Lots of Trouble
Our lives are filled with lots of troubles. This is the human experience of every age. King David says in Psalm 25, “Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses” (vv. 16-17). David’s life was filled with “troubles” and “distresses.”
But what was his greatest problem? He says in the next verse, “Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins” (v. 18). David’s greatest trouble was his sin. He asked the Lord to consider his troubles, but he needed forgiveness for his sins. Why? Because his sins created his greatest problem. He needed them forgiven because they created a debt that he owed to God. He understood that the Lord was holy, hated sin, and that sin put him into debt with the God who made him. So he went to God with his sins.
What Do You Do with Your Sin?
What do you do with your sins? Hide them? Ignore them? Minimize them? Blame them on others? Rationalize them away? Do any of these approaches actually work to remove the guilt and shame our sin creates in us?
One of our problems is that often we don’t even see our sin. Just because we don’t feel bad about something doesn’t mean it isn’t sin. We can do and say and think things that hurt others, ourselves, and displease the Lord all while thinking it’s okay because we don’t feel bad about it. This is why we need other trustworthy brothers and sisters in our lives to be mirrors for us, to help us see. See last weeks sermon for more on how God wants to move our friendships to fellowships through honest and vulnerable relationships with each other.
John Helps Us Address Our Sins
One of the reasons John wrote the letter of First John is to help us know what to do with our sin (2:1). There are lots of things we need help with. But if sin separates us from God and invites the judgment of God, then the most loving thing someone can do is help us address our sin.
The main point of our text this morning is that we can take our sins to God because Jesus took our sins to the cross. First, we take our sins to God (1:8-10). Second, Jesus took our sins to the cross (2:1-2).
The churches John is writing to were being harassed by teachers saying crazy things about sin. In chapter 1 of First John, John lays out three conditional sentences that summarize the views of his opponents, those who were disrupting the churches John is writing to. In verses 6, 8, and 10, John provides three tests for these Christians to use in judging false teachers.
The point of the first test in verse 6 is that claiming to know God and not caring about sin are not mutually compatible or Christian ideas. The false teachers were likely teaching that someone’s spirit couldn’t be touched by sin, because sin only contaminated the body, so it didn’t matter what you did with your body as long as in your heart you loved God. But John says that knowing God with our spirit results in honoring him with our bodies.
Saying We’re without Sin is Self-Deception
First, we take our sins to God (1:8-10). The second test, or conditional sentence, is in verse 8. Here John gives the churches a second aspect of what the false teachers are teaching. It’s unclear whether John is saying that these teachers were teaching that they weren’t guilty of committing sins, or whether they were saying that they had a sinless nature.
Either way, these teachers are saying that those with a special knowledge or special anointing from God don’t struggle with sin like others do. But in the second half of the conditional sentence, John repudiates their claim by saying that those who claim to have no sin “deceive themselves, and the truth is not in them.” These teachers are self-deceived, meaning that they’ve convinced themselves that this is true when it’s not. And not only do they fail to live by the truth, they don’t even have the truth, “the truth is not in them.” If it was in them, they would be aware of their sinfulness.
We may not say that we have no sin like these false teachers, but we can be guilty of a similar thing when we deny the fact or guilt of our sin by seeking to interpret it solely in terms of physiological, psychological, or social causes. In others words, if we explain away our sin as a result of our circumstances, our past, or even our physical limitations, we may be guilty of minimizing our sin or sin nature. It is important to consider the context for our sins to understand why we’re drawn to them and why they hold us like they do. But understanding the context doesn’t negate the sinfulness of our sin.
A Lifestyle of Confession
After describing his opponents’ claim (to be without sin) and the corresponding reality (their self-deception), John moves to a counterclaim in another conditional sentence in verse 9. I want to point out three things in this sentence. First, when John says “if we confess our sins,” he uses the present tense of the verb “to confess,” meaning that this is a continuous action, not a one-time action. He isn’t talking about doing this once when we’re converted. He’s talking about a lifestyle.
The first of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses says, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, said, ‘Repent’ (Mt. 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” Following Jesus means constantly acknowledging our sins and turning from them. The Christian life is a life of honestly naming our sins to God and to other believers and turning from them.
Forgiveness and Cleansing
The second thing I want you to see in this sentence is that confessing sins to God results in forgiveness from God. When we confess our sins to God, John says, “he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Contrary to the false teachers, “walking in the light” doesn’t mean that those who do so never sin, but that when they do they don’t try to hide it from God. The promise for us here is that when we don’t hide our sins from God, when we tell them to him, what awaits us is acceptance not condemnation.
Forgiveness and cleansing is for those who agree with God about their sin. Cleansing, or purification, is virtually equivalent to forgiveness. The two concepts are parallel in Jeremiah 33:8, “I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me.”
But there’s also a distinction between forgiveness and cleansing or John wouldn’t have used both words. “Forgiveness” means that God no longer holds people’s sins against them. When God forgives us, he cancels the debt that we owe him, just as a loan is forgiven when it’s paid off or cancelled. “Cleansing” refers to God washing away the defilement that our sins produce. Our sins make us dirty before God. Confessing them opens his floodwaters of grace over us.
Sin is a debt that must be paid and a stain that must be removed. And it’s a debt that we can’t pay and stain we can’t wash. This is why John says we must take our dilemma to God. Our sin is a God-sized problem. So we must be honest about the fact that we have sins, and then take them to the only One who can do something about them.
“He is Faithful and Just”
The third thing I want you to notice in this sentence is the reason God can do something about our sins is because “he is faithful and just.” The promise of forgiveness and cleansing is based on the faithfulness and justice of God. He is faithful, meaning he will fulfill the commitments he’s made to his people. He gave his Son to atone for their sins, so he will necessarily forgive and cleanse those who confess their sins. Why would he have sent Jesus to die for sins and then turn around and not offer forgiveness and cleansing?
It’s not difficult to see why God is said to be “faithful” to forgive our sins. But why “just”? Justice in our minds is associated with punishment, not forgiveness. The adjective “just” is also translated “righteous” elsewhere in this letter (eg. 3:7). So John is saying in 1:9 that God is righteous when he forgives sinners, that he is acting righteously.
This brings up the problem of how God can be righteous if guilty people are forgiven? Shouldn’t guilty people be punished? Guilty people go to jail, they don’t get to go free. But John says that God is righteous and just to let guilty people go free. How so?
The apostle Paul dealt with the same problem in Romans 3:21-26. Paul’s answer is that God can be both just and the justifier of sinners because Jesus is the “propitiation” (v. 25), or “atoning sacrifice,” for our sins. God can forgive sinners and be just because he poured out his justice toward sinners on Jesus. Jesus drank God’s justice so that sinners who trust in him don’t have to.
John understands the solution to this problem the same way as Paul. In fact, he uses the same word as Paul in 2:2 and 4:10. God is righteous to forgive sins because he sent Jesus to be the propitiation for sins. Jesus earned our forgiveness, so it’s right for God to give it to those who confess their sins.
God is faithful to forgive our sins because he promised to do so, and he never breaks his promises. And he’s just to do so because Jesus died for our sins.
Forgiveness and cleansing is available to everyone who’ll confess their sins to God. The solution to our greatest problem is available for free to people who’ll agree with God about their sins.
Notice that “sins” in verse 9 is in the plural. John is talking about confessing specific sins to God, not just agreeing that we’re sinners generally, but specifically. Acquittal and washing are for those who deliberately call to mind their particular sins, tell them to God, and forsake them. Proverbs 28:13, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”
The opposite of denying our sins is to make it a habit of bringing them to God so that we can experience the power and peace of his forgiveness and washing. His faithfulness and justice guarantees this for all who do it.
How to Call God a Liar
The third test, or conditional sentence, is in verse 10. Here John gives the churches a third aspect of what the false teachers are teaching. These teachers were claiming to have not sinned, probably not ever, but at least since they came to know God and received a special anointing from him.
This is the most blatant of their claims. In theory, they could claim that sin would break their fellowship with God if they had any (v. 6), or that sin lives in their nature (v. 8), and yet still deny that we have actually sinned. These teachers were claiming that their superior spirituality made them incapable of sinning.
The seriousness of this claim is seen in the second half of verse 10. To say we haven’t sinned is not just a lie (v. 6), or a delusion (v. 8), but actually to accuse God of lying, “we make him a liar.”
God’s word frequently declares that all are sinful. Psalm 14:3, “They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” God says that everyone is a sinner, so anyone who says they don’t sin is calling God a liar.
We probably aren’t bold enough to say we don’t have sin, but as I said last week, if we only acknowledge that we’re sinners theoretically and never specifically, aren’t we close to the same error? We all profess to be sinners, but can we name them? Do we agree that we’re sinful but have trouble finding them? One way to call God a liar is to never get around to naming your specific sins.
We’re not too far from these false teachers if we never get around to naming our sins to God, owning them, and forsaking them. Austin pointed out in our community group last week that not confessing sins in a Christian context is so backwards because ours is a grace-based religion. Every other religion makes you earn it. Christianity says you can’t earn it but Jesus earned it for you. All you have to do is admit your need. Those who do get grace. Those who don’t make God a liar.
Not Too Lenient or Severe about Sin
Second, Jesus took our sins to the cross (2:1-2). In 2:1-2, John gives us the alternative to pretending to live without sin. He says he doesn’t want Christians to sin, but if we do there’s a remedy. Christians should strive to not sin but know where to go when they do.
John is a great pastor. He addresses these churches with such affection, “My dear children.” He loves them and cares deeply for their souls. Because he loves them so much, he doesn’t want to be too lenient or too severe about sin.
It’s possible to lean too far in either direction. Being too lenient can give the impression that sin isn’t that big of a deal and indirectly encourage sin in the Christian by over-emphasizing God’s provision for the sinner. Being too severe, however, can give the impression that real Christians never sin.
John contradicts both positions. He doesn’t want us to think that sin is okay or to be overcome by guilt and shame when we do sin. He doesn’t want us to minimize sin and he wants us to remember that God has made provision for our sins. The Christian life takes sin seriously and takes the cross seriously. Our life is one of battling sin and resting in grace.
Jesus Our Advocate
The nature of God’s provision is stated in two ways in verses 1-2. First, if we sin, “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” John says that Jesus is our “advocate” if we sin.” An ”advocate” was someone called alongside you to assist you, a mediator, intercessor, or helper. It was also used in a legal sense to describe the counsel for the defense, or to plead the cause of the person on trial.
The word for “advocate” (parakletos) used here to describe Jesus is used in John’s Gospel to describe the Holy Spirit. Jesus says in John 14:16, “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper (or “Advocate”), to be with you forever.” Jesus says that the Holy Spirit is “another” advocate,” implying that he’s the first advocate. Jesus is our advocate in heaven while the Holy Spirit is Jesus’ advocate on earth. The Spirit pleads and promotes Jesus’ cause on earth. Jesus pleads and promotes our cause in heaven and “with the Father” (1 Jn. 2:1). J. I. Packer says, “Jesus, the original Paraclete, continues his ministry to mankind through the work of the second Paraclete.”[1]
Notice that Jesus advocates for us before God as Father, not as Judge (v. 1). Everyone in Christ is now God’s child and no longer under God’s judgment. As Jesus said, “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (Jn. 5:24). Once a sinner has been justified by God his Judge, they enter the family of God and become related to God as Father. This means that if we sin as Christians, we don’t need another justification from God the Judge. As children of God, we need the Father’s forgiveness.
And this is exactly what we’re promised because “Jesus Christ the righteous” is our advocate. When we sin, we have a perfect advocate in heaven who speaks up in our favor. Romans 8:34, 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.” Calvin explains how this works: “Christ’s intercession is the continual application of His death to our salvation. The reason why God does not impute our sins to us is because He looks upon Christ the intercessor.”[2]
To increase our confidence in this reality, John names our advocate as “Jesus Christ the righteous.” Jesus is “the righteous.” He knows or does or thinks or says no wrong. Only right, all the time. So the one who speaks up for us in heaven never loses a case. One who always acts righteously speaks up for us who have not acted righteously.
Jesus the Propitiations for Our Sins
Then in verse 2, John goes on to say that Jesus is more than an advocate who intercedes for those who’ve sinned. Verse 2 says that our advocate is also the “propitiation” for our sins. This word is only used a few times in the New Testament, but it’s extremely important for how we understand what happened on the cross.
The word was used to refer to the appeasement of a deity’s wrath or anger through an offering. It must be understood that the God of the Bible isn’t like the fake gods of the nations. His anger isn’t arbitrary or capricious. He doesn’t have unpredictable mood swings and personal vendettas. Instead, his wrath is his controlled and settled and holy antagonism to all evil. And his wrath isn’t averted through bribes by us or a third party. Instead, the God of the Bible takes the initiative in his propitiation. It was God’s idea to avert his anger from deserving sinners (Isa. 53:10).
Notice that it says that Jesus “is the propitiation.” He’s not the propitiator, making use of something outside of himself to avert God’s anger. He is the propitiation. The righteous one is also the offering. And he “is (not was) the propitiation,” not because he continues to offer his sacrifice, but because his sacrifice has eternal virtue which is effective still today to all who believe.
And notice that John then says that Jesus’ propitiation is “for the sins of the whole world” (v. 2). This doesn’t mean that Jesus’s death absorbed God’s wrath for everyone’s sins, or that all sins are automatically pardoned because of Jesus’ death. If that were the case, then all would be saved and go to heaven. But all are not saved, so this has to mean something else. It simply means that a universal pardon is offered for the sins of the whole world and is enjoyed by those who embrace it. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Whoever believe in the Son can rest assured that Jesus drank all of God’s anger toward them for their sins. Anyone in the world who comes to cross of Christ in faith will leave forgiven and cleansed.
Go to the One Who Took Your Sins
So what do you do with your sins? Saying we have no sin or don’t sin, or minimizing, blaming, hiding, or lying about our sins won’t work to clear our guilt, remove our shame, and wash our consciences. John says, rather, that when we agree with God about our sins, we’ll experience his forgiveness and cleansing. God is “faithful and just” to offer this to us because of Jesus’ righteous character, his propitiatory death, and his advocacy for us in heaven.
The only place to take your sins is to the One who took your sins. When you go to Jesus with your sins, you’ll only leave with forgiveness and cleansing.
[1]J. I. Packer, Keep In Step with the Spirit: Finding Fullness in Our Walk with God, rev. ed. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 20005), 19.
[2]Quoted in Colin G. Kruse, The Letters of John, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2020),78.