Lesson 7 March 28, 2004

Review:

 

 

 

Cleanses from all unrighteousness   1 John 1:9

 

This is the only instance in the New Testament where the verb "to confess" (o`mologe,w) refers to the confession of sins. It is generally used in connection with a confession of Christ or of truth about Him.

God's favorable response to our confession is assured by His nature, because "he is faithful and just" (pisto,j evstin kai. di,kaioj().

The first adjective, "faithful," describes God's reliability, consistency, dependability.. God can be trusted to do what has been promised.

The second adjective, "just" or "righteous," declares that when God forgives the sin of the repentant believer He acts in full accord with His righteous nature.

God's response to our confession of our sin is twofold: "to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness".

The hina introducing the clause looks back to the preceding two adjectives and usually indicates purpose or result; it may be rendered "that."

The words "to forgive us our sins" indicate God's response to the guilt of our sins. As a failure to conform to God's expressed will, our sins make us guilty and subject to punishment.

But when we confess them to Him He acts to "forgive" ((avfi,hmi|),  as a definite act "to remove," more literally "to send away," those sins so that they no longer stand between us and God.

They are "sent away as a cloud is dissolved, never to appear again." And we should not allow Satan to bring up those sins again and use them to disrupt our peace with God.

The added phrase "and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" declares that our sins not only made us guilty but also made us unclean before Him.

The aorist verb "cleanse" (kaqari,zw) declares that upon our confession God specifi­cally acts to cleanse us from the pollution of our sins.

Sin produces a defile­ment - which only God can remove, He acts to remove "all unrighteousness" (pa,shj avdiki,ajÅ) underlining that the cleansing is total, not partial.

The noun "unrighteous­ness" here describes our sin as a failure to measure up to the standard of right as set forth by the Word of God.

 

This total cleansing restores us to fellowship with God. It is based on the work of Christ on the cross that is the cleansing agent, not our confession; but the confession of our sins makes possible the appli­cation of the divine cleansing and the restoration to fellowship.

 

 

There are several purposes for confession:

(a)  Confession brings forgiveness and restoration of fel­low­ship with God (1 Jn. 1:9; Prov. 28:13);

 

 

 

(b)  Confession restores God’s empow­ering in the believer’s life (Eph. 4:30; 5:18;  1 Thess. 5:19);   

 

 

 

(c)   Confession provides capacity for  restraint and resistance against sin­ful pat­terns  (Rom. 8:13;  Gal. 5:16); and

 

 

 

(d)   Since confession restores us to fellowship, it enables us to move forward in the process of sanctification or spiritual growth and usefulness to the Lord in service   (cf. Jam. 1:21;  1 Pet. 2:1f; 2 Tim. 2:21; 3:16-17).