If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Near the start of his letter, John lists claims that people who call themselves Christians might make. He tests each one against the light. This claim is not about a past act but about what we are now. So what does it deny, who does it fool, and why does it prove itself false?
In this verse "sin" is singular. Commentators press that point: the claim denies not a record of wrongdoing, but the source it flows from.
This false claim would deny that we have a sinful nature, "We have no sin." It refers to sin in our nature. The next (v.10) refers to sins committed in practice. One of the very first principles of scripture is that of "trees bearing fruit … each according to its kind." (Gen. 1:12). Apples grow on an apple tree, plums on a plum tree and sins on a sin tree! If believers do not have a sinful nature then it is not possible for them to commit sins. What pathetic self-deception!
That distinction matters, because God does not treat the two the same way.
The evil principle we are born with is often simply called sin. The evil actions, words and thoughts that come from having this corrupt nature are called sins… This distinction matters all the more when we find in Scripture that God does forgive our sinful deeds — that is, our sins — through the shedding of the blood of Christ. Yet He never forgives sin in the flesh. He "condemns" or judges it.
Light shows what is really there. So it leaves us no room to hide what we are by nature.
The light requires us to confess what we are by nature. To say we have no sin is not only ignoring a truth; it is also deceiving ourselves. In that case the truth is not in us. If Christ, who is the truth, lives in us, we must know that we carry a sinful nature about with us.
Notice how far the claim actually goes.
This is the height of self-deception. We assume not only that we have not sinned, but that we are without sin — without even a leaning towards anything that displeases God. We imagine we have reached the stage of Christian life where sin is completely absent. This kind of false holiness is a foolish and evil delusion.
And notice who is actually fooled:
Note that we do not deceive God, or other people, but only ourselves.
The closing phrase is unusual. One writer reads it as more than simple ignorance.
But "the truth is not in us" seems to be a little different from the truth not being known by us at all. No doubt every Christian is expected to know the truth by God's teaching. Here, at any rate, the odd wording stands out. It traces the self-deception to the truth not being ours inside. The truth should be "in us," not just believed and admitted by us.
Kelly also weighs who actually talks this way.
This statement is so strong that it makes you doubt whether people so deluded could really be Christians… Yet quite a few hold these theories, and it would be wrong to think they were not Christians. They probably mean that they never give in to sin. Even that is a bold thing for them to say.
Admitting that sin is in us is not the same as saying it rules us. The verse before it supplies the answer.
No intelligent Christian says he has no sin. The flesh, in which there is no good thing, is always there. But as to salvation, if the Spirit of God dwells in us, we are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, even though the flesh is in us. And the words just before this verse are "the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin" — God's answer to the flesh being there.
The denial does not last, because life keeps disproving it.
The old nature stays unchanged and unchangeable, side by side, so to speak, with the new nature… And the folly of those who have deceived themselves in this way will show itself sooner or later. It has often come out in an outburst of temper, a display of pride, or a bad fall.
- Root — the claim John rejects denies our sinful nature, not just sinful deeds; sins grow on a sin tree, so denying the tree means claiming you cannot sin at all.
- Light — walking in God's light does not remove what is inside us; it requires us to confess what we are by nature.
- Deception — the claim fools no one but the claimant, and time exposes it through a fall, an outburst, or pride.
- Truth — the failure is not that they do not know the truth, but that it is not theirs inside; truth should be in us, not just believed and admitted.
- Cleansing — the honest admission rests on the sentence just before it: the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. That is God's answer to the flesh still being there.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us [our] sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
God is light, and the letter has just said that anyone who claims to have no sin is fooling himself — so how can people who still sin stay in real fellowship with Him? The promise turns on two things: what confession means, and why this verse calls forgiveness just instead of kind.
The verse does not say "if we ask to be forgiven." It names a different act, and commentators press the difference hard.
It is a much easier thing for a child to ask for pardon for some fault than to confess it. We may ask pardon for some particular sin, and Scripture gives us no ground to know it is gone. But when we confess it, faith knows it is gone. The moment I have judged myself about it, I am entitled to know that it is gone.
Asking for pardon leaves room for excuses. Real confession, one writer argues, strips those away and leaves only two facts in the room.
Coming to God merely to seek forgiveness may or may not be accompanied with full confession. If someone only wants forgiveness, he will plead his circumstances and his weakness as excuses. He wants God to have some ground for forgiving other than what is in God Himself. But in true confession there is no talk of the pressure of circumstances or of one's own weakness... It is a question solely of "Your grace" and my self-will. His grace would have kept me; I refused it.
The verse could have said God is merciful. It says He is faithful and just, and that raises the question: faithful to whom?
Faithful and just towards whom? Towards Christ! Christ bore our sins in His own body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). When you confess your sins to God, believing that Christ bore them on the cross, God would be unfaithful and unjust towards Christ if He didn't forgive you. It would be the same as if God said, "I am not satisfied with what Christ did when He died for your sins, so I must still hold them against you." Christ paid the debt in full. Can you imagine God being so unjust to Christ as to still hold you accountable?
If a believer's sins are already forgiven, why does this verse still offer forgiveness? One writer answers that Scripture uses the word in two senses, and this verse covers both.
Scripture speaks of forgiveness in a second sense too. A child of God sins, and his communion with God is broken. When he confesses that sin, he is forgiven — not in the sense that the sin was never charged to him, as in Romans 4:7-8, but in the sense that his communion and joy are restored. This verse (1 John 1:9) is a general statement. It fits the sinner who comes to God for the first time and confesses his sins: he is forgiven once for all, on the ground of Christ's death. It also fits the child of God who has sinned and confesses: he receives the Father's forgiveness as a child.
Forgiveness deals with guilt; the second half of the promise deals with defilement. Commentators are careful to say what this cleansing is not.
Unrighteousness in a Christian calls for confession. We need not only the sense of God's pardon, but also the removal of the stain that sin leaves on the spirit. This cleansing does not come by applying the blood to the believer again. It comes through the word of God working on the defiled spirit.
There is a practical result too. Confession does something to us as well as for us.
Confession of sin means the judgment in our own hearts and minds of what we confess. And that means cleansing from its influence and deliverance from its power.
Confession does not begin with us. The next verses of the letter introduce an Advocate with the Father. A second Advocate works inside the believer.
If anyone sins, the blessed Advocate above pleads with the Father for him. He presents the full worth of His atoning work. He prays for the one who has failed, because He Himself bore the judgment of that very sin. Then the other Advocate, the Spirit, works in the conscience. He produces repentance and confession. He brings the soul back into the light, with the sweet sense that the sin is forgiven, the unrighteousness cleansed, and the communion fully restored. "He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake." (Psalm 23:3)
- Light exposes. God's light shows the sin, and the Spirit works in the conscience so the sin is judged and owned rather than covered.
- Confession, not excuses. Excuses ask God to forgive on some other ground. True confession drops the defence and owns self-will against His grace.
- Justice, not pity. God is faithful and just because Christ bore those sins. To refuse a confessing soul would wrong Christ Himself.
- Two forgivenesses, one verse. The sinner coming for the first time is forgiven once for all. The child who has sinned receives the Father's forgiveness, and broken communion is restored.
- Cleansing, then restoration. God forgives the guilt and removes the stain. The Word does that cleansing, not a fresh application of the blood, and the soul comes back into the light.