Does 1 John Teach That I Must Confess My Sins As A Practice In Order To Maintain Fellowship With God?

🔥The Fellowship with God in Focus:

Scripture teaches that fellowship with God is a gift and a reality established through the finished work of Christ. Access to this fellowship is not based on a conditional relationship that fluctuates based on our daily performance, but rather an established position we have in Christ through faith. The biblical understanding of fellowship (koinonia) refers to our communion and participation in the divine life that flows from the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit and is given through the knowledge of Him.

1 John is often taught as if it is a book of instructions for Christians to meet conditions for fellowship. However, the main thrust of 1 John is to address a critical distinction between true believers who walk in the light and those he calls "antichrists" who walk in darkness. He writes to help believers understand that those who are “seducing them” (1 John 2:26) and who hate them while boasting that they have fellowship with God (1 John 1:6) are not people they should listen to, and to teach them to discern true believers (1 John 4:1) from false brethren that have taken over the fellowship (1 John 2:19). Understanding this distinction is essential for grasping how fellowship with God operates. The entire letter of 1 John centers around this contrast, using the story of Cain and Abel as the interpretive key to understanding the difference between those who practice righteousness through faith and those who reject God's way of justification.

🚫Summary of Misconceptions About 1 John 1:9:

► Claim: 1 John 1:9 teaches that believers must continually confess their sins to maintain fellowship with God.

Scripture teaches the opposite (1 John 1:8-10). This verse is not prescribing a practice for believers to restore broken fellowship, but rather contrasting the fundamental confession of believers with the denial of sin by antichrists (1 John 2:22). The context of 1 John reveals that John is distinguishing between two groups: those who acknowledge their sin and believe in Christ's blood as the remedy (1 John 1:7), and those who deny their sin and reject God's testimony (1 John 5:10).

► Claim: When believers sin, they fall into darkness and lose fellowship with God until they confess their sins.

This misunderstands the biblical principle that darkness in 1 John is not about committing individual sins but about rejecting the gospel and hating the brethren. John clearly defines darkness as hating the brethren like Cain hated Abel (1 John 2:9-11). The believer who is born of God has passed from darkness to light permanently, not conditionally.

► Claim: There is a distinction between positional forgiveness (justification) and familial forgiveness (fellowship) that requires ongoing confession.

Pastors will often use this kind of language to say that while you are technically forgiven for eternity, you still need to obtain forgiveness again and again from God to have fellowship. This actually has its roots in Catholic traditions of penance and confession to priests. This view misinterprets scripture by creating a false dichotomy not found in the Bible. The blood of Jesus Christ continually cleanses believers as they walk in the light (1 John 1:7). Our fellowship is not maintained by works but by faith in the finished work of Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). To walk in the light is to believe the message and let the message we heard from the beginning abide in us (1 John 1:7). John, like Paul, warns against being carried off by deceivers through their teachings that diminish the work of Christ (Galatians 1:6-7). The way we do this is by continually returning to the foundational truth that secures our position before God, which is the Gospel (Romans 1:16), which John calls ‘the word which you heard from the beginning’ (1 John 2:7).

⚖️What Scripture Actually Says:

First John is written to help believers distinguish between true believers and false teachers (antichrists) who had infiltrated the church. The letter's central theme revolves around the story of Cain and Abel as archetypes of these two groups. Abel represents those who practice righteousness through faith in the blood sacrifice, while Cain represents those who reject God's way of justification and hate those who embrace it.

When John writes, "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), he is contrasting believers who acknowledge their sinfulness with the false teachers who claim they have no sin (1 John 1:8,10). True believers confess both their sin and their need for Christ as their advocate and propitiation.

The "walking in the light" that John describes is not about sinless perfection but about walking in the truth of the gospel. Those who walk in the light acknowledge their sin and believe in Christ's blood as the remedy. This places them in fellowship with God and with other believers. The blood of Jesus continually cleanses them from all sin as they walk in this light.

John's purpose in writing was not to create anxiety about fellowship but to assure believers of their standing in Christ. He states clearly, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13 KJV). John emphasizes the confidence believers can have before God, stating, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us" (1 John 5:14 KJV). Moreover, he confirms believers can face judgment with assurance, saying, "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17 KJV). John also encourages believers that these affirmations lead to fullness of joy, as expressed in his letter: "And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full" (1 John 1:4 KJV).

💡Correct Understanding from Scripture:

1. Fellowship with God is established through faith in Christ's blood, not through our works or confession
   • "If we walk in the light (by cleaving to the truth and not being moved away from it) as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7)
   • "Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand" (Romans 5:1-2)
2. The blood of Jesus provides continuous cleansing for believers as they walk in the light
   • "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:14)
   • "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7)
3. Walking in the light means believing God's testimony about His Son, not achieving sinless perfection
   • "This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5)
   • "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God" (1 John 5:1)
4. Our real confession is agreement with God about both our sin and His remedy in Christ
   • "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1)
5. The distinction between believers and antichrists is seen in their response to God's testimony
   • "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us" (1 John 2:19)
   • "For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother" (1 John 3:11-12)

🧠Implications/Damage of Misunderstanding:

Misinterpreting 1 John 1:9 as a formula for maintaining fellowship with God creates several serious problems:

• It turns confession into a work that believers must perform to stay in God's good graces, contradicting the gospel of grace and returning to a form of law-keeping. This creates a cycle of sin-consciousness that keeps believers focused on their failures rather than on Christ.
• It leads to perpetual uncertainty about one's standing with God, as believers can never be sure they've confessed everything properly (1 John 1:8-10). Many believers who read 1 John under this teaching conclude that they aren't truly saved when they reach chapter 3 (1 John 3:9), because they cannot reconcile the absolute statements about those born of God with their own experiences (1 John 5:1). If they are in darkness when they sin (1 John 1:6), does this not mean they are abiding in death (1 John 3:14)? Does this not mean they are of the devil (1 John 3:8)?
• This misunderstanding shuts the door to the very fellowship it claims to restore. By placing confession as a prerequisite to fellowship rather than a fruit of it, it creates an obstacle that prevents believers from drawing near to God with confidence.

🩸True Grace/Application Brings You to Christ:

The biblical understanding of fellowship liberates us to enjoy communion with God based on Christ's finished work rather than our performance. When we understand that we are already cleansed by the blood of Jesus and already brought into the light, we can approach God with confidence.

True fellowship with God comes through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ. The Spirit bears witness to the blood, and it is through faith in the blood that we enjoy fellowship. We have been justified by faith and now have peace with God and access to the grace in which we stand.

The cleansing flow of fellowship is like a river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb. As we set our minds on the things of the Spirit and believe what God says about our position in Christ, our condition is transformed. We don't need to look for another remedy for sin beyond what Christ has already provided.

🛑Final Takeaways:

Fellowship with God is our inheritance in Christ, not a reward for our performance. The blood of Jesus Christ has already cleansed us from all sin, and we walk in the light by believing God's testimony concerning His Son.

The practice of righteousness in 1 John is not about moral perfection but about believing in Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins, just as Abel's righteousness was demonstrated by his faith in the blood sacrifice.

Confession is not a work we perform to maintain fellowship, but an agreement with the truth that we are sinners who have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Walking in the light means walking in the truth of the gospel, not achieving sinless perfection. As we walk in this light, the blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from all sin.

Our confidence before God comes from believing the gospel, not from our confession or works. We can know that we have eternal life by believing in the name of the Son of God (1 John 5:13).

🌳Additional Biblical Insights:

The story of Cain and Abel provides the interpretive key to understanding 1 John. Abel represents those who practice righteousness through faith in the blood sacrifice, while Cain represents those who reject God's way of justification and hate those who embrace it. This motif runs throughout the letter and illuminates the contrast between true believers and antichrists.

The new commandment mentioned in 1 John is to believe in Jesus Christ and love one another. These are two sides of the same coin. Loving one another means recognizing the sons of God by their testimony and acknowledging that their offering (faith in Christ's blood) is acceptable to God.