“What if a Christian dies before confessing his sins?” “What does it take to worship in spirit and in truth?”

QUESTION: If a Christian dies before confessing his sins, does 1 John 1:9 (“If we confess ... He is faithful ... to forgive”) mean that his sins are not forgiven and he is not cleansed from all unrighteousness?

ANSWER: No, thank God, 1 John 1:9 does not mean this at all. The subject of 1 John is fellowship. This letter is written to Christians to enable them to enjoy fellowship with the writer (and other apostles, who had already died and gone to be with the Lord) and with the Father and His Son, Jesus. John’s great desire in verse 4 is for the joy of those he is addressing to be full.

According to 1 John 2:12, a Christian’s sins have been forgiven him for Christ’s name’s sake. We may refer to this as judicial forgiveness. Many verses show us that this forgiveness can never be reversed. Once we have believed in the name of the Son of God, 1 John 5:13 assures us, we can know that we have eternal life. The Lord Jesus and God the Father are united in “keeping” the believer (Jn. 10:28-30). A believer can never perish, no matter what! Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 8:35-39).

Unconfessed sin, however, can hinder the enjoyment of fellowship for a Christian. God is light. There is no darkness in Him. To enjoy fellowship with Him we must walk in the light. Denying that we sin, rather than confessing our sin to Him, is an indication that we are walking in darkness rather than light. Because of the perfect finished work of Christ on the cross, God forgives a Christian the sins he committed in his daily life since he was saved when he confesses them to Him. Then the Christian can enjoy unhindered fellowship with the Lord.

The context of 1 John 1:9 makes it clear that the question is not what happens after a Christian dies, but how he can remain in the enjoyment of fellowship with the Lord.

QUESTION: What does it take to worship in spirit and in truth?

ANSWER: God knows our hearts. He desires a relationship with His fallen creatures. To make this possible He sent His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. Surely there should be an appreciative response from every redeemed heart, and a relationship of adoring worship. Just as parents eagerly look for the recognition and appreciation of their new baby, so God looks for the response of our hearts to Him and His love.

But just as parents look for an ever-increasing maturity and a right response of their children, so God also looks for this in His children. We are easily sidetracked, whether naturally or spiritually. The expression “to worship in spirit and in truth” (Jn. 4:24) is found in our Lord’s words to the woman at Jacob’s well in Samaria. Let’s examine them more closely in context to get a better idea of what worship is.

The woman was a Samaritan. In 2 Kings 17 we see that the Samaritans’ worship was unacceptable to God because they sought to worship Him along with the heathen gods of their ancestors. God will not share His glory with anyone. History tells us that the Samaritans built a temple on Mt. Gerizim which the Jews had burned. The Jews’ temple was at Jerusalem, the place where God had chosen to set His name. Both these religions placed great value on external observances – place, sacrifices, ritual, and outward pomp. The Jewish priesthood at this time was under the control of Saducees, who did not believe in angels, spirits, or the resurrection, and accepted only the five books of Moses as God’s Word.

In condescending grace the Lord first reached the heart of this woman. Then He addressed her conscience. This made her uncomfortable and desirous to deflect Him from the subject. She acknowledged Him to be a prophet and proceeded to ask Him which of these two places would He say was the right place of worship. Sinful, unregenerate man today is often ready to discuss religion and bring up points of tradition and opinion.

The Lord cuts through all this to the real issue of who God is and what He is looking for. One religion might be more right than another, but neither knew God as Father. We only come to know the Father through the Son, so must first come to know the Son in a living personal way. The Father seeks worshipers, not mere adherents to a religion of their tradition or choice. Externals were no longer the issue. He is Spirit and seeks that which corresponds to Him, true or real worshipers who worship in spirit and in truth, in contrast to mere outward religion.

Real worship is produced by the Spirit of God in the hearts of those who know Him as Father because they have received His Son, Jesus Christ, as Savior and Lord in their lives. Real worship is acknowledging the Father’s worth and His love. It is acknowledging who the Lord Jesus is and what He has done for God’s glory and our salvation. True worship is a matter of the heart, produced by the Spirit, in accord with the truth of God.

For corporate worship to be pleasing to God it must have the same characteristics. It must be led by the Holy Spirit and consistent with the Word of God. It is not a “spectator sport” designed to occupy an audience’s time, but the happy, orderly outflow of hearts taken up with the glorious work and person of the Lord Jesus Christ. While directed upward to God it will also be of blessing to man.

By Eugene P. Vedder, Jr.