Confession
by Mike Rule

I received a call one night from a fellow who wanted my view on a passage of scripture. He wanted to know what I thought of 1st John 1:9: "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins..." First of all I think it has to be put in the context of the surrounding passages, but the bottom line for me is, "All have sinned and fall short of God's glory." I must admit that I am a sinner. It is not so much confessing my deeds as confessing my sinful condition to Him.

As Christians we get caught up in analyzing ourselves to be sure we don't have any unconfessed sin. Whose job is it to convict us of sin in the first place? If I carry unconfessed sin might not God be able to handle that and point it out? Do I need to inspect my belly button thoroughly until I am convinced it's a belly button?? In my flesh there dwells no good thing. I am a sinner riddled with sin, but I KNOW I have a Savior and because of Him I am forgiven. Sin no longer suits me; it is no longer a part of my nature and I can't be happy living in it! Until we own our condition and admit we are sinners, we will never be able to see the life of Christ.