Where is it in the Bible?
1 John 1:9
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
In other translations
- ESV
- 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- NLT
- 9But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
- CSB
- 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- KJV
- 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The surrounding passage
1 John 1:7–10, King James Version
7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Context
John writes to assure believers that they have fellowship with God, who is light. He warns that claiming to have no sin is self-deception (1:8), and that claiming never to have sinned makes God out to be a liar (1:10). This verse sits between those two warnings, with the promise of forgiveness for those who confess.
About the book of 1 John
Tests of true faith: light, obedience, and love.
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