“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”
–1 John 1:9 NLT
I have known this verse by heart for over twenty years. I had posted it on my wall in my home when I first started to follow Christ.
Every once in a while, I come across this Scripture, in my Bible, or in a devotional, or even online. Recently, I found myself glancing in my Bible and seeing this verse standing out, ready to be colored in (I own a creativity Bible). As my eyes passed over these words, I saw the word “forgive,” but my mind saw the word “receive.” Doing a quick double-take, I made sure the word was as I had remembered it.
Knowing that God created all things and claimed they were good (Genesis 1), I struggle with understanding why we would be replete with “wickedness.” Imperfection? Yes. But why would wickedness, or unrighteousness as some versions call it, be confused with or deemed synonymous with imperfection? This is a philosophical question that deserves as many blog posts as I can write.
The word “confess” comes from the Latin word confiteri, which means “to acknowledge.” And according to etymology experts, the word “forgive” comes from Old English, the for- meaning “completely” and the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root ghabh, meaning “to give or receive” (my emphasis added).
This all raises a big question for me: What exactly are we confessing, or acknowledging? What is it that is in need of forgiveness, or even that needs to be received?
And why did my mind recall the word “receive” and not “forgive”?
Some historians suggest that Scripture was dissected and reassembled in a way to make God look as dictatorial as possible, likely to invoke an ungodly fear in their subjects. The above verse implies we are sinful, wicked beings that must confess our misgivings to God, and if we don’t, God will never remit and cleanse us from any imperfections that have overtaken us.
But this is not the God of the Bible, or of the Universe, as I know it.
It is definitely right to say that God will hear our acknowledgment of our imperfection and need for Him, and He will respond in kind. But this verse inversely implies that if we never address God with our faults, He will never have a reason to take pity on us and reconcile us to Him.
God receives our sins, and to some, that is considered forgiveness. But that alone is not the condition under which God will have compassion on us. As stated earlier, God created the entire world, all the plants, animals, human beings, and everything else we can and cannot see. So is it logical to believe that God only has compassion on those who are smart enough to acknowledge their shortcomings to God? I think not. Those people may have a head start in some respect, but they most certainly will not hit the finish line before everybody else.
But, what exactly is sin? The way an old pastor used to explain it, he deemed it as “missing the mark,” which essentially means, not being perfect.
Should we acknowledge our imperfections to God? Sure, absolutely. But it’s not the only condition under which God will cleanse us and reconcile us to Him. The omnipotent God that I believe in has ways and means greater than ours, and has the ability and love within Him to reach out even to those who are not “there yet” and invite them into His presence.
God receives us as though we were his own children, warmly and with as much affection as possible (Luke 15:20). While He invites us into His presence through the work of Jesus, He is also intimately aware of all of our thoughts and our experiences, and is never surprised by our imperfections.
So, in my mind, this verse basically is saying, “if you acknowledge your imperfections and shortcomings, I will receive you and you will be mine forever.” In a sense, it’s a reminder and a promise to all of us. Jesus, who was the propitiation for all of our “sins,” made it so that we all have a right standing with God. All we need to do is to receive the revelation that we belong to Him by believing this is true.
Those who do not recognize they are made in God’s image and demonstrate His love to themselves and others will struggle with understanding the truth of who they are and who God really is.
I hope that one day we all will have the scales drop from our eyes, and that we will see and know our God in a way He has always intended for us.