Last month I committed to memory 1 John chapter 1 in the King James Version. As I was meditating on this chapter, I received so many revelations and wanted to share some parts of it. As you read this, keep in mind who John is addressing; babes in the faith.

Salvation starts with confessing Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9-10). Confessing Christ comes as a result of understanding where we stand, who Christ is, and what Christ has done. One thing that happens is we are translated from darkness to light, in other words, we start walking in the light. 1 John 1:7 says “But if we walk in the light as God is in the light then we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Christ cleanses us from sin”.

Notice it says sin as singular and a noun, and not sins as plural and a verb. This shows that we are changed, we no longer have a sin nature. We have been cleansed from sin which we were a slave to. Sin is defined as disobedience (to God) or lawlessness in 1 John 3:4, so we are cleansed of our disobedient nature, cleanses of our lawlessness. John then continues in verse 8 "if we say we have not sinned we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us". If we haven’t confessed Christ then we would be deceiving ourselves to say we have not sinned, after all, because of Adam's disobedience we are slaves to sin until we are set free of it.

Another thing that happens when we confess Christ is we are confessing our sins because we acknowledge that we were living in lawlessness. By declaring that we need Christ as Lord and savior we declare our repentance, thereby confessing that we have been in sin. 1 John 1:9 says "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness". Glory to God, what a gracious God he is! Not only does he forgive us for our disobedience, but He cleanses us from all unrighteousness! No wonder Paul says "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17)!

The first chapter finishes at verse 10 with "if we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us". Anyone who isn't born again is calling Christ a liar if they say they have not sinned, which makes sense that his word is not in them.

Based on 1 John chapter 1 anyone who isn't in Christ is walking in darkness, doesn't have the truth in them, and the word is not in them. But for all who confess Christ, 5 things follow them: they walk in the light as God is in the light; they have fellowship with the Father and his Son, and the brethren; the blood of Jesus cleanses them from sin; Jesus forgives their sins and cleansed from all unrighteousness; their joy is filled.

There is so much information packed in the first chapter of 1 John alone. I tried to keep this short while still getting my point across. I'm so amazed at all that Christ has done, and truly he deserves all the honor, praise, and glory forever!

If you aren't born again what are you waiting for? Check out my post: Ready to claim your salvation to join the kingdom of God today! You may not get another chance.

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Romans 10:9-10