EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/8/2024 10:29 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “Confessing”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1 John 1:9
Message of the verse: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
In yesterday’s SD from 1 John I got so excited about
looking at 1 John 1:9 that I did it in the morning, and then did the SD from
Matthew in the evening. Another thing is
that I ended up talking about Psalm 51 and now I want to begin this SD by
quoting that great 51st Psalm verses 1-9.
Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your
lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my
transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my
sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. 4 Against
You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You
are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge. 5 Behold, I was
brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. 6 Behold, You
desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me
know wisdom. 7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I
shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which
You have broken rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my
iniquities. MacArthur then suggests for us to look at the following verses Psalm
32:4; 38:1-8, 17-17; 41:4.
Now
we move on to continue to quote from MacArthur’s commentary on this topic of
confession: “The New Testament includes
similar expressions. No less that John
the Baptist preached repentance with manifest evidence as necessary for
entering into God’s salvation kingdom (Matt. 3:2-12; Luke 3:4-14). Jesus demanded recognition of sin and a
response of repentance for all who desired salvation (Matt. 4:17), even saying
that sinners had to repent or perish (Luke 13:3, 5). The repentance and confession of sin He
demanded was so strong it required total self-denial (Luke 9:23-26) and hatred
of self (Luke 14:25-27),which made coming to salvation too demanding for some
(Luke 13:23-24. Peter and Paul each
confessed their sinfulness (Luke 5:8; 1 Tim. 1:12-16), and two of Jesus’
parables concerned men who recognized their own sinful conditions (Luke 15:18;
18:13). Moreover, as the apostles proclaimed
the gospel, they made it clear that God calls upon sinners everywhere to admit
their sin and repent (Acts. 17:30; cf. Isa. 45:22; Acts 2:38).
“First
John 1:9 fits this pattern with perfect consistency, when rightly interpreted. Because John is writing to believers (‘My
little children,’ (2:1), to those who are antinomian it appears to make forgiveness
conditional (i.e., if believers confess, God will forgive; if they do not
confess, He will not forgive). This confusion is easily cleared away, first of
all by noting that the verse is actually a reiteration of God’s faithfulness to
His New Covenant promise of salvation in the Old Covenant: ‘I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin
I will remember no more (Jer. 31:34; cf. Luke 1:77-78; Heb. 9:13-14). The reminder that He is faithful and
righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness reemphasizes
the truth John had just stated in verse 7, that God will, because of His
character, secure their eternal glory by continuing to cleanse believers from
all future sin. He is faithful to His
promise and always does what is righteous.
(The aorist tense of the verb Aphiemi
[forgive] carries a past connotation and further demonstrates that God’s
forgiveness derives from a historical event, the atonement, which has lasting
benefits for all who believe.) In
chapter 2 John writes, ‘your sins have been forgive you for His name’s sake’
(v. 12). Forgiveness is consistent with
who Jesus Christ is and with what the Father p;romised, according to His
perfectly faithful (Isa. 49:7; 1 Cor. 1:9; Heb. 2:17; Rev. 19:11), righteous
(Ps. 7:11; Isa. 53:11), just (Gen. 18:25; Col. 3:25), holy (Ex. 15:11; Rev.
4:8), and loving (Jer. 31:3; 1 John 4:8) nature. Forgiveness is not incomplete or dependent in
the saving sense on believers’ confessing.”
There
is still some more to look at as we continue to consider 1 John 1:9.
9/8/2024 11:01 PM
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