Should Believers Confess Their Sins?

The word “repentance” has become a dirty word in the grace Christianity community. It is very easy to see why this is the case. For many years Christians have been told that they have to confess all of their sins to God in order to be saved. But of course, nobody could ever confess every sin they have ever committed – it would be just too much.

1 John 1:9 and Confession of Sin

There has been a great deal of debate about 1 John 1:9 and whether it was written to Christians or non-believers. The crux of this argument is to establish whether or not Christians are supposed to confess their sins every time they do something wrong.

Traditional Christianity has taught that a believer comes out of fellowship with God whenever he sins and that in order to restore fellowship with God, he must confess his sin. This is a viewpoint that is even supported by Kenneth E. Hagin, who is known amongst many Christians as the “father of faith”.

It is only grace preachers such as Joseph Prince, Bob George, Steve McVey and Bertie Brits who refute this teaching on confession of sin. These grace preachers all seem to agree that 1 John 1:9 was written to unbelievers.

Jesus Has Already Taken Away Our Sins

The Bible tells us that Jesus has already taken away our sins (1 John 3:5, Romans 11:27). Hebrews 10 tells us about how the Levitical priest would make a sacrifice every year on behalf of the sins of Israel. Each year there would be a reminder of those sins (Heb. 10:3). These sacrifices could never make the people perfect – they only covered sin but did not take them away (Heb. 10:1).

If these sacrifices could take away sin, then no more offerings would be required and the people would forget all about sin (Heb. 10:2). Thankfully, Jesus Christ has made a single offering, once and for all on our behalf as both High Priest and sacrificial Lamb; by His blood, Christ has obtained for us eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12). The Bible tells us that when there is remission of sin, there is no longer a need to make offerings for sin (Heb. 10:18).

Christians somehow have the idea that when they sin, they come out of fellowship with God. The Bible says that Jesus lives forever in unbroken fellowship with God. The Bible also says that as He is, so are we in this world.

¹⁰ He died once for all to end sin's power, but now he lives forever in unbroken fellowship with God.

Romans 6:10 TLB

¹⁷ Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

1 John 4:17 nkjv

When a Christian confesses his sin to God, it is as if he is sacrificing an animal in order to cover his sin and to get back into fellowship with God. When this happens, there is an expression of a guilty conscience. The Bible tells us that our conscience has been sprinkled with Christ’s blood, and therefore, we no longer need to be mindful of sin (Heb. 10:22, Heb. 9:14). As far as the Bible is concerned: there is no longer any sin for God to forgive. If God no longer sees our sins and reminds us of them – why should we?

¹⁴ For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. ¹⁵ But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, ¹⁶ "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them," ¹⁷ then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." ¹⁸ Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

Hebrews 10:14-18 nkjv

For more information about confession of sin in relation to 1 John 1:9, check out the following link: http://myredeemer.org/foundation/forgiveness/confession_forgiveness.shtml