“Confession” - 1 John 1:8-10
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There was a recent study conducted by researchers in the U.S. and Israel titled "I Cheated but Only a Little." Based on a series of studies involving over 4,000 people, the researchers found that people who only partially confessed a transgression felt worse than those who do not confess at all.
Dr. Eyal Pe'er, the study's lead author, had a surprisingly biblical angle on the results. He said, "Confessing to only part of the guilt of one's transgression is attractive to a lot of people because they expect the confession to be more believable and guilt-relieving than not confessing. But our findings show the exact opposite … People seeking redemption by partially admitting their big lies feel guiltier because they do not take complete responsibility for their behaviors." The Harvard Business Review summarized the research this way: "Confession is a powerful way to relieve guilt, but it works only if you tell the whole truth."
So it is freeing to to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Confession. What a healthy thing for us today in the world and especially in the church. How much moreso to know that the blood of Christ cleanses us from our sins and and forever. But the problem we have today is the actual admitting of it? Why? We know that the Lord will forgive our sins. Why all the effort to deny sins or try to redefine sins or just ignore our sinning? We know that Christ knows that we sinned. We know that Christ will forgive our sins? Why do we have a problem admitting sin?
I wonder if it is the fear of man and how it overwhelms the fear of God. Think about it. Sometimes I wonder if we are more afraid to offend another person who has power or authority or influence. Afraid of what they will do to us. Afraid that they will judge us. So its not that we are afraid to confess sins to God, it is fear to confess sins to other people.
Not just the fear of man, but maybe the fear of self. For some of us we know we can receive forgiveness from God and even the forgiveness of others, but what we cannot do is forgive ourselves. We then try to convince ourselves that it wasn’t really a sin or it was not all that bad, so that we can over look it. We don’t trust ourselves to forgive ourselves. For many today whats harder than forgiving others, is forgiving ourselves. This is not good for my self esteem. If I admit it, its not good for my self esteem. How can I respect someone who does not deserve it.
Not just the fear of man, but claiming no sin because of the lack of confidence in the gospel. Sorry Shane but the Gospel message is just too good to be true. It is such an amazing message that the God of the Universe will forgive me of my sins because he gave me the gift to believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God and the gift of repentance and the confessing of my sins will bring the cleansing from all unrighteousness.
Either way, to deny the reality of our sin is to deceive ourselves and to walk in more deception. Our passage today gives us some hope in our confessing our sins to the Lord.
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.
The grass withers the flower fades but the word of our God stands forever
Durative Darkness
Complete Confession
Comprehensive Cleansing
The first thing we will look at is how claiming to be sinless causes more walking in darkness due to deception and durative darkness. The second thing to explore is how the proper Christian attitude is not to deny sin, but completely confess it for what we receive is not what we would naturally expect. And the final thing we will see is the cleansing and forgiveness that the Lord promises to give to those who confess their sin to the Lord.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to deny the reality of sin in our lives, deceiving self, and walking in lasting darkness, it is the love and kindness of our Lord that will lead us to repentance and confession cleansing us from all unrighteousness.
I. Durative Darkness
- Not only deceived, but lasting self-deception.
A. It is said that the gnostic heretics claim that John addresses here is way worse than the first. What could be worse than claiming to be in fellowship with God while walking in darkness? Claiming to be without sin. According to John Stott the Gnostic teachers were teaching that whatever the outward conduct, sin is not inherent to their nature. If you are enlightened with the secret knowledge of Gnosis then the sin nature is eradicated and they claimed a kind of sinless perfection. Similar to what some claim for themselves today. More literally in the Greek… if you say that we are persons who never sin.
B. I have heard taught today that sin is a matter of the flesh and it is not a part of the spirit of a man… therefore we are sinless… because we are a spirit, we have a soul and we live in a body. Scripture is pretty clear that we are a dichotomy not a trichotomy. The trouble with some trichotomist teaching is it sounds very gnostic. The body can sin but my spirit is perfect. This is similar to what the Gnostics were teaching at the time. The spirit is spirit and cannot be defiled. Sin is a matter of the flesh and did not touch or defile the spirit.
The spirit is perfect and cannot be defiled. Scripture teaches something different.
sin was a matter of the flesh and did not touch or defile the spirit
Stott, J. R. W. (1988). The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 19, pp. 81–82). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. The spirit is perfect and cannot be defiled. Scripture teaches something different.
Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.
C. Either way. Any teaching that claims that we do not sin is repudiated by the Apostle John.
- Spurgeon said, “He who cannot find water in the sea is not more foolish than the man who cannot perceive sin in his members.”
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 40). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
D. We are leading our hearts astray. Planao - We are fooling ourselves. More literally… we are causing ourselves to be stupid. What of a man who the Dr. says has a terminal disease and only has a few weeks to live and refuses to believe that it is the case. This would not be just foolish, but tragic. Like a child who is frightened by a clown standing in front of them simply covers his or her eyes and thinks that makes it go away. Like if we saw the 2 girls from the shining and covered our eyes expecting that it will make them go away.
The present tense has durative force. The clause means to say: the truth is not in us and this will remain so. Thus the situation of the false teachers, who claim to know God, is shown to be quite the contrary of what they claim.
E. And not only that John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, writes Alethia ouk estin the truth is not in us. The present tense of the verb here shows something interesting. It is durative or a continuing action or long lasting. The clause means to say: the truth is not in us and this will remain so. Therefore, the situation of the false teachers, who claim to know God, is shown to be quite the contrary of what they claim.
Haas, C., Jonge, M. de, & Swellengrebel, J. L. (1994). A handbook on the letters of John (p. 29). New York: United Bible Societies.
F. It seems unbelievable that this claim would be made. But yet it is made over and over again today. We see in verse 10 that if we say we have not sinned we call God a liar. And we just lied and that is a sin. And we don’t think we sin cause we compare ourselves to others, we redefine things, its out of control. But sin is a reality. We sin and we don’t even know we sinned.
How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
G. Do we understand that we should ask the Lord to forgive even our righteousness. Do we understand what Isaiah meant?
Isaiah
We are all infected and impure with sin.
When we display our righteous deeds,
they are nothing but filthy rags.
Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall,
and our sins sweep us away like the wind.
H. Even when we do what we think is good we sin. Example. Honesty. We would all agree that being honest is a good thing and not a sin. But it can be. Huh?? Watch. I always tell the truth I am an honest person. I am not like those horrible people out there who are disrespectful and evil. They lie and I am not like them. I am better than that. The motive is virtue for self interest. Selfish. Sound familiar?
“Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
I. I tell the truth always I am an honest person…because this is what I need to do in order to go to heaven and get all my rewards owed me for doing this while here on earth. The motive is virtue for self interest and deception. Its called works righteousness and it is in essense what Paul condemned in Galatia calling it another Gospel.
I. Just like praying. We would think that praying is a righteous thing to do but it cam be sinful.
I tell the truth always I am an honest person…because this is what I need to do in order to go to heaven and get all my rewards owed me for doing this while here on earth. The motive is virtue for self interest and deception.
J. So you see… in many ways, those who say they don’t sin don’t know that they are sinning, but they are. We can’t live this way. We cannot walk and stand with all of this insecurity. This is not the posture of a Christian to deny that they sin. The posture of a Christian is to repent of their sin. A complete confession of our sin with no excuses. The great Scottish preacher George Morrison said, “To wrap yourself up in excuses is to be naked before the great white throne.” Sometimes
Preaching the Word: 1–3 John—Fellowship in God’s Family Don’t Deny Sin, Confess It (vv. 8–10)
The great Scottish preacher George Morrison said, “To wrap yourself up in excuses is to be naked before the great white throne.” Sometimes
The great Scottish preacher George Morrison said, “To wrap yourself up in excuses is to be naked before the great white throne.” Sometimes
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 40). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
II. Complete Confession
- To say the same thing as.
A. John Stott - The proper Christian attitude to sin is not to deny it but to admit it, and then to receive the forgiveness which God has made possible and promises to us. We can cover it up or we can confess it. The Christian will confess it. One of my fav verses in all of scripture.
The proper Christian attitude to sin is not to deny it but to admit it, and then to receive the forgiveness which God has made possible and promises to us.
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
B. As Christians, confession should be a natural and reflexive response when we become aware of our sin. But the flesh want to minimize it or cover it up. One commentator comments about a newspaper that asked candidates running for office to write a short piece on the subject “something I did wrong in my life and what I learned from it.” Nobody confessed anything of any significance. It was always minor things like “I got a ticket for speeding for going five miles over the speed limit.” Each respondent minimized anything he did wrong and did not want to magnify it for fear that it might hurt him with voters.
Stott, J. R. W. (1988). The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 19, p. 82). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
I recently read about a newspaper that asked candidates running for office to write a short piece on the subject “something I did wrong in my life and what I learned from it.” Nobody confessed anything of any significance. It was always minor things like “I got a ticket for speeding for going five miles over the speed limit.” Each respondent minimized anything he did wrong and did not want to magnify it for fear that it might hurt him with voters.
C. Unfortunately, we sometimes often act the same way about our own sin. Some people live by the eleventh commandment “Don’t get caught.”
Sadly, we Christians often act the same way about our own sin. Some people live by the eleventh commandment they have added to the Lord’s ten that reads, “Don’t get caught.”
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 43). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
D. The word Homologeo means “to say the same thing as.” When you confess your sin, you are agreeing with God that what he says about your sin is true. Admission. To confess your sin is not just saying, “I got caught. I’m sorry, but if I can get away with it, I’ll do it again.” That’s not confession of sin. Confession of sin is coming to the place where you honestly agree with God about your sin.
To confess your sin is not just saying, “I got caught. I’m sorry, but if I can get away with it, I’ll do it again.” That’s not confession of sin.Confession of sin is coming to the place where you honestly agree with God about your sin.
Confession of sin is coming to the place where you honestly agree with God about your sin.
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 43). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
What does it mean to confess your sin? The word “confess” means “to say the same thing as.” When you confess your sin, you are agreeing with God that what he says about your sin is true.
- In the wake of numerous public confessions by fallen politicians, sports figures, and business executives, in her book The Art of the Public Grovel, Susan Wise Bauer offers a helpful distinction: "An apology is an expression of regret: I am sorry. A confession is an admission of fault: I am sorry because I did wrong. I sinned."
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 43). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 43). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 43). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.Confession of sin is coming to the place where you honestly agree with God about your sin.
Apology addresses an audience. Confession implies an inner change … that will be manifested in outward action.
E. And what is the beautiful thing about this verse? What the Lord does. But first the foundation for our hope… He is faithful and he is just. This is why we can have hope today. Our God is faithful. Our God is just. He is faithful to forgive because he has promised to do so, and just and right in doing so because his Son died for our sins. Rejoice today.
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
More simply, he is faithful to forgive because he has promised to do so, and just because his Son died for our sins.
And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”
Stott, J. R. W. (1988). The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 19, pp. 82–83). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
1 John 4:10
This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
F. He is faithful to forgive because he has promised to do so, and just and right in doing so because his Son died for our sins. To Do What? To faithfully forgive AND...
III. Comprehensively Cleanse
- White as snow clean.
A. Not only are we forgiven we are purified. The first verb to forgive describes the act of canceling a debt and the restoration of the debtor. And the second verb to cleanse refers to making the forgiven sinner holy so that he is able to have fellowship with God.
The first verb to forgive describes the act of canceling a debt and the restoration of the debtor. And the second verb to cleanse refers to making the forgiven sinner holy so that he is able to have fellowship with God.
B. This is a radical promise made by our God who is faithful. Our God whose promises are yes and Amen. Our God who cannot lie. We can rejoice today because this is not too good to be true. It’s too good and true. When the Lord forgives us, oh does he forgive us.
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of James and the Epistles of John (Vol. 14, p. 246). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
C. And when the Lord cleanses us, oh does He cleanse us.
Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let’s settle this,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson,
I will make them as white as wool.
D. This is the beauty of the Gospel of Jesus. This is the beauty of the good news of the King.
E. Sin is a reality.
As the Scriptures say,
“No one is righteous—
not even one.
No one is truly wise;
no one is seeking God.
All have turned away;
all have become useless.
No one does good,
not a single one.”
Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins.
F. But what an amazing truth we got today. We have a faithful and just God. Salvation belongs to the Lord and today I can say with all confidence in our faithful God who keeps His promises…Salvation is here. We can be saved from our sins. We can be cleansed from our sins… whiter than snow kind of comprehensive cleaning. Nothing in this world… not bleach, not oxyclean, not tide, purell, not alchohol, hydrogen peroxide, not iodine, not listerine, palmolive, baking soda or even Boraxo can clean us better than the blood of Christ. Salvation is here.
G. Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures… He became sin who knew no sin that we might become… Jesus came to seek and save
H. The promises continue… All who call upon the name. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord...
I. So you see we don’t need to cover up our sins. Completely Confess it. And we will be Comprehensively Cleaned. The Spirit of the Lord will continue to empower us to be transformed into the likeness of Christ. More and more everyday sin will continue to lose its power. We are no longer slaves to sin. In Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
J. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. What an amazing God we serve. Let us continue to be in the light as Christ is in the Light.