The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Confession and Repentance

<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/scratchchin.gif" alt="" /> I agree and disagree. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Let me try and explain briefly. There is a vast difference between one who confessing his sins (repentance) believes on Christ and is thus justified and one who has already come to Christ in sincere repentance and thereafter sins and confesses them before God. It is my understanding of 1Jh 1:9, that the author is addressing those who have been justified by the blood of Christ. (1Jh 2:1; et al) Thus the focus of John's epistle is in regard to sanctification and not justification. There is another aspect which must be considered also, and that is that which Christ has accomplished objectively through His atonement and that which is subjectively experienced by the believer. To illustrate this difference, I would have you compare Rom 3:28; 5:1 and Jam 2:26. In the former, it is said that we are justified by faith alone. In the latter one is [shown to be] justified by works. Thus, there is no contradiction for the former is objective and the latter subjective/experiential.

So, in this matter of that which was accomplished by Christ objectively, i.e., His paying the penalty for all sins committed by the elect; past, present and future and the necessity for the believer to confess his sins before God to receive forgiveness and cleansing, I believe 1Jh 1:9 is referring to the latter. ALL sins have been atoned for and pardon has been extended to all the elect in the court of justice. However, in the life of a believer, when sin is committed the Holy Spirit evokes the consequential guilt in the heart. And as a child of God who has offended Him Who has loved Him, even unto death there is need of confession to append consolation through forgiveness and cleansing. Thus the confession spoken of in 1Jh 1:9 is in regard to the matter of assurance; the testimony to the genuineness of one's faith and relationship to God.

The problem I have with the author's statement is that it lends itself to a faith + works (confession) = justification situation. If God ONLY forgives those sins which are confessed, then of necessity, those sins which are not confessed are held against the individual and added to his "account" for which offenses he will have to pay for at a later time. This would mitigate against that which was actually accomplished and merited by Christ for the elect and applied to them at the time they believed on Christ; their justification.

Okay..... hopefully this will suffice to explain both my understanding of the text and why I cannot fully accept the author's statement. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shrug.gif" alt="" />

In His grace,