ODJ: snitch!
July 1, 2011
If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness (v.9).
READ: 1 John 1:5-10
A snitch is someone who freely gives up information about a friend or acquaintance. Because he volunteers information that often gets people arrested, evicted, or even killed, a snitch is considered one of the lowest people on the neighborhood food chain. People have a hard time forgiving a snitch.
John encouraged believers to snitch on themselves. For when they did, God would forgive them. The apostle wrote a small but powerful letter to a group of believers who were being harassed by several groups of false teachers (1 John). One of the groups was saying they had fellowship with God and did not sin. John refuted this errant theology by invoking the holy and perfect nature of God—God is light. If they said they had fellowship with God, who is light, and yet continued to walk in darkness, John said they were liars and were deceiving themselves. For fear that the young believers were being influenced by false teachers, John encouraged them to confess their sins—snitch on themselves—and God would meet their genuine confession with divine forgiveness. He would forgive them and cleanse them from all unrighteousness. John states very clearly that persistent, unconfessed, and unrepented sin is a mark of someone who does not genuinely know God.
One of the indicators that we have true fellowship with God is that we consistently confess our sins to Him. According to Solomon, true piety and fear of God involves acknowledging that our sin is against a holy God—confessing it and forsaking it, rather than concealing it and hardening one’s heart. Confessing and forsaking our sins to God leads to receiving His mercy (Proverbs 28:13).
That’s well worth snitching on ourselves! —Marvin Williams
Do you practice the spiritual habit of confession? Based on the two passages in more>, what are some important aspects of confession or godly snitching? What are some immediate results of confession?
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