1 John 1.9a-The Confession of Sin
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday April 18, 2017
First John: 1 John 1:9a-The Confession of Sin
Lesson # 33
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (NASB95)
“If we confess our sins” is composed of the following: (1) conditional particle ean (ἐάν), “if” (2) first person plural present active subjunctive form of the verb homologeō (ὁμολογέω), “we confess” (3) articular accusative feminine singular form of the noun hamartia (ἁμαρτία), “sins” (4) genitive first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ), “our.”
The apostle John employs the figure of asyndeton in 1 John 1:9 in order to emphasize the solemn nature of the fifth class conditional statement which is contained in this verse.
He is being solemn because the content of the fifth class conditional statement contained in this verse will ensure the fact that the recipients of this epistle will continue to experience fellowship with God.
The purpose of this figure is to ultimately persuade the Christian community reading this letter to make personal application of this fifth class conditional statement which will ensure that they will continue to experience fellowship with the Trinity.
In 1 John 1:9, the apostle John employs once again the conditional particle ean.
However, this time he is using it with the subjunctive mood of the verb homologeō, “we confess” in order to introduce the protasis of a third class condition which offers a condition, the fulfillment of which is realized in the present time which is also called a fifth class condition.
The idea with this fifth class condition is to communicate a spiritual principle related to fellowship with God.
The verb homologeō is used of the believer’s “confession” of their sins to the Father.
The English word “confess” is more accurate a translation of this word than “admit,” or “acknowledge” because “confess” means stating somewhat formally an admission of wrongdoing, crime or shortcoming.
On other hand, “acknowledge” implies making a statement reluctantly often about something previously denied and “admit” implies acknowledging something under pressure.
The present tense of the verb homologeō is a gnomic present used to make a statement of a general, timeless fact.
The gnomic present of the verb homologeō in 1 John 1:9 expresses the spiritual principle that the believer who “does” at “any” time confess their sins to the Father, then the Father is faithful and just to forgive the believer of these sins and thus He restores the believer to fellowship with Himself.
This is not an iterative present for repeated action or a customary present for habitual action because the fifth class conditional statement is communicating an eternal spiritual principle with regards to fellowship with God.
Therefore, John’s point is not how often a believer confesses their sins to the Father that they are restored to fellowship with God but rather that they do confess their sins.
The noun hamartia is used with reference to mental, verbal and overt acts of sin from the perspective that these mental, verbal and overt acts of sin miss the mark of the absolute perfection of God’s character, i.e. His holiness.
It is used of the sins of the Christian and speaks of any thought, word or action on the part of the Christian which is in disobedience to God’s laws.
The article preceding this noun is also employed with the genitive first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego to denote possession.
This personal pronoun refers of course to the Christian community as a corporate unit and is also used in a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions.
1 John 1:9 If any of us does, at any time confess our sins, He is, as an eternal spiritual truth characterized as being faithful as well as just to forgive these sins for the benefit of each one of us, in other words, to purify each one of us from each and every unrighteous thought, word or action. (My translation)
1 John 1:9 contains a fifth class conditional statement which communicates a spiritual principle pertaining to experiencing fellowship with the Father which is in addition to the fifth class conditional statements presented in 1 John 1:6-8.
Verse 9 is the fourth in a series of six fifth class conditional statements which pertain to experiencing fellowship with God (1 John 1:8, 9, 10; 2:1).
Each of these fifth class conditional clauses consist of three pairs that can be divided into two: (1) Negative statement in the apodosis (1 Jn. 1:6, 8, 10). (2) Positive statement in the apodosis (1 Jn. 1:7, 9; 2:1).
The negative statements 1 John 1:6, 8 and 10 reflect the claims of the false teachers located in geographical region of the recipients of this epistle whereas the positive statements in 1 John 1:7, 9 and 2:1 reflect the apostolic teaching with regards to fellowship with God.
As we have noted in our previous studies of 1 John 1:6-8, the recipients of this epistle were located in the Roman province of Asia.
The occasion of the epistle itself and the context of the entire book clearly indicates that they were already believers in Jesus Christ who were experiencing fellowship with God and each other.
However, they were now being exposed to Docetic and Cerinthian Gnostic teaching that denied the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ.
John emphatically refutes this teaching in the prologue of the epistle.
If they believed this false teaching, it would prevent them from continuing to have fellowship with God since fellowship with God is based upon the Person, Work and Life of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This false teaching was propagating an “incipient” form of Gnosticism since it was not a full blown threat to orthodox Christianity in the mid to late part of the first century as it did become in the middle of the second century.
John’s teaching in the prologue and throughout the book concerning the person of Christ is designed to protect his readers from these heretical teachings and to ensure that their fellowship with God and other believers might continue or be maintained.
That John’s readers were already experiencing fellowship with the Father and the Son and that this letter is a protection from the false teaching concerning the person of Jesus Christ is indicated in 1 John 2:13-15, 21, 26-29, 3:7-9, 4:1-3, 5:9-11, 13.
Therefore, John’s teaching in 1 John 1:6-2:2 is designed to protect the Christian community from these false teachers.
1 John 1:6-2:2 are also connected to 1 John 1:5 which asserts that God is, as an eternal spiritual truth existing in the state of being light.
Then, John states in emphatic terms that there is absolutely no darkness in His nature, none whatsoever.
1 John 1:6-2:2 presents the implications of these assertions in verse 5.
These verses are an inference from verse 5 and communicate spiritual principles with regards to fellowship with God.
Specifically, they present spiritual principles which the recipients of this epistle can employ for themselves in order to determine if they are in fact experiencing fellowship with God or not.
These principles are designed to protect the recipients of this epistle from the false teaching which was being propagated where they lived.
Therefore, in 1 John 1:9, the apostle John solemnly issues another fifth class conditional statement.
Its purpose is to communicate a spiritual principle to the Christian community which they were already familiar with which if they continue to apply would protect their fellowship with God.
This fifth class conditional in 1 John 1:9 asserts that if any believer does, at any time confess their sins, He (God the Father) is, as an eternal spiritual truth characterized as being faithful as well as just to forgive these sins for the benefit of the believer.
He then describes this forgiveness as purifying the believer from each and every unrighteous thought, word or action.
Thus, 1 John 1:9 stands in contrast to 1 John 1:8 in that confessing one’s sins to the Father is the complete opposite of a believer entering into the claim that they have never experienced the guilt of sin.
It is the very opposite of deceiving oneself into thinking that you have not committed a sin.
This confession of sin to the Father is to be in the privacy of their royal priesthood and does not refer to the public confession or acknowledgement of sin.
This is indicated by the fact that John is clearly informing his readers that they must confess their sins to the Father which would be a matter between the believer and the Father and no one else.
The believer is adjusted to the holiness of God when they apply the principle stated in 1 John 1:9 which is absolutely essential in order to experience fellowship with the Father since He is holy and does not tolerate sin or evil.
The Lord Jesus Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross is the basis for the forgiveness of the believer’s sins when they confess them to the Father.