1 John 1.9-Repentance and the Confession of Sin
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday May 4, 2017
First John: 1 John 1:9-Repentance and the Confession of Sins
Lesson # 40
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)
What is repentance for the child of God?
Is it the same as confession of sin or in other words, are we repenting when we confess our sins?
Does repentance for the believer involve the confession of sin to the Father?
First of all, to receive eternal salvation, the only issue in repentance is Christ and not a person’s sin.
In relation to receiving eternal salvation, the Scriptures never teach repentance of sins but of a change of attitude regarding Christ as one’s personal Savior.
An individual’s personal sins are not an issue because they were all paid for at the cross by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, with respect to the non-believer, repentance would involve simply faith along in Christ alone (John 3:16-18; Acts 16:31).
On the other hand, repentance for the believer would involve the confession of sin (1 John 1:9) which must be followed immediately by obedience to the Word of God (1 John 2:3-6).
The Greek word in the New Testament for repentance is the noun metanoia, which means “a change of mind” and its cognate verb is metanoeo, which means “to change your mind, to change your attitude toward something.”
Metanoia is found 24 times in the Greek New Testament and metanoeo is found 35 times and metanoeo is a compound verb, which means that it is composed of two words.
The first is meta meaning “change,” and the second is noeo, “mind,” therefore, the correct meaning of repentance is “to change one’s mind,” or “to change your attitude toward something.”
Both words have absolutely nothing to do with feeling sorry for your sins and they have nothing to do with your emotions.
There is another word in the Greek New Testament which has an emotional connotation and that is the verb metamelomai which means “to feel sorry, to regret, to feel sorrow.”
This word is found 6 times in the Greek New Testament.
The distinction between the two verbs metanoeo and metamelomai is obvious in the Greek New Testament.
Metamelomai expresses a merely emotional change while metanoeo expresses a change of choice.
Metamelomai signifies nothing but regret resulting in feeling sorry while metanoeo deals with a change of mental attitude.
Metanoeo concerns your volition and not your emotions.
There are two New Testament Greek words which are translated “repentance” in the modern English translations: metanoia (and its verbal counterpart metanoeo) and metamelomai.
The former term is so translated fifty-eight times in the New Testament; the latter only six times.
Metamelomai means, “to regret, change the mind” and may connote the idea of sorrow, but not necessarily.
It is translated by “regret, change the mind, and feel remorse” in the NASB and NIV, and in all but one of the passages where it is used, the primary idea is a change of mind (cf. Matt. 21:29, 32; 27:3; 2 Cor. 7:8; Heb. 7:21).
Metanoia, the primary word, without question, means “a change of mind” and refers to the thinking of people who thought one thing or made one decision and then, based on further evidence or input, changed their minds.
So, the basic sense is “a change of mind” and this is its meaning and use outside the New Testament and in the New Testament.
It is a change of mind that leads to a different course of action, but that course of action must be determined by the context.
In a context that deals with forgiveness of sin or receiving eternal life as a gift from God, the course of action is a change of trust because one now sees Jesus as the only means of salvation from sin.
Let me illustrate this for you in the Scriptures and I’ll point out when each word is used.
John the Baptist used the verb metanoeo in Matthew 3:2 and Mark 1:14-15 in the sense that his unregenerate audience was to change their minds about Christ and believe in Him for salvation.
In Luke 15:7-10, our Lord makes an interesting comment concerning the person who changes their mind about Christ and accepts Him as Savior, namely that the elect angels rejoice.
Now, the first occurrence of metamelomai is in Matthew 21:29-32 in the parable of the two sons and in this parable, one son said to his father that he would go in the vineyard while the second son said he would not but then he metamelomai, felt badly, regretted not going and then went.
The first son, who said he would go, but didn’t.
Metamelomai is found in verse 29 which the New American Standard translates as “regretted,” and it is found in verse 32 where it is translated “remorse.”
In Matthew 27:3, metamelomai is used in connection with Judas Iscariot, an unbeliever who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ and expressed the idea that Judas felt sorry for his sin and yet he went to the Lake of Fire.
We know that he went to hell because the Lord Jesus Christ said so Himself in John 17:12.
Now, what is important to note is that Judas felt sorry for his sin for betraying the Son of God and yet he was not saved because of his emotions.
The apostle Peter denied Christ three times and he felt sorry and wept (cf. Matt. 26:75).
Both men felt sorry for their sins, and yet one was saved and the other was not and each committed a terrible sin, one was saved and the other was not and thus, emotion could not save Judas.
Peter wept bitterly and yet his tears did not save him but rather his faith in Christ saved him (cf. Matt. 16).
There is only one-way of salvation which excludes human works and emotion and that is to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved” (Acts 16:31; John 3:16, 36).
Judas could have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ but did not whereas Peter did believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 16:13-16).
In relation to receiving eternal salvation, sin is never an issue in repentance according to the Scriptures but rather one’s attitude toward Jesus Christ is the issue (cf. Ps. 103:10; John 1:29; Rom. 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:3; Gal. 1:3-4; Heb. 8:12; 10:17; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18; 1 John 2:2; 3:5; Rev. 1:4-5).
The only issue in repentance that the Scriptures teach is regarding the Person and Work of Jesus Christ (Matt. 16:13-20).
The sins of the entire world-past, present and future were paid for by the impeccable humanity of Christ in hypostatic union at the cross.
He paid for these sins with His voluntary substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths.
Therefore, repentance in relation to the non-Christian with respect to receiving eternal salvation has nothing to do with a person’s sins but rather his attitude toward Jesus Christ.
The issue in repentance is simply, “Will you change your mind about Jesus Christ and accept Him as your Lord and Savior?”
Each person must decide for himself.
Salvation is through faith alone in Christ alone and nothing more and nothing less (John 3:16-17, 36; Acts 16:31).
The word metamelomai also occurs in 2 Corinthians 7:8 where the apostle Paul is talking about his first letter to the Corinthians in which he sharply rebuked the believers in Corinth.
1 Corinthians 7:8 For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it (metamelomai); though I did regret it (metamelomai)-for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while-9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance (metanoia, “a change of mind”). For you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything though us. 10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a change of mind (metanoia) WITHOUT REGRET (metamelomai), leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death. (NASB95)
In this passage, Paul was talking to people who had already believed in Jesus Christ as Savior and were saved forever and so the repentance that Paul is talking about is the confession of sin and their recovery from that sin through obedience.
This sin knocks them out of fellowship yet does not cost them their salvation.
In relation to the Christian, repentance involves confession of sin to be restored to fellowship with God (1 John 1:9) and to maintain this fellowship, they must obey the Word of God (1 John 2:3-6).
