Confession and Cleansing

The past two days, we have seeking 1 John 1:9.  Today, let’s look at that verse in its context.

John began his letter with this this statement. 5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

John actually uses a double negative here. “There is not no darkness.” John wants us to know that God is completely and utterly transparent. 

Now, what does he mean by darkness?  He is not talking about physical darkness here. God created physical darkness.  Nor is he getting mystical.  He is talking about what is hidden or concealed.  God does not play hide and seek with us but shows us clearly who He is and as much of His doings as our feeble minds may grasp. 

John goes on and tells us that God expects the same transparency from us, through a series of “if-then” statements.

6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness,

            we lie and do not live by the truth. But

7 if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,

            we have fellowship with one another,

            and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin,

            we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

9 If we confess our sins,

            he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins

            and purify us from all unrighteousness.

“If—then” statements  spell out consequences. If we conceal the truth, then we are liars. If we walk in the light, that is,  walk in transparency before God and others, then share a common fellowship, and we are made pure by Jesus.  If we pretend the sin is not there,  then we are deceiving ourselves as well as others. But if we confess them,  then God will forgive and we will be made pure.

Confession is a prerequisite, not to our sins being forgiven, but from being purified from them. We may be forgiven for being a lecher or glutton or hothead, but we will never stop being these things unless we come out and admit that that is what we are.  We must be willing transparently reveal our faults if we want to be rid of them. 

John makes it clear that this attitude of transparency does not just refer to our life with God but also to our life with others.  We must be what we are,  if we want others to accept us as we are. We do not have to confess all the sordid details or our sins before the world,  but neither should we hide our sins from others. We are sinners, and we should not pretend to be otherwise. But when we deal with God, we must be willing to say specifically what we think is so sinful about us.   

Cleansing and confession go together.  We cannot be cured of an ailment we will not admit that we have. We cannot have our car repaired if we refuse to take it to the garage. We cannot be free of debts that we deny we owe. We must fess up and pay up before we can be free.  God has already paid for our forgiveness. But if we want to be free we must confess.

Keep on writing in your confession notebook today.  But keep on claiming the promise of I John 1:9,  Confessing our sins regularly is the only way to experience true freedom.

O God, I want to walk in the light today. Forgive me, Lord for covering my sins, even from myself.  Teach me the joy of regular confession, and the power of eternal forgiveness.

I do not want to be forgiven only, God, but to be  purified.  Help me to confess, so that I can be pure.

 In Jesus’ name, Amen.