But 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… . If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:7, 9

The text states, “and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” The blood is the provision for cleansing. Without question this is true for the legal cleansing of salvation. Hebrews 9:22 explains, “without shedding of blood is no redemption.” Ephesians 1:7 affirms, “In whom [Jesus Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.

But the blood is also the provision for the practical cleansing of sanctification. In fact, the writer John used the personal pronouns we, us and our throughout the first chapter of his epistle, indicating he had a cleansing for believers in mind. The blood of Jesus is the provision for both the legal cleansing in salvation, which affects our standing before God, and the practical cleansing in sanctification, which affects our walking with God. There must also be a cleansing beyond salvation.

Romans 4:7–8 explains this: “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” The moment you trusted Christ as your Savior, your past sins were forgiven, and your future sins will not be charged to your account. All of your sins—past, present and future—are “covered” by the blood of Jesus. But even though your future sins will not be charged to your account, and in that sense you are legally “safe,” your future sins do break your fellowship with your heavenly Father and therefore need forgiveness and cleansing. First John 1 explains this specific provision.

Do you have a clean heart? Do you know it?

The blood is the provision for a clean heart, and you must avail yourself of Christ’s provision. But how? First John 1:7 explains what to do, and verse 9 explains how to do it.

What to Do: Walking in the Light

“First John 1:7 begins with a condition: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light …” The conditional “if” reveals that this involves human responsibility. It is not automatic. The condition is “if we walk in the light.” This statement does not yet explain how to do this, but it does inform us as to what to do.

Before moving on to the “how,” let’s pause to consider the promise connected with the condition, “we have fellowship one with another.” Who is the “one” and who is the “another”? The context provides the answer. Beginning two verses earlier, it states, “God is light, and in him [God] is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him [God], and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he [God] is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.” The flow of the context indicates that the “one with another” is the believer and God. The emphasis is “vertical.”

When you walk in the light as God is in the light, you are restored to fellowship with God, who dwells in the absolute light of His holiness. This is a stunning promise. Even while we still live in a sin-cursed body, the blood of Jesus can be so applied that we are restored to fellowship with our holy God this side of heaven! Truly there is power in the blood! “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

But how do you walk in the light, especially as He is in the light?

How to Do It: Confession and Faith

What are the steps on the pathway of walking in the light? First John 1:9 reveals two steps. The verse begins with a condition, “If we confess our sins,” then follows with a promise, “he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The first step is confession, based on the condition. The second step is faith, based on the promise.

Confession

The word “confess” literally means “to say the same thing.” In the context it means to say the same thing that God—our holy God in heaven—says about our sin. This is walking in the light as He is in the light.

To say the same thing God says about sin involves at least three issues.

1. Call it sin.

Call it sin accurately. The corpse of sin must not be put in a beautiful coffin to make it seem not so bad. People often want to beautify the “deathliness” of sin by calling it a mistake, a disease or a syndrome, but they do not want to call it sin. However, confession means we must say the same thing God says about our sin.

Call it sin thoroughly. One of the several reasons for spiritual dullness is partial confession. A teen, who had been rebellious, responded to God’s working during a real season of refreshing from the presence of the Lord at his church. He even went on to a Bible college to prepare for the ministry. A couple years later he mentioned to his pastor that he felt spiritually dull and wondered as to why this was the case. While acknowledging this young man had been turned around during the revival, the pastor suggested that perhaps he had never really recognized the wickedness of his teenage rebellion. The pastor then encouraged him to get alone with God and ask God to show him how wicked his rebellion really was. This would open his eyes so that he might deal thoroughly with his sin. Over a cup of coffee, this young man told me he followed his pastor’s advice. Then he said, “Oh, what a day! I’ve never been the same since.” God restored spiritual vitality through thorough confession.

Call it sin without excuse. We are masters at excusing our sin. We say things like, “Lord, I shouldn’t have responded that way to so-and-so, but Lord, You know he provoked me.” Our flesh does not like the light. Even if we “confess,” we often seek to excuse our sin, to justify it, to cover it up by blaming others or even the situation. All of this is an attempt to get out of the light. Ironically, this is walking in darkness in the name of walking in the light.

2. Give it up.

Proverbs 28:13 declares, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Inherent in true confession is the necessity of forsaking the sin or simply giving up the sin. To go through the motions of confession while hanging on to the sin would be contradictory.

Confession is not merely confessing your guilt but confessing your sin. Many do not like the way they feel when they sin. They do not like the guilt. But quite frankly they still want their sin. Sadly, there is no sense of truly desiring a clean break with sin. Therefore, when they go through the motions of confession, they do not ever move on to victory.

Just as waving the white flag of surrender involves giving up, so true confession involves giving up the issue. Some only mouth words of confession or even words that ask for deliverance (while still hanging on to the sin). But God says, call it sin, and give it up.

3. Make it right.

True confession also implies the readiness to make matters right. Generally speaking, the tenor of Scripture indicates that private sin demands private confession, personal sin (sinning against another person) demands personal confession, and public sin demands public confession. James 5:16 says, “Confess your faults one to another.” The implication is that you have sinned against someone, and they know it (which will usually be obvious), or they have a right to know it.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:23–24, “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” When a brother has “ought” or something against you, it implies you said or did something offensive. Jesus said essentially, “Go make it right.” Then you can come and offer your gift.

Many desire the Spirit-filled life. For its fullest reality, this demands the presentation of one’s all to be a living sacrifice as Romans 12:1 urges. This “gift,” however, must be left at the altar until you are first reconciled with those who have something against you. You will short-circuit personal revival if you have those with whom you need to reconcile, and you disobey on this point. In fact, one of the greatest hindrances to revival is an unwillingness to humbly walk in the light in this fashion—especially if the other person “started it.” But Jesus said, “Go make it right.”

In summary, the first step on the pathway of walking in the light is confession. This step involves calling it sin, giving it up and making it right to the extent that it is appropriate. But there is another vital step to having a clean heart—and knowing it.

Faith

First John 1:9 does not stop with confession. The condition is followed by a promise: “he is faithful [every time] and just [because legally all your sins are covered by the blood] to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This promise is the foundation of faith for a clean heart.

Understanding the Promise

The promise is threefold. First, God releases your debt. The word “forgive” means so much and includes the idea that God releases your sin debt and sends it away. For example, suppose someone borrowed a certain amount of money from you. That person would then owe you that amount of money. But suppose you decided to forgive the debt. You would be releasing the amount involved. Similarly, when you come clean with God, He releases your sins and your guilt. What an amazing promise! Without this provision we would be forever in debt.

Second, God removes your sin. The phrase “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” is a glorious promise. The word “cleanse” conveys the idea of washing or purging. This implies God removes the “dirt” of sin. Although there are some sins which may have continuing ramifications, the sin itself can be cleansed. However, the glory of the promise is that the blood of Jesus does cleanse you from all your sin. The blood applied clears your conscience. What matters here is not how you may feel. What matters is that, from God’s perspective, when you come clean with Him, the blood of Jesus cleans you up—completely.

Third, God restores your fellowship. Not only does God release the sin debt and remove the sin itself, He restores the contrite one to a place of fellowship (1 John 1:7).

Taking God at His Word

The promise is real. You must take a clean heart by faith. You must simply depend on the reality of God’s promise and say, “I have a clean heart. I have trusted the Lord Jesus for it, and He has done it.” Regardless of how you feel, just take God at His word.

Walking in the light is not sinless perfection; it is immediate confession. Immediate confession accesses immediate forgiveness. Consequently, the highway of holiness is the highway of lowliness. This is the heart that says, “Lord, if I stumble, please shine the light that I might walk in the light, that You might cleanse me and restore me and set me back up, that I might keep walking with You.” Satan’s lie is that since you stumbled, you might as well wallow in your sin. But this lie leads into “the slough of despond.” God’s truth is to walk in the light for cleansing and restoration.

Do you have a clean heart? “What to do: walk in the light. How to do it: confession and faith. Whatever the Holy Spirit convicts you of, call it sin, give it up and make it right. Then by faith take the clean heart based on the sure promise of God. Once you have a clean heart, the way is cleared for you to move on to the filled life.

Adapted from Chapter 2 in “The Revived Life” by John Van Gelderen.