Growing up in the church there are popular verses from the Bible that become so familiar that it’s easy to dismiss any deeper meaning that could be there. There is one verse in particular where that was the case for me. It’s a verse that I’ve had memorized for years. I’ve read it hundreds of times and probably quoted it just as many.
The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9 ESV). I’ve always viewed the forgiveness of our sins and the cleansing of our unrighteousness as saying the same thing. I’ve always seen the “cleansing of our unrighteousness” as reaffirming the “forgiving of our sins”. I’ve always looked at the second as restating the first, but just worded differently.
Recently, however, I’ve seen this verse in a new light. It’s taken on new meaning for me. There are two workings that God does in the person who confesses their sins; they are forgiven and cleansed. It’s two different sides of the same “coin”. Forgiveness and cleansing is a two-fold work of God in the life of a believer who confesses their sins. I’ve always known that to be true, but have never seen it here. Forgiveness has to do with no longer holding a sin against us. It means to pardon or cancel. When God forgives us, he no longer holds that sin against us because it’s been forgiven. Cleansing has to do with washing away. Not only does God forgive our sin, he also washes it away. Not only does he not hold that sin against us, he also removes it from us. Forgiveness has to to with God’s dealing with us, to restore a right relationship with him through forgiveness. Cleansing has to do with our sin and what he does with our sin, by removing it from us. This verse in 1 John 1:9 could have just read, “If we confess our sins, he if faithful and just to forgive us our sins”. That in itself, would have been enough. But God takes it a step further by washing that sin away, by removing it from our lives. In the old covenant sacrificial system, it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Heb. 10:4). Sins were only covered (Ps. 32:1) by their blood and sacrifice. But Jesus came to take away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29) through his shed blood and sacrifice on the cross.
Here is a verse that confirms the removal of sin from our lives. In Hebrews 8:12 God says, “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more”. The author of the book of Hebrews is quoting an Old Testament passage, but in reference to the new covenant. Not only is God saying that he will forgive our sins, he will also no longer remember our sins. How can he no longer remember our sins? It’s because they have been washed away. They are no longer there. They have been removed from us. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12).
When Jesus looks at you, he longer sees the confessed sins of your past. You are no longer identified by your sin because they are gone. What does that mean to you and me? The condition, of course, is that we confess our sins. That is why it is important that we “continue to bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matt. 3:8). That also means that if you are living under guilt or shame or condemnation of past sins, it’s because the devil is reminding you of them and/or because you haven’t forgiven yourself and let them go. If Jesus no longer sees them because he has removed them from identifying your life, then you and I need to leave them in the past. We would do well to not lose sight of what God saved us from in times of temptation so that we don’t return to our folly, but they should never bring guilt and condemnation to us. If they do, stand on these promises of God until their truth takes hold of you. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free from such guilt and condemnation. If you confess your sins, they have been forgiven and forgotten by God.
If you are not a follower of Jesus Christ, your sins have not been forgiven and you do not have the assurance of your salvation, but you can. Please go to the home page of this site and read how you can experience the forgiveness of your sins and become a follower of Jesus.