Mid Acts Truths

Many people understand that 1 John 1:9 is to be taken as instructions for the believer in this age of Grace. The act of confessing is taken as a step for renewing our fellowship with God after we have broken that fellowship by sinning. When we confess our sins, He will forgive and cleanse us and the fellowship will be renewed.

I feel, however, that there are many problems with this particular interpretation and think there is a better, more Scripturally consistent way to deal with this verse.

First, a little history of the Apostle John

Many think that the Apostle John was the bishop of the Ephesian church later in his life and therefor his writings were directed to those of us in the Church, the Body of Christ (refered to as Church in the rest of this article). However, very little is actually known about the life of John beyond what is recorded in the Gospels. We do know that later in his life he was on the Island of Patmos but beyond that is pure speculation and assumption and takes much faith of the traditions of man for anything beyond that to be believed. Trusting mans’ traditions is a dangerous thing to do because of the problem of so many falsehoods and inaccuracies taken as fact. We see this at work in the acceptance of evolution as fact. Accepting the traditional teachings of science lead to an acceptance of untruths. God is clear in his admonishment to stay clear of the traditions of man because He knows how destructive it can be, especially if we are basing our doctrinal beliefs upon them.

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

An example of the traditions of men is found in the Pharisees:

Matthew 15:2—6 2″Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?…6 he is not to honor his father or his mother .’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

Here is what tradition teaches us about the Apostle John:

Tradition says that St. John came here with Mary, the mother of Jesus, who lived here until she was taken into the sky by angels. St. Paul lived here from 55-58 AD, and his Letter to the Ephesians became a part of the Bible. St. John returned again in 95 AD after being banished from the island of Patmos. The Greeks claim St. John wrote his gospel and the book of Revelation while on Patmos, the Turks claim he wrote both while he was in Ephesus. http://www.imagesoftheworld.com/mm/tucoast.html

Post-New Testament tradition holds that John, the disciple of Jesus, brought Mary, the mother of Jesus, to Ephesus to live and wrote the fourth gospel there. In his later years, according to tradition, John was exiled to Patmos, wrote the Johannine Epistles, the Revelation, and combated Gnostic heretics. http://www.abrock.com/Greece-Turkey/ephesus.html

Some believe, however, that there is support for the idea that John did go to Ephesus and from there wrote the three epistles traditionally attributed to him. John was allegedly banished by the Roman authorities to the Greek island of Patmos, where some believe that he wrote the Book of Revelation. According to Tertullian (in The Prescription of Heretics) John was banished (presumably to Patmos) after being plunged into boiling oil in Rome and suffering nothing from it. It is said that the entire colosseum were converted to Christianity upon witnessing this miracle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Apostle

Of course there is a Roman Catholic slant to these traditions but many of these are cleaned up a bit then accepted by the fundamental Christian community. From this I can say that it is not safe to accept that John was a Bishop in Ephesus because there is absolutely no solid proof. (I’m not saying he wasn’t a Bishop, only that there is no solid proof that he was).

Second, the date of writing

It is also tradition that places the writings of John and 1, 2, and 3 John to be completed in the 90s A.D. It seems very possible that Revelation was written later in his life, but there are many who put Revelation as having been written in the 60s A.D. In other words, God did not think it was important for us to know the exact date of writing because it was not important for the understanding of what was written. What is important is to whom he is writing and for what purpose. This can also be said of the Gospels since the exact date of writing cannot be ascertained. They were probably written anywhere between 50—69 A.D.

Third, who is John’s Audience?

If we really want to understand what John is writing, then we need to figure out to whom he is writing, If he is writing to the Church (whether you believe is was formed in early-, mid- or late-Acts) then it should all line up with what Paul has written who we know was writing to the Church.

A lot of John’s writings are compatible with what Paul has written. This isn’t surprising because there are many similarities between the Kingdom Church believers (those in existance before the Church, the Body of Christ was formed) and the Body Church believers. One of our problems as Dispensationalists is that we are always looking for the distinctions or differences between the two programs and forgetting about how similar they are. However, no matter how similar the two programs are, they are not the same. This could be likened to the laws of Minnesota and the laws of Iowa. Eighty percent of the laws could be similar but they will never be the same. You can’t go by the laws of Iowa when you are in Minnesota, although you would probably not even know the difference in most cases.

Examining the differences between John’s writings and Paul’s writings will help us see that John was writing to the Kingdom saints and not to members of the Body of Christ. Here are some of the more obvious differences:

1. John was teaching what he heard, saw, examined and touched while he was with Jesus. Whatever the earthly Jesus taught concerned Israel and had to do with the coming Millennial Kingdom. Paul, on the other hand knew only the risen and glorified Jesus Christ by whom he received personal instruction concerning the Dispensation of the Age of Grace.

1 John 1:1—3 1What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life– 3what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.- Jesus taught the gospel of the Kingdom, as did the Disciples.
Matthew 4:23 Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.
Matthew 10:5—7 5These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; 6but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7″And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’- John taught based on what he learned from Jesus’ earthly ministry.

2. Salvation is based on belief in the name of Jesus only. Paul is careful to include the death, burial and resurrection in our Gospel.

1 John 3:23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
1 John 4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
1 John 5:1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.
1 John 5:5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
1 John 5:13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

– Those in the Kingdom had to believe that Jesus was the Christ (believe in the Person only).
– Those in the Church, the Body of Christ need to believe in the Person and His work.

1 Corinthians 15:1—4 1Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

3. Demonstration of faith through obedience was commanded. Their assurance of salvation was based on keeping the law. Our assurance is in the indwelling Holy Spirit.

1 John 2:3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
1 John 3:10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
1 John 3:24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

– This fits in with the Kingdom program.

James 2:17—18 17Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
Revelation 14:12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

– Just as Jesus proved himself through His works, the Kingdom believer needed to prove himself through his works.

John 10:38 but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”

4. The necessity of abiding. This abiding was in the form of living the same life as the earthly Jesus demonstrated to them—being obedient to the Law. If they stopped abiding, they would be cut off and burned. This is absolutely not true with believers in the Church and is completely against anything Paul has written to us. In fact, we are seen as already sitting with Him in heaven!

1 John 2:6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
1 John 2:28 Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence (that we will enter into the Millennial Kingdom) and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.

– Notice what happens if you quit abiding.

John 15:4—6 4″Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5″I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6″If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.

• John uses the word “abide” 24 times in 1 & 2 John
• In contrast, we in the Church the Body of Christ are never commanded to abide.

Ephesians 1:11, 13, 14 11also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will…13In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation–having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 2:5—6 5even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

– We are so completely identified with Christ that we are called His Body.

1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.

– We are secure in Christ now we need to walk like we are.

Ephesians 4:1 walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

– The Kingdom saint’s security was proven by their works.

James 2:24, 26 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

-Contrast with what Paul wrote to us:

Romans 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other,  just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

5. John emphasized Kingdom concepts. These writings fit perfectly with what Jesus taught in His ministry with Israel while on earth but are incompatible with what Paul has written.

1 John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Matthew 5:21—22 21″You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ 22″But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court…

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1 John 3:22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
1 John 5:14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
Matthew 21:22 “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
John 14:13 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

– In contrast Paul promises God’s peace:

Philippians 4:6—7 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

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– Loving God and loving your neighbor sums up the entire Mosaic Law

1 John 4:21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.
Matthew 22:37-46 37And He said to him, ” ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38″This is the great and foremost commandment.39″The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’40″On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

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1 John 2:24 As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

– In contrast, we remain in Christ and it is not conditional upon our abiding.

6. Use of conditional statements concerning God’s blessings.

– Those in the Kingdom are told to walk correctly in order to receive God’s blessings.

1 John 1:7 If we walk in the light…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins…He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 2:24 If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you will also abide in the Son…
1 John 3:10 If you do not practice righteousness you are not of God.

– We in the Church the Body of Christ are told that since God has blessed us we should walk accordingly not to walk right so that we may obtain God’s blessings..

1 Thessalonians 5:8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
Galatians 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Ephesians 4:1Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
Ephesians 5:8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light
Colossians 2:6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,

It is because of these differences that I believe John was still writing with Kingdom saints in mind. There are certainly many, many similarities to what Paul has told us and many things that are good for us to learn from, but to take these things for ourselves is a mistake and can lead you down the wrong path on your Christian walk.

Scripture backs up my contention that John was ministering to Kingdom saints:

Galatians 2:7—9 7But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised 8(for He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles), 9and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

John even thought he would be going through the Tribulation with these Kingdom saints instead of being Raptured with the Church (see Revelation 1:9).

Fourth, a note about light and dark

I should first explain the term “walking in darkness” and “walking in light”.

John, himself, tells us what walking in light means. It entails following Jesus and by doing that becoming sons of light. The opposite of this is walking in darkness and with that there is no fellowship with Him.

John 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ” I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
John 12:35—36 35So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. 36″While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light ” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.
John 11:9—10 9Jesus answered, ” Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 “But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, (this word has the idea to fail completely or fall with no chance of recovery as used in Matthew 7:27) because the light is not in him.”
1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;

The above verses indicate a departure from what Paul teaches about our position. We were in darkness but now we are in light. Since we are now walking in light, we need to act like it. It is completely impossible for us to walk in darkness because we are saved out of darkness and permanently sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption. Walking in darkness was our state before our salvation. If it were possible to walk in darkness now, we would be without Christ and without hope.

Ephesians 5:8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light
Ephesians 4:30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

A further note about light and dark
• The contrast between light and dark is used throughout the Bible.
• Light always refers to God and good. Dark always refers to Satan and evil.
• Jesus calls Himself light because He is God.

John 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ” I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

– Notice that those who follow Him are walking in light and will have eternal life.
– Having eternal life, they cannot lose it and therefore are incapable of walking in darkness.

• By comparing verses within 1 John, we can come to this same conclusion.

1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
1 John 2:9—11 9The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now.10 The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
1 John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

– The person walking in darkness does not have fellowship with the Son.
– The person who hates his brother walks in darkness.
– These haters do not have eternal life.

Note: the use of the term “brother” is not referring to a Christian brother but to a Jewish brother. They were fellow Jews but not necessarily believers.

• Conclusion:

– Those walking in the light are believers. Those walking in darkness are unbelievers.

1 John 1:9 also says we need to confess (continually confess) our sins in order for Christ to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us. Those who claim this verse for themselves would need to see that unconfessed sin would affect our standing with Christ. We would no longer be fit for heaven because we would be in need of cleansing. Those who say this verse describes the means for a saved person to make things right with Christ needs to take a careful look at what this verse is really saying. The only reason this verse is interpreted in this manner is because John’s writings are taken to be written as our instructions yet with the understanding that Paul says we are secure and don’t need to confess our sins. Their solution (a poor one) is to misinterpret what John is clearly teaching to make it fit into Paul’s is teachings.

A better solution is to let Scripture say what it says without twisting its meaning. John was writing to Israel. Israel needed to confess their sins and be baptized for their cleaning. (see Leviticus 26:40; 16:21; Psalm 32:5; Matthew 3:6; Mark 1:5). Those who believed would prove their faith by obeying the Law and doing works of righteousness.  Those who confessed and were baptized, yet didn’t do the works were yet walking in darkness. They could be walking in light if they would go through the steps outlines by John in his first epistle.

We, on the other hand, have the assurance of our salvation because we have already been forgiven, not just the sins we have committed up to the point of our salvation, but all sins past and future. It is because of God’s forgiveness that we forgive others. Paul never tells us to confess our sins so God will cleanse us because we are already cleansed. Instead of always dwelling on our sins and making sure we have asked God to forgive them, we can concentrate on our walk to become more Christ-like. I dare say those who sincerely try to follow 1 John 1:9 will become ineffective as Christians because they are continually focusing on their sins instead of on their Savior. This is one of the dangers of misapplying Scripture.

Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
Colossians 1:14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 2:13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Finally, I think it’s very important to notice that in 1 John 1:9 the person asking forgiveness was forgiven and cleansed. We, however, are told to cleanse ourselves. This is progressive sanctification. If this verse was referring to restoring our relationship and not about our position wouldn’t we be told to cleanse ourselves? Instead, John says they need to confess so that God will forgive them.

2 Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Fifth,What should we do when we sin?

Confessing your sins is not wrong to do. Taking a look at who we are in light of what Scripture says is a good thing. We need to know what we need to improve upon and we do this by applying Scripture and being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

To understand what our response should be when we sin we need to turn to Paul.

Philippians 3:13 …forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead

Paul seems to take the approach of getting up, dusting your self off and continuing to run toward the goal in order to win the prize. His focus is not on his failure, but on Jesus Christ. Paul never confesses his sins for forgiveness and cleansing however, the concept of confessing sins is in Paul’s writings.

The word “confess” comes from the Greek word “homologeo”. This is a compound word meaning “same say” so confessing is the act of saying the same thing. When we confess, we are coming together and in agreement with each other—we are saying the same thing. When we agree with what God says in His word that we have failed in our Christian walk, we are confessing. What we say and what God’s word says are the same.

Paul often tells us just to make a decision to do right. Just do it! It’s not about reviewing our list of sins, it’s about moving on and serving Christ. Doing is always better than saying.

Ephesians 4:22—25 22that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 25Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.

Romans 13:12—14 12The night is almost gone, and the day is near Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Galatians 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

2 Timothy 2:21Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

Colossians 3;5—10 5Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry… 8But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him–

Hopefully this gives you insight about the matter of 1 John 1:9 and the whole idea of confessing. It’s an important verse to understand properly and illustrates the importance of properly dividing the Word.