In this series of study we have been looking at special, single, stand-alone Scriptures. These single verses are so clear, so complete, so compelling that they provide a spiritual feast all by themselves. So far we have looked at... John 3:16
Galatians 2:20
Galatians 6:9
1 Corinthians 10:13
Romans 1:16
Philippians 4:19
Romans 8:28

Now today --- 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us for all unrighteousness.”

Several years back a book came out and became a best-seller. It was entitled, “Whatever Happened to Sin?” That’s a great question. What has happened to sin? It seems to have been set aside for political correctness.

If you are . . . Lazy you are “motivationally dispossessed.” Dishonest you are “ethically disoriented.” Promiscuous you are “sexually active.” Serial killer you are “socially misaligned.” Shoplifter you engage in “non-traditional shopping.”

These would be funny if it weren’t so serious! While seeming to be caring and compassionate ways of describing people’s behavior, these descriptions make the mistake of failing to confront people with their sins.

1. Confession is for the Christian.

There should be several confessions in the life of a Christian.

(1) Confess our faith in the Lord Jesus, Romans 10:9-10. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

(2) Confess Jesus Christ before men, Matthew 10:32. “Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father which is in heaven.” “Confess our faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed,” James 5:16.

(4) Confess our sins to God. This is a subject few believers want to talk about. It is the Christian’s family secret—sin.

“We” --- The Apostle John, the writer, includes himself. Jesus had many friend while he was on this earth. The twelve apostle were among them. And then there was an inner circle—Peter, James and John. But Jesus’ closest friend on this earth was John. Jesus turned over the care of His mother, Mary, to John. The nearest and dearest to Jesus sin against Him. Those whom Jesus love and those who love Jesus sin. You and I are in this “we.”

The average Christian, and especially the young Christian, gets confused about the Christian life. A person receives Jesus as personal Savior and very soon after does something he ought not to do. At that moment Satan rushed in to accuse his heart. His conscience also condemns him. He is frustrated and confused. “I thought once I became a Christian I would not sin anymore.” Many Christian give in and give up at this point!

Christians do sin, but this does not mean they must be saved all over again. Jesus didn’t say, “Ye must be born again and again and again.” Sin in the life of the believer breaks fellowship but does not destroy sonship. “A true Christian is always accepted even if he is not acceptable,” Warren Wiersbe.

Because of our sin nature received from Adam, the evil environment of the world, and the temptation of Satan, even heaven-bound Christians end up sinning.

2. Confession is a Choice.

“If” --- This is a third class conditional clause. Confession is a choice; a decision. And it assumes that we will need to follow this course of action. God gives those who follow Him a choice. I am not sure how free our will is always, but believers are compelled to obedience in their walk with Christ.

3. Confession must be Continual.

“Confess” --- Some have the idea that confession is merely saying, “I am sorry.” Its more than that. The Greek word (homologeo) means “to say the same, to admit or declare oneself guilty of what one is accused.”

This is a present tense verb meaning, “If we keep on confessing.” Adrian Rogers says, “It is to be the habitual practice of the saint. A Spirit-filled Christian is be quick to confess when he becomes aware of it. It becomes a way of life. There is instantaneous and continual confession,” The Power of His Presence, p. 110.

Agreeing with the truth. Sin has been redefined. Abomination-accident. Iniquity-illness, sin-sickness. Wickedness-weakness. You hear people disagreeing with God all the time about their sin. People want to call it love, but God calls it fornication and adultery. Alternate lifestyle, God calls it sodomy. Woman’s right, God calls it murder of a child with a living soul. Stretching the truth, God calls it a lie.

Admitting our involvement. Our confession is not simply stating, “I am a sinner.” That’s a fact. Our confession is, “These are my sins.” We are to deal with the acts.

Altering our behavior. Proverbs 28:13 “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” To forsake our sin is to let go of them, to turn them loose.

A little child got his hand caught in an expensive vase, and the parents did everything they could to try to get the child’s hand out. As a last resort, they broke the vase and when they did they discovered the child had a nickel doubled up in his fist. The reason God cannot get sin out of your life is because you are holding on to it and you secretly love it.

We struggle with this! We excuse ourselves, rationalize our sinfulness and defend ourselves.

4. Confess must be Complete.

“Sins.” Confession is not only to be continual, it is to be complete.

This is not a general confession to cover all wrong. Our confession is not, “If I’ve done anything wrong today, forgive me.” Rather it is understanding that God has pointed a finger at a specific sin and says, “That was sin!” Specific sin gets you out of fellowship with God. Specific confession of those specific sins gets you back in fellowship with God.

It might be a sin of omission or a sin of commission that must be confessed. Or a sin of the body or a sin of the mind they must be confessed.

5. Confession must be made Confidently.

“He” The person to whom we confess...God. Confession is to be done confidently. How many have ever had a person who would not forgive you? Me, too. But here’s great news. God will always forgive those who confess their sins to Him.

“Faithful.” This is in reference to His Word. God has promised to forgive. God will keep His promise to show mercy to those who confess their sins.

“Just.” This is in reference to His dealings. God desires us to break with sin. 1 John 2:1. God is able to have fellowship with us because of the eternal value of the blood of Christ. That’s how serious sins are—they require the blood of Christ.

Confession that is not sincere and explicit will not reach God’s ear and not quite our consciousness.

One man was counseling with his pastor. He was being tormented by the ghost of guilt; some sin from his former days was haunting him. The pastor said, “Have you confessed it to God?”

“Oh, yes,” he said, “I’ve confessed it a thousand times.”

The wise pastor said, “That’s 99 times too many. You should have confessed it once and thanked God 99 times for forgiving you.”

6. Confession Brings Cleansing.

When we confess our sins, God may be counted on to do two things.

“To forgive…” Sin Deters our relationship with God. God deals with our guilt and removes it.

“To cleanse…” Sin Defiles. God removes our pollution that was brought about by our sin. And He changes us in this area.

Forgiveness in two senses:

Legal --- Jesus' death on the cross takes care of every sin a believer ever commits: past, present, future. His sacrifice was all-sufficient. When you sin, you know it is already forgiven from a legal stand-point. You settle out of court! 1 John 1:7. Our children may strain our relationship by being disobedient, but they will always be our children.

Relational . . . sin breaks your fellowship and intimacy with God. Hebrews 4:16 --- Disobedience does not affect position; it affects fellowship.

Prodigal Son came home from the far country smelling like a pigpen. You don’t think the father put a new robe on that ragged, dirty body, smelling like that, do you? No, he had him take a good bath. And the story does not tell of any return trips to the hog pen. When you confess your sins, it means you turn from your sin.

7. Confession Should Be Claimed.

“Us…” When we confess our sins to God we have ever right to claim that He has forgiven and cleansed us!

When you sin God does not want you to do penance, make sacrifices, or punish yourself. Your sins were taken care of on the cross. Just don’t let your sins interrupt your fellowship with God on the earth, while you are waiting to be with Him in heaven for eternity.

Peter Philpot was one of the most widely used evangelists in the north and east some years ago. They way he became a Christian is interesting. He worked as a boy in a blacksmith shop. There was a wicked character who was a blacksmith in that shop. He was all muscle. He could whip any man in town and had whipped several of them. He would get drunk every Friday afternoon before returning home from work and would terrorize his family and neighbors the remainder of the weekend.

One morning he reported to work with a strange tale. He told all the men who worked in the shop that he had become a Christian the night before. At first everyone thought he was kidding --- but he was not kidding. No one thought it would last. In fact, several of the men made wagers about how long it would last. Most of them were certain it would not last through the weekend. But it did. On Friday afternoon he went straight home from work. On Sunday morning he was seen going to church with his family.

It lasted for two weeks, six weeks, but then one day it happened. While hammering away at the anvil, a hammer slipped and smashed a finger. Like a volley of fire several terrible curse words flew out of his mouth. Everything became immediately silent. Then nervously everyone went back to their work afraid he would pounce on them in anger for embarrassing them. Instead, Big Tom did a strange thing. The big hulk of a man slipped down on his knees beside the anvil. He buried his face in his big hands. Tears began to cut their way down through the grime that was on those hands. Then they heard him praying, “Dear God, I have just done a terrible thing. I have just sinned against you by using your name in vain. Dear God, I did it right here in front of these. Dear God, will you please forgive me and give me another chance?”

After a few moments he stood to his feet and further startled the men by begging their forgiveness for the things which he had said. Peter Philpot could not get away from this. A few days later he found Big Tom’s Savior as his Savior. (Source: D. L. Lowery, Sons of God, p.10-11).

Song: Nothing Between My Soul and the Savior