1 John 1:9

Sons;

One of the verses I use often, because I believe its message is important, is 1 John 1:9 - "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Of course, the initial message is rather obvious - God will forgive us of our sins.  That is in part what Christ's death on the cross is about, the "sacrifice" that is there to serve as payment for our sin.  There are deeper ideas, however, that show that there is much more going on, in terms of: who does God forgive; why does God forgive us; what do we do to have access to that forgiveness?

Who does God forgive?  He forgives those who ask for it.  If you don't ask, you won't receive it.  Part of this is an acknowledgement of sin, and without that acknowledgement, of admitting to God and self that we have gone against His will, God will not forgive us.  (Be sure and understand that I don't mean we will suddenly be utterly cast out of our salvation if we don't ask for forgiveness for every single sin we commit - I'm thinking more of the larger picture, vis-a-vis salvation.  God doesn't forgive everyone, but only those who come to Him.)

Why does God forgive us?  Because we have accepted the gift of Christ's salvation.  If we do not accept that He serves as payment for our sins, then we have nothing with which to come before God and say, "See, this is the payment for the debt I owe!"  Accept it, and Christ stands there with us, saying, "I will be their payment, forgive them."  God will have the debt be paid, either by us (which will not be pleasant, but will be eternal), or by Christ (which results in a much better environment for eternity).  Christ on the cross is God's way of opening a path by which we can have the debt paid.

What do we do to have access to that forgiveness?  We confess.  This is where we move from the larger picture to the personal.  Certainly salvation implies a confession, but on a day-to-day basis, we have to be serious about it.  God takes sin seriously, enough to have his Son executed on our behalf.  If we ask for forgiveness with the attitude of, "Oh, well, you caught me this time, so I guess I'd better ask for forgiveness, and maybe I won't be caught next time," then I don't think God forgives us, because we are not being serious.  If we take an attitude of "Yes, I have failed in doing the right thing, I want to wholeheartedly adjure that and strive not to have it happen again, please forgive me," then God will listen and carry out His promise.  

It's about attitude, a certain level of sincerity about it all. We must make sure that we get to the point in our relationship with God that we have a true attitude of seeking forgiveness, that we are sincere about it, about God, and about our relationship with Him.  That, after all, is what life is all about.

Love,

Dad