One of the more debated topics in Christianity is the age-old question – do Christians have to confess their sins in order to be forgiven by God? This topic primarily stems from the Scripture, 1 John 1:9, so we are going to look at this verse in context and really try to understand the author’s intent. We will also compare this thinking, that Christians need to confess their sins consistently in order to be forgiven by God. with the rest of the New Testament concerning the believer’s forgiveness.
The main reason for covering this topic is to provide some understanding and clarity for believers on this subject. If we aren’t sure if we have to confess our sins in order to be forgiven of them, then we will never truly know if we are truly forgiven or not. That’s a big deal. I struggled with understand this topic for years, so I can relate to how hindering it can be if it isn’t understood clearly and properly.
To begin, let’s first see what the New Testament (covenant), which is the current covenant Christians are in, says about our forgiveness from God.
What Does the Bible Say About Our Forgiveness?
First of all, it’s important to understand that we (Christians) are under the New Covenant. This is crucial for rightly dividing the Word. Therefore, let’s see what the Scripture says about our forgiveness in the New Covenant.
“And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,…” [emphasis mine]
Do you see what Colossians 2:13 is proclaiming? The forgiveness of sins is an inheritance and a characteristic of believers. Colossians 2:13 makes it clear that if we are made alive together with Christ (a born-again Christian), then we also have been forgiven of all trespasses. They go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other. If you are born again, you are forgiven. If you are not born again, you are not forgiven. You cannot be one without the other.
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence…” [emphasis mine]
Espeisians 1:7 says that we have redemption through Christ’s blood, the forgiveness of sins. Again, the forgiveness of sins is a characteristic of believers. It’s part of our inheritance. It’s a permanent fixture. Christians don’t go in and out of forgiveness. We are redeemed and forgiven, period.
“For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
Hebrews 10:14 continues to reiterate that beleivers are forgiven and perfected forever by Christ’s one offering. If we are perfected, then we are forgiven. Christ has made us perfect by His one sacrifice for all time.
“’This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,’” then He adds, ‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.” [emphasis mine]
Hebrews 10:16-18 really nails home the fact that God does not remember our sins or lawless deeds. Why? Because Christ’s one-time sacrifice took away our sins completely, for all time. Therefore, God doesn’t remember them nor relate to us according to them.
Notice that veses 18 states, “now where there is remission of these (sins and lawless deeds), there is no longer an offering for sin.” This verse illustrates that Jesus took away our sins and that nothing else is required on our behalf to be forgiven going forward. Christ’s sacrifice completely took care of our sin once for all time. Once we accept His sacrifice by putting our faith in Him, our sins are forgiven and are no longer an issue between us and God. Otherwise, Jesus would have to be sacrificed over and over again every time we sin. But, we know that is not the case.
The same can be said regarding confession our sins in order to be forgiven. If there is complete remission of our sins because of Christi’s sacrifice, and there is no longer an offering required for sin, then there is also no requirement of confession of sins. If there was a requirement for confessions of sins, then Christ’s work wasn’t complete or finished, and there wouldn’t be “complete remission”. But, Christ took care of it all!
Romans 4:5-8 further illustrates this truth:
“But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.’” [emphasis mine]
Paul says that those of us who believe, our faith is accounted for righteousness. That means we are accounted and made completely righteous by faith. Therefore, our sins are not imputed to us. What does that mean? It means that even when we sin, they are not imputed to us or counted against us. Again, as believers, we are forgiven and made righteous. God remembers our sins no more, nor does He impute them to us!
Now, there are many more verses that proclaim that believers are forgiven, righteous people, but I don’t want to list them all here. I would recommend reading the books of Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Hebrews to gain more understanding on your standing and identity in Christ.
Does the Bible Say That Christians Have to Confess Their Sins In Order to Be Forgiven?
When it comes to Christians having to confess their sins in order to be forgiven by God, there is only one verse that states anything close to this in the New Testament. That verse is 1 John 1:9, which reads:
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Yep, that’s it. There is nowhere else in the New Testament that states that Christians need to confess their sins in order to be forgiven by God. If Christians have to confess their sins continually in order to be forgiven, don’t you think Paul, who wrote two-thirds of the New Testament, would have mentioned it, at least once? What about Peter, or James? None of them mention it at all! That doesn’t make a lot of sense, does it? After all, being forgiven of our sins is a pretty big deal!
I propose to you that there is a reason why this topic of confessing our sins is not mentioned outside of 1 John 1:9. It’s because 1 John 1:9 is likely not for believers. It seems to be for those who have not received Christ yet as their Savior. And, more specifically, it was likely for a specific group of people that John was writing to.
Understanding 1 John 1:9
Now, taken out of context, 1 John 1:9 certainly sounds like John is saying that we, Christians, have to confess our sins in order to be forgiven by God. But, let’s look a little deeper into the context and who John is speaking to here. To start, let ‘s look at the opening text of 1 John 1, in verses 2&3:
“the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
In the 1st chapter of 1 John, it appears that John is likely writing to or primarily addressing unbelievers, those who have not come to faith in Christ; or, at the least, people in the church that were being deceived by erroneous teaching and were going astray. Why? Well, notice in verse 2 how he addresses his audience – “that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
John is distinguishing between himself and believers, and the people he is writing to by declaring that he and believers (“us”) have fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. He is inviting and persuading his audience to have fellowship with them also, insinuating that they don’t have fellowship with them currently.
In my study on this topic, I have also learned that John’s audience in this portion of 1 John were likely Gnostics, or at least people being deceived by the Gnostic’s teachings. Gnostics apparently had infiltrated the early church. They are said to believe that Jesus Christ was not human, only divine, which would mean He did not “come in the flesh”, or in human form on earth. This would explain why John reiterates in his letter that “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,” (1 John 4:2).
It is also said that Gnostics believed that sin did not exist. Yep, apparently they didn’t believe in sin. If this is true, then the verses surrounding 1 John 1:9 totally fit in this context:
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” [emphasis mine]
“If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” [emphasis mine]
John was obviously trying to persuade the audience here in 1 John that they indeed have sin and have sinned. Why? Well, in order to receive God’s forgiveness and be saved, we first have to acknowledge that we are sinners, have sin, and need forgiveness through a Savior (Jesus). So, if these Gnostics, and those following their teachings, did not believe that sin existed, then they are not going to see their need for forgiveness and a Savior. That is why John is trying to convince them that they are indeed guilty of sin. Because, as 1 john 1:9 says,
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
If these Gnostics John was addressing, or those following their teachings, simply confess their sins (admit they are sinners and have sin), then God will forgive them of their sins and cleanse them from all unrighteousness.
This understanding of 1 John 1:9 lines up with the rest of the New Testament regarding the forgiveness of sins and salvation. In this light, this verse is no longer an anomaly in regards to the rest of the New Testament and what it teaches on the forgiveness of sins.
Now, as you go through the rest of 1 John, you will see that even John makes it clear that believers have forgiveness of sins already. It’s not something we have to maintain or get daily by confessing our sins:
“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
In 1 John 2, you can see that John is now addressing believers as he refers to them as “my little children”. And what does he say regarding Christians who sin? He doesn’t say Christians have to confess their sins to be forgiven. No, he says that Christians who sin have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Jesus is our advocate, our protection. He took care of our sins on our behalf. Our confession of our sins is not our advocate, Jesus is.
What else does John say in regards to believers and their sins?
“I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.” [emphasis mine]
Again, John states that believers are forgiven of their sins (past tense). He doesn’t say we will be forgiven if we confess them regularly. No, he says our sins are already forgiven. It’s dependent on Jesus and His sacrifice and Him taking them away, not our confession.
So, it is clear that John believes and proclaims that Christians are forgiven, just like the rest of the New Testament teaches. We also see that 1 John 1:9 is likely referring to those who have not received Christ as their Savior, and therefore aren’t forgiven yet, as they have not acknowledged their sin, and discovered their need for Jesus. Again, John could also be referring to believers in this verse as well, and is combatting the false teaching of the Gnostics that was infiltrating the early church. Both are likely true.
P.S. If you’d like more teaching on this topic of 1 John 1:9, I would highly recommend Joseph Prince’s book, Unmerited Favor, primarily chapter 13. That is where I gained a lot of my understanding of this verse and the context and background of John’s audience.
Can You Confess All Your Sins?
Now that we have looked at 1 John 1:9 from a biblical and contextual point of view, let’s approach it from a practical point of view. If 1 John 1:9 is truly saying that Christians have to confess their sins regularly to be forgiven, is it possible to confess every single sin of every single day? Of course not.
First of all, we don’t even know when we sin sometimes. There is no way to account for every single sin of every minute of every day. According to the Old Testament, even wearing clothing that mixes fabrics is a sin. Did you know that? So, we would all be guilty of that one sin, and countless others, all day, every day.
And, I know, many will say that as long as we do our best, that’s all that matters. That sounds great, but that is not what 1 John 1:9 would mean if it meant we have to confess our sins regularly to be forgiven and stay forgiven. It would mean that Christians have to confess all their sins perfectly in order to be forigven and stay forgiven. You know, keeping short accounts with God. But, again, there’s just no way, to first of all, remember all of our sins, let alone confess them.
Confessing Your Sins and Trusting In Jesus Don’t Mix
The last point I want to make regarding the idea that Christians have to confess their sins to be forgiven, is that it doesn’t mix with faith in Jesus.
When it comes to salvation and the forgiveness of sins, it was all accomplished by Jesus. He did absolutely everything on our behalf. Ephesians 2:8-9 states,
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
The verses above state that we are saved by grace through faith. It’s not of ourselves. It’s a gift, not of works. Therefore, it’s all according to God’s grace (unmerited, unearned favor). It’s all according to what Jesus did for us. The minute we think that our forgiveness of sins is dependent on our confession of sins, it switches the focus from Jesus and God’s grace, to us and our confession. Our forgiveness is then totally hinged upon our perfect confession of our sins (a work), instead of on Jesus and His finished work on our behalf. At this point it is no longer by grace through faith, but it becomes of ourselves, and of works.
The two don’t mix. Just see what Paul says in Romans 11:6:
“And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.”
As we can see from the portion of Scripture above, grace and works don’t mix. They are polar opposites. Therefore, it is either all grace (which Ephesians 2:8-9 proclaims) or all works. It’s one or the other. In this light, we need to decide whether we are going to trust in Jesus alone, or our perfect confession of our sins. I can assure you, Jesus is the answer!
Do Christians Have to Confess Their Sins To Be Forgiven? No!
According to the Bible, do Christians have to confess their sins in order to be forgiven by God? Thankfully, no, we do not. When we first come to faith in Christ, and are saved and born again, sure, we do acknowledge that we are sinners and have sinned. That’s an important step in understanding and seeing our need for God’s mercy, grace, and His Son, Jesus Christ. But, there is not a daily or regular, ongoing practice of confessing our sins in order to be and stay forgiven. If there was, no one would be saved, because no one would confess every sin perfectly.
Our forgiveness of our sins is completely based on Jesus and His finished work on our behalf. We are a forgiven people, and God does not impute our sins to us. He doesn’t even remember them anymore (and never will)! I don’t know about you, but that is good news!
If you have struggled with 1 John 1:9 or understanding your complete forgiveness in Christ, I would highly recommend asking the Lord to open your eyes to truth. Ask Him to show you who you are in Christ. Ask Him to show you how far He removed your sins from you (as far as the east is from the west). As I mentioned earlier, start reading the books of Romans, Galations, Ephesians, Colossians, and Hebrews to start. You will begin to see how your forgiveness was solely accomplished by Christ, and it’s a once-and-for-all done deal.