September 16, 2025 -- I John 1:5-10 -- Confession: sin-breaking power

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
I John 1:5-10 ESV
 
A man at one of the federal institutions where I visit and lead bible studies joyfully announced to the group he is finally 30 days sober. (Yes, you read that correctly. It is quite possible to get mind altering substances inside the prison.) His confession was truly a reason to rejoice. He felt simultaneously terrible and joyful. He was ashamed of himself, embarrassed how this impacts his testimony and his walk with God, but he is also thankful for these 30 days of sobriety.
 
This letter from John sets the tone for the exploration of the latter part of the letter, where he warns his readers against sin. Here, before exploring the impulses to sin and the false loves which infect our heart, he reminds the believers that God is light. Those who have fellowship with Jesus will walk in the light of life. The Spirit will shine the light of the bible and present Christ—Who is the light of life—into our hearts and reveal all areas of unconfessed sin, strongholds of sin, patterns of sin, and that tricky, persistent root of pride. All wicked words, rebellious actions, secret wrongful activities which we would want to hide from others will be exposed by word of God and the Spirit of God. There are two options: confess that sin (even though that seems counter-intuitive and hard to do) and experience the healing grace of Jesus through whose blood we are cleansed from all our sins. The other option is to act as if we have no sin. Nothing to repent of. No unrighteousness. There are justifications. There are excuses. But it is a way of darkness and is a direct path away from God.
 
From the very start of the letter, John is reassuring his readers, those who experience the same chaotic tumult and tugs towards sin that all of us do, that in Jesus Christ there is forgiveness that is full and free. Sin will either hold us down, capturing us and rebinding us back into slavery unto it, or sin will be confessed and its power of it will be broken by the grace of Jesus Christ.
 
What do you need to confess?
 
To whom will you confess your sin so that you have a witness to both the healing power of God and a person who can hold you to account for the re-commitment you have made to walk in holiness? The man who confessed his 30 days of sobriety in the prison did so in the context of a Christian twelve-step group called Overcomers. The guys in that group were very affirming and one or two were very ready to help him stay true to his promise.
 
To whom will you confess your sins so that you can rebuild once again the deep fellowship you had with God, restore fellowship with other believers and experience the true peace that comes from a forgiven heart? Temptation to wickedness and evil lead us to isolate ourselves (Proverbs 18:1)—we know we are doing wrong and we try to hide. However, confession is the wide-open door to freedom and life.
    
  Eternal Father,
  Thou art good beyond all thought,
But I am vile, wretched, miserable, blind lips are ready to confess,
but my heart is slow to feel, and my ways reluctant to amend.
I bring my soul to thee; break it, wound it, bend it, mould it.
Unmask to me sin’s deformity, that I may
hate it, abhor it, flee from it.
My faculties have been a weapon of revolt against thee;
as a rebel I have misused my strength,
and served the foul adversary of thy kingdom.
Give me grace to bewail my insensate folly,
Grant me to know that the way of transgressors is hard,
that evil paths are wretched paths,
that to depart from thee is to lose all good.
I have seen the purity and beauty of thy perfect law,
the happiness of those in whose heart it reigns,
the calm dignity of the walk to which it calls,
yet I daily violate and contemn its precepts.
Thy loving Spirit strives within me,
brings me Scripture warnings, speaks in startling providences,
allures by secret whispers, yet I choose devices and desires to my own hurt,
impiously resent, grieve, and provoke him to abandon me.
All these sins I mourn, lament, and for them cry pardon.
Work in me more profound and abiding repentance;
Give me the fullness of a godly grief that trembles and fears,
yet ever trusts and loves, which is ever powerful, and ever confident;
Grant that through the tears of repentance I may see more clearly
The brightness and glories of the saving cross.
From: Valley of Vision, “Yet I Sin”
 
https://youtu.be/TxC16duiHvQ?si=lVKJ7Y26aovHcijC O Lord, My Rock and My Redeemer
 

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