1 John 1:9

9. If In 1 John 1:7 St. John, beginning with the final result of unity with the divine light, ends with the instrument by which that unity is accomplished, namely, Christ. He now states the condition, once for all, by which that instrumentality becomes available, namely, reliant confession of our sins in view of the blood. That is, the flinging ourselves as confessed sinners upon Christ and his propitiation for pardon and purity.

Confess our sins Confess not only that we have done wrong, but that all our wrong-doings are sins. St. John, in specifying the faith-condition of salvation, emphasizes confession, because the uttered denial of sins, even though they committed misdeeds, was the fatal error of his opponents. That confession, however, includes a faith in view of the atonement and justification for which the confession is made. And this faith-confession, it must never be forgotten, underlies this whole epistle, as it does the whole gospel. He God; who is the pardoner of sins, as Christ is the mediator of the pardon.

Faithful As having promised. No confessor need ever doubt the divine trueness. Or, we may say that pardon, justification, as the invariable sequent of true faith-confession, is the law of God’s spiritual kingdom, and to it he will be faithful.

Just But in what sense can God be called just in forgiving the confessor? Not, certainly, because justice requires that a transgressor should be forgiven because he is penitent. No human or divine law holds a guilty man to become innocent because he repents. Indeed, true repentance acknowledges the permanent justice of penalty. God is called just in forgiving in this passage because the atonement makes satisfaction, so that God can be “just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Romans 3:26. Alford is strenuous in maintaining that such an idea does not fairly lie in the present current of thought. But Huther well remarks, that “God punishes as just, but he also blesses as just, and, indeed, the aim of realizing his kingdom is, that he should assign victory to goodness over badness.”

Forgive Forgiveness holds the transgressor constructively as if he had never sinned, so far as penalty is concerned.

Sins Transgressions of God’s law in thought, word, or act, as well as those permanent states of mind voluntarily retained adverse to the law. These are pardoned in our justification.

Cleanse us Under the image that unrighteousness (that is, an inward preference for that which violates the law) is an impurity impregnating our being, the blood, through the Spirit, is said to cleanse the impurity away. By the Spirit, that is, the love of God is poured into the soul, and the love of the unlawful is neutralized by the power of that holy affection. Yet our free agency for sin, our sensitivities to temptation, our need of vigilant exertion of power over sin, our capabilities of apostasy, are never removed until we attain paradise.

The distinction between the forgive and the cleanse should be carefully retained. Forgiveness removes guilt and penalty for past sins; sanctification inspires to future sinlessness. One looks back, and the other looks forward. One says, “Thy sins be forgiven thee;” the other says, “Go, sin no more.”

A father may forgive a wicked son, and the son remain as wicked as before. But when our heavenly Father pardons us, he breathes into our hearts a spirit of obedience, which, if we obey, we never need incur his displeasure.