Agreeing with God
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” — 1 John 1:9 (NIV).
We humans are a lot better at explaining our sin than confessing it…We can provide context, identify contributing factors, and present a pretty compelling case for why we acted the way we did. We were tired. They were being difficult. It had been a long week. And, honestly, someone needed to say something to them. By the time we are finished explaining, our unkindness has almost become a public service. We may acknowledge that our response or action was unfortunate while remaining very committed to proving that it was understandable and justified.
But the hope found in 1 John 1:9 grants us an invitation to stop editing the truth and to be honest with our sin.
The Greek word translated confess is ὁμολογέω—homologeō. Its word formation brings together the ideas of same and speaking, and its range of meaning includes agreeing, acknowledging, admitting, or openly declaring something. Strong’s Concordance includes the idea of assent. (Strong’s Greek 3670). A helpful picture is saying the same thing—bringing our words into agreement with what is true. In 1 John 1:9, the object of that acknowledgment is our sin. We agree with God about what we have done instead of trying to persuade him to accept our preferred description.
Agreeing with God about our sin is pretty uncomfortable for us because we tend to have some very accommodating names for things… Gossip becomes “verbal processing,” pride becomes “having standards,” bitterness becomes just remembering what happened… Confession asks us to put down the more flattering vocabulary and tell the truth. I spoke cruelly, I wanted recognition, I lied because honesty would have cost me something, etc. God already knows the circumstances. We can bring him the hurt and exhaustion while still taking responsibility for what we did with them.
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 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.” (1 John 1: 5-10, NIV).
John places this promise of forgiveness within a passage about walking in God’s light. He confronts the claim that we have no sin and calls us into honesty before God. Confession belongs to that life of openness. The verb in verse 9 is a present-tense form, which fits this ongoing posture (though the tense alone does not establish a required frequency or formula). The surrounding passage gives us the practical point—people who walk with God continue bringing their lives into his light.
Honest acknowledgement of sin should lead somewhere. Proverbs tells us, “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Proverbs 28:13, NIV). Confession and turning from sin belong together. We cannot sincerely agree that something dishonors God while making careful arrangements to keep it undisturbed. Repentance may involve an apology, a changed habit, restitution, or asking someone trustworthy to help us become accountable. We bring our weakness to God and ask for the grace to respond differently.
But homologeo reaches beyond acknowledging wrongdoing. The same word also describes declaring our faith. In Romans 10:9, Paul connects the spoken declaration “Jesus is Lord” with believing that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9, NIV). Our confession gives voice to our trust and allegiance. We acknowledge who Jesus is and submit ourselves to him. That declaration reaches into the very places we would prefer to remain in charge.
Philippians looks ahead to the universal acknowledgement of Christ:
“and every tongue acknowledge (confess) that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11, NIV).
This particular passage uses the related verb exomologeō. Both passages bring us before the authority of Jesus. Confessing our sin and confessing our faith meet here: we acknowledge that he is Lord, and we acknowledge where our lives have resisted his lordship.
The word also appears in the language of worship:
“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name” (Hebrews 13:15, NIV).
Confession can name our sin, declare our faith, and express our praise. In each setting, we openly acknowledge what is true. We admit our need and honor the God who meets it.
That brings us back to the promise in 1 John. Our confidence rests in God’s faithfulness and justice. Confession does not purchase forgiveness or persuade an unwilling God to become merciful. John goes on to identify Jesus as our advocate before the Father and the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 2:1-2). We can come honestly because Christ has provided the basis for our forgiveness. We do not have to achieve a sufficiently dramatic level of remorse before his promise can be trusted. We can come into agreement with his view of sin, align our hearts with his, and trust that he is faithful to forgive and cleanse us—to help us change and be more like Christ.
bytaylormcgee
