Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

In my opinion, although Christians will not lose their salvation because of the sins that they continue to commit after placing their faith in Christ, those sins (especially if done consciously, willfully, and/or repeatedly) affect believers' fellowship with God, and the ability for them to fully experience the abundant life that Christ died to make possible. 

Such sins have the effect (as Paul said in Ephesians 4:30) of grieving the Holy Spirit, and placing a barrier between the believer and God, which periodic confession and forgiveness are meant to remove, so that the believer can once again experience the fullness of God's presence, and be of maximum service to Him (which should be the ultimate priority of any Christian), both individually and in the believer's dealings with others.

September 04 2016 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

David Stevenson

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). What this verse tells us to do is “confess” our sins to God. The word “confess” means “to agree with.” When we confess our sins to God, we are agreeing with God that we were wrong, that we have sinned. God forgives us, through confession, on an ongoing basis because of the fact that He is “faithful and just.” How is God “faithful and just”? He is faithful by forgiving sins, which He has promised to do for all those who receive Christ as Savior. He is just by applying Christ’s payment for our sins, recognizing that the sins have indeed been atoned for.

At the same time, 1 John 1:9 does indicate that somehow forgiveness is dependent on our confessing our sins to God. How does this work if all of our sins are forgiven the moment we receive Christ as Savior? It seems that what the apostle John is describing here is “relational” forgiveness. All of our sins are forgiven “positionally” the moment we receive Christ as Savior. This positional forgiveness guarantees our salvation and promise of an eternal home in heaven. When we stand before God after death, God will not deny us entrance into heaven because of our sins. That is positional forgiveness. The concept of relational forgiveness is based on the fact that when we sin, we offend God and grieve His Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). While God has ultimately forgiven us of the sins we commit, they still result in a blocking or hindrance in our relationship with God. A young boy who sins against his father is not cast out of the family. A godly father will forgive his children unconditionally. At the same time, a good relationship between father and son cannot be achieved until the relationship is restored. This can only occur when a child confesses his mistakes to his father and apologizes. That is why we confess our sins to God—not to maintain our salvation, but to bring ourselves back into close fellowship with the God who loves us and has already forgiven us.

September 09 2016 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report