Dear Brother Rushmore, My understanding from I john 1:9 states that each Christian is responsible for confessing their sins and that no one else can speak in our behalf that our sins are forgiven. The “if” is conditional and the “we” refers to each and every individual Christian. Thinking about what the apostle Paul wrote by inspiration in Rom.14:12 makes it clear to me, that it is totally the responsibility for a Christian to confess his or her own sin(s). I realize I john 5:16 I states: ” If any man see his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall ask and God will give him life for them that sin not unto death.” I may be wrong, but my understanding,” sin not unto(leads to) death,” is a sin confessed to God by the Christian who has sinned. I believe that it also refers back to confessing our faults(sins) one to another in James 5:16. We as Chrsitians should always pray to God in behalf of one who has repented and confessed their sins to God, that God may strengthen the Christian that he or she may not fall into the temptation again. Also we as Christians, who are God’s servants must do all that we can to encourage the repented brother or sister. I certainly would appreciate your understanding concerning these verses of scripture. Sincerely, Your Brother in Christ, Kenb Wyatt
Essentially the question is, “Must we personally word and verbalize our acknowledgement of sin to a congregation, instead of perhaps a preacher or elder verbalizing a summary of the reason for one’s response to the Gospel invitation.” Further, the “proof text” presented in an attempt to substantiate this proposition is 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” An additional “proof text” submitted for consideration is Romans 14:12: “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” References to 1 John 5:16 and James 5:16 appropriately address the application of those passages.
However, the immediate context of Romans 14:12 pertains to Final Judgment, where it is granted that Final Judgment will be personal between our Great Judge and ourselves, one at a time. There is no apparent connection between personal Judgment and the circumstance of a brother or a sister responding to the Gospel invitation during an assembly. Further, there is no biblical example in the New Testament either for what Peter called upon Simon to do (Acts 8:22) or what John recorded in 1 John 1:9. An individual responding to the Gospel invitation whereupon he or she publicly addresses the congregation does not appear upon the New Testament pages of inspiration.
Regarding 1 John 1:9, the first pronoun (“we”) is a part of the Greek word for “confess.” The pronoun “our” is plural, and the pronoun “us” likewise is plural. The next pronoun “our” has not corresponding Greek word for its appearance in our Bibles, and the next pronoun “us” is plural as well. Hence, the verse essentially reads, “If we [Christians] confess our [as Christians] sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [Christians] sins, and to cleanse us [Christians] from all unrighteousness.” Therefore, 1 John 1:9 is an inappropriate “proof text” for the proposition under consideration.
In conclusion, I am not aware of principle or divine instruction that requires a Christian responding to the Gospel invitation to personally word and verbalize his or her sins to the congregation. A Christian has a responsibility to repent of his or her sins. Beyond that, God has not specified and we should not. I am aware of the potential for losing control of a congregational setting when others besides the biblically qualified church leaders or those they confidently designate are granted liberty to address the church publicly. Everything respecting our assemblies needs to “be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:33, 40).
