If I Am Forgiven, Why Do I Still Need to Confess?

A teaching has spread that all our sins, past, present and future, were forgiven when we first believed. So we never need to confess again. Professor Gary Maxey calls this the hyper-grace teaching, and he answers it in both his books.

What he says

In his book on why revival tarries, Professor Maxey writes that the teaching says God is always happy with us, even when we have sinned. Salvation shrinks to mental assent. The topic of sin need never come up again. The subtle message, he says, is "Sin freely, because it really does not matter."

He calls this the heart of all antinomian teaching, and he says it erases from the Bible the passages that call God's children to repentance when they have grown lukewarm, careless and backslidden.

What 1 John says

Professor Maxey points to 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." He reads it as written to believers.

Why confession matters in his view

He explains that sins, the acts, need forgiveness. The inner root needs cleansing. Both begin with honesty. A believer who never confesses has not yet looked at his heart. Professor Maxey says born-again believers do not normally receive the deeper cleansing until they see the uncleanness of the fleshly heart.

The fiction of imputed holiness

He links this teaching to the idea that God sees only the righteousness of Christ on us, even if we remain unholy. He calls that a fiction. He says it is false and dangerous.

A balance

Confession is not self-torment. It is the doorway to freedom. The same John who wrote 1 John 1:9 also wrote that we have an Advocate with the Father.

For this week

Take five quiet minutes each evening. Ask the Spirit what to confess. Name it in plain words. Receive the forgiveness God has promised. Do not skip the last step.

Drawn from the teaching of Professor Gary S. Maxey.