Exploring 1 John: He is Faithful and Righteous
1 John 1:8-10 - We must confess our sins and stand on God’s Word!
”If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.“
1 John 1:8-10 NASB1995
John ends the first chapter of his treatise talking about sin. Verse 8 is the second “if we say” verse of 1 John (the first was in 1 John 1:6 - “If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in darkness..”). Verse 10 is also an “if we say” statement. Look for more of these “if we say” statements throughout 1 John.
According to Precept Austin, Martin Luther is quoted as saying “The recognition of sin is the beginning of salvation”. I think it might be useful to do some word studies of Verse 8 to align us to the Word:
We say comes from the Greek word λέγω or légō, with following Biblical usages; lego (G3004) is used 2, 343 times in the NT:
to say, to speak
affirm over, maintain
to teach
to exhort, advise, to command, direct
to point out with words, intend, mean, mean to say
to call by name, to call, name
to speak out, speak of, mention
Sin comes from the Greek word ἁμαρτία or hamartía, which we have studied previously. Hamartia (G266) has the following Biblical usages and is used 174 times in the NT:
equivalent to [G]264
to be without a share in
to miss the mark
to err, be mistaken
to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong
to wander from the law of God, violate God's law, sin
that which is done wrong, sin, an offence, a violation of the divine law in thought or in act
collectively, the complex or aggregate of sins committed either by a single person or by many
We are deceiving comes from the Greek word πλανάω or planáō, with the following usages; planao (G4103) is used 39 times in the NT:
to cause to stray, to lead astray, lead aside from the right way
to go astray, wander, roam about
metaph.
to lead away from the truth, to lead into error, to deceive
to be led into error
to be led aside from the path of virtue, to go astray, sin
to sever or fall away from the truth
of heretics
to be led away into error and sin
Truth comes from the Greek word ἀλήθεια or alḗtheia, which we have also studied previously. Aletheia (G225) has the following Biblical usages and is used 109 times in the NT:
objectively
what is true in any matter under consideration
truly, in truth, according to truth
of a truth, in reality, in fact, certainly
what is true in things appertaining to God and the duties of man, moral and religious truth
in the greatest latitude
the true notions of God which are open to human reason without his supernatural intervention
the truth as taught in the Christian religion, respecting God and the execution of his purposes through Christ, and respecting the duties of man, opposing alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles and the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers even among Christians
subjectively
truth as a personal excellence
that candour of mind which is free from affection, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit
So if we say we are without sin, we are affirming that we are not in violation of God’s law, and we are saying this to God Himself! This affirmation is a deadly serious sin in and of itself, and, of course, is as far away from the true notions of God and His truth as you can get. I found this little gem from the famous pastor D.L. Moody (from his pamphlet “The Way to God”) on Precept Austin about how the Holy Spirit can convict someone of their sin:
I [D.L. Moody] remember that on one occasion we were holding meetings in an eastern city of forty thousand inhabitants; and a lady came and asked us to pray for her husband, whom she purposed bringing into the after-meeting. I have traveled a good deal and met many pharisaical men; but this man was so clad in self-righteousness that you could not get the point of the needle of conviction in anywhere. I said to his wife: "I am glad to see your faith: but we cannot get near him; he is the most self-righteous man I ever saw." She said: "You must! My heart will break if these meetings end without his conversion."
She persisted in bringing him; and I got almost tired of the sight of him. But towards the close of our meetings of thirty days, he came up to me and put his trembling hand on my shoulder. The place in which the meetings were held was rather cold, and there was an adjoining room in which only the gas had been lighted; and he said to me, "Can't you come in here for a few minutes?" I thought that he was shaking from cold, and I did not particularly wish to go where it was colder.
But he said: "I am the worst man in the State of Vermont. I want you to pray for me." I thought he had committed a murder, or some other awful crime; and I asked: "Is there any one sin that particularly troubles you?" And he said: "My whole life has been a sin. I have been a conceited, self-righteous Pharisee. I want you to pray for me." He was under deep conviction. Man could not have produced this result; but the Spirit had. About two o'clock in the morning light broke in upon his soul; and he went up and down the business street of the city and told what God had done for him; and has been a most active Christian ever since.
So many of us walk around in that state of pompous self-righteousness because we think we are on the right path. I have to stop myself cold in my tracks every single day because I think I’m “doing better” or “I’m doing great” or I have deceived myself that my sinful self has been defeated. That is one of the greatest heresies a human being can commit, when they believe they are without sin. Sadly, our culture is caught up in a destructive path of who can “win the race” by sinning the most in this life; they will not get away with it at the end of all things. Thank our Merciful God (on our knees) that our forgiveness does not hinge on confession, because we can commit sins that we are not even aware of, like a quick flare of unrighteous anger or having brief lustful thoughts or thoughtlessly blaspheming His Name. We would never be forgiven!
I have used the photo above in a previous devotional (probably quite a few devotionals in the past). To me, it is the perfect example of a person who is contrite and confessing before the Lord. He is faithful and righteous and forgives our sins, cleansing us of that unrighteousness. Here is what Enduring Word says about confessing; I think this is superb and David Guzik saved my dear readers from another one of my endless word studies:
If we confess our sins: Though sin is present, it need not remain a hindrance to our relationship with God – we may find complete cleansing (from all unrighteousness) as we confess our sins.
To confess means, “to say the same as.” When we confess our sin, we are willing to say (and believe) the same thing about our sin that God says about it. Jesus’ story about the religious man and the sinner who prayed before God illustrated this; the Pharisee bragged about how righteous he was, while the sinner just said God be merciful to me a sinner (Luke 18:10-14). The one who confessed his sin was the one who agreed with God about how bad he was.
Confess translates a verb in the present tense. The meaning is that we should keep on confessing our sin – instead of referring to a “once-for-all” confession of sin at our conversion.
You don’t have to go to a confessional to confess your sin. When you are baptized, you are confessing your sin by saying you needed to be cleansed and reborn. When you receive communion, you confess your sin by saying you need the work of Jesus on the cross to take your sin away. But of course, we need to confess our sin in the most straightforward way: by admitting to God that what we have done is sin, and by asking for His divine forgiveness, based on what Jesus has done on the cross for us.
Our sins are not forgiven because we confess. If this were the case – if forgiveness for a sin could only come where there was confession – then we would all be damned because it would be impossible for us to confess every sin we ever commit. We are forgiven because our punishment was put upon Jesus, we are cleansed by His blood.
However, confession is still vital to maintain relationship with God, and this is the context John speaks from. As God convicts us of sin that is hindering our fellowship with Him, we must confess it and receive forgiveness and cleansing for our relationship with God to continue without hindrance.
Confession must be personal. To say, “God, if we have made any mistakes, forgive us” isn’t confession, because it isn’t convinced (saying “if we made”), it isn’t personal (saying “if we made”), it isn’t specific (saying “if we made any”), and it isn’t honest (saying “mistakes”).
When you confess your sins, do you just ask for forgiveness of generalized trespasses or do you list the specific things that you know you did? I’m usually trapped by anger, impatience, earthly distractions (which is a kind of greed, because I want my fun), anxiety (which is disbelief), gluttony (again, due to earthly distractions), selfishness and hard-heartedness and a host of other things. I try to remember them every day and name them off; I probably should start a coin jar or list so that I don’t forget. Thank God for His Grace and Mercy!
In doing a photo search on Unsplash for the word “lie”, there were only a few photos that matched the context I was seeking (telling an untruth); most of the photos were of people or animals lounging around. Using the word “lying” gets only a few more results that seem relevant. Lying is no big deal these days, apparently.
If we say we have no sin, we are doing something of extreme mortal danger - we are saying that God is a liar and His Word is not in us. I found this great explanation of this concern on Precept Austin from Preacher David Jackman:
We no longer call sin ‘sin’. Adultery becomes ‘having an affair’. Theft is ‘helping myself to the perks’. Selfishness is ‘standing up for my rights’. The last thing we human beings will admit is that we sin… We must not be surprised when the chickens hatched by atheistic philosophies come home to roost, in terms of multiplying lawlessness and a society which will prove increasingly difficult to govern. But we must resist that drift with all our energy, in our own lives, in our churches and in our community… As Nietzsche proclaimed nearly a hundred years ago, ‘If God is dead, everything is permitted.’ But God’s righteous character remains absolute in his world, and deviation from that character, as revealed in God’s law, remains sin.
That law is not an arbitrary set of rules designed to restrict and inhibit human life, but the expression of God’s will for human relationships in accordance with his own nature of light and love. That is why adultery, theft, lying, murder and all the other sins remain sin, whatever people may call them. The other sins include those commonly tolerated among Christians too—the favourite sins of greed, jealousy, envy, malice, bitterness and a critical or unforgiving spirit. They are all equally attacks on the character of God to whom we are all finally responsible. Before him, we all stand guilty. If we deny that these things are sin, we are actually calling God a liar. That is meant to shock us. We deny his Word. We say his revelation is not true. We embrace the darkness. If one has never seen oneself as a guilty sinner before a holy God and desperately in need of His forgiveness, then one cannot yet be a Christian. There can be no fellowship with the God Who is light.
Increasingly, the world is calling God a liar (or says He doesn’t exist) and embracing their sin-filled “sinless” selves. Hate speech laws continue to be broadened to indict those who speak the truth about God’s unchanging Word as “haters”. Someone won’t bake a cake (which is creating a personalized work of art) for a same-sex wedding, so they “hate” and they are sued, even though there are dozens of other bakeries that would take their business in the same neighborhood. Someone refuses to use preferred pronouns with a co-worker so they “hate” and are brought before HR and may lose their job, even though they treat the person with respect. Children with gender dysphoria are not allowed to be counseled in any way except to affirm their “transgenderism”; any other counseling, especially by Christian groups, is call “hate speech”.
Someone is caught praying outside an abortion clinic and that supposedly impedes women from going in to rid themselves of “mistakes”, so those pro-lifers are considered “hateful”. In fact, a woman has been arrested Twice for silently praying outside an abortion clinic in the UK; a law there disallows ANY form of protest or interference near those clinics, including apparently just standing there. A new hate speech law in Scotland is being tested by famed author J.K. Rowling, who has repeatedly stated that there are only two genders; saying that is now described as “hate speech”. That hate speech law is considered by many organizations to be a serious Threat to churches or to even owning and studying the Bible. Scotland used to be a place that had people of great faith.
As we know, the enemy rules this world and delights in these actions. We cannot, as believers in God and His Word, stand aside quietly when sin is called good or even a virtue by the media or the President of the United States or our favorite celebrities. We are to love others, but it is also our task to lovingly explain to them why their sins impede their fellowship with God, only doing this after we have confessed our own sins. I guess by writing this I’m taking a public stand to believe God and disavow our culture. Hopefully, this will not be called “hate speech”, but this forum (Substack) is already under pressure from lawmakers for allowing “misinformation” and other improper thoughts about certain cultural subjects to be published freely. It is a battle!
Interestingly, just as I was finishing this, I saw this article on the Gospel Coalition. One other word should be in our vocabulary - We are to be stubborn! We can be kind, gentle, loving, and peaceful but our faith also requires us to stubbornly take a stand.
These three verses in 1 John 1 are very important “red meat” for believers. My next devotional will jump in 1 John 2:1-3 - We have an Advocate!
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - I confess that I have sinned today in so many ways (anxiety, distractions, greed, etc). Help me to stand on Your Word and Your Truth in all ways and cleanse me to make me righteous. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
The Blue Letter Bible was accessed on 4/4/2024to review the lexicon for We Say, Sin, We are Deceiving, Truth.
Precept Austin was accessed on 4/4/2024 to review commentary for 1 John 1:8-10.
Enduring Word commentary by David Guzik is used with written permission.