The Truth and Experience of God’s Salvation

Lesson Twenty Four

IV. How to be Saved

A. From sin

1. By confessing our sins – 1 John 1:9

Burden to Impart:

The next four lessons deal with salvation from sin. They speak of confessing, believing, receiving, and repenting. How wonderful that the Lord has provided a way: Jehovah has provided Himself a lamb. This lesson is on confession. The young people should be touched with their need not to hide from their sin, but to confess their sin. This is not confession to some person as a religious authority figure, but to God Himself. By confessing our sins to God Himself, we are forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness.

Memory Verse: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Facts to Teach:

1. Sin is a big problem between God and us. God created us in a wonderful way, in His image and according to His likeness. But man fell, and sin (the nature of Satan) got injected into us.

2. We need to be saved from sin. We may think that we need to do some great work to be saved from our sin. But the way to be saved from our sin is clear in God’s word: if we confess our sins, He … [will] forgive us our sins.”

3. The word says God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins. God is faithful in His word. His word is the word of the truth of His gospel (Eph. 1:13), which tells us that He will forgive us our sins because of Christ (Acts 10:43: … everyone who believes into Him will receive forgiveness of sins). His word tells us that He will forgive us, and He is faithful in His word.

4. God is also righteous in the blood of Jesus His Son (1 John 1:7) to forgive us. The blood of Christ has fulfilled all of God’s righteous requirements that He might forgive us our sins (Matt. 26:28). Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Heb. 9:22). Christ has shed his righteous blood, the righteous for the unrighteous (1 Pet. 3:18)

5. If we confess our sins, He, according to His word and based on the redemption through the blood of Jesus, forgives us because He must be faithful in His word and righteous in the blood of Jesus; otherwise, He would be unfaithful and unrighteous.

6. The Bible tells us that sin can reign in our mortal body (Romans 6:12). How terrible! We need to be saved from this reigning sin. How can we be saved from this sin? Our confession is needed for His forgiveness. Without our confession, our fellowship with God will be broken. When we confess our sins, our fellowship with God is restored.

[See Gospel Outlines, Subjects 196 and 197, by W. Lee; also Hymns #1008.]