In view of
verse 8, Christians ought to be ready at all times to acknowledge any failure which God's light may expose to them. Thus John wrote,
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Though the niv's translation "our sins" (after the words "forgive us") is quite admissible, "our" is not in the Greek text. The phrase (
tas hamartias) contains only an article and noun and it is conceivable that the article is the type which grammarians call "the article of previous reference." If so, there is a subtle contrast between this expression and the "all unrighteousness" which follows it. John's thought might be paraphrased: "If we confess our sins, He... will forgive the sins we confess and moreover will even cleanse us from
all unrighteousness." Naturally only God knows at any moment the full extent of a person's unrighteousness. Each Christian, however, is responsible to acknowledge (the meaning of "confess,"
homologōmen; cf.
2:23;
4:3) whatever the light makes him aware of, and when he does so, a complete and perfect cleansing is granted him. There is thus no need to agonize over sins of which one is unaware.
Moreover, it is comforting to learn that the forgiveness which is promised here is both absolutely assured (because God "is faithful") and also is in no way contrary to His holiness (He is "just"). The word used here for "just" (
dikaios) is the same one which is applied as a title to Christ in
2:1 where it is translated "the Righteous One."
Dikaios is also used of God (either the Father or the Son) in
2:29 and
3:7. Obviously God is "just" or "righteous" when He forgives the believer's sin because of the "atoning sacrifice" which the Lord Jesus has made (see
2:2). As is already evident from
1:7, a Christian's fellowship with God is inseparably connected with the effectiveness of the blood which Jesus shed for him.
In modern times some have occasionally denied that a Christian needs to confess his sins and ask forgiveness. It is claimed that a believer already has forgiveness in Christ (
Eph. 1:7). But this point of view confuses the perfect position which a Christian has in God's Son (by which he is even "seated... with Him in the heavenly realms" [
Eph. 2:6]) with his needs as a failing individual on earth. What is considered in
1 John 1:9 may be described as "familial" forgiveness. It is perfectly understandable how a son may need to ask his father to forgive him for his faults while at the same time his position within the family is not in jeopardy A Christian who never asks his heavenly Father for forgiveness for his sins can hardly have much sensitivity to the ways in which he grieves his Father. Furthermore, the Lord Jesus Himself taught His followers to seek forgiveness of their sins in a prayer that was obviously intended for daily use (cf. the expression "give us today our daily bread" preceding "forgive us our debts,"
Matt. 6:11-12). The teaching that a Christian should not ask God for daily forgiveness is an aberration. Moreover, confession of sin is
never connected by John with the acquisition of eternal life, which is always conditioned on faith.
First John 1:9 is not spoken to the unsaved, and the effort to turn it into a soteriological affirmation is misguided.
It may also be said that so long as the idea of walking in the light or darkness is correctly understood on an experiential level, these concepts offer no difficulty. "Darkness" has an ethical meaning (
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, s.v. "
skotos," 7:444). When a believer loses personal touch with the God of light, he begins to live in darkness. But confession of sin is the way back into the light.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty.