If there were a greatest hits Bible verse album I am sure 1 John 1:9 would be on volume 1. It is such well known verse. Let me write it down for us all to look at:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So the question I want to pose is this: Why would God be just to forgive our sins? Why doesn't John say something else to describe what God would be as he forgives sins? John could have said that God would be merciful to forgive our sins, right? That may even seem to be more appropriate. John could have also said that God would be patient or kind to forgive us of our sins. He doesn't. He does say that God is just and therefore we should go to him to find forgiveness.
The reason God's justice is in view is because God has made a promise to forgive our sins in Christ. No doubt, God is loving and kind and merciful to forgive sins. However, John appeals to our sense of justice as he beckons believers to repentance. He says, remember, God is a God of justice, therefore, don't dare neglect your responsibility to confess of your sin.
Why would John go in this direction instead? Perhaps John wants Christians to see that in addition to God's mercy and kindness, God is also bound to his promise. We would do well to see that if not for mercy and not for kindness, God must still forgive those who confess their sins because his character of justice is hanging in the balance. God has promised to forgive and if he fails to do so, his justice would be jeopardized.
Thus, the believer has such great encouragement and such a great confidence to confess their sin to God. We learn so much about God in such a short verse. We learn he is just. He would never make a promise and not keep it. We are reminded of that here. In addition, God says something about how he feels about humility. Now don't miss this point. God values confession of sin so highly. How highly, you ask? He values confession so highly that he vouches for it with his own character. Do you see what he is doing? It is as if he is saying: "test me on this...I value your confession of sin so highly that I am willing to validate it with something that is incredibly near and dear to me: my reputation."
In other words, God offers his own namesake as collateral so that believes would confess. How highly does God value confession? As highly as he values the reputation of his glorious name. That is pretty high!
The point I am driving at is this: God is just, yes, but he also loves humility (1 Peter 5:6). He loves it so much and values it so highly that saints are, if you think about it, not ultimately identified with their sin but with their confession. The first thing that comes to mind when we think of David is that he is a man after God's own heart. Second to that is his adultery and murder. Why? Because he confessed his sin and pursued repentance. This is the pinnacle of David's righteousness. On paper, there isn't a huge difference between Peter and Judas yet we think of them as differently as we think of boiling hot and freezing cold. Both of them rebelled against Jesus and betrayed him painstakingly. Yet the ring of Judas and the ring of Peter in our ears strikes completely different tones, mainly because one repented and the other didn't. There you have it, repentance is the emphasis, even more than sin. For Peter, his humility to confess his sin is more central to his identity than his betrayal of Christ. This says something about what it means to be a believer in Christ and it says something about the heart of God. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
What an invitation, is it not? A gracious yet stern call to come to God and find mercy and grace from him. May we not deceive ourselves into thinking we have no sin. The Lord knows, we certainly do. But thanks be to God that our confession of our sin is more important to him than the actual sin itself...and he has wagered his justice to prove it!
In Christ,
Pastor Kevin
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