Are There Two Types Of Forgiveness: Judicial Forgiveness And Relational Forgiveness? PART 5
Who is John referring to in 1 John 1:9?
Who is in need of confessing sins so they can be forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness?
Is 1 John 1:8-10 referring to believers or the false teachers who were liars and who were making God out to be a liar as seen in 1 John 2:22 and 5:10?
Let’s examine the scriptures more closely as we seek to understand who John is referring to in 1 John 1:9.
Let’s read 1 John 1:8-10.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
We see the truth is not in the person of 1 John 1:8.
Could this be referring to the believers to whom John is writing?
John wrote in 1 John 2:8, 20, and 21 that the believers to whom he wrote did know the truth and the truth was in them. They were not deceived. He was writing to them so they would not be deceived by the false teachers who were claiming to know God but who denied that Jesus was the Son, so John called them liars and antichrists.
These liars and antichrists claimed to be in the light but they were in the darkness because they denied Jesus as the Son and they denied they had sinned.
So is it possible John is not talking about the believers but about the false teachers in 1 John 1:8 who were claiming to be without sin.
In Part 4, we learned that the same word Jesus used in John 8:44, liar, when talking to the Pharisees and teachers of the law about denying Jesus was the Son was the same word John used in 1 John 2:22 when he called the false teacher a liar by denying Jesus was the Son.
Is it possible the ones claiming they had not sinned in 1 John 1:8 are the same liars and deniers of 1 John 2:22?
Keep in mind, the Pharisees and teachers of the law claimed to know God and be in the light (truth), yet they denied they were sinners. They called other people sinners, but they called themselves righteous. Also keep in mind, the daily lives of Pharisees and teachers of the law were built around not sinning. Their daily goal was to not sin. And they actually believed they did not sin.
Could John in 1 John 1:8 be identifying the false teachers who not only denied Jesus was the Son but who also denied they had sinned? Therefore, they needed to agree with God and admit they had sinned (confess) so that they could be forgiven of their sins and cleansed of unrighteousness?
Could 1 John 1:9 be a salvation verse for the false teachers in the original, historical context rather than a how to get back into fellowship verse for believers?
Let’s examine 1 John 1:10 which reads, “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”
Are those in this verse believers who are out of fellowship with God but are claiming to be without sin and in fellowship with God? Are these believers in need of confessing their sins to God so they can be forgiven and cleansed from sins, thus having fellowship with God restored?
Remember, John wrote in 1 John 2:12 that he is writing to believers because their sins are forgiven, which leads us to realize that he is not writing to them so they will confess their sins to be forgiven and have their fellowship with God restored.
If 1 John 1:10 is referring to the believers in the Jewish assembly to whom John writes, then they they are making God out to be a liar and his word is not in them. However, John clearly states in 1 John 2:24 that God’s word does live in them. So 1 John 1:10 must not be talking about the believers to whom John writes.
So to whom does 1 John 1:10 refer?
It must be the false teachers of 1 John 2:22 and 5:10.
John previously stated they made God out to be a liar because they denied Jesus was the Son, even though God testified that he was the Son. So, based upon all of 1 John, it wouldn’t be far-fetched for those of 1 John 1:8-10 to be the same false teachers who also denied they had sinned.
It would be far-fetched, based upon all of 1 John, to identify those in 1 John 1:8-10 as believers.
The more reasonable explanation of 1 John 1:8-10 are false teachers who were in need of agreeing with God they were sinners by admitting they had sinned (confess). By doing this, God would be faithful and just based upon the blood of Jesus, to forgive their sins and cleanse then from all unrighteousness.
The word for this act of God is justification where he declares someone righteous the moment he believes in Jesus.
Therefore, 1 John 1:9 is a salvation verse for the false teachers and not a verse for believers to restore fellowship with God.
Some may say that since John used the word we, he must be talking about believers in 1 John 1:9. I don’t think that is a correct view of the word we in light of the overall letter.
John is using a national, editorial we as a Jewish person. The we is referring to the Jewish people not to believers. I explain this and others parts of 1 John in my book: Forgiven and Cleansed: 1 John 1:9 In Context. Click on the title to order the book.
Let’s conclude this scriptural examination of forgiveness in PART 6.
