Confession of Sin

Q: What does the Bible say about confession of sin?

The Bible states that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). 1 John 1:9 teaches that confession of sin is essential for receiving God's forgiveness. The verse emphasizes God's faithfulness and justice in forgiving those who honestly confess their sins. Confession involves acknowledging our wrongdoing before God and recognizing our need for His mercy. The assurance provided by this verse underscores the importance of coming to God as sinners in need of grace, highlighting His willingness to forgive.

Q: How do we know God's mercy is true?

God's mercy is demonstrated through His promises in Scripture, emphasizing that He forgives those who sincerely confess their sins (Isaiah 55:7). The truth of God's mercy is grounded in His promises found throughout Scripture. Isaiah 55:7 invites the wicked to forsake their ways and return to the Lord, assuring them that He will abundantly pardon. This speaks to the nature of God as merciful and gracious, actively seeking to forgive those who repent. Historical examples in the Bible also illustrate how God readily extends His mercy to sinners, promising forgiveness for those who genuinely confess their transgressions. Ultimately, the cross of Christ embodies the pinnacle of God's mercy, paying the price for our sins and making way for our forgiveness.

Q: Why is confession of sin important for Christians?

Confession of sin is vital for Christians as it restores our relationship with God and affirms His promise to forgive and cleanse us (1 John 1:9). Confession of sin is important for Christians because it acknowledges our failure and dependence on God for forgiveness. When we confess, we align ourselves with the truth of our sinful nature and the reality of God's holiness. 1 John 1:9 reassures that if we confess our sins, God will forgive us, restoring our fellowship with Him. This act of confession opens our hearts to receive God's transformational grace and allows us to experience genuine peace and spiritual growth. Failing to confess sin can lead to self-deception and hinder our relationship with God.

Q: What does the Bible say about the nature of sin?

The Bible teaches that all have sinned and fall short of God's glory, emphasizing the universal nature of sin (Romans 3:23). Scripture asserts that all people, regardless of stature or moral standing, are sinners. Romans 3:23 states that 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,' thereby establishing the universal condition of humankind. This includes acknowledging that sin is not merely an action but part of our nature from birth, as articulated in passages like Psalm 51:5. Understanding the totality of sin among humanity highlights the need for a Savior and the grace of God, which provides forgiveness and restoration through Jesus Christ.

Q: How can God be just and still forgive our sins?

God is just in forgiving our sins because Christ took our place, satisfying divine justice through His sacrifice (Romans 3:26). The dilemma of how God can be both just and forgiving is resolved in the work of Christ. Romans 3:26 explains that God demonstrates His justice and righteousness by providing a way for sins to be forgiven without compromising His holiness. Jesus Christ, being sinless, took upon Himself the sins of believers and endured the penalty we deserved. His sacrificial death fully satisfied divine justice, allowing God to forgive sinners while maintaining His righteousness. Thus, God can justly forgive all who come to Him in faith, as all sins have been atoned for by Christ.

Here's my text today, I John
1, verse 9. Now, I've spoken several times
from this chapter in God's Word, but I'm going to bring a message,
another message from it today. I John 1, verse 9. Now, here's the title of the
message. Listen. Confession of Sin. Confession
of Sin. What is it to confess our sins? 1 John 1 9 says this, if we,
if we confess our sins, if we confess our sins, He, Almighty
God, is faithful and just to forgive us, to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Confession of
sins, What a blessing that is when we truly, truly confess
our sins to God and are truly, completely, forever forgiven
and cleansed from all unrighteousness. Now, I'm going to speak on that
subject, but before I do, I must establish several things. Before I get to the heart of
that text, I've got to establish some things. We've got to clear
up some things. We got to admit something. Now
here's the first one. All people, men and women, boys
and girls, are sinners. Are sinners. I had a friend get
angry with me while he was listening to this television program years
ago. That is before God brought him
to the knowledge of Christ because I pointed to the audience and
I said, you're a sinner and I'm a sinner. And he got angry. He
said, I'm not a sinner and turned the television off. I'm thankful
that he got up and turned it back on and heard the rest of
the message. But my friend, this is true. You're a sinner. It
doesn't matter who you are. You're a sinner, and I'm a sinner. There is no difference. The Bible
says that. There is no difference. Pulpit
in the pure in the world. All men and women are sinners.
There is no difference. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Is that not what the Scripture
says? There is none that doeth good and sinneth not. The Lord
God looked down from heaven, Psalm 14 says, to see if any
did do good. He said there's none good, none
righteous, no, not one. There's none that understandeth.
There's none that seek God. We're born with the principle
of sin in us. We fell in Adam. by one man's
sin entered this world, and death by sin. So death passed upon
all men for all sin and Adam." And David said in Psalm 51, when
we're conceived in the womb of our mother, we're conceived in
sin. When we're formed and developed, the nine months that we live
in that womb, we're shapen in iniquity. That's what he said,
Psalm 51, 5. And when we come forth from the
womb, we come forth estranged from God, liars. That's right. The wicked are estranged from
the womb. They go astray as soon as they're
born, speaking lies. I didn't invent that. That's
what the Scripture says. And most of you know it by experience.
Look at verse 8 in this same chapter, I John 1. Verse 8 says
this, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the
truth's not in us. Don't say that. Like my friend
David said, I said, you're a sinner and I'm a sinner. He turned the
television off and said, I'm no sinner. Now he was deceived
and the truth wasn't in him. Thank God there's some truth
in him now. He admits he's a sinner. Our Lord Jesus Christ taught
us to pray, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against
us. If a man says he has no sin,
he deceives himself. The truth's not in Him. And look
at verse 10, following our text. If we say we have not sinned,
we make God a liar, and His Word's not in us. So I'm saying this
to you. We're sinners. Let's establish
this fact first of all. By birth, by choice, by nature,
by principle, by practice, we're sinners. all have sinned and
come short of God's glory. There's none that doeth good
and sinneth not. Man at his best state is altogether
vanity. And if you don't admit this and
own this, you're deceived. And for a thing, you're deceived.
The truth's not in you. You make God a liar. That's what
it says. Make God Almighty a liar and
His Word's not in you. I'll go one step further. Yeah,
you hang on. I'll go one step further. Even
our good works are filthy rags in God's sight.
That's what Scripture says. Isaiah 64, 6, even our righteousnesses
are filthy rags. In other words, even the good
that we do has too much self in it, too much selfish motives
in it, too many. too much personal ego in it. For one reason or another, we
have tainted everything we touch. We have tainted everything we
deal with. We've made it unacceptable to
God because we're in it. Now that's, I know that's difficult
for most folks to receive, but it's what God says. It's true. All are sinners. And I tell you,
if we just knew how evil we are, how capable we are of the grossest
sins, if it were not for God's restraining hand. The scripture
says, the wrath of man will praise the Lord, and the rest of the
wrath he will restrain. That's right. You say, this world
has gone to the dogs. If God didn't restrain it, and
restrain us and restrain you and restrain evil. You don't
know what dogs are and what hell is. It's restrained by God. God has restrained you. He's
put hedges about you and walls about you and barriers about
you and about me to keep us from being what we could be. And we're
not going to get anywhere with this confession of sin until
we've got something to confess. And we have plenty to confess
if we just realize it. Just face it. Just read God's
Word. Just admit the truth. All right, here's the second
thing. I'm glad I've got this to say. I'm glad I've got this
to say after that. Secondly, I've got to lay this
foundation. God's merciful. God is merciful. Thank God He's merciful. God
will forgive sin. I spoke on that last week. You
remember there's forgiveness with God. He's plenteous in mercy. He delights to show merciful.
Be merciful. He delights to show mercy. The
Scripture says, Be ye merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful. God is merciful. God will forgive
sinners. His everlasting covenant is a
covenant of grace. There's no works mixed in it.
It's all of grace. All of grace. Christ came into
the world to save sinners. Before he was born, the angel
came to Joseph and said, call his name Jesus. Joshua, our Savior,
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
That's why he's coming. Paul said, this is a faithful
saying that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I'm chief. When he hung on that cross, why
was he hanging there? He was made sin for us. He who
knew no sin was made sin for us. He bore our sins in His body
on the tree. God's merciful. God will forgive
sins. God will be gracious. That's
why Christ died. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was laid on Him. That's why He
died. And He lives to intercede for
sinners. Paul in Romans 8 said, Who can
condemn us? Christ died, yea rather is risen
again who is even at the right hand of God who also makes intercession
for us. And then, my friends, the gospel
is preached with a promise of forgiveness. That's what the
gospel does. It promises forgiveness to all
who believe. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth on the Son
of God shall never come into condemnation, but is passed from
death unto life. Isaiah 118, God says, Come, let
us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they'll be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. That's the gospel promise. In
Acts 13, 38, the apostle said, Be it known unto you, men and
brethren, that through this man, Jesus Christ, who died on the
cross, is preached unto you the forgiveness of God will forgive
sin. And by him all that believe are
justified from all things from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses. Forgiveness. I'm talking about
forgiveness. A while ago I talked about sin.
And I took us down, not nearly as far down as we are. I tried
to describe what we are by birth, by nature. I might have offended
some people. Who knows? But we need to be
offended. Sin ought to offend us. But now I'm talking about
the mercy of God. God, just as much as we are evil,
God is holy. Just as much as we are unthankful,
God is merciful. Just as much It's just as far
down as you can talk about the depths of our depravity. You
have to go the other direction to describe the heights of His
mercy and His grace. God will forgive sin. God delights
to show mercy. That's His glory. All right,
here's the third thing I must establish. First, we're sinners. Secondly, God is merciful. He
will forgive. Thirdly, the Bible is full of
promises of mercy and forgiveness to those who confess their sins
and come to Christ and believe on Christ. Isaiah 45 verse 22
says, look unto me and be you saved all the ends of the earth
for I'm God and there's none else. Look and find mercy. Isaiah 55 says, let the wicked
forsake his way and let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts and
let him return to the Lord and he'll find mercy, let him return
to our God, and he will abundantly, abundantly pardon, pardon forever. Matthew 11, 28, our Lord said,
come to me, I'll give you rest. I'll give you rest. All you that
labor in a heavy laden, you come and I'll give you rest. I tell
you, God talks about casting our sins into the depths of the
sea. He talks about blotting them out. He talks about casting
them behind his back. He talks about remembering them
no more. And here in my text, listen to
it again. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves. Truth's not in us. If we say
we have not sin, we make God a liar and His Word's not in
us. But if we confess our sins, confess Him, He, He is faithful
and just. to forgive us our sins. Confess
them. Don't deny them. Don't hide them. Don't justify them. Don't excuse
them. Don't alibi out of it. Come clean. Confess. Confess our sins. Not somebody else's. Not the
world's sin. Our sins. It says He's faithful. Who's
faithful? God is. He's faithful to His
nature. God is love. God delights to show mercy. That's
God's nature. His nature is holiness, but it's
love too. That's what Christ did when he came. God's truth
and God's mercy met together in Christ. God's righteousness
and peace kissed each other at Calvary in Christ. He's faithful. Faithful to his nature. He's
faithful to his covenant. His covenant is the covenant
of grace. Testament. Faithful to His Son. He promised
His Son a people. He's faithful to His Word. He
says, I will be merciful. I will be gracious. I'll be merciful
to whom I will, but I'll be merciful. I'll be gracious. He is faithful. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and watch, and He's just. He's just. In other words, God has purposed
a way and in Christ given us a way that he can be holy and
yet forgive us. He can be righteous and yet show
mercy to us. He can punish our sins and yet
forgive our sins. How does he do that? Christ took
our place. The Son of God, the second person
of the divine Godhead came into this world in human flesh and
walked this earth as a man, tempted, tried, tested in all points as
we are, yet without sin. And God looked on him and considered
us. God looked on his obedience and
reckoned it to us, imputed it to us, gave it to us. And then God sent his son to
the cross and there he punished him for all the sins of all believers
of all generations and all ages. and he paid the debt in full,
and God forgave us. The law was honored. Justice
was satisfied. The debt was paid, and we owe
nothing. That's right. Legally, positionally,
before the law, before justice, we're not guilty. We have no
sin. I'm not guilty. My sin's been
paid for. I'm not guilty. In Christ, I
fulfill the law. He's faithful and He's just to
forgive us our sins, all of them, not some of them. God, when Christ
died for my sins, He didn't die for the sins that I committed
up to the point I made a profession of faith. People say, well, when
I believed on Christ, He paid for my sins up to that point.
My friends, when Christ died on the cross, all my sins were
future. All of them were future. He paid
for it. I didn't pay for it. Faith didn't
pay for it. Profession of faith didn't pay
for it. Christ did. He didn't pay for some of them.
The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from what?
All, A-L-L. Now, in eastern Kentucky, that
means the whole kit and caboodle, all of it. What's it mean in
West Virginia and Ohio? All our sins. The blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. He's faithful
and just to forgive us all sin. That's not some of them. That's
all of them. I'll tell you this. You read
Romans chapter 3, you'll find when Christ died, He not only
paid for the sins of His people in the future, He paid for the
sins of His people in the past. When He came and died on the
cross, Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, what about those people?
Through the forbearance and longsuffering of God, Almighty God waited until
Christ died and their sin debt was counseled and paid. And when
He died, all who will believe, all their sins, cleanse us from
all unrighteousness and present us, listen, holy, unblameable,
unreprovable, faultless in His presence. Do you know something? If we confess our sins, If we
come before God genuinely owning our sins, admitting our sins,
not denying them, not justifying, not excusing them, before God
admitting, confessing our sins, and believing on Christ, looking
to Him alone for salvation, Him alone for mercy, Him alone for
grace, trusting Him, resting in Him, receiving Him, submitting
to Him, looking to Him alone, Right then, God Almighty forgives
all your sins, past, present, and future. You are in Christ
accepted in the Beloved. You're justified. You're sanctified. You're redeemed. You are God's
child. You have not one sin and never
will have a sin. Now, that's exactly right. Never will have a sin because
they're all paid for. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanses us from what? all sin. If we confess our sins,
He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. But there's a little word here
in my text I want to look at, a little word. It's a two-letter
word. It carries so much weight and
such great importance, if, if, if. It says, if we confess our
sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I tell you this, no man ever
truly comes to God in sincerity seeking mercy but what he finds
it. That's right. That's right. The problem is,
here's the problem, finding someone who's sincere, finding someone
who's genuine, someone who's truly repentant in heart and
truly confesses his sin. Job said this, God looks upon
men, and if any say, I have sinned, I have sinned, I have perverted
that which is right, and it profiteth me not, that man shall have delivered
his soul from going down into the pit, and he shall see the
light. Can you do that? Sincerely, honestly,
genuinely before God? It's true, I have sinned. It's
true, no doubt about it. But it's easy to say, I have
sinned, I have sinned. That's easy to say. Do you mean
it? If you go through the Bible, you'll find some people who didn't
mean it and some who did. Let me give you some who didn't. Pharaoh didn't mean it. In Exodus
9, 27, 28, Pharaoh said to Moses, I have sinned. Take your people
and get out of here. Did he mean it? No. It wasn't
long until he was right after him. Balaam said it. He was the covetous preacher.
He's supposed to have been a preacher, a prophet, but he got in cahoots
with some fellows with some money, some promoters, and he just couldn't
resist it. He was so covetous and so greedy,
and finally God spoke to him through the ash. You remember
the talking ash that God talked to Balaam, and he said, oh, I've
sinned, I've sinned. But he didn't mean it. Wasn't
long till he just as covetous as ever. We've seen a lot of
that in the 1990s, haven't we? King Saul said, I have sinned.
He said to David when he was chasing David and wanted to kill
him, he said, David, son, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I tried to kill
you. I've sinned. But he wasn't sincere
because he tried it again. Kept on trying it till God killed
him. Achan, he stole the wedge of
gold. Remember in Joshua 7? And finally
Joshua caught him. God punished Israel for what
this man did. He coveted that wedge of gold. He stole it. He hid it in his
tent, and he wouldn't admit it. And finally, Joshua found him
by process of elimination. He found him. He said, Son, you
stole this gold. And finally, old Achan said,
I've sinned. But he didn't say it till he was exposed, till
he had to. He didn't mean it. Judas, who
betrayed our Lord, who sold him for 30 pieces of silver. Do you
know he said, I have seen? That's right. Out of remorse
and despair and depression, he finally came back to the priest
from whom he had taken the 30 pieces of silver and cast them
on the floor. And he said, I've seen. Did he
mean it? Well, he knew it, but he went
out and hanged himself. But I want you to look at a man
in the Bible who said, I have seen. And he meant it. He was genuine. He was sincere.
And I want you to see the welcome he got. He said, I've seen. He was a genuine sinner, a prodigal,
guilty, wasted his father's substance, alienated from his father. But
he said, I've seen. And this is a picture of true
confession. Now, I want you to watch it.
I've seen. The prodigal son, you're familiar with the story
of the prodigal son, how he spent all Wasted his father's substance
on righteous living He was now feeding the hogs literally in
the hog pen and you're familiar with his confession of sin But
have you ever really looked at it? Listen to it. It says first of all in Luke
15 verse 17 and when he came to himself and When he came to
himself When he realized what he was when he realized where
he was when he realized Why was that? Have you ever come to that
place? He was a poor rebel. That's what he was. He was in
the hog pen. That's where he was, and he was
there. Why? Because of his own evil
nature and heart. Can you face that? What are you? A sinner, a rebel. Where are
you? Away from God, alienated from
God in darkness and sin, going to hell. Why are you there? my fault. It's not my mama's
fault or my daddy's fault or my country's fault or my environment's
fault. It's my fault. I'm what I am
by choice, and so are you." Then what'd he do? He came to himself,
realized what he was, where he was, and why he was there. Secondly,
he considered his father's house, not his father's law, his father's
goodness. Listen to what he said. How many
hired servants in my Father's house have bread to spare, and
I'm perishing with hunger?" He said, I'm not talking about sons.
I'm talking about servants. I tell you, my Father is God. Your Father is God. That's right. If you're one of
His own, one of His believers, And the goodness of God is what
leads a man to repentance. It's not the whip of the law.
I tell all these preachers, hellfire and brimstone is not going to
bring people to repentance. It didn't bring the prodigal
son to himself or to repentance. He sat down, if he'd have thought
about a whip, he wouldn't have gone home. If he'd have thought
about hellfire, he wouldn't have gone home. If he'd have thought
his father was a a terrible tyrant who wouldn't forgive. He wouldn't
go home, but he said, why, in my father's house, even the servants
are taken care of. I'm going to rise and go to my
father, and I'm going to say, Father, I've sinned. He humbled
himself. I've sinned. I've sinned. I'm not worthy to be called your
son. I'm not looking for merit. I'm not looking for praise. I'm
not looking for position. I'm not looking for reward. I
got no excuses. I'm not deserving of anything.
Just make me a slave, because your slaves fare better than
the devil's sons. I've sinned, and I'm not worthy
to be called your son. Make me a servant." You know
what kind of welcome he got? The father ran, saw him coming,
ran. embraced him and kissed him.
Instead of putting a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet
and a robe on his back, my son was lost and now he's home. What'd
he do? He came to himself. He humbled
himself. He saw the goodness of his father
and he came home and he confessed his sins and he found mercy. If we confess our sin, he's faithful
and just to forgive us. You want this message, send $2,
the Confession of Sin, and on the other side, a Psalm of Forgiveness. Till next week, God bless you,
everyone.

Confession of Sin

What does the Bible say about confession of sin?

How do we know God's mercy is true?

Why is confession of sin important for Christians?

What does the Bible say about the nature of sin?

How can God be just and still forgive our sins?

Sermon Transcript

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Confession of Sin

What does the Bible say about confession of sin?

How do we know God's mercy is true?

Why is confession of sin important for Christians?

What does the Bible say about the nature of sin?

How can God be just and still forgive our sins?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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