If you have to confess every sin in order for it to be forgiven, as some people interpret 1 Jhn 1:9 , how will you know what sin is so you can go confess it?

Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (NKJV)

Since the law provides the knowledge of sin, you have to go to the law to find out what is considered sin by God so you can go confess it to Him. Which parts of the law do you use to define right and wrong for yourself? Do you use only the 10 Commandments, or do you use the entire law? Well, Jesus considered Leviticus 19:18 , love your neighbour as yourself, to be the second greatest commandment and that specific law wasn’t even part of the 10 Commandments. Has God granted you permission to judge which of His laws are applicable to you and which are not? Did Jesus ever mention that He is only going to fulfill certain parts of the law and that those parts are now no longer applicable? No! In fact, quite the opposite actually.

Luke 16:17 “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.” (NKJV)

The law can’t be divided into applicable and not applicable sections for today. The law in its entirety will always remain intact. Heaven is more likely to pass away before even one law will fall away. That is why Paul wrote the following:

Gal 3:10 “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’” (NKJV)

All things, meaning you can’t pick and choose. So, before you go confess next time, just make sure you go through the entire law to see what God considers sin and confess all those too. Don’t forget to also confess every good thing you didn’t do, because that is sin too (James 4:17). And while you are going through the entire law on this quest for knowledge of right and wrong in order to confess and repent, just think for a moment what got Adam & Eve into trouble in the first place? Eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. What did God say would happen if they ate of that tree? They would die, right? So while you are busy eating from the same tree by trying to get more knowledge about good and evil, don’t be surprised if the very ministry of death you are placing yourself under ends up killing you.

Or, look at the Greek of the only single verse in the entire New Covenant that instructs anybody to confess sins and you will see something very interesting:

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins (G266), He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (G266) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (G93).

G266: Hamartia: (Noun) To miss the mark, to transgress the law, collectively the complex or aggregate of sins committed either by a single person or by many.

The sin that needs to be confessed is not every single sin you commit because the word is a noun, not a verb. You are to confess that you have fallen short, that you have transgressed, that collectively you are as sinful as can be. You confess your state of sinfulness, not the action of every sin you commit. What happens then? God is faithful to forgive us our sins, same word same meaning, and cleanse you of all unrighteousness.

G93: Adikia: (Noun) Deeds of transgression, acts of unrighteousness.

Basically, confess your sinful state before God and He will forgive you of all your acts of unrighteousness. Now, the real whopper is that you have already done this. When? The day you got saved. You confessed your sinfulness, and the forgiveness God provided 2000 years before you even committed one act of sin was credited to you by grace. Now you either believe that and enter into rest from works of trying to earn forgiveness, or you keep asking God to forgive you over and over never really believing that He has already forgiven you. If you choose option 2, you better make sure you confess everything God considers sin, not just what you consider sin.

Does this mean we just forget about our sins, don’t deal with what we are struggling with and just live in any way we want? I will discuss this more in the next post. Stay tuned…

Grace to you!

Cornel

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