1 John 1:9-2:2 | Sunday November 26, 2025
Micah 7:3; 7-9 ESV
(3) Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together.
(7) But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.
(8) Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.
(9) I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon His vindication.
Micah lived during a dark time when humanity was not content just to do evil but they sought out how to do evil well. Micah did not want to walk in this darkness any longer. He knew the God who is light could bring Him out of the darkness. Micah confesses His sin, and trust God to bring Him to the light. This is not abstract but personal for each one of us. God wants us as believers to enjoy being in the light of fellowship with Him. He will be our light. John continues to describe how we are able to walk in the light and have fellowship with God.
1 John 1:5-2:2 ESV
(5) This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
(6) If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
(7) 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 cleanses us from all sin.
(8) If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
(9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(10) If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
(1) My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
(2) He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
There are two extremes when dealing with sin in a believers life. Some wrongly elevate sin for a believer as such a big deal that it could cause us to loose our salvation. Then others minimize sin in a believer’s life and ignore Gods call to holiness. I am so encouraged by this passage and how God’s truth perfectly addresses both issues. A believer cannot sin our way out of being saved and sin is a serious issue in a believer’s life and needs to be addressed on a regular basis. Confession should not be a rare occurrence in our lives but a regular habit.
Matthew 6:9-12 ESV
(9) Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
(10) Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
(11) Give us this day our daily bread,
(12) and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Jesus teaches us to include confession in our prayer as often and regular as we need daily bread. Living in fellowship with the light means we need honest and ongoing acknowledgment of our sin as the light keeps exposing the dark parts of our lives. The confession John is talking about is not a once for all action but is regular and ongoing.
1 John 1:9 ESV
(9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The word confess is a compound word in the Greek that literally means same (homo) word (Logos). Confession is agreeing with God and saying the same thing about our sins that God’s word says. It means we label things as sin the same way God does. Also notice that “sins” is in the plural. This is not referring to sin in general but specific sins as God’s word exposes them. One major confusion about confession is who are we to confess to?
James 5:16 NKJV
(16) Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Many translations use the word sins in verse 16. I struggled with this verse because I did not see many people practicing it, myself included. After God convicted me of a sin in my life and I confessed to Him was I supposed confess to another believer as well? If so, why? The word trespass does a much better job explaining God’s intent for the verse. A trespass is when we violate the rights of someone else. This verse is saying when we wrong someone else and trespass against them we need to confess to that person and be reconciled.
Matthew 5:23-24 ESV
(23) So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
(24) leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
As we are worshipping God and we are convicted that we have wronged someone and they are holding something against us, we are called to go immediately to that person if possible and ask for forgiveness. This is confessing our trespasses. In contrast if someone has wronged us, we are called to deal with that directly with God.
Mark 11:25 ESV
(25) And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
We are called to forgive someone who has wronged us. This is between us and God. Reconciling with the person that wronged us is only possible if they practice Matthew 5, and confess their trespass against us. God calls us to have this heart of forgiveness because we have wronged others and have our own trespasses. Forgiving others is an act of our will and something that we must continually turn over to God.
It is important to see that our individual sins are to be confessed between us and God. We do not need to confess them to another person to be forgiven, we have been given direct access to God through the blood of Jesus Christ. This does not mean we do not need the help of other believers in our life.
Galatians 6:1-2 NLT
(1) Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.
(2) Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.
As believers we can share our sin struggles and bear each other’s burdens and help spur each other on to growth. We are not confessing to each other to be forgiven but are helping build each other up. We are called to confess to the one who can actually forgive.
1 John 1:9 ESV
(9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
God is faithful and just. This means that He will never fail or get tired of fulfilling this promise. It also means that He has made a way to be able to forgive us. He is the just righteous God as He forgives us and will always be faithful to.
Deuteronomy 32:4 ESV
(4) “The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He.
God does not bend the rules or ignore His justice as He forgives us. This is what makes the cross so amazing. Our sins were not simply forgotten or ignored, but the full punishment was given to Jesus. God is perfectly just every time He forgives. His faithfulness is not negated by our failures.
2 Timothy 2:13 ESV
(13) if we are faithless, He remains faithful— for He cannot deny himself.
We will never run out of the forgiveness or faithfulness of God. God would have to cease being Himself for these truths to change. We need to anchor our souls into these great promises. I do not trust in my faithfulness but cling to His. Confession is not how to become a son or daughter but it is how to walk with our Father. As we confess our sins we only know the ones that are out in the light. Yet God knows every hidden part of our hearts. He has promised to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We should not deny our sin but run to the just faithful Father.
1 John 1:10 ESV
(10) If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
When God convicts us of sin, we have a choice to make. Agree with God that the thought or action was sin, or call God a liar and deny that it was sin. Our default is to hid so we would rather deny the sin then admit it is there. We tend to be shocked by our sins, but God is not. Jesus has firsthand knowledge of what our weakness is like.
Hebrews 4:15-16 ESV
(15) For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
(16) Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
We can have confidence to draw near to the throne of grace because Jesus knows what it is like to be a weak human. He knows what temptation feels like. Our sins will never surprise Him, and He is their to help us.
1 John 2:1 ESV
(1) My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
John has been taking an honest look at sin in a believers life. We all sin and have been provided a means through Jesus to be forgiven. Now John wants to make sure no one misunderstand how he views sin. These truths are not an excuse to go out and pursue sin. John’s goal of sharing the forgiveness and fellowship found in confession is so that we will not sin. Confession gives us the freedom we need to pursue God and walk in His holiness. Our aim is to not sin and we have an advocate willing to help us when we do. The word advocate means one called alongside to help. It is a picture of a someone who speaks on the behalf of the accused in a courtroom. Jesus is willing to testify on our behalf. Jesus is the answer to Job’s prayer long ago.
Job 9:32-33 ESV
(32) For He is not a man, as I am, that I might answer Him, that we should come to trial together.
(33) There is no arbiter between us, who might lay His hand on us both.
Job longed for someone who could represent him in trial and restore fellowship between God and him. Jesus fulfills this role perfectly. He is ideally situated with the Father to make our case and is ideally qualified as righteous.
Romans 8:33-34 ESV
(33) Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.
(34) Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
God has declared us righteous through the blood of Jesus. No charge against us can stand. In Revelation 12:10 Satan is called the “ accuser of our brothers.” Meaning Satan tries to make accusations against believers and Jesus is our advocate, who is making an appeal for us. He knows our weaknesses and knows our sins. He gave the perfect payment to save us and will not let any accusation say otherwise. Jesus is even praying for us and our growth before we ever enter into a hard time.
Luke 22:31-32 ESV
(31) “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
(32) but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Jesus is praying and advocating for Peter, before Peter even know a difficulty is coming. Jesus is already praying for Peter’s restoration before Peter can even imagine a fall is possible. Jesus is doing the same for you and I today. He is praying to the Father on our behalf. His advocacy is possible because of His perfect payment on the cross.
1 John 2:2 ESV
(2) He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Modern scholars have really struggled with the term propitiation because it carries a connotation that they do not like. In all the other writings of the day a propitiation was payment that appeased the wrath of an angry god. Restoration to the wrathful god was only possible once the payment or offering was given. A propitiation would be thrown into a volcano trying to appease the god who controlled it. Jesus is the propitiation for our sins but not only for believers but for the entire world. Jesus paid for the sins of the world that John references later in the book.
1 John 5:19 ESV
(19) We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
This is the world, that lies in the power of the evil one that Jesus was willing to be the perfect propitiation for. Jesus was willing to make the payment that appeased the wrath and judgment of God for everyone.
Romans 3:23-25 ESV
(23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
(24) and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
(25) whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins.
Jesus lived a perfect life, and was willing to go to the cross to die a death He did not deserve. He then offered His blood as the propitiation, the payment for sin to appease the wrath that our sin had accrued. He paid for all sin, and this payment is received by us through faith. When Jesus advocates for us He does not plead that we were innocent of sin and not deserving of wrath. He points to the cross and His perfect blood payment. He paid the price. He took our punishment. Christ intercession for us is the continual application of His death. All grace we receive is possible because Jesus is the propitiation. We can walk in fellowship because of our advocate who made the perfect payment, Jesus Christ.