1st John 1:8-10

1st John 1:8-10 “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.”

If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves. Men are sinful. All men! If we confess our sins, we can rely on God in His righteousness to forgive us our sins.

What John means by God’s righteousness is, God doesn’t lie. God would never break His word and He said if we repent and ask forgiveness He will forgive. But, we have to truly repent, which means we don’t plan on doing that same sin again!

We confess because by admitting our sins and receiving Christ’s cleansing, we are:

1. Agreeing with God that our sin truly is sin and that we are willing to turn from it. We make a commitment not to continue to sin.
2. We are ensuring we aren’t trying to hide sin from God or ourselves.
3. We are recognizing our tendency to sin and relying on Christ’s power to overcome it.