to the table of the Lord, such as we're doing tonight, without a heart searching to see if there's any sin in our lives that could cause us literally to bring chastening upon us by partaking of this table without due consideration of the confession of our sins. The godly are confessors. We learn that throughout the Scripture. I quoted to you from Romans chapter 4, "Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven," and I said that comes from Psalm 32. Psalm 32 is prayed by David. David was a believer. David was a justified man. David was a child of God and yet he confessed his sin. He said, "When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long, for day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me, my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to Thee, my iniquity I didn't hide, I said I'll confess my transgression to the Lord and Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin." David was a believer. David was a child of God and yet when he didn't confess his sin he felt tremendous pressure. It dried up the fluids in his body. It distressed him. He ached all over. What was happening was the guilt that was flooding his mind was having an impact on his body. And then he confessed and he opened his heart. He felt the free flow of God's forgiveness and restoration. Those of us who are believers then, even though all our sins have been forgiven, are nonetheless confessors...confessors. And as I said, this isn't a command to confess, it's a statement of fact. Believers by nature do this. It is the result of the work of God in them. It is the result of the work of the Spirit in them. It is the result of the work of the Word in them, all of which convicts of sin. So even though we have been forgiven, we are very much aware of our sin, very eager to confess it, repent of it and be washed.
This is not a command in 1 John 1. But there are commands in the Bible that tell believers to seek forgiveness. Luke 11:4, what did Jesus teach the disciples? He taught them to pray this way, "Forgive us our sins...forgive us our sins."
....Now we have a problem here. You see where I'm going? We have a dilemma. Why would I be saying, "God, forgive my sins," when I know He's already forgiven my sins? How am I going to reconcile this?
Well, some teachers increasingly popular, by the way today, claim that since we are already forgiven we must never ask God to forgive our sins. To do so, they tell us, is an expression of unbelief. It's an expression of doubt. And, in fact, you are calling God's Word into question. Why would you ever ask the Lord to forgive your sins when He has told you all your sins are already forgiven? And so they insist that 1 John 1:9 has nothing to do with Christians but it is an invitation to non-Christians. When I was writing the book on forgiveness, I used some illustration from the best-known contemporary proponents of this view, a man named Bob George who teaches on the radio, a popular author, he says that Christians who pray for forgiveness, quote: "Live in daily insecurity, doubting whether all their sins are forgiven." He and several others who teach similarly claim that the only way to enjoy your liberty in Christ is to forget your sin, forget about it all together and just embrace God's forgiveness as a fully accomplished reality because of the work of Christ and never again pay any attention to your sin.
...........
As a righteous judge, He has done that because He thoroughly and completely punished Jesus Christ for our sins. The price is paid in full and therefore God by justice cannot hold us guilty because the price has been paid.
But that's not all the truth in this matter and to say that God therefore pays absolutely no attention to our sin is ridiculous and to say that you are to pay no attention to your sin is also ridiculous and dangerous. To say that we can sin and completely ignore it and bear no guilt and no remorse and offer no confession and ask for no forgiveness will, believe me, bring down on such a person's head the discipline and the displeasure of God. The idea that a Christian should never pray a penitent prayer seeking forgiveness is unbiblical, it's heretical. So-called Christians who think they can sin and never need to seek their Father's forgiveness is seriously deceived, but that is an increasingly popular view.
......You say, "Well what do people do with that verse?" Well, those who argue against praying for forgiveness say that that verse applies to the Old Covenant under Moses' law. They say that under the Old Covenant, under the law of Moses, under the legal dispensation of the past and maybe some future legal dispensations, some of them refer to, that prayer applied. In other words, when you ask for forgiveness you got it and the next time you asked you got it, and the next time you asked you got it. And that's how it was, they say, under the Old Covenant.
Guess what? That's never how it was under the Old Covenant...never. People were saved under the Old Covenant the same way they're saved under the New Covenant. They cried out to God about their sinful condition and God in mercy forgave all their sins...that's Psalm 32, "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin at all. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." Justification in the Old Testament was exactly the same as it is in the New Testament, as it is now...the sinner cries out to God, God forgives based upon the death of Jesus Christ. God applied the sacrifice of Christ to penitent sinners in the Old Testament even before Jesus died. The New Covenant was already in operation, though it wasn't ratified until Calvary. There wasn't any dispensation that operated like that, that if you confessed your sin it's forgiven, if you confess it's forgiven, if it's confessed...nobody would ever believe the Bible teaches a conditional salvation that comes and goes with every sin and be able to defend that biblically. There never was salvation by law. There never was salvation by works. And if they're trying to say that was some legal code that operated in time past and might operate in some time in the future, then they don't understand the role the law played. The way people were saved in the Old Testament was when they realized that they could not save themselves. No amount of penitence, no amount of confession, no amount of law keeping could overcome the fact that they could not...could not get over the just judgment of God against their sin. They needed a substitute. The substitute was pictured in the Old Testament sacrificial system. There would come one day one whose death would be in their place. This is a way they have to get around the issue.
Well how are we then to understand this apparent contradiction? Simple, really, they're two kinds of forgiveness...two kinds of forgiveness. It is true, as I said, that all our sins are forgiven insofar as the judgment of God is concerned because He meted out that judgment in Christ. It is true. It is also true that we need to continue to ask the Lord to forgive our sins. Both are true, both are taught in Scripture. I'll show you how they harmonize if you'll turn to the thirteenth chapter of John, and this in the words of our Lord Himself. John chapter 13, it is the upper room, the familiar account of Jesus with the disciples. They're sitting at the table, nobody has provided a very important part of any social gathering like this where they're reclining at a table, and that was the washing of feet. There was apparently no servant available to do that, none of the disciples had deferred and taken the humble place to do it on behalf of the others. Jesus manifesting again His own humility as well as seeing in this a very important lesson, verse 4 says, "Rose from supper, laid aside His garments, took a towel, girded Himself around, poured water into the basin, began to wash the disciples' feet and wiped them with a towel which He was girded." The most menial of all tasks. They wore sandals. The roads were either dusty or muddy. You didn't recline at a banquet without properly washing your feet. This was the commonest of courtesies done by the lowest of servants. But no one did it, so Jesus did it. And it provides an opportunity to help us to understand these two kinds of forgiveness.
He came to Simon Peter, said to him, "Lord, do You wash my feet?" I mean, Peter understood that this is ridiculous, what are You doing down there washing my dirty feet? It ought to be the other way around.
Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now, but you shall understand hereafter." It will become clear to you in a while.
Peter said to Him, with his usual brashness, he doesn't even hesitate to command Christ, "Never shall You wash my feet! Never!"
Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me."
Whoa! Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." I want a part with You. I want a relationship with You. Wash everything, Lord, everything.
But Jesus said to him, and here is the lesson, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. And you're clean." Boy, that's so insightful. Here is the distinction in an unmistakable analogy. Bathing...Peter took an appropriate bath before he came. He was basically clean, he didn't need his head and his hands, he didn't need to be literally doused. He had just accumulated dirt on his feet. Bathing illustrates one kind of washing, one kind of forgiveness. It illustrates the forensic forgiveness of justification. That is to say it indicates those who are justified by God as being declared free from the penalty of sin, free from the penalty of sin forever. You've already been justified, you've already been declared righteous because even though Jesus hadn't died yet, Peter had already been justified before the cross God applying the cross before it even took place. You have already been declared free from the penalty of sin forever by God who has His justice satisfied through the sacrifice of Christ. So bathing illustrates the forensic forgiveness of justification, washing illustrates the fatherly forgiveness of sanctification.
He says you're clean. You appear before God as clean and righteous. You are free from the penalty of sin in your justification. But then there's the matter of your sanctification and you need to be continually washed from the presence of sin and the power of sin. You don't need to be justified again, you just need to be being sanctified. And it is in that fatherly sense, it is in that sanctifying sense that Jesus tells us...Say to the Father...Father, forgive us our sins.
You're not doubting justification. You have been justified before God. You have been set free from the penalty of sin. But be honest and realistic and though you are set free from the penalty of sin, you have not been delivered from the presence and power of sin and while you don't need to be justified again, you need to be continually washed. Sin needs to be confessed and forsaken as a regular pattern of life, not before a judge who will otherwise condemn us to hell, but before a Father who will otherwise chasten us. And that too is clear from 1 John 1:9. We go on confessing, and He goes on forgiving and cleansing.
The on-going confession does not bring justification, the on-going confession is related to sanctification. The forensic decision regarding our freedom from the penalty of sin has been made, it's inviolable, it can't be reversed, we pointed that out. The fatherly concern for our holiness and our sanctification is related to the on-going confession and forgiveness. In Christ we have forever satisfied the judge. He will never be displeased. But God as Father is displeased when we behave sinfully.
Now to point this out is to clarify the issue. There are two kinds of forgiveness...judicial forgiveness, or forensic forgiveness. The forgiveness that was purchased in full by the atonement that Jesus Christ rendered on our behalf. That kind of forgiveness frees us from the threat of eternal punishment, eternal condemnation and that's why those who are in Christ Jesus are not under condemnation, Romans 8:1. It is the forgiveness of justification. But then there's not just the judicial, there's the paternal forgiveness. This is granted by God not as judge, but as father. He is still grieved when His children sin. Yes we are justified, but He also wants us to be sanctified, to be conformed to the image of Christ. He is pleased with that justification. He is displeased with the breach of sanctification. Forgiveness of justification takes care of judicial guilt, but it does not eliminate fatherly displeasure. We have been delivered from the penalty of sin by justification, but we haven't been delivered from the presence and the consequences of sin. That is an on-going process and that's why we are always confessing and always being forgiven and being cleansed. Your justification is a fixed and settled reality. Your sanctification ebbs and flows dependent on how you deal with the sin in your life. You are covered with the righteousness of Christ that pleases God and settles the issue of your eternity. In terms of punishment, there never will be any. But the sin in your life, in your humanness, displeases the loving Father, retards your sanctification which also displeases Him and muddies up the image of Christ which you and I are to manifest.
Are we supposed to believe that because Jesus Christ atoned for our sins God no longer cares about our sins? Of course He cares, why do you think the Bible is full of commands? What do these people do with them? What do they do with all the commands to holiness? One Christian confused about these things sent an e-mail, "Are you saying to me...are you saying God will become angry with His own children? If we're clothed with Christ's righteousness, how could God even see our sin? And if He can't even see our sin...that's a quick conclusion to his point...if He can't even see our sin how could He ever be displeased by it? I thought God was never displeased with any Christian because He accepts us in Christ as if we were as righteous as Christ and He's well pleased with His beloved Son. Besides, if we believe God gets angry with His own children when they sin, can we honestly say we believe He's forgiven us in the first place?"
So the forgiveness...back to 1 John 1...the forgiveness in 1 John 1:9 is parental forgiveness, relational forgiveness, it's restorational. It's like Psalm 32, Psalm 51, "Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation." It's the kind of discipline that deals with our sin and brings us to repentance, confession, forgiveness and restored joy. It is not the washing of regeneration, that's already done. It's not the forgiveness of justification, that's already done. It isn't the bath. We need one bath and many times need our feet washed.
......The aim of confession then is not to erase consequences, it's to restore joy. And then the consequences are what they are. Your sins have consequences. They're rocks thrown in the pond and the ripples go and they touch every shore. But God does promise when you've confessed and repented that He will show you loving kindness and compassion because you are His eternal child.. Your justification is settled forever. Don't cover your sin, confess it. That's what true Christians do. You've been bathed that you need continually to have your feet washed as they get dirty walking in your fallenness. If you don't confess, you'll be chastened. If you do confess, you may never be able to change the consequences but because you're God's child He'll come to you in compassion and loving kindness and minister to you. He disciplines His impenitent children because He loves them and He wants them to be holy and righteous and you can be holy and righteous even though the consequences are still painful. And while you're going through the pain of the consequences, He will flood you even if you're a broken-hearted child, with His mercy and compassion. That's why we are eager to confess our sins. We want that forgiveness, that compassion and that kindness to mitigate against the circumstances we've created.
In our previous study we looked into this verse and into the context a little bit and we saw that John is providing one of these several tests to verify a true believer. There were those people with whom John was dealing who claimed to be in the light. They claimed to have fellowship with God. But in actuality they walked in darkness because they refused to confess their sins. They are so described in verses 8 and 10. Very different is the pattern of a true Christian. It is the pattern of our lives to be constant confessors, never denying our sin but always acknowledging our sin and always enjoying the on-going benefits of that confession and that repentance. In fact, we never come to the table of the Lord without the attitude of confession. We never come to the table of the Lord, such as we're doing tonight, without a heart searching to see if there's any sin in our lives that could cause us literally to bring chastening upon us by partaking of this table without due consideration of the confession of our sins. The godly are confessors. We learn that throughout the Scripture. I quoted to you from Romans chapter 4, "Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven," and I said that comes from Psalm 32. Psalm 32 is prayed by David. David was a believer. David was a justified man. David was a child of God and yet he confessed his sin. He said, "When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long, for day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me, my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to Thee, my iniquity I didn't hide, I said I'll confess my transgression to the Lord and Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin." David was a believer. David was a child of God and yet when he didn't confess his sin he felt tremendous pressure. It dried up the fluids in his body. It distressed him. He ached all over. What was happening was the guilt that was flooding his mind was having an impact on his body. And then he confessed and he opened his heart. He felt the free flow of God's forgiveness and restoration. Those of us who are believers then, even though all our sins have been forgiven, are nonetheless confessors...confessors. And as I said, this isn't a command to confess, it's a statement of fact. Believers by nature do this. It is the result of the work of God in them. It is the result of the work of the Spirit in them. It is the result of the work of the Word in them, all of which convicts of sin. So even though we have been forgiven, we are very much aware of our sin, very eager to confess it, repent of it and be washed.
This is not a command in 1 John 1. But there are commands in the Bible that tell believers to seek forgiveness. Luke 11:4, what did Jesus teach the disciples? He taught them to pray this way, "Forgive us our sins...forgive us our sins."
....Now we have a problem here. You see where I'm going? We have a dilemma. Why would I be saying, "God, forgive my sins," when I know He's already forgiven my sins? How am I going to reconcile this?
Well, some teachers increasingly popular, by the way today, claim that since we are already forgiven we must never ask God to forgive our sins. To do so, they tell us, is an expression of unbelief. It's an expression of doubt. And, in fact, you are calling God's Word into question. Why would you ever ask the Lord to forgive your sins when He has told you all your sins are already forgiven? And so they insist that 1 John 1:9 has nothing to do with Christians but it is an invitation to non-Christians. When I was writing the book on forgiveness, I used some illustration from the best-known contemporary proponents of this view, a man named Bob George who teaches on the radio, a popular author, he says that Christians who pray for forgiveness, quote: "Live in daily insecurity, doubting whether all their sins are forgiven." He and several others who teach similarly claim that the only way to enjoy your liberty in Christ is to forget your sin, forget about it all together and just embrace God's forgiveness as a fully accomplished reality because of the work of Christ and never again pay any attention to your sin.
...........
As a righteous judge, He has done that because He thoroughly and completely punished Jesus Christ for our sins. The price is paid in full and therefore God by justice cannot hold us guilty because the price has been paid.
But that's not all the truth in this matter and to say that God therefore pays absolutely no attention to our sin is ridiculous and to say that you are to pay no attention to your sin is also ridiculous and dangerous. To say that we can sin and completely ignore it and bear no guilt and no remorse and offer no confession and ask for no forgiveness will, believe me, bring down on such a person's head the discipline and the displeasure of God. The idea that a Christian should never pray a penitent prayer seeking forgiveness is unbiblical, it's heretical. So-called Christians who think they can sin and never need to seek their Father's forgiveness is seriously deceived, but that is an increasingly popular view.
......You say, "Well what do people do with that verse?" Well, those who argue against praying for forgiveness say that that verse applies to the Old Covenant under Moses' law. They say that under the Old Covenant, under the law of Moses, under the legal dispensation of the past and maybe some future legal dispensations, some of them refer to, that prayer applied. In other words, when you ask for forgiveness you got it and the next time you asked you got it, and the next time you asked you got it. And that's how it was, they say, under the Old Covenant.
Guess what? That's never how it was under the Old Covenant...never. People were saved under the Old Covenant the same way they're saved under the New Covenant. They cried out to God about their sinful condition and God in mercy forgave all their sins...that's Psalm 32, "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin at all. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." Justification in the Old Testament was exactly the same as it is in the New Testament, as it is now...the sinner cries out to God, God forgives based upon the death of Jesus Christ. God applied the sacrifice of Christ to penitent sinners in the Old Testament even before Jesus died. The New Covenant was already in operation, though it wasn't ratified until Calvary. There wasn't any dispensation that operated like that, that if you confessed your sin it's forgiven, if you confess it's forgiven, if it's confessed...nobody would ever believe the Bible teaches a conditional salvation that comes and goes with every sin and be able to defend that biblically. There never was salvation by law. There never was salvation by works. And if they're trying to say that was some legal code that operated in time past and might operate in some time in the future, then they don't understand the role the law played. The way people were saved in the Old Testament was when they realized that they could not save themselves. No amount of penitence, no amount of confession, no amount of law keeping could overcome the fact that they could not...could not get over the just judgment of God against their sin. They needed a substitute. The substitute was pictured in the Old Testament sacrificial system. There would come one day one whose death would be in their place. This is a way they have to get around the issue.
Well how are we then to understand this apparent contradiction? Simple, really, they're two kinds of forgiveness...two kinds of forgiveness. It is true, as I said, that all our sins are forgiven insofar as the judgment of God is concerned because He meted out that judgment in Christ. It is true. It is also true that we need to continue to ask the Lord to forgive our sins. Both are true, both are taught in Scripture. I'll show you how they harmonize if you'll turn to the thirteenth chapter of John, and this in the words of our Lord Himself. John chapter 13, it is the upper room, the familiar account of Jesus with the disciples. They're sitting at the table, nobody has provided a very important part of any social gathering like this where they're reclining at a table, and that was the washing of feet. There was apparently no servant available to do that, none of the disciples had deferred and taken the humble place to do it on behalf of the others. Jesus manifesting again His own humility as well as seeing in this a very important lesson, verse 4 says, "Rose from supper, laid aside His garments, took a towel, girded Himself around, poured water into the basin, began to wash the disciples' feet and wiped them with a towel which He was girded." The most menial of all tasks. They wore sandals. The roads were either dusty or muddy. You didn't recline at a banquet without properly washing your feet. This was the commonest of courtesies done by the lowest of servants. But no one did it, so Jesus did it. And it provides an opportunity to help us to understand these two kinds of forgiveness.
He came to Simon Peter, said to him, "Lord, do You wash my feet?" I mean, Peter understood that this is ridiculous, what are You doing down there washing my dirty feet? It ought to be the other way around.
Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now, but you shall understand hereafter." It will become clear to you in a while.
Peter said to Him, with his usual brashness, he doesn't even hesitate to command Christ, "Never shall You wash my feet! Never!"
Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me."
Whoa! Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." I want a part with You. I want a relationship with You. Wash everything, Lord, everything.
But Jesus said to him, and here is the lesson, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. And you're clean." Boy, that's so insightful. Here is the distinction in an unmistakable analogy. Bathing...Peter took an appropriate bath before he came. He was basically clean, he didn't need his head and his hands, he didn't need to be literally doused. He had just accumulated dirt on his feet. Bathing illustrates one kind of washing, one kind of forgiveness. It illustrates the forensic forgiveness of justification. That is to say it indicates those who are justified by God as being declared free from the penalty of sin, free from the penalty of sin forever. You've already been justified, you've already been declared righteous because even though Jesus hadn't died yet, Peter had already been justified before the cross God applying the cross before it even took place. You have already been declared free from the penalty of sin forever by God who has His justice satisfied through the sacrifice of Christ. So bathing illustrates the forensic forgiveness of justification, washing illustrates the fatherly forgiveness of sanctification.
He says you're clean. You appear before God as clean and righteous. You are free from the penalty of sin in your justification. But then there's the matter of your sanctification and you need to be continually washed from the presence of sin and the power of sin. You don't need to be justified again, you just need to be being sanctified. And it is in that fatherly sense, it is in that sanctifying sense that Jesus tells us...Say to the Father...Father, forgive us our sins.
You're not doubting justification. You have been justified before God. You have been set free from the penalty of sin. But be honest and realistic and though you are set free from the penalty of sin, you have not been delivered from the presence and power of sin and while you don't need to be justified again, you need to be continually washed. Sin needs to be confessed and forsaken as a regular pattern of life, not before a judge who will otherwise condemn us to hell, but before a Father who will otherwise chasten us. And that too is clear from 1 John 1:9. We go on confessing, and He goes on forgiving and cleansing.
The on-going confession does not bring justification, the on-going confession is related to sanctification. The forensic decision regarding our freedom from the penalty of sin has been made, it's inviolable, it can't be reversed, we pointed that out. The fatherly concern for our holiness and our sanctification is related to the on-going confession and forgiveness. In Christ we have forever satisfied the judge. He will never be displeased. But God as Father is displeased when we behave sinfully.
Now to point this out is to clarify the issue. There are two kinds of forgiveness...judicial forgiveness, or forensic forgiveness. The forgiveness that was purchased in full by the atonement that Jesus Christ rendered on our behalf. That kind of forgiveness frees us from the threat of eternal punishment, eternal condemnation and that's why those who are in Christ Jesus are not under condemnation, Romans 8:1. It is the forgiveness of justification. But then there's not just the judicial, there's the paternal forgiveness. This is granted by God not as judge, but as father. He is still grieved when His children sin. Yes we are justified, but He also wants us to be sanctified, to be conformed to the image of Christ. He is pleased with that justification. He is displeased with the breach of sanctification. Forgiveness of justification takes care of judicial guilt, but it does not eliminate fatherly displeasure. We have been delivered from the penalty of sin by justification, but we haven't been delivered from the presence and the consequences of sin. That is an on-going process and that's why we are always confessing and always being forgiven and being cleansed. Your justification is a fixed and settled reality. Your sanctification ebbs and flows dependent on how you deal with the sin in your life. You are covered with the righteousness of Christ that pleases God and settles the issue of your eternity. In terms of punishment, there never will be any. But the sin in your life, in your humanness, displeases the loving Father, retards your sanctification which also displeases Him and muddies up the image of Christ which you and I are to manifest.
Are we supposed to believe that because Jesus Christ atoned for our sins God no longer cares about our sins? Of course He cares, why do you think the Bible is full of commands? What do these people do with them? What do they do with all the commands to holiness? One Christian confused about these things sent an e-mail, "Are you saying to me...are you saying God will become angry with His own children? If we're clothed with Christ's righteousness, how could God even see our sin? And if He can't even see our sin...that's a quick conclusion to his point...if He can't even see our sin how could He ever be displeased by it? I thought God was never displeased with any Christian because He accepts us in Christ as if we were as righteous as Christ and He's well pleased with His beloved Son. Besides, if we believe God gets angry with His own children when they sin, can we honestly say we believe He's forgiven us in the first place?"
So the forgiveness...back to 1 John 1...the forgiveness in 1 John 1:9 is parental forgiveness, relational forgiveness, it's restorational. It's like Psalm 32, Psalm 51, "Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation." It's the kind of discipline that deals with our sin and brings us to repentance, confession, forgiveness and restored joy. It is not the washing of regeneration, that's already done. It's not the forgiveness of justification, that's already done. It isn't the bath. We need one bath and many times need our feet washed.
......The aim of confession then is not to erase consequences, it's to restore joy. And then the consequences are what they are. Your sins have consequences. They're rocks thrown in the pond and the ripples go and they touch every shore. But God does promise when you've confessed and repented that He will show you loving kindness and compassion because you are His eternal child.. Your justification is settled forever. Don't cover your sin, confess it. That's what true Christians do. You've been bathed that you need continually to have your feet washed as they get dirty walking in your fallenness. If you don't confess, you'll be chastened. If you do confess, you may never be able to change the consequences but because you're God's child He'll come to you in compassion and loving kindness and minister to you. He disciplines His impenitent children because He loves them and He wants them to be holy and righteous and you can be holy and righteous even though the consequences are still painful. And while you're going through the pain of the consequences, He will flood you even if you're a broken-hearted child, with His mercy and compassion. That's why we are eager to confess our sins. We want that forgiveness, that compassion and that kindness to mitigate against the circumstances we've created.
J. C. Ryle; 1 John 1:9
My first word of application shall be a question. That question is neither more nor less than the heading of the subject you are reading. I ask you, DO YOU CONFESS?
You know my meaning in asking this question. I trust the pages you have already read make that sufficiently plain. I do not ask you now what your opinion is about matters controverted in the present day. I ask you a plain practical question, Do you know anything of the daily habit of confessing sin to God?
You will not pretend to say you have no sins at all. Few, probably, are so blind and ignorant in the present day as to say that. But what do you do with your sins? What measures do you take about your sins Do you use any steps to get rid of your sins? Do you ever speak to any one about your sins? Answer these questions, I do beseech you, to your own conscience. Whether you are rich or poor, old or young, churchman or dissenter, matters little. But it does matter a great deal whether you can reply to the inquiry of this subject, -Do you confess your sins?
Reader, if you know nothing of the habit of confessing sin, I have only one remark to make,-YOUR SOUL IS IN IMMINENT DANGER! There is but a step between you and hell. If you die as you are, you will be lost for ever. The kingdom of God contains no silent subjects. The citizens of the heavenly city are a people who have all known, and felt, and confessed their sins.
I give you one simple warning. You will have to confess your sins one day, whether von will or no.
When the great white throne is set, and the books are opened, your sins will at last be exposed before the whole world. The secrets of all hearts will be revealed. You will have to acknowledge your transgressions before the eyes of an assembled world, and an innumerable company of angels. Your confession at last will be most public; and, worst of all, your confession will be too late
Where is the man who would not shrink from the idea of such an exposure? Where is the woman whose spirit would not fail at the very possibility of such a confession as this? Reader, this public confession will be the portion of millions. Take heed lest it be yours. Oh! think, think, think upon the question before you. DO YOU CONFESS!
2. My second word of application shall be an invitation. I address it to all who have neglected confession of sin in time past, and are ashamed of their neglect. I invite you in my Master's name to BEGIN THE HABIT OF CONFESSING WITHOUT DELAY.
Go this very day to the throne of grace, and speak to the great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, about your soul. Pour out your heart before Him. Keep nothing back from Him. Acknowledge your iniquities to Him, and entreat Him to cleanse them away. Say to Him, in David's words, "For Thy name's sake pardon mine iniquity; for it is great." "Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities." Cry to Him as the publican did in the parable, "God be merciful to me a sinner" (Psalm xxv. 11; li. 9 Luke xviii. 13).
Reader, are you afraid to do this? Do you feel unworthy and unfit to begin? I do entreat you to resist such feelings, and to begin without delay. There are glorious Bible examples to encourage you. There are rich Bible promises to lure you on. In all the volume of Scripture there are no passages so encouraging as those which are about confession of sin. "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John i. 9). "If any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light" (Job xxxiii. 27). "Father," said the prodigal son, "I have sinned against Heaven and in Thy sight, and am no mote worthy to be called Thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry" (Luke xv. 21-23). Arise, dear reader, and call upon God. If Christ had never died for sinners, there might be some excuse for doubting. But Christ having suffered for sin, there is nothing that need keep you back. Only acknowledge your iniquity, and cast yourself wholly at God's mercy in Christ, and life, eternal life, shall be your own. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow: thought they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah i. 18). But O reader, begin, begin to confess without delay. This very day BEGIN TO CONFESS YOUR SIN.
3. My last word of application shall be an exhortation. I address it to all who have been taught by the Holy Ghost to confess their sins, and know the subject of this tract by inward experience. I exhort them TO KEEP UP THE HABIT OF CONFESSION to the last day of their lives.
My believing brethren, we shall never cease to be sinners as long as we are in the body. Every day we shall find something to deplore in our thoughts, or motives, or words, or deeds. Every day we shall find that we need the blood of sprinkling, and the intercession of Christ. Then let us keep up daily transactions with the throne of grace. Let us daily confess our infirmities at the feet of our merciful and faithful High Priest, and seek fresh absolution. Let us daily cast ourselves under the shadow of His wings, and cry, "Surely in me dwelleth no good thing: Thou art my hiding-place, O Lamb of God!"
May every year find us more humble and yet more hopeful,-more sensible of our own unworthiness, and yet more ready to rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh! May our prayers become every year more fervent, and our confessions of sin more real;-our eye more single, and our walk with God more close;-our knowledge of Jesus more clear, and our love to Jesus more deep;-our citizenship in heaven more manifest, and our separation from the world more distinct!
So living, we shall cross the waves of this troublesome world with comfort, and have an abundant en trance into God's kingdom. So living, we shall find that our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Yet a few more years and our prayers and confessions shall cease for ever. We shall begin an endless life of praise. We shall exchange our daily confessions for eternal thanksgiving.[4]
You know my meaning in asking this question. I trust the pages you have already read make that sufficiently plain. I do not ask you now what your opinion is about matters controverted in the present day. I ask you a plain practical question, Do you know anything of the daily habit of confessing sin to God?
You will not pretend to say you have no sins at all. Few, probably, are so blind and ignorant in the present day as to say that. But what do you do with your sins? What measures do you take about your sins Do you use any steps to get rid of your sins? Do you ever speak to any one about your sins? Answer these questions, I do beseech you, to your own conscience. Whether you are rich or poor, old or young, churchman or dissenter, matters little. But it does matter a great deal whether you can reply to the inquiry of this subject, -Do you confess your sins?
Reader, if you know nothing of the habit of confessing sin, I have only one remark to make,-YOUR SOUL IS IN IMMINENT DANGER! There is but a step between you and hell. If you die as you are, you will be lost for ever. The kingdom of God contains no silent subjects. The citizens of the heavenly city are a people who have all known, and felt, and confessed their sins.
I give you one simple warning. You will have to confess your sins one day, whether von will or no.
When the great white throne is set, and the books are opened, your sins will at last be exposed before the whole world. The secrets of all hearts will be revealed. You will have to acknowledge your transgressions before the eyes of an assembled world, and an innumerable company of angels. Your confession at last will be most public; and, worst of all, your confession will be too late
Where is the man who would not shrink from the idea of such an exposure? Where is the woman whose spirit would not fail at the very possibility of such a confession as this? Reader, this public confession will be the portion of millions. Take heed lest it be yours. Oh! think, think, think upon the question before you. DO YOU CONFESS!
2. My second word of application shall be an invitation. I address it to all who have neglected confession of sin in time past, and are ashamed of their neglect. I invite you in my Master's name to BEGIN THE HABIT OF CONFESSING WITHOUT DELAY.
Go this very day to the throne of grace, and speak to the great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, about your soul. Pour out your heart before Him. Keep nothing back from Him. Acknowledge your iniquities to Him, and entreat Him to cleanse them away. Say to Him, in David's words, "For Thy name's sake pardon mine iniquity; for it is great." "Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities." Cry to Him as the publican did in the parable, "God be merciful to me a sinner" (Psalm xxv. 11; li. 9 Luke xviii. 13).
Reader, are you afraid to do this? Do you feel unworthy and unfit to begin? I do entreat you to resist such feelings, and to begin without delay. There are glorious Bible examples to encourage you. There are rich Bible promises to lure you on. In all the volume of Scripture there are no passages so encouraging as those which are about confession of sin. "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John i. 9). "If any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light" (Job xxxiii. 27). "Father," said the prodigal son, "I have sinned against Heaven and in Thy sight, and am no mote worthy to be called Thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry" (Luke xv. 21-23). Arise, dear reader, and call upon God. If Christ had never died for sinners, there might be some excuse for doubting. But Christ having suffered for sin, there is nothing that need keep you back. Only acknowledge your iniquity, and cast yourself wholly at God's mercy in Christ, and life, eternal life, shall be your own. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow: thought they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah i. 18). But O reader, begin, begin to confess without delay. This very day BEGIN TO CONFESS YOUR SIN.
3. My last word of application shall be an exhortation. I address it to all who have been taught by the Holy Ghost to confess their sins, and know the subject of this tract by inward experience. I exhort them TO KEEP UP THE HABIT OF CONFESSION to the last day of their lives.
My believing brethren, we shall never cease to be sinners as long as we are in the body. Every day we shall find something to deplore in our thoughts, or motives, or words, or deeds. Every day we shall find that we need the blood of sprinkling, and the intercession of Christ. Then let us keep up daily transactions with the throne of grace. Let us daily confess our infirmities at the feet of our merciful and faithful High Priest, and seek fresh absolution. Let us daily cast ourselves under the shadow of His wings, and cry, "Surely in me dwelleth no good thing: Thou art my hiding-place, O Lamb of God!"
May every year find us more humble and yet more hopeful,-more sensible of our own unworthiness, and yet more ready to rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh! May our prayers become every year more fervent, and our confessions of sin more real;-our eye more single, and our walk with God more close;-our knowledge of Jesus more clear, and our love to Jesus more deep;-our citizenship in heaven more manifest, and our separation from the world more distinct!
So living, we shall cross the waves of this troublesome world with comfort, and have an abundant en trance into God's kingdom. So living, we shall find that our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Yet a few more years and our prayers and confessions shall cease for ever. We shall begin an endless life of praise. We shall exchange our daily confessions for eternal thanksgiving.[4]
C.H. Spurgeon; 1 John 1:9
The text says that not only can God be just, but it says something more: it says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Now, if I understand this text, it means this: that IT IS AN ACT OF JUSTICE ON GOD'S PART TO FORGIVE THE SINNER WHO MAKES A CONFESSION OF HIS SIN TO GOD. Mark! not that the sinner deserves forgiveness: that can never be. Sin can never merit anything but punishment, and repentance is no atonement for sin. Not that God is bound from any necessity of his nature to forgive every one that repents, because repentance has not in itself sufficient efficacy and power to merit forgiveness at the hand of God. Yet, nevertheless, it is a truth that, because God is just, he must forgive every sinner who confesses his sin. And if he did not—and mark, it is a bold thing to say, but it is warranted by the text—if a sinner should be led truly and solemnly to make confession of his sins and cast himself on Christ, if God did not forgive him, then he were not the God that he is represented to be in the Word of God: he were a God unjust, and that may God forbid, such a thing must not, cannot be. But how, then, is it that Justice itself actually demands that every soul that repents should be pardoned? It is so. The same Justice that just now stood with a fiery sword in his hand, like the cherubim of old keeping the way of the tree of life, now goes hand in hand with the sinner. "Sinner," he says, "I will go with thee. When thou goest to plead for pardon I will go and plead for thee. Once I spoke against thee: but now I am so satisfied with what Christ has done, that I will go with thee and plead for thee. I will change my language I will not say a word to oppose thy pardon, but I will go with thee and demand it. It is but an act of justice that God should now forgive." And the sinner goes up with Justice, and what has Justice got to say? Why, it says this: "God must forgive the repenting sinner, if he be just, according to his promise." A God who could break his promise were unjust. We do not believe in men who tell us lies. I have known some of so gentle a disposition, that they could never say "No;" if they were asked to do a thing they have said, "Yes." But they have never earned a character for it, when they have said "Yes," and afterwards did not fulfil. It is not so with God. He is no tender-hearted being who promises more than he can perform, and no forgetful one who promises what afterwards shall slip from his memory. Every word which God utters shall be fulfilled, whether it be decree, threatening, or promise. Sinner! go to God with a promise in your hand.—"Lord thou hast said, 'He that confesseth his sin, and forsaketh it, shall find mercy.' I confess my sin, and I forsake it: Lord, give me mercy!" Don't doubt but that God will give it you. You have his own pledge in your hand; you have his own bond in your keeping. Take that pledge and that bond before his throne of mercy, and that bond never shall be cancelled till it has been honoured. You shall see that promise fulfilled to the uttermost letter, though your sin be never so black. Suppose the promise you take should be this. "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." "But," says the Law, "thou art one of the greatest sinners that ever lived." "Ay, but the promise says, 'Him that cometh,' and I come, and I claim the fulfillment of it." "No, but thou hast been a blasphemer." "I know it, but the promise says, 'Him that cometh,' and I come, and blasphemer though I am, I claim the promise." "But thou hast been a thief, thou hast deceived thy neighbour, and thou hast robbed men." "I have, but the promise says, 'Him that cometh to me I will in no wise case out;' I come, and I claim the promise. It does not say anything at all about character in the promise: it says, 'Him that cometh,' and I come, and if I be black as the devil, nevertheless God is true, and I claim the promise. I confess all that can be said against me. Will God be untrue, and send a seeking soul away with a promise unfulfilled? Never!" "But," says one, "you have lived many years in this way; your conscience has often checked you, and you have resisted conscience often: it is too late now." "But I have the promise, 'Him that cometh,'—there is no time stipulated in it—'Him that cometh;' I come, and O God, thou canst not break the promise!" Challenge God by faith, and you will see that he will be as good as his word to you. Though you are worse than words can tell, God, I repeat it, as long as he is just, must honour his own promise. Go and confess your sin, trust in Christ, and you shall find pardon.
But, again, not only did God make the promise, but according to the text man has been induced to act upon it; and, therefore, this becomes a double bond upon the justice of God. Suppose you made a promise to any man, that if such a thing was done, you would do something else, and suppose that man were to do something quite contrary to his own nature, quite abhorent to himself; but he did it nevertheless, because he expected to get great blessings thereby, do you mean to say you would tempt a man to do that, and put him to vast expense, and care and trouble, and then turn round and say? "There I shall have nothing to do with that promise: I only promised to make you do so-and-so, now, I will not fulfil my engagement." Why the man would turn about and call you base to make a promise to lead him to do something and then not fulfil your promise. Now, God has said, "If we confess our sins and trust in Christ, we shall have mercy." You have done it; you have made the most abject and sincere confession, and you do declare that you have no trust but the blood and righteousness of Christ. Now, on the faith of the promise you have been led into this state. Do you imagine when God has brought you through much pain and agony of mind to repent of sin, to give up self-righteousness, and rely on Christ, he will afterwards turn round and tell you he did not mean what he said? It cannot be—it cannot be. Suppose, now you were about to engage a man to be your servant, and you say to him, renounce such a situation, give that up; come and take a house in the neighbourhood where I live, and I will take you to be my servant." Suppose he does it, and you then say, "I am glad for your own sake that you have left your master, still I will not take you." What would he say to you? He would say, "I gave up my situation on the faith of your promise, and now, you break it." Ah! but it never can be said of Almighty God, that, if a sinner acted on the faith of his promise, then that promise was not kept. God ceases to be God when he ceases to have mercy upon the soul who seeks pardon through the blood of Christ. No, he is a just God, "Faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
One more aspect of this case. God's justice demands that the sinner should be forgiven if he seeks mercy, for this reason: Christ died on purpose to secure pardon for every seeking soul. Now, I hold it to be an axiom, a self-evident truth, that whatever Christ died for he will have. I cannot believe that when he paid to his Father the price of blood, and groans and tears, he bought something which the Father will not give him. Now, Christ died to purchase the pardon of sin for all those who believe on him, and do you suppose that the Father will rob him of that which be has bought so dearly? No, God were untrue to his own Son, he would break his oath to his well-beloved and only begotten Son, if he were not to give pardon, peace, and purity to every soul that comes to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Oh, I would that I could preach it as with a tongue of thunder everywhere, God is just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth. God is just to forgive us our sins, if we confess them; just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
III. Now, to close. I must just enter into some little EXPLANATION OF THE TWO GREAT DUTIES THAT ARE TAUGHT IN THE TWO TEXTS. The first duty is faith—"believeth in Christ;" the second text is confession—"if we confess our sins."
I will begin with confession first. Expect not that God will forgive you until you confess; not in the general confession of a prayer book, but in the particular confession of your own inmost heart. You are not to confess to a priest or a man, unless you have offended against him. In that respect, if you have been an offender against any man, be at peace with him and ask his pardon for aught you have done against him. It is a proof of a noble mind when you can ask pardon of another for having done amiss. Whenever grace comes into the heart it will lead you to make amends for any injury which you have done either by word or deed to any of your fellow-men; and you cannot expect that you shall be forgiven of God until you have forgiven men, and have been ready to make peace with those who are now your enemies. That is a beautiful trait in the character of a true Christian. I have heard of Mr. John Wesley, that he was attended in most of his journeyings by one who loved him very much, and was willing, I believe, to have died for him. Still he was a man of a very stubborn and obstinate disposition, and Mr. Wesley was not perhaps the very kindest man at all times. Upon one occasion he said to this man, "Joseph, take these letters to the post." "I will take them after preaching, sir." "Take them now, Joseph," said Mr. Wesley. "I wish to hear you preach, sir; and there will be sufficient time for the post after service." "I insist upon your going now, Joseph." "I will not go at present" "You won't!" "No, sir." "Then you and I must part," said Mr. Wesley. "Very good, sir." The good men slept over it. Both were early risers. At four o'clock the next morning, the refractory helper was accosted with, "Joseph, have you considered what I said—that we must part?" "Yes, sir." "And must we part?" "please yourself, sir." "Will you ask my pardon, Joseph?" "No, sir." "You won't?" "No, sir." "Then I will ask yours, Joseph!" Poor Joseph was instantly melted, and they were at once reconciled. When once the grace of God has entered the heart, a man ought to be ready to seek forgiveness for an injury done to another. There is nothing wrong in a man confessing an offense against a fellow-man, and asking pardon for the wrong he has done him. It you have done aught, then, against any man, leave thy gift before the altar, and go and make peace with him, and then come and make peace with God. You are to make confession of your sin to God. Let that be humble and sincere. You cannot mention every offense, but do not hide one. If you hide one it will be a millstone round your neck to sink you into the lowest hell. Confess that you are vile in your nature, evil in your practice, that in you there is no good thing. Lie as low as ever you can at the footstool of divine grace, and confess that you are a wretch undone unless God have mercy upon you.
Then, the next duty is faith. Whilst thou art lying there in the dust turn thine eye to Christ and say. "Black as I am, and hell-deserving as I confess myself to be, I believe that Jesus Christ died for the penitent; and inasmuch as he died, he died that the penitent might not die. I believe thy merits to be great; I believe thy blood to be efficacious; and more than that, I risk my eternal salvation—and yet it is no risk—I venture my eternal salvation upon the merit of thy blood. Jesus, I cannot save myself. Cast the skirts of thy blood-red atonement over me. Come, take me in thine arms; come, wrap me in thy crimson vest, and tell me I am thine. I will trust in nothing else but thee. Nothing I can do or ever did shall be my dependence. I rely simply and entirely upon thy mighty cross, upon which thou didst die for sinners."
My dear hearers, as to any probability of your being lost after such a confession and such a faith, I assure you there is neither possibility nor probability thereof. You are saved; you are saved in time, you are saved in eternity. Your sins are forgiven; your iniquities are all put away. In this life you shall be fed, and blessed and kept. Remaining sin within you shall be overcome and conquered; and you shall see his face at the last in glory everlasting, when he shall come in the glory of his Father, and all his holy angels with him. "Whosoever believeth on the Son of God hath eternal life, and shall never come into condemnation." "He that believeth on the Lord Jesus and is baptized, shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be damned."
And now in conclusion, I have tried to tell out simply and plainly the story of how God's justice is satisfied, and has become the sinners friend, and I look for fruit, for where the gospel is simply preached it is never preached in vain. Only let us go home and pray now, that we may know the Saviour. Let us pray that others may know him too. If you are convinced of sin, my dear friends, do not lose a moment. Go to your chamber as soon as you get home, shut to your door, go alone to Jesus, and there repeat your confession, and once more affirm your faith in Christ; and you shall have that peace with God which the world cannot give, and which the world cannot take away. Your troubled conscience shalt find rest: your feet shall be on a rock; and a new song shall be in your mouth, even praise for evermore.
But, again, not only did God make the promise, but according to the text man has been induced to act upon it; and, therefore, this becomes a double bond upon the justice of God. Suppose you made a promise to any man, that if such a thing was done, you would do something else, and suppose that man were to do something quite contrary to his own nature, quite abhorent to himself; but he did it nevertheless, because he expected to get great blessings thereby, do you mean to say you would tempt a man to do that, and put him to vast expense, and care and trouble, and then turn round and say? "There I shall have nothing to do with that promise: I only promised to make you do so-and-so, now, I will not fulfil my engagement." Why the man would turn about and call you base to make a promise to lead him to do something and then not fulfil your promise. Now, God has said, "If we confess our sins and trust in Christ, we shall have mercy." You have done it; you have made the most abject and sincere confession, and you do declare that you have no trust but the blood and righteousness of Christ. Now, on the faith of the promise you have been led into this state. Do you imagine when God has brought you through much pain and agony of mind to repent of sin, to give up self-righteousness, and rely on Christ, he will afterwards turn round and tell you he did not mean what he said? It cannot be—it cannot be. Suppose, now you were about to engage a man to be your servant, and you say to him, renounce such a situation, give that up; come and take a house in the neighbourhood where I live, and I will take you to be my servant." Suppose he does it, and you then say, "I am glad for your own sake that you have left your master, still I will not take you." What would he say to you? He would say, "I gave up my situation on the faith of your promise, and now, you break it." Ah! but it never can be said of Almighty God, that, if a sinner acted on the faith of his promise, then that promise was not kept. God ceases to be God when he ceases to have mercy upon the soul who seeks pardon through the blood of Christ. No, he is a just God, "Faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
One more aspect of this case. God's justice demands that the sinner should be forgiven if he seeks mercy, for this reason: Christ died on purpose to secure pardon for every seeking soul. Now, I hold it to be an axiom, a self-evident truth, that whatever Christ died for he will have. I cannot believe that when he paid to his Father the price of blood, and groans and tears, he bought something which the Father will not give him. Now, Christ died to purchase the pardon of sin for all those who believe on him, and do you suppose that the Father will rob him of that which be has bought so dearly? No, God were untrue to his own Son, he would break his oath to his well-beloved and only begotten Son, if he were not to give pardon, peace, and purity to every soul that comes to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Oh, I would that I could preach it as with a tongue of thunder everywhere, God is just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth. God is just to forgive us our sins, if we confess them; just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
III. Now, to close. I must just enter into some little EXPLANATION OF THE TWO GREAT DUTIES THAT ARE TAUGHT IN THE TWO TEXTS. The first duty is faith—"believeth in Christ;" the second text is confession—"if we confess our sins."
I will begin with confession first. Expect not that God will forgive you until you confess; not in the general confession of a prayer book, but in the particular confession of your own inmost heart. You are not to confess to a priest or a man, unless you have offended against him. In that respect, if you have been an offender against any man, be at peace with him and ask his pardon for aught you have done against him. It is a proof of a noble mind when you can ask pardon of another for having done amiss. Whenever grace comes into the heart it will lead you to make amends for any injury which you have done either by word or deed to any of your fellow-men; and you cannot expect that you shall be forgiven of God until you have forgiven men, and have been ready to make peace with those who are now your enemies. That is a beautiful trait in the character of a true Christian. I have heard of Mr. John Wesley, that he was attended in most of his journeyings by one who loved him very much, and was willing, I believe, to have died for him. Still he was a man of a very stubborn and obstinate disposition, and Mr. Wesley was not perhaps the very kindest man at all times. Upon one occasion he said to this man, "Joseph, take these letters to the post." "I will take them after preaching, sir." "Take them now, Joseph," said Mr. Wesley. "I wish to hear you preach, sir; and there will be sufficient time for the post after service." "I insist upon your going now, Joseph." "I will not go at present" "You won't!" "No, sir." "Then you and I must part," said Mr. Wesley. "Very good, sir." The good men slept over it. Both were early risers. At four o'clock the next morning, the refractory helper was accosted with, "Joseph, have you considered what I said—that we must part?" "Yes, sir." "And must we part?" "please yourself, sir." "Will you ask my pardon, Joseph?" "No, sir." "You won't?" "No, sir." "Then I will ask yours, Joseph!" Poor Joseph was instantly melted, and they were at once reconciled. When once the grace of God has entered the heart, a man ought to be ready to seek forgiveness for an injury done to another. There is nothing wrong in a man confessing an offense against a fellow-man, and asking pardon for the wrong he has done him. It you have done aught, then, against any man, leave thy gift before the altar, and go and make peace with him, and then come and make peace with God. You are to make confession of your sin to God. Let that be humble and sincere. You cannot mention every offense, but do not hide one. If you hide one it will be a millstone round your neck to sink you into the lowest hell. Confess that you are vile in your nature, evil in your practice, that in you there is no good thing. Lie as low as ever you can at the footstool of divine grace, and confess that you are a wretch undone unless God have mercy upon you.
Then, the next duty is faith. Whilst thou art lying there in the dust turn thine eye to Christ and say. "Black as I am, and hell-deserving as I confess myself to be, I believe that Jesus Christ died for the penitent; and inasmuch as he died, he died that the penitent might not die. I believe thy merits to be great; I believe thy blood to be efficacious; and more than that, I risk my eternal salvation—and yet it is no risk—I venture my eternal salvation upon the merit of thy blood. Jesus, I cannot save myself. Cast the skirts of thy blood-red atonement over me. Come, take me in thine arms; come, wrap me in thy crimson vest, and tell me I am thine. I will trust in nothing else but thee. Nothing I can do or ever did shall be my dependence. I rely simply and entirely upon thy mighty cross, upon which thou didst die for sinners."
My dear hearers, as to any probability of your being lost after such a confession and such a faith, I assure you there is neither possibility nor probability thereof. You are saved; you are saved in time, you are saved in eternity. Your sins are forgiven; your iniquities are all put away. In this life you shall be fed, and blessed and kept. Remaining sin within you shall be overcome and conquered; and you shall see his face at the last in glory everlasting, when he shall come in the glory of his Father, and all his holy angels with him. "Whosoever believeth on the Son of God hath eternal life, and shall never come into condemnation." "He that believeth on the Lord Jesus and is baptized, shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be damned."
And now in conclusion, I have tried to tell out simply and plainly the story of how God's justice is satisfied, and has become the sinners friend, and I look for fruit, for where the gospel is simply preached it is never preached in vain. Only let us go home and pray now, that we may know the Saviour. Let us pray that others may know him too. If you are convinced of sin, my dear friends, do not lose a moment. Go to your chamber as soon as you get home, shut to your door, go alone to Jesus, and there repeat your confession, and once more affirm your faith in Christ; and you shall have that peace with God which the world cannot give, and which the world cannot take away. Your troubled conscience shalt find rest: your feet shall be on a rock; and a new song shall be in your mouth, even praise for evermore.
John Gill; 1 John 1:9
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins
Not to one other; for though it is our duty to confess our faults to our fellow creatures and fellow Christians which are committed against them, yet are under no obligation to confess such as are more immediately against God, and which lie between him and ourselves; or at least it is sufficient to confess and acknowledge in general what sinful creatures we are, without entering into particulars; for confession of sin is to be made to God, against whom it is committed, and who only can pardon: and a man that truly confesses his sin is one that the Spirit of God has convinced of it, and has shown him its exceeding sinfulness, and filled him with a godly sorrow for it, and given him repentance unto salvation, that needeth not to be repented of; and who, under such a sight and sense of sin, and concern for it, comes and acknowledges it before the Lord, humbly imploring, for Christ's sake, his pardoning grace and mercy; and such obtain it:
he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins:
forgiveness of sin here intends not the act of forgiveness, as in God, proceeding upon the bloodshed and sacrifice of Christ, which is done at once, and includes all sin, past, present, and to come; but an application of pardoning grace to a poor sensible sinner, humbled under a sense of sin, and confessing it before the Lord; and confession of sin is not the cause or condition of pardon, nor of the manifestation of it, but is descriptive of the person, and points him out, to whom God will and does make known his forgiving love; for to whomsoever he grants repentance, he gives the remission of sin; in doing of which he is faithful to his word of promise; such as in ( Proverbs 28:13 ) ( Isaiah 55:7 ) ; "and just"; in being "true", as the Arabic version adds, to his word; and showing a proper regard to the blood and sacrifice of his Son; for his blood being shed, and hereby satisfaction made to the law and justice of God, it is a righteous thing in him to justify from sin, and forgive the sinner for whom Christ has shed his blood, and not impute it to him, or punish him for it; though the word here used may answer to the Hebrew word (qydu) , which sometimes carries in it the notion and idea of mercy and beneficence; hence mercy to the poor is sometimes expressed by righteousness; and the righteous acts of God intend his mercies and benefits unto men; see ( Daniel 4:27 ) ( 1 Samuel 12:7 ) ; and so forgiveness of sin springs from the tender mercies of our God, and is both an act of justice and of mercy; of justice, with respect to the blood of Christ, and of pure grace and mercy to the pardoned sinner: the following clause,
and to cleanse us, from all unrighteousness,
is but the same thing expressed in different words; for all unrighteousness is sin, and to cleanse from sin is to remove the guilt of it, by an application of the blood of Christ for pardon. The antecedent to the relative "he" in the text, is either God, who is light, and with whom the saints have fellowship; or his Son Jesus Christ, who is the nearest antecedent, and who, being truly God, has a power to forgive sin.
If we confess our sins
Not to one other; for though it is our duty to confess our faults to our fellow creatures and fellow Christians which are committed against them, yet are under no obligation to confess such as are more immediately against God, and which lie between him and ourselves; or at least it is sufficient to confess and acknowledge in general what sinful creatures we are, without entering into particulars; for confession of sin is to be made to God, against whom it is committed, and who only can pardon: and a man that truly confesses his sin is one that the Spirit of God has convinced of it, and has shown him its exceeding sinfulness, and filled him with a godly sorrow for it, and given him repentance unto salvation, that needeth not to be repented of; and who, under such a sight and sense of sin, and concern for it, comes and acknowledges it before the Lord, humbly imploring, for Christ's sake, his pardoning grace and mercy; and such obtain it:
he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins:
forgiveness of sin here intends not the act of forgiveness, as in God, proceeding upon the bloodshed and sacrifice of Christ, which is done at once, and includes all sin, past, present, and to come; but an application of pardoning grace to a poor sensible sinner, humbled under a sense of sin, and confessing it before the Lord; and confession of sin is not the cause or condition of pardon, nor of the manifestation of it, but is descriptive of the person, and points him out, to whom God will and does make known his forgiving love; for to whomsoever he grants repentance, he gives the remission of sin; in doing of which he is faithful to his word of promise; such as in ( Proverbs 28:13 ) ( Isaiah 55:7 ) ; "and just"; in being "true", as the Arabic version adds, to his word; and showing a proper regard to the blood and sacrifice of his Son; for his blood being shed, and hereby satisfaction made to the law and justice of God, it is a righteous thing in him to justify from sin, and forgive the sinner for whom Christ has shed his blood, and not impute it to him, or punish him for it; though the word here used may answer to the Hebrew word (qydu) , which sometimes carries in it the notion and idea of mercy and beneficence; hence mercy to the poor is sometimes expressed by righteousness; and the righteous acts of God intend his mercies and benefits unto men; see ( Daniel 4:27 ) ( 1 Samuel 12:7 ) ; and so forgiveness of sin springs from the tender mercies of our God, and is both an act of justice and of mercy; of justice, with respect to the blood of Christ, and of pure grace and mercy to the pardoned sinner: the following clause,
and to cleanse us, from all unrighteousness,
is but the same thing expressed in different words; for all unrighteousness is sin, and to cleanse from sin is to remove the guilt of it, by an application of the blood of Christ for pardon. The antecedent to the relative "he" in the text, is either God, who is light, and with whom the saints have fellowship; or his Son Jesus Christ, who is the nearest antecedent, and who, being truly God, has a power to forgive sin.
Matthew Henry 1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, v. 9. Penitent confession and acknowledgment of sin are the believer’s business, and the means of his deliverance from his guilt. And, 2. His encouragement thereto, and assurance of the happy issue. This is the veracity, righteousness, and clemency of God, to whom he makes such confession: He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, v. 9. God is faithful to his covenant and word, wherein he has promised forgiveness to penitent believing confessors. He is just to himself and his glory who has provided such a sacrifice, by which his righteousness is declared in the justification of sinners. He is just to his Son who has not only sent him for such service, but promised to him that those who come through him shall be forgiven on his account. By his knowledge (by the believing apprehension of him) shall my righteous servant justify many, Isa. 53:11. He is clement and gracious also, and so will forgive, to the contrite confessor, all his sins, cleanse him from the guilt of all unrighteousness, and in due time deliver him from the power and practice of it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)