It might surprise some people.
That when Scripture says "confess your sins one to another" in James 5:16.
The word there for "confess" is exomoloegeo.
And the Scripture that is being quoted 1 John 1:8-9 for "confess" is homologeo.
Why does this matter? Because if you look up "homologeo" (3670 in Strong's Concordance) in Scripture you'll notice it's mainly talking about unsaved people who need to "confess" God as their Savior.
This is the most likely translation because we run into this little humdinger here: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves".
Now most people bury their head in the sand on this passage and say something like well it means Christians don't "practice" sin. But, of course anyone with eyeballs can see that's not at all what John is saying.
Here's what I believe fits the context properly: If you say you don't have sin, thus you don't need Jesus, you're deceived. BUT if you confess Him as Lord, He will forgive you for your sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Now let's check with the Bible on this.
First off: If its teaching that every time we sin we need to be purged of our unrighteousness, we run into a lot of issues. One of them being our righteousness is no found in ourselves and not Christ. That's a big problem.
Second: Scripture teaches us that Christ became sin so that WE can become the righteousness of God. If Christ became sin so that we could be righteous. Why would we still have sin after Christ?
This doesn't mean we can't still sin, we know Christians can sin because Paul told us it was stupid to sin. We are dead to it so why would we live in it?
However do John and Paul disagree? No. John is explaining the need for Christ. That's why it's in Chapter 1 of his letter. And Paul is explaining what happens after we have Christ.
Does this mean that I don't think we should confess our sins? Eh, I ask forgiveness when I feel the Lord pressing on something specifically. But if we take this Scripture to mean we have to confess every sin or we are unrighteous we have bigger theological issues. And I'm pretty sure no one confesses every sin.
And here's why I am confident of that. Because Scripture teaches anything not done in faith is sin.
And if you take this Scripture to mean you're unrighteous if you're not confessing all of your sins, well you're not in faith, and that's a sin. So that's a catch-22.
Be free in Christ, stay in relationship, and don't try to add self-righteousness to your relationship with God. If you feel Him pressing on something you did and He is telling you to repent (think differently) then go for it! But follow the Spirit of God not religious traditions.
C.
That when Scripture says "confess your sins one to another" in James 5:16.
The word there for "confess" is exomoloegeo.
And the Scripture that is being quoted 1 John 1:8-9 for "confess" is homologeo.
Why does this matter? Because if you look up "homologeo" (3670 in Strong's Concordance) in Scripture you'll notice it's mainly talking about unsaved people who need to "confess" God as their Savior.
This is the most likely translation because we run into this little humdinger here: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves".
Now most people bury their head in the sand on this passage and say something like well it means Christians don't "practice" sin. But, of course anyone with eyeballs can see that's not at all what John is saying.
Here's what I believe fits the context properly: If you say you don't have sin, thus you don't need Jesus, you're deceived. BUT if you confess Him as Lord, He will forgive you for your sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Now let's check with the Bible on this.
First off: If its teaching that every time we sin we need to be purged of our unrighteousness, we run into a lot of issues. One of them being our righteousness is no found in ourselves and not Christ. That's a big problem.
Second: Scripture teaches us that Christ became sin so that WE can become the righteousness of God. If Christ became sin so that we could be righteous. Why would we still have sin after Christ?
This doesn't mean we can't still sin, we know Christians can sin because Paul told us it was stupid to sin. We are dead to it so why would we live in it?
However do John and Paul disagree? No. John is explaining the need for Christ. That's why it's in Chapter 1 of his letter. And Paul is explaining what happens after we have Christ.
Does this mean that I don't think we should confess our sins? Eh, I ask forgiveness when I feel the Lord pressing on something specifically. But if we take this Scripture to mean we have to confess every sin or we are unrighteous we have bigger theological issues. And I'm pretty sure no one confesses every sin.
And here's why I am confident of that. Because Scripture teaches anything not done in faith is sin.
And if you take this Scripture to mean you're unrighteous if you're not confessing all of your sins, well you're not in faith, and that's a sin. So that's a catch-22.
Be free in Christ, stay in relationship, and don't try to add self-righteousness to your relationship with God. If you feel Him pressing on something you did and He is telling you to repent (think differently) then go for it! But follow the Spirit of God not religious traditions.
C.
