This has been a widely believed fact but sadly, it is also another level of SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS. That is the belief that I have to confess all my sins to be forgiven. This is taught because, 1John 1:9 declares that, if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. This means that my righteousness depends on my confession of sins. If I don’t confess, God will not forgive me and therefore I will become unrighteous. If forgiveness of sins was based on the confession of my sins, what if I forget any of my sins? This will mean I will have unconfessed sins and therefore unforgiven sins in my life. This will also mean that I am not fully forgiven and therefore, probably Hell is waiting for me. What we normally use to cover our confusion is that ‘if I confess what I do remember, God will take care of what I don’t remember by His grace’. Then don’t you think it will be foolish to remember any of your sins if grace can cover the ones you forget? Personally, I think I will be no fool to remember it since grace can take care of what I forget.
What does the Bible really say?
We have always seen confession as the act of ‘speaking out’; telling God how bad you have been and asking for His mercy and forgiveness. This is intended to bring a sense of remorse for an act so that the confessor will not do it again when forgiven. But funny enough, we always keep repeating the same sins we confess to God. This is because the confession of sins gets us sin-conscious. A conscience of sin is an evil conscience and it produces more sin in a person. It is like the Jews presented an offering every year for sin (Hebrews 10:1-3). They are reminded of how sinful they are every year and therefore, they were never free from a conscience of sin.
The Greek word translated as ‘confess’ in 1John 1:9 is ‘homologeo’ and it means ‘to assent (agree), to covenant, acknowledge or give thanks’. The book of 1John 1 was written with the Gnostic in mind. They believed that Jesus did not come in the flesh. They also believed that sin is a myth and that they were not sinners. They believed that if Jesus did not come in the flesh, He did not die for any man. And if they have no sin, they needed no forgiveness of sin or salvation from sin. They believed that man needs salvation, not from sin, but rather from ignorance (of spiritual realities). Therefore, for a person to be saved from the messes and pain of this world, he must acquire a kind of knowledge (Gnosis).
From verse 1, through to verse 10, a careful study will show you that Apostle John was talking to a people who did not believe in Jesus Christ. He tries to explain to them that Jesus Christ was real and that he saw Him, heard Him, felt Him, and talked with Him. John said he was saying all these so that they (Gnostics) will believe and have fellowship with them (the church/Christians) for their (the church) fellowship is with God and Jesus Christ.
In verse 8, John tells them, ‘If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us’. This was because the people who were the target of this letter did not believe that they have sinned. They believed sin to be a myth. Then in verse 9, he adds that, if we confess of sins (ie. Agree, acknowledge we are sinners) God will forgive us our sins of unbelief and rejection of Christ and cleanse us from all unrighteousness by way of giving us His perfect righteousness.
The church is never told to speak their sins to God to receive forgiveness of sins. All our sins (past, present, and future) were laid on Jesus Christ on the cross and His perfect righteousness was given to us. To believe that you must confess your sins to be forgiven is to believe that, God forgot about some of your sins and therefore you need to remind Him of those sins so that He can wash them away. It is equivalent to saying, ‘Jesus did not die for all your sins’. It will therefore mean that your righteousness depended on your ability of confession. It all depended on YOURSELF. Confession of sin makes a person sin-conscious and produces more sin. It keeps reminding you of your sins and how sinful you are. It makes you believe that, if you have unconfessed sins, you are unrighteous. Your righteousness is based on your level of confession and not the finished work Christ Jesus. This is self-righteousness, righteousness based on YOUR confession.
THE LAW AND CONFESSION Confession of sin to receive forgiveness was a requirement under the Old Covenant of the Law. God told the Jews in Leviticus 26:40-42 that;
‘40 If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;…..41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:…. 42 Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember, and I will remember the land’.
Under the Law, one needed to confess his sins to earn forgiveness from God (Leviticus 5:5; 16:21). An unconfessed sin meant an unforgiven sin and therefore, unrighteousness. This was because; the perfect sacrifice has not yet been revealed. Jesus had not yet died for the sins of the whole world. The Law required a sacrifice and a confession of sin to attain forgiveness and therefore, miss judgment. Jesus was an end to the law. He died to redeem us from sin and the Law.
Jesus received all our sins on Himself and therefore, God poured on Jesus His full fiery judgment for sin as Jesus went to the cross. All our sins (past, present, and future) were in Him when He gave Himself to be crucified. As a person believes in Jesus Christ, He is admitting that all his sins are in Christ Jesus and therefore, as Jesus was judged for our sins, we were judged in Him. He suffered it but we receive the justification, imputation of righteousness, and freedom from judgment. God doesn’t need us to confess (speak out) our sins before He forgives us. He has already forgiven us in Christ Jesus. Confession of sins is like going into the dustbin to bring out the broken pieces of the broken glass to your daddy, asking for his forgiveness even though he has already forgiven you. You are telling him that you do not believe in his forgiveness.
What do I do when I sin as a Christian?
Apostle John knew that, as a Christian, there is a possibility that you can sin (1John 2:1). Therefore, when you sin, you don’t go to God telling Him how bad you have been. He already knows it. In fact, He knew you will do what you did even before you were born. He placed it all on Jesus on the cross (John 12:29-31). What do you do then? You go to God thanking Him that He has given His Son, Jesus for your sin and that His blood keeps washing you. You thank Him for the forgiveness of sin and for the imputation of His righteousness. Then you keep reminding yourself of how righteous you are. You do not carry a righteousness that was manufactured by what you did or did not do. You are full of His righteousness. Therefore, you keep reminding yourself that as righteous as Jesus is, so has God made you. The more it settles in your heart that you are still righteous in His sight and that your righteousness cannot be contaminated, the more the desire for sin dries out.
You confess who you are in Christ Jesus but not what you do. The more you confess what you do that you do not want to do, the more you will do what you do not want to do because you become so conscious of it. For who you are in Christ to overcome what you do so that you can manifest who you are, you need to keep confessing who you are in Christ Jesus. Stop valuing yourself by what you do. Value yourself by who you are in Christ Jesus. Even amid your messes, acknowledge and keep confessing who you are.
Confession of sin to receive forgiveness of sin is self-righteousness. You did not work for your righteousness. It is His righteousness. Sin did not stop it from flowing into you. Sin cannot turn it into unrighteousness in you. When a Christian loses sight of his identity, sin will be the result. He doesn’t lose his identity, but he loses sight of his identity. Know who you are. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. You did nothing to become righteous. You can do nothing to lose it. Rise up, let not sin overrule you through guilty and condemnation. You are righteous by grace through faith. Your righteousness does not
Comments