You Are Washed and Clean
I saw a TikTok video today and goes to the heart of what I falsely learned as a teenager – that unless I had every sin confessed, I’d end up in Hell. That’s wrong.
I wanted to share something in my Bible with you guys. It’s in 1st John 1:9 and it says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
And my study Bible says:
Confession frees us to enjoy fellowship with Christ. It should ease our consciences, take away our shame, and lighten our burden of guilt. But some Christians do not understand how confession works. They feel so guilty that they confess the same sin over and over. Then they wonder if they might have forgotten something. Other Christians believe that God forgives them when they confess, but if they die with unconfessed sin, they would be forever lost.
These Christians do not understand that God wants to forgive us. He allowed His beloved Son to die just so He could offer us pardon. He canceled our debt and dismissed all charges. When we come to Christ, He forgives us all the sins we have committed or will ever commit. Of course, we should continue to confess our sins, but not because failure to do so will make us lose our salvation. Our relationship with Christ is secure. Instead, we should confess so that we can enjoy maximum fellowship and joy with Him. True confession also involves a commitment not to continue in sin. We wouldn’t be genuinely confessing our sins to God if we planned to commit them again and just wanted a temporary forgiveness. Rather, we should pray for strength to defeat temptation the next time we face it.
If God has forgiven us for our sins because of Christ’s death, why must we confess our sins? In admitting our sins and receiving Christ’s cleansing, we are:
- Agreeing with God that we truly have sinned and will turn from it
- Ensuring that we don’t conceal our sins from Him and consequently from ourselves, and
- Recognizing our tendency to sin and relying on His power to overcome it.
I heard somebody today say, “Do you realize that the price for your sin and to be able to confess it and have it forgiven is Jesus’s death?” Like it was His death that He paid. He had to give His life so that we could be forgiven. So that is a free gift that He has already given. We just have to take it to Him in confession and He will forgive us. Stop bringing up the same sin over and over that you that you already asked for forgiveness for.
Once you’re saved, you don’t keep losing your salvation – you have it forever. You’ve accepted that gift. It’s not based on your performance, but what Jesus did on the cross for you.
This means God wants to clean you up when you sin. In his eyes, you’re already clean. He has given us Christ’s righteousness. The clean up is more for us since we can’t see with God’s eyes all the time. Even if you commit the same sin over and over, keep coming back to God. He doesn’t want you avoiding him.
The devil is the one holding up a mirror, reminding you of your sins. With God, he points to Jesus and what he did for you.
This has been one of the toughest things for me to get over. When I was a teen, like every Wednesday night at youth group, I’d hear that if I died on the way home and didn’t have every sin confessed, I’d go to hell. So, basically it was what Jesus did plus what I have to do. No, that’s wrong! It’s just Jesus. Adding anything else is a false salvation. Be careful of that.
So know that you’re clean and go on. Come to God when you mess up because being near him transforms your mind so that you don’t want to sin anymore. Just keep going back to him and stay close. Soak him up.