Confessing Sin!

[shaheem white]

Greetings my brothers and sisters in Christ. I come to you in Love and in the power of the Holy Spirit. There is a issue in the church today that I need to address and i'm asking for your views (backed by scripture of course). After you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you like 2 Cor 5:17 states "Become new" do you still confess your sins to God seeking forgiveness? I know the truth, I just wanna see what others have to say on the topic....

 

[Phil 1:21]

My answer would be yes based on the following scripture. But I am curious to hear your views on the subject. Thanks.

1 John 1:8-10

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

 

[lettuce]

My answer would be yes based on the following scripture. But I am curious to hear your views on the subject. Thanks.

1 John 1:8-10

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

Why didn't the Apostle Paul tell the believer to confess sins for forgiveness?

 

[lettuce]

do you still confess your sins to God seeking forgiveness?

Christians do need to confess but not of sins, our sins were forgiven 2000 years ago. We confess to agree with God we are forgiven. He already dealt with the sin issue on the cross.

 

[shaheem white]

My answer would be yes based on the following scripture. But I am curious to hear your views on the subject. Thanks.

1 John 1:8-10

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

Thanks for you response my brother, And I knew you would use this scripture because this is what most people use to support this teaching. The problem is we take this scripture out of context. Who is John talking to in chapter 1? let's see... in order to see that we have to start from verse 1 and read through 5 and not from verse 8.
verse 1: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched, this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
verse 2: The life appeared,we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
verse 3: We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
verse 4&5: We write this joy complete. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, in him there is no darkness at all.

ok, so we see that john uses "we" when he refers to what was seen, heard and touched. So we know he is speaking of him and the other disciples and their personal experience with Jesus. in verse 3 he uses the word "proclaim" meaning to deliver or share. so he is sharing this experience him and the disciples had with someone. he says so that you can have "fellowship" with us which is the fellowship with God the father and his son Jesus Christ. He wants who ever is listening to share in that experience. So my question is, who is he talking to? Believer or non believers? thats a no brainer! because if he was talking to believers they would have already had that experience and fellowship so he wouldn't have to proclaim this to them. so John is talking to unbelievers.

Now, Was Jesus death on the cross "Once and for all"?
1 peter 3:18 "Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit."

When you accepted Jesus Christ you asked God to forgive you for your sins, and God was faithful and Just to forgive you of your sins and He cleanse you from all unrighteousness right? Ok, so NOW THAT YOUR SAVED! you've been forgiven! you've been saved by 'GRACE" so your foriveness is based on what Jesus did on the cross and you accepting what he did on the cross in your initial confession of faith "Romans 10:9" so your telling me as a believer that if you don't confess your sins every night that you wont be forgiven? if that's true then forgiveness is based on your day to day confession and not on the finished work of Christ on the cross. in the old testament the priest would bring the sacrifice to God year by year (Hebrew 10:1. every year they went to God asking for forgiveness because the animal sacrifice wasn't sufficient enough to take away sin. but Jesus Died "ONCE FOR ALL" He sacrifice was sufficient enough to take away our sins. when you Go to God asking for forgiveness every day your presenting Jesus as a sacrifice over and over again which is crazy because the bible says he Only need to be presented ONCE for all.... Our forgiveness is based on our initial confession of faith (romans 10:9) which is the finished work of Jesus on the cross, the shedding of his blood and the resurrection of his body, Not on on our day to day confessions (that's works not grace) by you saying that your saying that you have to "DO" something (Confess) day by day in order to receive forgiveness (GRACE) and The bible teaches us that Christ has already done it you just have to believe and accept what He has already done... God Bless.. sorry for this being so long

 

[St_Worm2]

My answer would be yes based on the following scripture. But I am curious to hear your views on the subject. Thanks.

1 John 1:8-10

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

I agree with Jay.

However, there are some today who would like us to believe that 1 John 1 was written to unbelievers only. They say this in an attempt to support what I believe to be their errant reading of 1 John 3, and their presupposition that true Christians cannot sin, and therefore, have no reason to continue to ask for forgiveness.

1 John 2, from its opening phrase tells us otherwise however, that the Apostle was addressing believers (not unbelievers) in 1 John 1 (believers of all levels of maturity in the faith, in fact .. see 1 John 1:8 - 2:14 below).

1 John 1
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 John 2
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,
5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:
6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.
8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.
11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

12 I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, children,
because you know the Father.
14 I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God abides in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.​

Yours and His,
David

 

[shaheem white]

Christians do need to confess but not of sins, our sins were forgiven 2000 years ago. We confess to agree with God we are forgiven. He already dealt with the sin issue on the cross.

YES!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I'M GETTING SO MANY HATE MESSAGES BUT GOD IS STILL GOOD

 

[shaheem white]

I agree with Jay.

However, there are some today who would like us to believe that 1 John 1 was written to unbelievers only. They say this in an attempt to support what I believe to be their errant reading of 1 John 3, and their presupposition that true Christians cannot sin and therefore, have no reason to continue to ask for forgiveness.

1 John 2, from its opening phrase tells us otherwise however, that the Apostle was addressing believers, not unbelievers, in 1 John 1 (of all levels of maturity in the faith .. see 1 John 1:8 - 2:14 below).

1 John 1
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 John 2
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,
5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:
6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.
8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.
11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

12 I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, children,
because you know the Father.
14 I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God abides in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.​

Yours and His,
David

that's not true. when it saying "cannot" that's talking about a practice. A true believer cannot live in and practice sin. and the reason is we have the Holy spirit which empowers us to overcome sin. Do we fall short yes but it's not a practice. there is a huge difference between a believer who sins and someone who lives in and practices sin

 

[Phil 1:21]

Christians do need to confess but not of sins, our sins were forgiven 2000 years ago. We confess to agree with God we are forgiven. He already dealt with the sin issue on the cross.

Thanks for you response my brother, And I knew you would use this scripture because this is what most people use to support this teaching. The problem is we take this scripture out of context. Who is John talking to in chapter 1? let's see... in order to see that we have to start from verse 1 and read through 5 and not from verse 8.
verse 1: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched, this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
verse 2: The life appeared,we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
verse 3: We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
verse 4&5: We write this joy complete. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, in him there is no darkness at all.

ok, so we see that john uses "we" when he refers to what was seen, heard and touched. So we know he is speaking of him and the other disciples and their personal experience with Jesus. in verse 3 he uses the word "proclaim" meaning to deliver or share. so he is sharing this experience him and the disciples had with someone. he says so that you can have "fellowship" with us which is the fellowship with God the father and his son Jesus Christ. He wants who ever is listening to share in that experience. So my question is, who is he talking to? Believer or non believers? thats a no brainer! because if he was talking to believers they would have already had that experience and fellowship so he wouldn't have to proclaim this to them. so John is talking to unbelievers.

Now, Was Jesus death on the cross "Once and for all"?
1 peter 3:18 "Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit."

When you accepted Jesus Christ you asked God to forgive you for your sins, and God was faithful and Just to forgive you of your sins and He cleanse you from all unrighteousness right? Ok, so NOW THAT YOUR SAVED! you've been forgiven! you've been saved by 'GRACE" so your foriveness is based on what Jesus did on the cross and you accepting what he did on the cross in your initial confession of faith "Romans 10:9" so your telling me as a believer that if you don't confess your sins every night that you wont be forgiven? if that's true then forgiveness is based on your day to day confession and not on the finished work of Christ on the cross. in the old testament the priest would bring the sacrifice to God year by year (Hebrew 10:1. every year they went to God asking for forgiveness because the animal sacrifice wasn't sufficient enough to take away sin. but Jesus Died "ONCE FOR ALL" He sacrifice was sufficient enough to take away our sins. when you Go to God asking for forgiveness every day your presenting Jesus as a sacrifice over and over again which is crazy because the bible says he Only need to be presented ONCE for all.... Our forgiveness is based on our initial confession of faith (romans 10:9) which is the finished work of Jesus on the cross, the shedding of his blood and the resurrection of his body, Not on on our day to day confessions (that's works not grace) by you saying that your saying that you have to "DO" something (Confess) day by day in order to receive forgiveness (GRACE) and The bible teaches us that Christ has already done it you just have to believe and accept what He has already done... God Bless.. sorry for this being so long

These are two awesome responses, and are a lot to work through.

Perhaps part of my feelings on this are a holdover from my RC upbringing. I do believe in asking for forgiveness, because this is what Christ told us to do (Matthew 6:12). But I don't believe that when I stand in judgment the Lord will produce a list of sins I didn't itemize in an act of penance. ("Well, I see you confessed to harboring unforgiveness, but you didn't mention that time you cursed the guy who cut you off in the black BMW...so you still owe me for that one.")

Thank you both again. I enjoy your insights and look forward to working through this one.

 

[bling]

Would confessing our sins help us to keep from doing the same sin again?
Would confessing to a fellow Christian help them to help us with our sins?
We may not have to confess our sins to other Christians, but is there anything against doing it?

 

[St_Worm2]

that's not true. when it saying "cannot" that's talking about a practice. A true believer cannot live in and practice sin. and the reason is we have the Holy spirit which empowers us to overcome sin. Do we fall short yes but it's not a practice. there is a huge difference between a believer who sins and someone who lives in and practices sin

Hi Shaheem, I couldn't agree more. One of the great evidences that helps us prove/justifies our claim and belief that we are "in the faith" .. cf 2 Corinthians 13:5, is seen in our daily/moment by moment choices to live a holy (rather than sinful) "lifestyle", but that fact has little to do with the point I was trying to make in my first post above.

Rather, there are those, on this very forum, in fact, who believe that once someone is saved, they can NEVER fall short, NEVER commit a sin again, which is why they believe that all this talk of sinning and seeking forgiveness in 1 John 1 had to have been written to unbelievers alone.

But like I just said above (in post #6), the Apostle clears that notion up for us immediately in the opening phrase of 1 John 2.

Yours and His,
David

 

[St_Worm2]

Would confessing our sins help us to keep from doing the same sin again?
Would confessing to a fellow Christian help them to help us with our sins?
We may not have to confess our sins to other Christians, but is there anything against doing it?

Hi Bling, I don't think so, or St. James must have gotten something terribly wrong in his Epistle

James 5
16 Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.​

Yours and His,
David
p.s. - there is no Biblical evidence that confession needs to be done before a priest, pastor or elder however (though it could be, of course), or that such an act is in anyway a requirement to be forgiven. There is also no Biblical evidence that sinning (no matter how "bad" the sin may be) can/will cause a believer to lose their salvation, in fact, all contextual Biblical evidence is to the contrary .. cf John 6:37-40, 10:27-28; Hebrews 7:25.

 

[Devin P]

The walking in darkness it's referring to, I think it refers especially to His Torah. His Torah is a light to our feet, so if we continue in ways not His Own, then we don't have fellowship with Him. Because sin, is only described biblically as the transgression of God's Holy Law (His Torah).

So, to walk in darkness, is to sin, to sin, is to disobey torah - e.g., walking in darkness is the walking in ways not depicted for us in His Torah, His Word. Will it save us? No, because we still sin, but our faith in Yahushua (Jesus) is what saves us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

I like your point you bring up though Shaheem, also, I like your name! What's it mean?

 

[Devin P]

I feel like the point of confessing our sins, isn't for the forgiveness of them necessarily, I think it's more that you don't hide it from Him, that you're bringing it before Him, and asking Him for help, strength, wisdom, and love enough to overcome it. We always struggle with things, and I feel that asking for help, for guidance, is what I am doing when I ask for forgiveness. That - in my sin - He doesn't harden my heart, causing me to walk in it, less and less sensitively as time goes on.

 

[bling]

Hi Bling, I don't think so, or St. James must have gotten something terribly wrong in his Epistle

James 5
16 Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.​

Yours and His,
David

Sorry, but what are you saying "no" to? When I say: "You may not have to confess your sins to someone, I am saying there can be situations where there are no one around to confess to or time before you die to confess to. You can always confess to God, but the OP was talking about others.

 

[St_Worm2]

Sorry, but what are you saying "no" to? When I say: "You may not have to confess your sins to someone, I am saying there can be situations where there are no one around to confess to or time before you die to confess to. You can always confess to God, but the OP was talking about others.

Hi Bling, I'm sorry for the confusion, but I believe we are actually on the same page about confession IOW, I do not believe that we are 'required' to confess our sins to a priest, like the RCC's "Sacerdotalism" teaches/would have us believe, but we are certainly encouraged to do so, to "one another" anyway (not necessarily to priest/pastor/elder, but such persons could certainly be included in the group referred to Biblically as "one another", yes?), whenever we are so led .. see again James 5:16, because "the prayers of a righteous man can accomplish [availeth] much"! (and we are certainly called to support and pray for one another as Christians)

Yours and His,
David

James 5
16 Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
.​

 

[Halbhh]

Thanks for you response my brother, And I knew you would use this scripture because this is what most people use to support this teaching. The problem is we take this scripture out of context. Who is John talking to in chapter 1? let's see... in order to see that we have to start from verse 1 and read through 5 and not from verse 8.
verse 1: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched, this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
verse 2: The life appeared,we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
verse 3: We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
verse 4&5: We write this joy complete. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, in him there is no darkness at all.

ok, so we see that john uses "we" when he refers to what was seen, heard and touched. So we know he is speaking of him and the other disciples and their personal experience with Jesus. in verse 3 he uses the word "proclaim" meaning to deliver or share. so he is sharing this experience him and the disciples had with someone. he says so that you can have "fellowship" with us which is the fellowship with God the father and his son Jesus Christ. He wants who ever is listening to share in that experience. So my question is, who is he talking to? Believer or non believers? thats a no brainer! because if he was talking to believers they would have already had that experience and fellowship so he wouldn't have to proclaim this to them. so John is talking to unbelievers.

Now, Was Jesus death on the cross "Once and for all"?
1 peter 3:18 "Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit."

When you accepted Jesus Christ you asked God to forgive you for your sins, and God was faithful and Just to forgive you of your sins and He cleanse you from all unrighteousness right? Ok, so NOW THAT YOUR SAVED! you've been forgiven! you've been saved by 'GRACE" so your foriveness is based on what Jesus did on the cross and you accepting what he did on the cross in your initial confession of faith "Romans 10:9" so your telling me as a believer that if you don't confess your sins every night that you wont be forgiven? if that's true then forgiveness is based on your day to day confession and not on the finished work of Christ on the cross. in the old testament the priest would bring the sacrifice to God year by year (Hebrew 10:1. every year they went to God asking for forgiveness because the animal sacrifice wasn't sufficient enough to take away sin. but Jesus Died "ONCE FOR ALL" He sacrifice was sufficient enough to take away our sins. when you Go to God asking for forgiveness every day your presenting Jesus as a sacrifice over and over again which is crazy because the bible says he Only need to be presented ONCE for all.... Our forgiveness is based on our initial confession of faith (romans 10:9) which is the finished work of Jesus on the cross, the shedding of his blood and the resurrection of his body, Not on on our day to day confessions (that's works not grace) by you saying that your saying that you have to "DO" something (Confess) day by day in order to receive forgiveness (GRACE) and The bible teaches us that Christ has already done it you just have to believe and accept what He has already done... God Bless.. sorry for this being so long

When something nags at your conscience, it's because it's significant enough that you need to repent of it.

Not all things are of such significance, but some are. It is possible for a believer even of great faith and much understanding to still fall into sin, as Peter did when he began to refuse to eat with the uncircumcised gentiles. Paul wrote that Peter "stood condemned".

That's dramatic, that wording. In Galatians chapter 2. "Condemned" even.

Would Peter need to repent of a significant wrong? Yes.

Repenting, he would be forgiven and restored, as 1 John chapter 1 says.

It's not every little thing you'd need to confess, but the things that are more significant, and which the spirit will make your conscience feel the urge to repent, to turn from.

For smaller things, we should remember what Christ said -- "Forgive, and you will be forgiven." It's also what we pray in the Lord's Prayer He instructed us how to pray.

To get all of these well, though, we all have to leave aside doctrines, and just read, fully all the way through books completely. This is especially true with the complex writing style of Paul, and also in the 4 gospels, and really in all the books. In the gospels we are specifically listening to our Lord Himself telling us what He choose to say to us. To listen to Him, we must be quiet in our minds, not talking over Him. Imagine if you were there in person listening. You'd want to hear every word, and you wouldn't rush off half way.

 

[lettuce]

Would confessing our sins help us to keep from doing the same sin again?

Confessing the good confession that you are who God says you are, righteous and forgiven in Christ, will help you to not live beneath who you are. So, the next time you "sin", you can say, "I'm better than that!", and move on.

2 Corinthians 5:21, God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that God's righteousness would be produced in us.

 

[St_Worm2]

1. Would confessing our sins help us to keep from doing the same sin again?
2. Would confessing to a fellow Christian help them to help us with our sins?

Hi Bling, I failed to answer the first two of your three question earlier, so here goes:

1. Confessing and repenting of sin normally means that we acknowledge a. that we've sinned and b. that it was wrong to do so. So I would say, "yes", confessing/repenting/seeking forgiveness is the place we start from in our choice to not commit the same sin again (though sadly, it doesn't always work the way it's supposed to with us, does it ).

2. St. James certainly seems to think so .. again, see James 5:16.​

Yours and His,
David

 

[Phil 1:21]

You can always confess to God, but the OP was talking about others.

Loved your post, but just as a point of clarification, the OP was pertaining to confessing our sins to God, not our fellow man.

After you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you like 2 Cor 5:17 states "Become new" do you still confess your sins to God seeking forgiveness?