Day Eight

“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)

Scripture Reading: 1 John 1:5–10

One day when the accuser was busily doing His job in my life over a past sin, I claimed 1 John 1:9 out loud. Suddenly the Holy Spirit highlighted a word that had missed my attention in the past. The word was just.

New Testament forgiveness means “to let go free, let escape.”4 Is God willing to let a sinner escape? I know God’s willingness to forgive my sins is an act of His faithfulness, but how could it also be an act of His justice? For justice to be truly served, don’t I deserve to pay for my sins like prisoners pay for their crimes?

Take a look at the meaning of the word just.Dikaios means “that one conforms in his actions to his constitutionally just character. The rules are self-imposed.” Justice is a standard no human can meet. No person can by his or her behavior fully meet the expectations of God (see Rom. 3:10).5 Without the cross of Christ, forgiveness and justice cannot coexist. We would be hopeless; our confession of sin could bring only a “just” verdict: guilty—and a swift sentence: death.

Christ came to earth and became a man with the purpose of meeting all of God’s expectations. He pleased the Father in every way. Then Jesus had to “become” every possible sin so justice could be served for the unjust. “God made him who had no sin to be sin” (2 Cor. 5:21). The guilty verdict came down; the sentence was passed. At Calvary God “self-imposed” a rule that has never been broken: all who accept the offer of God’s blessed “stand-in” instantaneously have justice served for every sin they commit and find relief for every sin they confess.

Every time we confess our sins, He is not only faithful to forgive us, but He is also just. He sticks with His own self-imposed rule. He looks back on the cross, remembers the penalty paid, and “conforms in his actions to his constitutionally just character.”6

Here lies one of the most important elements of God’s self-imposed rule of justice served on sin: He is not bound by legalism just because of the cross. If He desired, our Savior could still crack open the floor of the earth and consume us. God can break the rules because He makes the rules! He is bound by love because of the cross. Compelled by unfathomable love for His Son and the sons of men, He has obligated Himself. At this point the “faithfulness” in 1 John 1:9 enters in: He will never change. His character is spotless. He made a promise He will never break no matter what depth of sin we may confess. His faithfulness is not out of duty because nothing can force God’s hand. His faithfulness is a binding covenant of choice.

Child of God, you need not be afraid. “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).