Today we start letters of John, beginning with 1 John.
John wrote these letters to essentially return the first century Christians back to the basics, that is, to believe in Jesus and that He died for their sins, and that He rose from the dead after three days, and that He returned to Heaven where He now resides.
John also uses these letters to preach that the practice of love and righteousness is the test of whether one truly believes in (and following) Jesus.
John writes of a basic promise that Jesus has given to us in 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
David Guzik writes in his study guide for 1 John 1
The text means just this - Treat God truthfully, and he will treat you truthfully. Make no pretensions before God, but lay bare your soul, let him see it as it is, and then he will be faithful and just to forgive you your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. (Spurgeon)
The promise of 1 John 1:9 shouldn't lead us into sin, saying “Hey, I’ll go ahead and sin because God will forgive me.” It should lead us out of sin, knowing that God could only be faithful and just to forgive us our sins because the wrath we deserved was poured out on the sin. Since each sin carries with it its own measure of wrath, so there is a sense in which each sin we commit added to the agony of Jesus on the cross.
There is no more sure evidence that a person is out of fellowship with God than for someone to contemplate or commit sin with the idea, “I can just ask for forgiveness later.” Since God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, we can rest assure that the person who commits sin thinking that isn't in fellowship with God.
Blessings to all
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