I recall so long ago attending the church youth group and learning about the Christian’s assurance of forgiveness. We all had to learn this memory verse: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).1 I was taught that whenever I came to the knowledge of having committed a sin, I prayed to God, and ask for forgiveness. I had been assured that God withholds absolution to the penitent sinner. I am grateful for receiving this grace from the Lord.

Confession has to do with either declaring one’s faith or acknowledging one’s sins. The New Bible Dictionary informs us:

The word to ‘confess’ in both the Heb. and the Gk. (yāḏâ and homologein) has, as in English, a twofold reference. There is confession of faith and confession of sin. On the one hand, confession means to declare publicly a personal relationship with and allegiance to God. It is an act of open joyful commitment made to God in the presence of the world, by which a congregation or individuals bind themselves in loyalty to God or Jesus Christ. It is an avowal of faith which can have eternal eschatological consequences. On the other hand, it means to acknowledge sin and guilt in the light of God’s revelation, and is thus generally an outward sign of repentance and faith. It may or may not be followed by forgiveness (Jos. 7:19; Lv. 26:40; Ps. 32:5; Mt. 27:4; 1 Jn. 1:9).2

Something extraordinarily disturbing that I came across came from popular Singaporean televangelist Joseph Prince, who teaches it is unnecessary for Christians to confess their sin. Prince writes:

In that very instance when you prayed the prayer of salvation, all the sins that you would commit for your entire life were forgiven once and for all…You do not need to confess your sins again and again to be forgiven. You are already forgiven! Today, you can be honest with your Father about your mistakes and failures, know that He loves you and has already forgiven you. You don’t confess your sins to Him in order to be forgiven (emphasis in original).3

Prince even stated that Paul never mentioned anything about confession of sins in his writings,4 and that 1 John 1:9 was really addressed to “Gnostics who infiltrated the early church” and that “Gnostics are heretics who do not believe in the existence of sin.”5 Of course, Prince is dead wrong on all counts.6 He is far from the only teacher to reject the practice of confessing sin7 but his teachings are broadcasted to millions throughout the world.

Statements made in 1 John indicate the writer was addressing a Christian audience. The use of the first-person plural (“we”) in chapter 1 indicates the biblical writer identifies himself as a member of the community being addressed This is one clue that John is addressing a Christian audience. But there are other clues too. Steve Parks, Professor of Theology at Concordia Seminar, observes that “John repeatedly tells us who his audience is by referring to them as ‘dear children’ (1 John 2:1, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21), ‘dear friends’ (2:7; 3:2, 21; 4:1; 7; 11), and “brothers and sisters” (3:13). The apostle asserted that his intended recipients had an anointing from the Holy One (2:20), were children of God (3:1; 5:19), and had received the Holy Spirit (3:24; 4:4, 13). His audience was from God (4:6), had received eternal life (5:11–13), believed (5:13), had been enlightened by the Son of God (5:20), and were in Him who is true (5:20).”8

2 John 4-9 warns against allowing false teachings into the Christian community as opposed to the infiltration of false teachers. Even the epistles to Pergamum (Rev. 2:12-17) and Thyatira (Rev. 2:18-29) condemned fellowships that tolerated the circulation of false teachings but never places the blame upon any supposed infiltration of pagan teachers into the community.

1 John addresses Christians who had lost their ethos. They forsook their guiding principles and became like the pagans outside the Church. They began to adopt false teachings which perverted their understanding sin and the Christian life. One false teaching John addressed came from those who professed to be in fellowship with the Lord but walked in darkness (1 Jn, 1:6). They sinned with impunity. They were duplicitous in their actions, professing the faith yet simultaneously transgressing the tenants of the faith. They were hypocrites.

Another false teaching came from those who denied having any sin, but they were really self-deluded and made God out to be a liar (1 Jn. 1:8, 10). The grand illusion is to imagine oneself as simply good, unbroken, and without need of fixing. But this may even be the futile attempt to validate the carrying on of a cherished vice. Isaiah rightly condemns such an attitude: “Woe to those who call evil good |and good evil, | who put darkness for light | and light for darkness, | who put bitter for sweet |and sweet for bitter!” (Isa. 5:20). The progeny of Adam and Eve are fallen in sin, they commit acts of sin, and they are in desperate need of coming to grips with their sin problem.

Gnosticism reached its zenith of popularity and influence in the second century; however, it is possible that Gnostic ideas were circulating in the first century (a proto-Gnosticism or an incipient form of the heretical group). John is more likely addressing Christians influenced by early Gnostic ideas as opposed to Gnostics who infiltrated the community.9

The Apostle John reminds us that those who walk in the light receive forgiveness on account of the blood of Christ, and those who confess their sin are the ones who receive forgiveness from a faithful and just God (1 Jn. 1:7, 9).

1 John 1:9 stresses the development of a habit of confessing sins to the Lord. John R.W. Stott writes, “The proper Christian attitude to sin is not to deny it but to admit it, and then to receive the forgiveness which God has made possible and promises to us”10 and “What is required is not a general confession of sin but a particular confession of our sins,as we deliberately call them to mind, confess and forsake them.”11

The habit of confessing sin is a direct teaching of Jesus Christ. When the disciples asked the Lord, “Teach us to pray” (Lk. 11:1), Jesus instructs them to pray to the Heavenly Father, and one of the things they were to pray was “forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Lk. 11:4).

James also teaches us “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (Jas. 5:16).12

Paul instructed the Galatian Christians: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness” (Gal. 6:1). If they were putting the apostle’s instructions into practice, it is difficult to imagine that confession of sin never occurred among the Christians who had stumbled. Paul never explicitly tells them to confess their sins, but that is implied in the restoration of the transgressor in a spirit of gentleness.

Old Testament saints likewise had the habit of confessing their sin. David declared, “I acknowledged my sin to you, | and I did not cover my iniquity; | I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ | and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah” (Psa. 32:5). Solomon also found that “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper | but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Prov. 28:13). Calling upon the Lord, Nehemiah said, “Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned” (Neh. 1:6).

In the fourth sermon on the rich man and Lazarus, John Chrysostom instructs Christians:

So why do you not confess? The sin does not become more burdensome because of your self-accusation, does it? Rather, it becomes easier and lighter. For this reason He wishes you to confess, not in order to punish you, but in order to forgive you: not in order that He may learn your sin (how could that be, since He knows already?), but in order that you may learn how great a debt He forgives you. If you do not confess the greatness of the debt, you do not discover the excess of grace. “I do not force you,” He says, “to come into the middle of the theater and place many witnesses around you; tell your sin to Me alone in private, so that I may treat your would and relieve your pain.”13

All Christians during their earthly sojourn are to struggle well in living a life pleasing to the Heavenly Father, and when they stumble, they have Jesus Christ who advocates on their behalf. Christ is the one who provides the substitutionary atonement that sets fallen people back in a right relationship with God (1 Jn. 2:1-2). We are to admit rather than deny our sin. But we are never to think we are beyond hope. God forgives the penitent.

We live in the everlasting presence of a holy God. The angels never cease from saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, |who was and is and is to come!” (Rev. 4:8). Our sin is an offense to God of the universe. It is more heinous than a demerit that needs to be paid off. Sin sets us in a direction away from the goodness and grace of God. It puts us in opposition to God. It is moving east of Eden. It is like the prodigal in Luke 15 who leaves home with his inheritance and treating his living father as if the guy was dead. Things might feel fine upon departure but the trip ends in the mire savoring to eat but unable to obtain pig slop. May we see our miserable condition and repent. The father will run to us with open arms.

— WGN

  1. All Scripture cited from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), unless noted.
  2. J.B.T., “Confession,” ed. D. R. W. Wood et al., New Bible Dictionary (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 219.
  3. Prince, Joseph Prince, Unmerited Favor: Your Supernatural Advantage for a Successful Life (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2010), 191.
  4. Ibid. 186–87.
  5. Ibid., 189.
  6. For a more in-depth assessment on the teaching of Joseph Prince, see my article “Joseph Prince: Unmerited Favor,” from the Christian Research Journal, volume 36, number 2 (2013), which can be accessed at https://www.equip.org/article/joseph-prince-unmerited-favor/
  7. Bob George host of the Classic Christianity Radio broadcast also teaches it is unnecessary for Christians to confess their sins and that 1 John 1:9 is an instruction to unbelievers (cf. Steve Parks, “Grace Upon Grace: 1 John 1:8-9 and the Forgiveness of Sins, Christian Research Journal, 38, 2 [2015]: https://www.equip.org/article/grace-upon-grace-1-john-18-9-forgiveness-sins/ ).
  8. Parks.
  9. The influence of Gnosticism upon John’s addresses is hinted in the statements about those saying they had fellowship with God but walked in darkness (1 Jn. 1:6) and those who claimed to be without sin (1 Jn. 1:8, 10). John Stott explains, “Some of the early Gnostics were guilty of such blatant antinomianism. They thought of the body as a mere envelope covering the human spirit, which they further maintained, was inviolable; it could not be contaminated by the deeds of the body. Others, according to Irenaeus, taught that if a person had become truly ‘spiritual,’ he had progressed beyond the possibility of any defilement. You could, they said, be righteous with necessarily doing righteousness…Consequently, the communion of the spirit with God was independent of the morality of the body” (John R.W. Stott, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: The Letters of John, vol. 19 (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996), 79).
  10. Stott, 82.
  11. Ibid., 83.
  12. Sickness can be the result of a particular sin committed (cf. Num. 12:1-16; 2 Sam. 24:1-25; 2 Chron. 26:16-21; Acts 12:21-22; 1 Cor. 11:27-32). James then calls the sick to receive prayer from the elders of the church, and if there is sin, they would receive forgiveness and healing (Jas. 5:13-18). Sickness is part and parcel of life in a sinful and fallen world, and it is the present suffering that leads the whole creation to yearn for the future glory (Rom. 8:18-25). The grand illusion is to suppose that taking up a “healthy lifestyle,” however defined, coupled with scientific discoveries that someone can extend their lifespan indefinitely. We will all die of our last illness.
  13. [1] St. John Chrysostom, On Wealth and Poverty, trans. Catharine P. Roth (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1981), 89.
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Published by Warren Nozaki

Hello, my name is Warren Nozaki. I typically blog on topics related to Christian apologetics. Check out what is posted, leave a comment if you like. I work at the Christian Research Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina. I also create sonic landscapes on the electric guitar.

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