1 John 1.9-The Confession of Sins Prevents God From Disciplining the Believer
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday May 2, 2017
First John: 1 John 1:9-The Confession of Sins Prevents God From Disciplining the Believer
Lesson # 38
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)
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)
If the child of God stubbornly refuses to confess their sins to the Father, they have entered into apostasy and will be disciplined by God.
When we use the term “apostasy” we are using it exclusively of the Christian who is living in habitual disobedience to the will of the Father which is revealed by the Holy Spirit through the communication of the Word of God.
This in turn results in God the Father disciplining this type of Christian.
The term “apostasy” describes the state of those Christians who were once exercising faith and obeying the teaching of the Word of God but are now in the state of unbelief and thus rejecting the teaching of the Word of God.
The child of God who stubbornly refuses to confess their sins to the Father has entered into apostasy.
Therefore, “apostasy” speaks of a Christian doing a “180.”
It speaks of abandoning the orthodox teaching of Scripture.
It speaks of a Christian rebelling against the Word of God and no longer adhering to that which they once believed in (Matt. 18:15-17; 2 Thess. 3:14; 2 Tim. 3:1-9; 1 Cor. 5:9-12).
These Christians do not lose their salvation since the Scriptures are clear that a Christian can never lose their salvation (2 Tim. 2:13; Eph. 2:8-9).
Rather these Christians are disciplined by God for their apostasy since they are His children whom He loves and those whom He loves, He disciplines (Heb. 12:4-11).
The apostate Christian must solve their problem with apostasy by confessing their sins (1 John 1:9) which restores them to fellowship with God.
They maintain this fellowship by exercising faith in the teaching of the Word of God which will result in obedience to the commands and prohibitions in the Word of God (Eph. 5:18; Col. 3:16).
Confession of sin followed by faith in the Word of God resulting in obedience to the Word of God constitutes repentance for a Christian.
There are two categories of divine discipline that are an expression of God’s love: (1) Negative: God expresses His love for His children by disciplining them in the sense that He “punishes” them when they are disobedient to His will. (2) Positive: God expresses His love for His children by disciplining them in the sense of “training” them when they are obedient to His will and in fellowship.
Both categories of divine discipline are designed to keep the believer on track in executing the Father’s will by becoming like Christ.
The Word of God is employed in both positive and negative categories of discipline (cf. Heb. 4:12; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).
The Holy Spirit disciplines the disobedient child of God by rebuking them with the Word of God as it is communicated by the pastor-teacher in the local assembly and the purpose of such rebuke is to conform the believer to the will of his heavenly Father, which results in blessing and true happiness.
Jeremiah 32:33 “They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them, teaching again and again, they would not listen and receive instruction.” (NASB95)
The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the pastor-teacher who is the delegated authority in the local assembly, to reprove and rebuke the children of God from the pulpit with the Word of God as an expression of His love (cf. 2 Tim. 4:1-4).
God disciplines His disobedient children by permitting adversity, trials, and irritations to come into their lives that are beyond their capacity to handle in order to get their attention and to focus upon their number one priority in life as children of God, which is to conformity to the Father’s will.
God disciplines His disobedient children by permitting them to reap the fruits of their bad decisions so that they might learn that conformity to His will is the only way to true joy and happiness and blessing in life (Ezek. 16:43; Gal. 6:7-8).
There are three categories of divine discipline (punishment) for the disobedient child of God: (1) Warning (Rev. 3:20; James 5:9) (2) Intense (Ps. 38:1; 2 Th. 2:11). (3) Dying (Jer. 9:16; 44:12; Phlp. 3:18-19; Re. 3:16; Ps. 118:17-18; 1 Jo. 5:16).
These three categories are mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:30: (1) Warning: “weak” (2) Intense: “ill” (3) Dying: “died.”
God disciplines His “obedient” children through adversity and underserved suffering in order to build the believer’s confidence in their relationship with God and to get them to depend on God for their security and protection rather than money and human relationships.
He disciplines His “obedient” children through adversity and underserved suffering in order to demonstrate to the believer the sufficiency of God’s Word in handling any problem or difficulty in life.
The Lord Jesus Christ disciplines the believer in the sense that He rebukes, punishes and trains the believer because He personally and affectionately loves the believer (Revelation 3:14-19).
Revelation 3:19 “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.” (NASB95)
“Love” is the verb phileo, which means, “to personally and affectionately love someone” and expresses the Lord Jesus Christ’s personal affection, care and concern for the believer by disciplining them whether for training when obedient or punishment when disobedient.
“Reprove” is the verb elencho, “to reprove, chasten” and “convict” of sin in order to “instruct” the believer and restore them to fellowship.
“Discipline” is the verb paideuo and was commonly used in Greek literature to mean the “upbringing” and “teaching” and “disciplining” of children.
Such “upbringing” consisted of teaching general knowledge and various kinds of training aimed at developing discipline and character.
The Lord reproves us because He is trying to develop His character in us.
Revelation 3:20-22 teaches that the Lord disciplines us not only because He loves us and but also because He wants to reward us.
Just as any good father disciplines his children because he loves them, so God the Father disciplines His children because He loves them.
If God did not train us when we are obedient and punish us when we are disobedient, then we would be illegitimate children, thus divine discipline in the sense of punishment and training is the mark of a child of God (cf. Heb. 12:1-17).
Hebrews 12:10 teaches us that ultimately, God disciplines us because He wants us to share in His character and integrity, which is meant by the phrase “share His holiness.”
We are not to get angry or bitter when God disciplines us through the Word, or adversity and underserved suffering but rather we are to listen to what God is trying to say to us and to learn the lesson that He is teaching us so that we might acquire the character of our heavenly Father.
Ecclesiastes 7:14 In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider -- God has made the one as well as the other so that man will not discover anything that will be after him. (NASB95)
In order to receive discipline without getting bitter and complaining, the believer must recognize and submit to the authority of the Word of God, the delegated authority of the pastor-teacher and the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ who controls history and therefore our circumstances.
Proverbs 3:11 My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD or loathe His reproof, 12 for whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights. (NASB95)
Job 5:17 Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves, so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. 18 For He inflicts pain, and gives relief; He wounds, and His hands also heal. (NASB95)
Proverbs 15:32 He who neglects discipline despises himself, but he who listens to reproof acquires understanding. 33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom, and before honor comes humility. (NASB95)