If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. (1
John 1:9 New King James Version, NKJV)
Having
written these letters several years after the others had written the gospels, I
tend to think that John believed people were in need of being reminded of the
complete work of Christ on the Cross. Have you ever thought about what John may
have envisioned when he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to pen these words on
the parchment?
He may have
been thinking about the time Jesus met the woman at the well in Samaria.
Remember her? She was the one who was living with a man and had lived with
others even before him. John may have remembered how that Jesus dealt with her.
Perhaps the
time came to mind when Jesus was teaching in the temple and the religious guys
brought in a woman caught in adultery and threw her down in front of Him; wanting
to see if He would follow the Law and call for her to be stoned. Only to be
surprised when He told them in a roundabout way they could be stoned for sins
they had committed as well. Jesus then told her He forgave her and did not
condemn her. Or it may have been what he remembered Jesus saying as He was
dying on the Cross; “Forgive them Father, for they do not know what they are
doing.”
I think you
believe that Jesus will forgive sins; the sins of others. The hardest thing it
seems for any of us to do is to believe in that forgiveness for ourselves. That
is why I believe that John went a sentence further and added the words, “and
cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.” John wanted us to know that the work of
redemption was not just for a moment in history. Forgiving and cleansing go
hand in hand. There cannot be forgiveness if there is no absolution of sin by
the High Priest of Heaven. Sin that is present in one’s life is not absolved.
Jesus cleansed (absolved) us of sin with His Blood. Today when we stand or
kneel and ask God to forgive us for our sins we are also agreeing to allow Him
to cleanse us from it. As the song Jesus
Paid It All says, “Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as
snow.”
The reason
many feel they are beyond forgiveness is because of the residue left behind in
their heart from sin and unrighteousness. With their minds they attempt to put
the sin behind them but in their hearts the stains remain. That is why the
Apostle Paul told us to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” If you
have asked God to forgive you He has; and Christ has cleansed you. Your sin stains
have been bleached out by the Blood of Jesus!