1 JOHN
In This Section
1 JOHN 1:5-10
1 JOHN 1:5–10
As we approach 1 John, it is necessary for us to recognize why it was written. 1 John has a pointed purpose. Mainly, it expresses the tone and intention of combating the heretical pagan influences that had crept into the Christian community in Asia to which the letter was meant to go. John says in 2:26,
"These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you." (1 John 2:26 emph. mine)
Scholars have tried to identify the deceptive pagan influence as Cerinthian gnosticism (Cerinthian is with an "e," and not an "o" as in Corinthian) which had a libertine bent toward denying sinful actions as really being sin. Some have identified the pagan influence as Docetism. The exact pagan roots of this cultic emergence, that started influencing the Christians that John calls his "little children," is hard to identify. It is probably best to say that it was some form of loose emergent proto-gnosticism that incorporated some of its own unique beliefs. Evidently, these cultists were getting in among the true Christians and had spread some bad teachings and doctrines. Eventually, this group broke off and started their own cult, as we see in 2:19, where John calls them "antichrists," and he says of them;
"19 They [the antichrists] went out from us, ..." (1 John 2:19)
["us" being the true Christians according to the true faith]
"... but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us." (John 2:19)
Some of the heresies that these people were teaching are fairly easy to identify from John's emphasis upon certain things in this letter. We will look at those things as we go through this epistle, but the main point for us to consider at this point, is that this group is the primary reason why John wrote the letter. He was warning the true Christians of the infecting influence of the false Christians who had gnostic like and docetic like doctrines that they were claiming as Christian revelation. In the meantime, John is also setting any unsaved people straight. They would be any unsaved people who would be evangelized, preached to, and corrected by true Christian ministers who used this letter as their reference text. This understanding of the purpose and context of 1 John is absolutely vital to interpreting John's message.
So, with that bit of background in mind, the first thing we notice in the introduction, is that John starts out referring to he and some others as personally witnessing the authentic Christ, and so he speaks of "we." John is going to use "we" as a literary device when it comes to pronouns, so we need to keep up with how John is going to skip around with his usage of "we." At first, he speaks of we, our, and us and he means we primary witnesses who have actually seen and heard Jesus Christ. Later, John is going to speak of "we," in a general sense, to apply to anyone. But right here at the start, John is talking about he and the apostles of the true Christianity. John says,
"What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life--2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us--" (1 John 1:1-2 emph. mine)
When John says that "we" are the eyewitnesses of Jesus as the eternal life and the true Messiah, John is establishing the authentic credentials of the true apostles, as opposed to the pagan cultists who had infected the Christian community of this letter's destination: We heard, we saw, and we touched, so we are the inspectors with the actual experience and calling. John is asserting that Jesus really did come in the flesh, (which is something that was probably disputed by this proto-gnostic cult there in Asia) and John and the apostles personally experienced Him that way. Something else that we must notice is that John calls the people he is proclaiming these things to, "you." The ones being proclaimed to are the general audience of Christians who are receiving this letter in hand, but also, they are anyone else who John has ministry consideration concerning, for example, any unsaved people who are still hanging around the Christian communities. They are people who would be influenced by the gospel message contained in the letter. And so with that, John, still using "we" (talking about he and the other Christian witnesses) says,
"3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete." (1 John 1:3-4 emph. mine)
John and the other apostles have a reason for proclaiming the things about what we have heard, seen, looked at, and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life, which is Jesus Christ. The reason "we" are proclaiming these particular things to "you" people out there in Asia, who are in, among, and around, the church communities, is so that any of "you" who are unsaved (particularly those influenced by, and associated with cultic paganism) may have true Christian fellowship with us. John is the expert. The real-deal people have heard from the beginning, seen, and touched the real-deal concerning the Word of Life. The life was manifested to them specifically, and so they testify to this audience about the eternal life who was revealed to them in bodily form. A good question to ask is "why announce it?" The answer is,
"... so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:3)
This is John's first concern in this letter. John continues on with the concern, and so he says something that turns out to be the first set of sentences in 1 John that are misinterpreted by people who believe in the NEST. John says,
"This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;" (1 John 1:5-6 emph. mine)
According to the typical interpretation of those who believe in the NEST, truly saved people can walk in darkness, and then once there, (and taking steps in darkness), they lose their salvation. Once they lose their salvation in the dark, (but they think they still have it, and say they still have it), they consequently are liars; they are liars who are damned forever.
The NEST is wrong.
The wonderful truth of the matter is that this is a stark proclamation of being Once Saved In Eternal Spiritual Salvation (OSIESS), also known as being Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS), eternal security, and perseverance of the saints; in contrast to Never Actually Saved At Any Time (NASAAT). To recognize this, we must consider that John is sharing the message that he personally received from Jesus. We recognize that John says that the message he received is "that God is Light." God has no darkness in Him, and so John says, "if we." At this point in our exegesis, we need to pay special attention to an important detail. From now on John starts using "we" here (and in most places in the following chapters of this letter) as a reference to a broader group. In other words, the "we," now applies to more people than just John and the early eyewitnesses who had heard, seen, looked at, and touched with their hands. This literary device is used this way from now on, except for a couple of places in chapter 4. This is the reason we need to be ready for the "we" shift of pronouns that John uses. What is going on, is that John is finished with his introduction. John already says that he and the apostles indeed have fellowship, and now John starts the shift. The question is, "does everyone else have fellowship?" Remember, John wants everyone to "have fellowship with us," which is fellowship John already has according to 1 John 1:3. This is so important and we can not miss this vital detail. John uses the word, "we" 81 times in this epistle. 71 of those times, it is evident that John is talking about a general audience in each point. 10 of those times have to do with being apostolic eyewitnesses, and 8 of those were already used in the introduction. The other 2 times would be only once later on in 1 John 4:6, and then once as a probability in 1 John 4:14.
John says, if "we" say we have fellowship with God who is Light and yet we really walk in darkness, then we are lying, and "do not practice the truth." This makes sense because every lost person, whether cultic, or Gnostic, or otherwise, is walking in the domain of darkness. Yet in God, there is no darkness. Paul says that we saved people are to be,
"12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the set apart ones in Light ..." (Colossians 1:12)
[Where is true Christian fellowship? It is in Light, which is Christ. Paul goes on,]
"... He rescued us from the domain of darkness," (Colossians 1:13)
[If you are saved, then "darkness" is where you once were, but you are not there any more. Paul goes on,]
"... and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son," (Colossians 1:13)
The great rescue is that God has rescued us from the domain of darkness and catapulted us into the kingdom (which is the reign) of Christ Jesus, which is "in Light." It is there in the kingdom, being sealed by the Spirit of the Light, that we walk in the Light. All who have never been transferred out of the domain of darkness, are still there--for example, Mormons, or Jehovah Witnesses, or the proto-gnostics, of John's day, who claimed that they were saved, but they are not really saved. They say they have fellowship with Him, and yet, they are striding along in the darkness, so therefor they are liars, and they do not practice the truth. They are fakes who are practicing a lie. John used this same language when he wrote his gospel account. He says,
"4 In Him [Christ Jesus] was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it [Why? Because the darkness is lost]. 6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him." (John 1:4-7)
[Remember, John heard, John saw, John looked at, and John touched with his hands, concerning the Word of Life, and the life was manifested, and John has seen, so he testifies and proclaims the eternal life (We just read about it in 1 John). So, in John's gospel account, we see the same John saying the same thing. Now verse 8]
"8 He [John Himself] was not the Light, but he [John] came to testify about the Light. 9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man" (John 1:4-9)
Christ Jesus is the only light that brings true enlightenment to every man who is truly enlightened. The point is, that, to be transferred out of the domain of darkness, is to be in Christ, the Light. The Light is the place where people are truly saved, and there, all saved people are walking in the Light as those who are practicing the truth rather than a lie--lies, like for example, any form of cultism, superstition, paganism, or godless philosophy. It is vital that we understand this, because this is John's first point as he starts out this epistle, and he keeps on going with building upon this point all the way through chapter one. We read next here in verse 7, where John continues to talk about "we," as people who need to consider ourselves and our state before the Lord. John says,
"7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses [purifies] us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)
John has just described the big divider between the saved, and the unsaved. It is the essential substance of what brings about true spiritual fellowship. The word "fellowship" is from the Greek word Koinonia. Fellowship literally means being in companionship united by the true commonality. The true commonality that is shared, which unites, is salvation. To put it another way, the true commonality that is shared, which unites, is to be in the body of Christ. The true commonality that is shared, which unites, is walking in the light with the blood of Jesus cleansing us from all sin. This is a beautiful proclamation of having Christ's righteousness continually appropriated to all saved people through the cross. This is the only way that all once saved in eternal spiritual salvation people have fellowship with one another, and of course, with God. John has an important point here, and the point is, not losing salvation once you are saved. The point is; Are you really saved in the first place? Has the blood of Jesus, that He shed on the cross as the atonement and propitiation, been applied to you personally by His grace alone, through faith alone, as the great and only cleansing agent to cleanse you from your sins? This is the main question. And so John goes on in this introduction by hitting the pertinent details. In other words, John is about to go into what really matters. Continuing, John goes on to address the wider audience of "we" by describing the dark confession of the lost;
"8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8 emph. mine)
Here we notice the pronoun shift to people who say they have no sin, demonstrating that such people do not have the truth in them. A vital question we need to ask here is: Who says that they "have no sin?" The answer is that unsaved people say that they have no sin, which is a clear manifestation of the fact that they do not have the truth in them. Further questions we should meditate upon at this time are; How are you going to see a need for Christ's sacrifice on the cross if you say that you have no sin? How are you going to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus if you do not think that you need to be cleansed? How are you going to have true fellowship with the true children of God if you say that you have no sin? The answer to all those questions is that you can not. John goes on with the gospel, saying,
"9 If we acknowledge [Greek, homologeo] our sins, ..." (1 John 1:9)
The Greek word here for "acknowledge" (homologeo) is also translated as "confess," as we find it translated in the NASB. The word means "acknowledge," as it is also translated in the NASB in Acts 23, where we read,
"8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge [homologeo] them all." (Acts 23:8)
Homologeo is also rendered this way in John's second epistle, in 2 John 1:7:
"7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge (homologeo) Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist." (2 John 1:7)
The reason why it is so important to dwell upon the meaning of this word, acknowledge, at this point, is because, in our culture, the word, confess, carries with it an anachronistic taint. In other words, we typically use the word in respect to someone making a confession after being interrogated, or we typically think of someone who confesses something, (as in being on trial), and then after some time, they finally blurt out that they did wrong. This particular anachronistic sense, sees confession as something that comes after personal inner conviction, but nevertheless, can be withheld in the secret depths of our deceptive hearts, even after we have been convicted. The problem is that the above usage of confess (ie. acknowledge) brings cultural baggage that is added to the definition of the word homologeo. The word simply means to acknowledge, which is the most fundamental definition of confess. So, if we confess, as in acknowledge, our sins, in Holy Spirit conviction that our sins are real, and do not deny that they are sin, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is the great doctrine of coming to Christ on His terms in salvation, where one must be agreeing with God concerning sin. It is the great doctrine of our hope, in that all who are saved have Christ's righteousness imputed to them eternally as the covering for their sins. But on the other hand, John continues,
"10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us." (1 John 1:10)
This is a serious statement. It is as serious as saying that we have no sin right now (cf. 1 John 1:8). John is being consistent in the flow of his contextual point. This type of acknowledgement of sinlessness is the affinity of darkness. It is demonstrated in the lost of the world every single day, which is John’s point. Think, for a moment, about the horrible progression:
1) To say that one has fellowship with Christ and yet is walking in the darkness, then such an assertion is a lie and such a one does not practice the truth; (cf. 1 John 1:6);
2) To you say that you "have no sin," is to be lying to yourself and the truth is not in you, (cf. 1 John 1:8). This is the place where lost people spit on Christ Jesus, Who was humiliated, rejected, tortured, and impaled on a cross for sins. If you say that you have not sinned, you make Christ a liar, which is not only more manifestation of your vile sinfulness, but it is also a clear demonstration of the fact that His word is not in you--you are lost.
This is another part of John's point that those who believe in the NEST misuse. Accordingly, what is typically claimed is that a saved person can die with some unconfessed sin somewhere in their mind, brain, soul, spirit, inner man, heart, or something like that. The point is that they say that the sin is unconfessed. Then they say, that the particular saved person loses salvation, and is damned forever, and the reason is because the unconfessed sin supposedly is the ticket that condemns the formerly saved person to hell.
The NEST is wrong.
As a primary consideration, we must recognize, and admit something that is clearly obvious; the passage does not speak of Christians being damned for eternity. Rather, the passage speaks of people claiming they have "no sin," (cf. 1 John 1:8), and have "not sinned," (cf. 1 John 1:10). This is important, so keep it in mind, as we remember the context we have been working through in our verse by verse attention. Additionally, verse 7 clearly states what the rest of the New Testament scriptures proclaim, and that is that the blood of Jesus cleanses us (purifies us) from all, as in the entirety; as in all without exception; as in every single, sin. As we keep all these things in mind, we will examine three popular views of 1 John 1:8-10--none, of which, by the way, are according to the specious NEST philosophy:
<1>
The first view interprets John as addressing the lies that the pagan cultists were propagating. According to this view the cultic influence had a teaching that claimed that people do not have sin (at least in the biblical sense), or, they were teaching that when you sin, you are not really the one sinning. The cultists claimed that it is some other material part of you that is sinning, but not your spiritual part, so the sin does not matter. These teachings would fall in line with the beliefs of libertine gnosticism of which this sect may have been a forerunner. The Libertine Gnostics thought that you could do anything you wanted to in the body, which meant anything God calls sin, because they claimed that the body did not really matter. All the Gnostic sects thought that they had superior spiritual knowledge concerning sin and spiritual things. They called it the secret gnosis, which means the secret knowledge. They believed that all flesh is evil, and that only spirit is good, and so because of this belief, they did not believe that Jesus came in the flesh. Instead, they believed Jesus was an illusion. They believed that the flesh was already evil, and so in this respect, there really was not any sin. Sin was also considered an illusion. So it is with this view of the early proto gnostic types in Asia, believing these types of things, that John is said to be countering their falsehoods with the truth; namely, that all who claim these wrong cultic views of sin, are self deceived, and do not have the truth in them--the truth being that we actually do have sin. The only remedy to this heresy, then, is to confess our sins, thus agreeing with God concerning our pitiful state, which, of course, is to agree with the truth, which is God's real revealed gnosis (His real knowledge) as the gospel, which means "good news." In so doing, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness that we really do have as wretched sinners in need of a Savior. Anything short of this, is to abide by the pagan lie of saying that "we have no sin," (cf. 1 John 1:8) or "that we have not sinned," (cf. 1 John 1:10), thus turning the table on God, and making Him out to be the liar, which, of course, would be to demonstrate that His word is not in them. Bottom line: to deny sin, is to deny God, which of course is to deny the true Christ, and one's need for forgiveness.
<2>
The second view is much like the first one, in that John is speaking of any unregenerate sinner in verse 8--particularly any who would be preached to from this letter in, around, or associated with the community it was sent to. So according to this view, it is any unsaved people who deny they have sin, and not just merely the cultists. Of course, to deny having sin means they are deceived, and the truth is not in them. Nevertheless, John says if "we" (representing those who turn to Christ for forgiveness of sins in salvation) acknowledge our sins, God, through Christ Jesus' blood of verse 7, is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This describes salvation, as opposed to lostness where one denies having sin. Unlike saved people who are cleansed by Christ's blood, the unsaved will be saved (cleansed from sin) if indeed they acknowledge their sins, thus admitting that they have sin, and turn to Christ, which is repentance. In this view, God cleanses us from all unrighteousness according to verse 9, meaning that there is Christ's imparted righteousness through the propitiation of the cross, (cf. 1 John 1:7, and 2:2). The unsaved, who are unregenerate, on the other hand, according to verse 8, who say they have "no sin," and who say that they "have not sinned," verse 10, make God out to be a liar, and so of course, "His word" is not in them.
<3>
The third view is that John is talking about progressive sanctification of actual Christians (saved people). It is said in this view that the blood of Jesus cleanses Christians from all sin in verse 7, but nevertheless, the same Christians can somehow say that they "have no sin," or "have not sinned," thus deceiving themselves and so the truth is not in them. But on the other hand, if they confess their sin (meaning that the truth is in them now), God is faithful and righteous to forgive the Christians of their sins and to cleanse them from all unrighteousness, but not in the sense of being cleansed in spiritual salvation from all sin by the blood of Jesus as per the prior verse, (cf. 1 John 1:7) but rather in the sense that they are cleansed from daily, moment to moment thoughts and acts of sin which are worked out of them in progressive sanctification. It is further said that John is stating that sin breaks a saved person's fellowship with God (an esoteric type of separation). The remedy is that individual confession-moments are the means to restoring fellowship with God after each time the Christian sins. Further, it is said that if the same Christians say they have not sinned (cf. 1 John 1:10) then they have now decided to make their God, Who is the God of truth who saved them, to be a "liar," and so God's word is not really in such Christians. Since there is no teaching anywhere in New Covenant scripture that even remotely teaches this concept, Old Testament analogies are offered as support for the view. Sometimes a proponent of this view will point out that the priests of the Old Covenant tabernacle initially washed themselves as prescribed in the Old Covenant Law. It was a ceremonial rite that initiated Old Covenant priests. Later on, though, the same priests were required by the Law of Moses, to do repeat washings throughout the day while ministering in the tabernacle. According to the analogy, then, it is said that these statutory washing rites are a demonstration of what it means to first be cleansed by the blood of Christ in initial salvation as per verse 7, but then later on, to be continually cleansed from individual sins as per the interpretation of verse 9. Other Old Covenant analogies are presented from the life of David, who being under the Old Covenant, begged God to forgive him of his sin in Psalm 51:1-9. Further he begged God not to cast him away from His presence. More, David begged God not to take away His Holy Spirit, (cf. Psalm 51:10). Sometimes Psalm 32:5, is quoted. Psalm 32:5 is where David confessed his sin to God, and as a consequence of the confession, God "forgave the guilt ..." of David's "... sin. selah."
In contemplating the three views that have been presented above, the last interpretation of 1 John 1:1-10 must be rejected outright, because;
A) it does not fit the language of the text;
B) it does not reflect, in any way, the fullness of New Covenant theology as is outlined in the rest of the New Testament;
C) it is not based upon strict exegetical details concerning the contextual flow;
D) it does not recognize other inductive considerations of Christian doctrine in general;
E) it does not consider the other two interpretations, which nullify it as a serious consideration.
Further, the analogy of the Old Covenant priests in the tabernacle is both forced, and contrived. The Priests were under the Old Covenant Law. Saved people, in Christ, are not under the Old Covenant. Saved people are in the New Covenant in Christ's blood. The Old Covenant priests had to follow strict ceremonial stipulations according to the Mosaic Law. Cleansing rights were just a few of dozens of other ceremonial rites performed throughout the operation of the now defunct priesthood. New Covenant people of God, do not follow any ceremonial stipulations of the Mosaic Law in the New and better Covenant (cf. 2 Corinthians 3, Galatians 3, and Hebrews 8). Additionally, Christ fulfilled all the ceremonial stipulations, for the elect, that had to do with both the earthly, and heavenly tabernacle, when He established the New Covenant as the great High Priest in their stead. Christ (who sanctified himself in the ceremonial rite that ended all the others) after entering the veil, once for all time, continuously washes His people He saves (white as snow) and makes eternal intercession for them (cf. Hebrews). This is what brings true unbroken fellowship with God. Also, the priests did not wash themselves throughout the day because sins came to mind that they thought they needed to wash away to get back into fellowship with Yahweh. Finally, the analogies given of David, begging God to forgive him of his sin, are foreign metaphors, pushed into a New Covenant context, yet with no New Covenant substance at all. God does not cast away His elect children under His Christ-covenant, nor does God take His Holy Spirit away from them as per David's pleading in Psalm 51:1-10. God will neither leave us nor forsake us in His New Covenant. The reason is because all who are saved are,
"those who are the called, loved ones in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ" (Jude 1:1)
Being in Christ, His elect are "kept," and they are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise who is given as a pledge, (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:22). God is not going to take His Holy Spirit away from His little children. Furthermore, His little New Covenant children do not need to have the "guilt" of their sin forgiven in the rhythmic contingency of moment to moment confession, as David demonstrated to be his practice in Psalm 32:5. God's adopted children in the Son, are forgiven of all their transgressions once for all time (cf. Hebrews 10:14), in Christ's work alone, by grace alone, through faith alone. It is as Paul declares;
"13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us [past tense, already] all our transgressions" (Colossians 2:13)
It is with all of these considerations in mind, that the general principle, as expressed in both the first two views, is the correct one. Namely, that John is talking about unsaved sinners who must acknowledge their sin and receive Christ as the atonement, and propitiation for their sins in salvation, which of course, can strongly be argued to contextually be the emerging cultists in particular who were teaching things to the contrary. This makes sense, and explains why, in respect to the truly saved, that John essentially repeats Paul from Colossian 2:13, where John says later in 1 John 2:12,
"I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been [already] forgiven you for His name's sake." (1 John 2:12)
1 John 2:12 presents another problem for the NEST interpretation, because John is not assuming that the little children have already died and are in heaven. But, if they have not died already, then how does John know that their sins have been forgiven them for Christ's name sake? How does John know that every Christian in Asia has confessed every little sin act, and so, now based upon comprehensive confessing each moment of each day, their sins have now been forgiven? Somehow John knows for sure that the "little children" have been forgiven already. Does John have some insider information that tells him that all the Christians in Asia had confessed each and every sin act, and each and every sin thought already; and so now that he knows this, he can say with confidence, "I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake?" Does John know that they will have been diligent to frenetically confess their each and every sin act between the time his epistle was penned, and their reception of it, or the time frame that it took to read the epistle to those scattered around the region? The sound answer, which is the honest answer, is, of course not. John addressed this sentence to the "little children" which is a reference to saved people whose sins have already been forgiven for His name's sake (cf. 2:13 where they are called children who know the Father, and 3:1-2, 10; 5:2 where John calls them "children of God") This fact presents us with the biggest question of all:
"How could John know that their sins have been forgiven, if indeed they are all still alive and they may have some unconfessed sins still in their hearts somewhere?"
The answer is easy. The "little children" already "acknowledged" that they have sin, (cf. 1 John 1:8), have received Christ by grace through faith, and are saved. They do acknowledge their sins, instead of denying that those sins exist (cf. 1 John 1:9). They already say that they have sinned, (cf. 1 John 1:10). So, they already recognized that they are sinners in need of their Savior, and they have already received Christ Jesus as their Savior.
Anyone who is a saved person, has been made alive by God as a miracle. All saved people have been forgiven already in the past. Their forgiveness is not something that must be sought every day, or every moment, as a contingency that is based upon frenetic confession. Saved people have been forgiven all, as in every single transgression, no matter how big or small. This is why Paul says in Romans 8:1,
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)
This leads us to consider, yet, another question:
"What are saved people supposed to do when they sin?"
The scriptures are clear. They are to repent, which means they are to "turn from" the sin, (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:21). They are to flee from it, (cf. 2 Timothy 2:22). They are to lay it aside;
"1 let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith," (Hebrews 12:1-2)
They are to lay it aside and run the Christian life in endurance. Repentance is continual action. Christians will never stop repenting, because Christians will never completely stop being tempted, and Christians will never completely stop sinning in this earthly life. So, they continue to repent, and whenever they fail, they need to believe the words of John in our epistle here, when he goes into his next point in chapter 2; this time to the saved "little children," saying, that if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, (cf. 1 John 2:2). For any Christian to repent from sin they must understand that it is sin in the first place. This is just a matter of logic. Christians must recognize what they are turning from, in order to purposely turn from it. For example, how is anyone going to purposely turn from eating junk food unless they first identify it as junk? This is why God's little children must transform their minds by renewing their minds with God's word, (cf. Romans 12:1-2). With the word of God in the Christians, and the Holy Spirit in the Christians, in true fellowship, the Christians will never stop being convicted, and so even when the Christians fail, the same people are still abiding in their position in Christ as those who are loved, and forgiven. It is called salvation, and it is through faith. And in the Christian's position, as one who is loved and forgiven, the saved person is to keep on going. They are to repent and flee; and continue to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. It is through the implanted word that God's Spirit convicts His children to repent from sin, run from sin, and set themselves apart from it. Along with repentance, saved people should always be giving thanks to God for His love (cf. 2 Corinthians 2:14, 9:15; Colossians 3:17, 1 Thessalonians 5:18). All Christians should recognize God's immense grace, and give continual thanks to God for forgiving them of their sin through Christ's work alone, by His grace alone, through faith alone. It is His love.
Understanding all that has been covered in this section, we recognize that 1 John 1:5-10 does not remotely teach that one can lose one's salvation after the person is actually saved, gain salvation by meritorious effort, or maintain keeping salvation secure by meritorious effort.
