1 John 1.9b-God is Faithful and Just
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday April 19, 2017
First John: 1 John 1:9b-God is Faithful and Just
Lesson # 34
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)
“He is faithful and righteous” is composed of the following: (1) nominative masculine singular form of the adjective pistos (πιστός), “faithful” (2) third person singular present active indicative form of the verb eimi (εἰμί), “is” (3) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (4) nominative masculine singular form of the adjective dikaios (δίκαιος), “righteous.”
The verb eimi means “to possess certain characteristics,” which are identified by the adjectives pistos, “faithful” and dikaios, “righteous.”
This indicates that God possesses the characteristic of being faithful and righteous to forgive the believer their sins when they confess them to Him.
The present tense of the verb eimi is a gnomic present referring to a general, timeless fact and denotes that God is “characterized by” faithfulness and righteousness.
The adjective pistos means “faithful” and describes the Father as firmly adhering to His promises to forgive sin when the believer confesses any sin to Him.
The adjective dikaios means “just” because the Father executes the judgments of His government that are in perfect agreement with His perfect character and nature and that are also based upon the merits of the death of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross.
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)
By “faithful,” John means that the Father firmly adheres to His promises to forgive sin when the believer confesses any sin to Him.
Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines the adjective “faithful,” “strict or thorough in the performance of duty; true to one’s word, promises, vows; steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; reliable, trusted, or believed; adhering or true to fact or an original.”
They also state, “faithful implies long-continued and steadfast fidelity to whatever one is bound to by a pledge, duty or obligation.
If we paraphrase these definitions, we could say that the Father forgives the believer their sins when they confess these sins to Him because: (1) He is true to His promise in His Word to forgive the sins of those who express faith in His Son. (2) He is steady in allegiance to His promise of the forgiveness of sins.
The Father is pistos, “faithful” to forgive the believer their sins when they confess these sins to Him because the Father always fulfills His promise and His agreement in the New Covenant with Israel to forgive sins based upon the merits of the death of His Jesus Christ on the cross.
Those Jews who have expressed faith alone in Christ alone enter into that New Covenant promise and agreement that provides the forgiveness of sins (cf. Jer. 31:34).
Those Gentiles who have trusted in Jesus Christ as Savior are engrafted into regenerate Jews according to Romans 11:17.
Consequently, these regenerate Gentiles benefit from the New Covenant promise stipulating the forgiveness of sins to those who trust in the Messiah.
The believer’s confession of sins to the Father points the Father’s attention to His New covenant agreement and promise to forgive sin.
The believer’s confession of their personal sins to the Father obligates the Father to execute His promise of the forgiveness of sins because the believer has met the requirements of this agreement at the moment of justification when they expressed faith alone in Christ alone.
The promise of the forgiveness of sins is of course rooted in the Old Testament (Is. 43:25; 53:11; Ps. 103:12-13; Ezek. 36:24-26; Jer. 31:34; Mic. 7:18-20).
In Christ, all the promises of the Old Testament prophets are fulfilled including the forgiveness of sins.
The Lord is faithful to His promises in the Old Testament and specifically the New covenant to forgive sins and this is what Paul is referring to here in 1 John 1:9.
The voluntary substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths of Jesus Christ on the cross paid the penalty for every sin in human history-past, present and future and is the basis for the forgiveness of sins (1 John 2:12).
The Lord in the institution of the Lord’s Table speaks of this promise of the forgiveness of sins, which is based upon His voluntary substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross, which is denoted by the phrase “My blood.” (Matt. 26:28)
The Father remains faithful to the unfaithful Christian with regards to His promise to forgive sin, and which forgiveness of sins was based upon His death on the cross.
The New Covenant to Israel is mentioned by our Lord in instituting the communion service in Luke 22:20 and by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:25.
Although the church is not Israel, she still benefits from the promise of forgiveness of sins which is offered in the New Covenant.
Those Gentiles who have trusted in Jesus Christ as Savior are engrafted into regenerate Jews according to Romans 11:17 and as a result these regenerate Gentiles benefit from the New Covenant promise stipulating the forgiveness of sins to those who trust in the Messiah.
A Gentile benefits from the promise of the forgiveness of sins in the New Covenant when they exercise faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.
The church age believer is restored to fellowship with God when they confess their sins to the Father because He is faithful to His covenant and His promise to provide for the forgiveness of sins, which is based upon His Son’s death on the cross.
After conversion, the believer experiences, that which is true of themselves positionally when they confess their sins to the Father.
God is faithful to His covenant and promise to forgive the believer’s sins because He was propitiated meaning He is totally and completely satisfied with His Son’s death on the cross as the payment for every sin in human history-past, present and future (1 John 2:1-2).
Therefore, the believer who confesses their sins to the Father is in a sense reminding the Father of His covenant promise to forgive sins (1 John 1:9).
The Father is true to His promise to forgive the sins of those who express faith in His Son.
His steadfast fidelity to His promise in His Word to forgive sins obligates the Father to forgive the believer their sins when they confess them since the believer has met the requirements of the agreement at the moment of justification when they expressed faith alone in Christ alone.
As we noted, John asserts in 1 John 1:9 that God is “just” in the sense that the execution of His judgments of His government are in perfect agreement with His perfect character and nature and are also based upon the merits of the death of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross.
Therefore, He is “just” to execute the law of the forgiveness of sins that is based upon the merits of the death of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross.
It also denotes the agreement between the Father’s nature and His acts.
The adjective dikaios here in 1 John 1:9 should be translated “just,” rather than “righteous” since the former more accurately expresses the meaning of the word in the Greek.
Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines the adjective “righteous,” “characterized by uprightness or morality; morally right or justifiable; acting in an upright, moral way; virtuous.”
They define the adjective “just,” “guided by truth, reason, justice and fairness; done or made according to principle; equitable; proper; based on right; rightful, lawful; agreeable to truth or fact; true; correct; given or awarded rightly; deserved; as a sentence, punishment, reward; in accordance with standards or requirements; proper or right; especially in Biblical use, righteous.”
If we paraphrase the definition of “just” we could say that the Father is dikaios, “just” to forgive the believer their personal sins when they confess them to Him because: (1) He is guided by His attribute of truth, which proclaims the forgiveness of sins to those who have believed in His Son. (2) He is guided by His attribute of justice, which executes the judgment of the forgiveness of sins because the righteous demands of the Father have been propitiated by the merits of His Son Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. (3) He always operates according to His perfect principles. (4) He is equitable because His righteous demands have been propitiated by the merits of His Son Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. (5) He always does everything based upon what is right, rightful and lawful and it is right, rightful and lawful to forgive the believer’s his sins when he confesses them because the Father’s righteous demands that the believer’s sins be judged has been propitiated by the death of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross. (6) He always does what is agreeable to His attribute of truth, which proclaims the forgiveness of sins to those who have expressed faith alone in Christ alone. (7) He rightly rewards the believer with the forgiveness of their sins experientially when they confess them to the Father because the Father’s righteous demands that the believer’s sins be judged has been propitiated by the death of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross. (8) He always operates according to His perfect standards and principles because of perfect holy character and nature.
The Father is “just” to forgive the believer their sins when they confess these sins to Him because the Father always fulfills His promise and His agreement in the New Covenant with Israel to forgive sins based upon the merits of the death of His Jesus Christ on the cross.
The believer’s confession of sins to the Father points the Father’s attention to His New covenant agreement and promise to forgive sin.
The believer’s confession of their personal sins to the Father obligates the Father to execute His promise of the forgiveness of sins because the believer has met the requirements of this agreement at the moment of justification when they expressed faith alone in Christ alone.