Sunday Livestream | 1 John 1:9 || Clearing Up Some Confusion About Confession

Devotional

Day 1: The Unchanging Character of Our Faithful God

Our forgiveness is not based on our own actions or the thoroughness of our confession, but on the unwavering, faithful, and righteous character of God Himself. He is the one who made a covenant promise to forgive us, and His nature guarantees that He will keep it. This truth provides a foundation of certainty that cannot be shaken by our performance or failings. We are cleansed and made right because He is trustworthy. [47:28]

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, ESV)

Reflection: When you consider the truth that God’s forgiveness rests on His faithful character and not your ability to remember every sin, how does that change your approach to coming to Him when you feel you have failed?

Day 2: The Complete and Final Work of Christ

The punishment and guilt for our sin have been completely dealt with by Jesus, our high priest. He is the propitiation for our sins, meaning He fully satisfied God’s wrath and turned it away from us. This was a once-for-all accomplishment on the cross that needs no addition or repetition from any human effort. Our debt has been canceled, and we are declared not guilty before God because of Christ’s finished work. [53:13]

“He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2, ESV)

Reflection: In what area of your life are you still trying to pay a debt that Jesus has already canceled, and what would it look like to truly rest in the completeness of His work today?

Day 3: The Continual Posture of a Believer

Confession is not a one-time event at salvation but a continual characteristic of the Christian life. Just as saving faith and repentance are ongoing postures, so is agreeing with God about our sin. This regular practice is not what secures our forgiveness but is instead a mark that we are in the light and walking in fellowship with Him. It is the natural response of a heart that has been made new. [01:07:34]

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16, ESV)

Reflection: What is one specific way you can create a habit of regular, honest confession in your relationship with God, moving beyond a sense of obligation to a place of grateful response?

Day 4: Certainty Rooted in Gospel Truth

Confusion about doctrine can lead to uncertainty in our faith. The enemy loves to cloud the beautiful truths of the gospel, making us doubt our standing before God. Scripture provides clarity and assurance, reminding us that our salvation is secure in Christ’s accomplishment, not our own. God desires for His children to live in the confident certainty that their sins are forgiven. [01:10:36]

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you felt uncertainty in your walk with God, and how can focusing on the finished work of Christ, rather than your performance, bring you peace and assurance today?

Day 5: The Right Response to Sin

When a true Christian sins, the Holy Spirit brings conviction, leading to godly grief and a desire to turn away from that sin. Our response is not to ignore, deny, or conceal our failure, but to confess it—to agree with God about it—and to turn back toward walking in the light. This pattern of repentance is evidence of the new life within us and restores our fellowship with God. [01:13:16]

“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10, ESV)

Reflection: The next time you become aware of a specific sin in your life, what would it look like to move quickly through conviction to confession and restoration, rather than staying in a place of shame or avoidance?

Sermon Summary

The transcript confronts widespread confusion about confessing sin by returning repeatedly to 1 John 1:7–2:2 and clear biblical categories. It distinguishes between human systems that require oral confession to a priest for absolution and the New Testament witness that only God forgives and that forgiveness rests on God’s faithful covenant realized in Christ’s blood. The text explains that Jesus functions as both propitiation—bearing divine wrath to full—and as advocate, securing believers’ not-guilty standing; human priests cannot remove guilt or punishment. Scriptural calls to confess sins to one another (James 5:16) appear as a pastoral practice of mutual accountability and healing, not as the mechanism that effects justification. The message rejects the idea that unconfessed sins remain as unpaid debts (purgatory), affirming that Christ’s once-for-all work cancels the record of debt and cleanses past, present, and future transgressions for those who trust him.

Attention focuses on the Greek of 1 John 1:9, arguing that confession in John’s context describes a present, ongoing posture of believers rather than a one-time act at conversion. Confession and repentance operate as continual responses to conviction: when Christians sin and the Spirit or Scripture reveals it, the proper response involves godly grief, confession, and turning back into the light. That ongoing practice becomes a litmus test for genuine faith—denying sin signals deception; confessing signals life in Christ. Practical pastoral concerns surface throughout: prayer for the sick and mission teams, support for church planting and missionary offerings, and an invitation to anyone who has not trusted Christ to call on his name. The overall aim emphasizes certainty rooted in divine promise rather than human ritual, calling believers to regular confession, mutual support, and confident assurance in the person and work of Jesus.

Key Takeaways

1. Forgiveness rests in God’s faithfulness Confession does not create forgiveness; God’s unchanging faithfulness keeps his covenant and effects cleansing through Christ’s blood. This certainty removes any ledger of unpaid sins for those who trust Jesus and secures assurance even when memory fails. Grounding assurance in God’s character shifts devotion from ritual to dependence on divine promise. [47:28]
2. Jesus alone removes guilt and punishment Jesus serves as both propitiation and advocate: he bore divine wrath and now pleads before the Father, guaranteeing believers’ declared innocence. No human priest can absolve guilt or cancel the penalty secured by Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice. This reality reframes confession as reliance on Christ’s courtroom work, not on human mediation. [49:25]
3. Confession is a continual Christian practice The Greek tense in 1 John indicates ongoing confession—believers habitually acknowledge sin as part of sanctification. Regular confession exposes genuine faith and fuels repentance, not as a means to earn forgiveness but as evidence of walking in the light. Persistent humility before God and community sustains growth and reduces spiritual blindness. [63:43]
4. No remaining debt after Christ’s cross Scripture teaches that Christ canceled the legal record of debt by nailing it to the cross, so believers carry no list of unpaid sins into eternity. Purgatory finds no biblical footing; final destinies rest on whether sins are forgiven in Christ, not on postmortem cleansing. This truth brings pastoral clarity and removes fear born of invented systems. [58:17]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[22:09] - Mission team update and meal
[23:13] - Sturgis church plant and search
[24:06] - Annie Armstrong offering explained
[25:20] - Prayers for sick brothers
[29:45] - Mission team praise and travel prayer
[31:37] - Taking the offering
[33:32] - Telephone game illustration
[34:48] - Confession: confusion introduced
[39:08] - Reading 1 John 1:7–2:2
[41:29] - Roman Catholic view of confession
[45:07] - Only God forgives sins
[49:25] - Jesus as propitiation and advocate
[58:17] - Purgatory refuted; full forgiveness
[63:43] - Confession as ongoing practice
[71:34] - Invitation and assurance in Christ
[80:25] - Closing prayer and benediction

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading: 1 John 1:7-2:2 (ESV)
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 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. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Observation questions

According to 1 John 1:7, what is the result of walking in the light and what does the blood of Jesus do?
What two roles does 1 John 2:1-2 ascribe to Jesus Christ for those who sin?
What does the sermon say is the reason God forgives us, as stated in 1 John 1:9? [47:28]
According to the sermon, what is the difference between the Greek word for "confess" used by James and the one used by John in 1 John 1:9? [01:03:43]

Interpretation questions

How does the description of Jesus as both "propitiation" and "advocate" provide a complete picture of the work He does for a believer? [49:25]
If our forgiveness is secured by God's faithfulness and not our ongoing confession, what is the purpose and benefit of a Christian continually confessing their sins? [01:07:34]
The sermon states that a true Christian's response to revealed sin is "godly grief over it... a confessing of our sin to God and a turning from it." Why is this ongoing pattern of confession and repentance a mark of genuine faith rather than a means to earn forgiveness? [01:06:22]
How does the concept of a canceled "record of debt" (Colossians 2:14) completely dismantle the idea that any sin remains unforgiven for a person who trusts in Christ? [58:17]

Application questions

The cleansing from sin is a continuous reality for the believer, not based on our memory but on God's faithfulness. How does this truth free you from the anxiety of wondering if you've forgotten to confess a sin? [47:28]
Jesus alone removes guilt and serves as our advocate before the Father. When you feel guilty over a sin you've already confessed, what practical step can you take to move from feeling guilty to resting in the truth that you have been declared "not guilty"? [53:13]
Confession is a continual Christian practice, not just a one-time event. What would it look like this week to develop a more immediate habit of agreeing with God about your sin when the Holy Spirit convicts you, rather than ignoring or concealing it? [01:13:16]
Since there is no remaining debt after Christ's cross, how should this certainty change the way you think about your own death and the hope of eternity? [58:56]
The Bible calls us to confess our sins to one another for healing and accountability (James 5:16). Is there a specific, trusted believer in your life you can confess to? What is holding you back from pursuing this kind of biblical, healing fellowship?
A mark of a true Christian is that they do not continue walking in darkness when sin is revealed. What is one area of your walk where you have been aware of sin but have not yet turned from it? What is one step you can take this week to "walk in the light" in that area? [01:13:16]

Sermon Clips

The cleansing here is a continual cleansing, which means when a true Christian sins, which we still will sin, when we sin, our sin never changes our righteous standing before God. Because through Jesus, we are continually cleansed from all of our sins. Our past, our present, and our future sins are all forgiven in Jesus. They're not forgiven because of our ongoing confession. They're forgiven because God is faithful and righteous to forgive us and cleanse us a continuous cleansing which he does and is done through the blood of his son. [00:47:52] (36 seconds) #ContinualCleansing

Telephone game has some saying we must confess all of our sins because only those we confess are forgiven and those that are not confessed are not forgiven. The Bible says all Christian sins are forgiven through Christ who died and rose again. If you are trusting in Christ there is not a list of unconfessed sins waiting for you. The debt has been paid. He himself yelled, it is finished. [01:00:46] (27 seconds) #DebtPaidItsFinished

You remember the telephone game that we used to play in elementary school? We played it in PE. One person would whisper a message to another person and then that person would share it with the next and that would continue until it reached the last person in the line. And then they were asked to share what that message was and it was almost always a completely different message than what began. Well, this has happened over time with some of the teachings within Christianity. Over time, things get added by people. Assumptions creep in. Words get shifted. And before long, what people believe isn't actually what scripture says. [00:33:25] (46 seconds) #StopTelephoneTheology

I cannot forgive sins. I don't have that authority but I can say this, you can say this, all disciples of Jesus can say this. In saying this you are not absolving people of their sins, you're simply stating what God has already said is true of anyone who repents and believes in his son. So human priests, pastors, and any Christian for that matter can tell people their sins are forgiven if they're trusting in Jesus for their salvation, but I nor any other human being have the authority to forgive your sins. Only God can forgive sins. [00:46:06] (35 seconds) #OnlyGodForgives

Bible does talk about confessing our sins to one another, but the Bible does not say our forgiveness of sins is because of our ongoing confession of sins to a priest, a pastor, or any other Christian. Our forgiveness of our sin is on the basis of the character of God who keeps his promise of the new covenant that comes through his son Jesus. Look at verse nine. He doesn't point to our confession as the reason we are forgiven. He points to the character of God. He is faithful and righteous. [00:46:54] (34 seconds) #ForgivenessFromGodsCharacter

He tells us our forgiveness of sins is not because of ongoing confession to one another or any human priest. It's because God is faithful. God is righteous. He forgives us and he releases us from punishment and guilt of sin through Christ the high priest who died and rose again. Jesus is our propitiation. Jesus is our advocate. [00:54:37] (23 seconds) #JesusOurPropitiation

The Bible says the guilt and punishment for our sins is not removed by continual confessing with them to human priests. The guilt and punishment for our sins is removed by the high priest, Jesus, who is our propitiation. Look at verse two of chapter two of first John. He says, Jesus is our propitiation. We're And gonna look deeper at this next Sunday, but for now, it means this, that Jesus bore God's wrath against sin to the end. [00:49:09] (29 seconds) #JesusBoreGodsWrath

I don't want you walking around uncertain of whether or not your sins are forgiven. John doesn't want that. God doesn't want that. He wants us to be certain that our sins forgiven. Listen to the certainty he gives us through these verses. Our sins are cleansed. Our sins are forgiven. Propitiation has been made. Our divine defense attorney guarantees we're not guilty. [01:10:23] (28 seconds) #DivineDefenseAssurance

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Sunday Livestream | 1 John 1:9 || Clearing Up Some Confusion About Confession

Devotional

Day 1: The Unchanging Character of Our Faithful God

Day 2: The Complete and Final Work of Christ

Day 3: The Continual Posture of a Believer

Day 4: Certainty Rooted in Gospel Truth

Day 5: The Right Response to Sin

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

Sunday Livestream | 1 John 1:9 || Clearing Up Some Confusion About Confession

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