New Testament to 1 John chapter 1. As you're turning there, let me say that in most of our evening services this year, we have been using as a backdrop for our planning purposes the 1693 Baptist Catechism. It's very similar to the Westminster Catechism of Faith, and it is often bound together with our confession, the London Baptist Confession of Faith. Often I'm preaching, but sometimes other brothers are preaching the doctrines of these texts. And just to be clear as a reminder, it's not that we're preaching a catechism, but that these truths which we confess arise from Scripture. And so we're looking at a systematic way of understanding the doctrines of the Scripture throughout the year. And the last two weeks, brothers have faithfully taken us to look at God's effectual calling over believers, as well as one of the fruits of that effectual calling. Last week, Brother Andy was walking us through adoption. And you see there a definition of adoption in this week's installments of questions on the back of your bulletin. What is adoption? Adoption is an act of God's free grace. whereby we are received into the number and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God." Directly preceding that is the question, what is justification? And we've been looking at that even as recent as this morning's sermon in Romans. But justification is an act whereby God declares the sinner righteous based solely on the merits of Jesus Christ. And those merits, that righteousness, His righteous life, His atoning death in the stead of sinners, imputed to their account. So tonight, I want us to look at a practical benefit of justification and adoption. I'm assuming most of us, if not all of us, are aware of these two doctrines. But what are some practical benefits of justification and adoption, and specifically tonight, one particular practical benefit. 1 John 1 9. Hear the word of the Lord. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Let's pray. Lord, now we ask Your blessing upon the preaching of Your Word. May Your people recognize the voice of their Shepherd. May You encourage our hearts as we consider the blessing that You've bestowed upon us of being justified declared righteous in your sight for all of eternity, and then being brought into the number, sons and daughters of the Most High God through our elder brother, Jesus Christ. We ask that you would nourish our faith, strengthen and increase it, convict us, guide us, comfort us, console us. Would you give us aid in the hearing and in the preaching of the word of Christ? In Jesus' name, amen. there are many practical benefits. When I say practical benefits, I don't mean to divorce that from theological or academic, but what I mean is, tangibly, Monday through Saturday, what is the practical benefit of being a justified, adopted child of God? And I just want to look at one of those benefits, a very practical benefit that flow directly out of these two doctrines. Specifically, we are declared righteous and we have a Father. If you are a Christian, if you are a child of God, if you are saved, if you are heaven-bound, you have been declared righteous already. God declares the sinner righteous. The sinner in and of himself or herself is not righteous. There is no one righteous. No, not one. In and of our own self, in our own deeds, we are not righteous. But based on the work of Christ, God declares the sinner righteous. So positionally before God, even now, you are righteous. You are set apart. You are declared in the courtroom of God to be not guilty. Said another way, to be in the right. But not only have you been declared righteous, you have a Father. You have a Father. And our brother led us last week in the book of Galatians as we looked at adoption. But adoption is that act of God's free grace where we are brought into the family of God. We go from being sons and daughters of Satan, of the enemy, to sons and daughters of God. And so because we are declared righteous and because we have a Father, there is at least one, there are many, but at least one practical benefit. And that is the promise of forgiveness and cleansing. I'm going to look at three aspects of that tonight, but the promise of forgiveness and cleansing. Let's look at our key text again and then we'll look at the context. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now for context, let's read the verses that are around it, beginning in verse 1 of 1 John. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled concerning the word of life, The life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard we declare to you. that you also may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard from him and declared to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And he himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. The practical benefit of justification and adoption. The one we will look at tonight is the promise of forgiveness and cleansing. Three simple aspects. Number one, the promise of forgiveness and cleansing is a blessing of God to believers. It doesn't sound earth shattering. Let me say it again. The promise of forgiveness and cleansing is a blessing of God to believers. Now, what do I mean when I say a blessing of God to believers? Thus far, I hope that you can see that this letter, 1 John, is focused to believers, which then causes us to ask ourselves the question, why would John need to write 1 John 1.9? If we are already forgiven, and we are already justified, why would John need to say that if we confess our sins, or you could translate it, if we continue to confess our sins, he continues to be faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness? The question ought to come to mind, if I'm already forgiven, why do I need to be forgiven? If I'm already declared righteous, why do I need to ask for forgiveness? If Christ has already taken my sin completely and in full and paid for it, why do I need to continue to confess my sins and see that God is faithful and just to forgive me of my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness? And this is where we need to understand that 1 John 1.9, while being based on the work of the courtroom of God, God looking at our Redeemer and crediting us with His righteous life, and crediting Him to take away all of our sins, while that courtroom is something that is of very much importance to us, 1 John 1.9 is more about children and a father. than it is about sinners and the guilty and a judge. You see, logically it wouldn't make sense for us to say that believers need to continue to confess our sins to continue to get forgiveness in the courtroom of God. To be continually declared righteous. But many in our time view their walk with God that way. That there is never security. That there is never a final word of declaration over them. That they never can rest. That they are justified. But I would submit to you that John says that he writes this letter. Some would say it's not a letter, but he writes this discourse as a way of saying, verse four, that their joy might be full. So let's look at our text. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is a letter, this is a writing focused to believers. So 1 John 1 9 actually reveals a practical benefit of being justified and being adopted. What is that practical benefit? God promises as our father, our adoptive father, to forgive us and to cleanse us. That in our standing before Him as justified saints, we stand complete because we're in Christ. But in our moment-by-moment walk with our Father relationally, not in the courtroom, but at the family table, in the family house, God blesses the justified sinner with the promise that He as our Father will continue to forgive us. That he will be faithful to forgive us, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That there won't be anything that stands in the way relationally to this blessing. That as we walk with our God and we confess sins, he promises to continue to forgive us. To walk with us in a way that unrighteousness in our lives is cleansed. And that as a father to a son or a father to a daughter, we are promised forgiveness and cleansing. Is that a benefit? Is that a blessing? Do you see it as a blessing that God your Father who adopts you, who has already justified you, says to you, I will continue to not hold your sins against you. I will continue to forgive you, to lovingly receive you when you come to me as your father, to wipe the slate clean, that when you feel like a mountain of sin is being built up between me, your father, and you, my son or daughter, that when you confess sin, I'm faithful and just. to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If you take v. 9 of 1 John 1 to be courtroom justification, then you have to allow for the loss of courtroom justification. Read it with me in your minds. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If this is a courtroom and we've been justified and he's cleansed us from all unrighteousness, we don't have to do it again. But if this is a father to his justified adopted saints, then this is the proclamation of a blessing. My child, I will continue to forgive you and cleanse you as a father to a child. Look what he says in chapter 2 verse 1, My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. This is another argument for this being written to believers. Unbelievers do not have an advocate with the Father. Unbelievers do not have an advocate with the Father. Verse 2 of chapter 2, And he himself is the propitiation for our sins. Unbelievers do not have a wrath-bearing substitute. The promise of forgiveness and cleansing is a blessing of God to believers. Brothers and sisters, I would encourage us, take hold of this blessing. We often read this and say, well, I'll go to 1 John 1, 9 when I sin. Yeah, if I sin, if I confess it, I'll be forgiven. And that's true. Of the child of God, that is true. But this is actually a blessing. This is a blessing of God to us that our God as our father, our adoptive father continues to forgive us and cleanse us. But we don't want to leave these wonderful phrases, do we? Verse one of chapter two, if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. It's not by mistake that John says we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. I don't know how to say it other than to say it this way. The prophets and apostles of God did not waste ink. We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. The righteous one is your advocate. The righteous one is the one to whom you are united. And verse two, he himself is the propitiation for our sins. We mentioned this word this morning, and I can't seem to get away from it. But this word, if you do word studies, if that's your thing, this word is often debated. By all accounts, I think the best understanding of the word propitiation is, yes, atonement. But it's an atonement which takes away wrath. It's more than just a sacrifice. It was used in other cultures of the time to be a sacrifice that kind of placated the gods. John is saying Christ himself is the sacrifice that absorbs the wrath of God, the just and right wrath of God for sin. So one practical benefit of our justification and adoption is that there's the promise of forgiveness and cleansing. And number one, it's a blessing of God to believers. But number two, the promise of forgiveness and cleansing is a result of justification and adoption. We've already touched on this, but this is fatherly forgiveness versus judicial forgiveness. And the construction here in verse nine is present tense. There's an ongoing nature to it. We don't want to make too much of that. But there is a little bit to say here that this is not John saying, look, one time confess your sins. One time he'll forgive you. This is meant to be assumed that as we continue to confess our sins, he continues to be faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This may be the ground that many of us currently stand on that seems shaky. You attend a church like this or another one like it. You listen to podcasts and sermon audio. You read Reformed books and you begin to think to yourself, I've got it. Christ is my righteousness. I know that I'm not saved by words. I know that the one that is truly saved will persevere to the end. I've got it. All the creeds and confessions have taken any kind of Roman Catholicism out of me. I'm Protestant. But, We live our daily lives as if it's more like this. I've left the courtroom, but the judge keeps following me. I can't get away from the judge. We begin to view God our Father as a judge which continues to kind of be angry at us. to put it in human emotive terms. God is the judge of the world and God will judge all injustice. God will punish all sin. But for the believer, we leave the courtroom and go to the house of the judge and he says, don't call me judge anymore. We're done with that. Humanly speaking, I am your father. So as you continue to confess your sins, when you bring things to me, my child, I will continue to wipe it out. I will continue to be to you a father that forgives and cleanses. You can trust me. It's a result of our justification and adoption. You see, the courtroom is crucial. Many of us stay and linger in the lobby of the courtroom. And we don't experientially walk out into the sun and into the house of our adoptive father. It doesn't make us any less saved. It just means we continue to kind of treat passages like this as if, well, there's just no way that I can take comfort in the gospel. But how is it that the scriptures can boldly talk about adoption and God as our father if we can't take comfort in it? In fact, again, John himself says, these things we write to you, what? That your joy may be full. Here's what Martin Luther said, in short, unless God constantly forgives, we are lost. Thus this petition really means that God does not wish to regard our sins and punish us as we daily deserve, but to deal graciously with us, to forgive us as he has promised, and thus to grant us a joyful and cheerful conscience so that we may stand before him in prayer. For where the heart is not right with God and cannot generate such confidence, it will never dare to pray. But such a confident and joyful heart can never come except when one knows that his or her sins are forgiven. So the promise of forgiveness and cleansing is a blessing of God to believers and it's a result of justification and adoption. But thirdly, brothers and sisters, the promise of forgiveness and cleansing, which is our practical benefit of justification and adoption. The promise of forgiveness and cleansing is irrevocable. We see this in the text itself, but we need to be reminded of a few things regarding the character and nature of God. Look at the text. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We'll look at those two words in just a moment. Faithful and just. Why would John say that God is faithful and just? God can do whatever God wants to do. We think. So why even say that God is faithful? That God is just in His forgiving and cleansing. But before we do that, let's go back to Malachi 3.6. Turn there with me. Malachi 3.6. This is one of many passages that we could go to. It's often helpful when we read the Bible to remember that passages that speak about God doing something are aided by passages that declare that God is something or isn't something. God is not a man that he should lie, right? Malachi 3.6, there of course is a context here, but notice boldly what Malachi 3.6 says. For I am the Lord, I do not change. For I am the Lord, I do not change. And in this context, the second part, therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Why are the sons of Jacob not consumed? Because God doesn't change. But Malachi 3.6 is helpful as we look at other passages of scripture. When the Bible says that I am the Lord, I do not change, we are right to say God is immutable. God doesn't change. Which means when we read passages of the Bible and it seems as though God has changed, we need to find a way to understand them in line with the fact that God tells us that he doesn't change. So we could use many examples. Let's use one for instance. In the book of Genesis, God was sorry that he made man. Remember that? Or some translations say, God repented that he made man. And many of us read that and we humanize our God. See, even God can be sorry that he did something. We know that God doesn't make mistakes, but it seems as though God is revealing that he kind of had a whoops. Maybe I shouldn't have done that. But that wouldn't be the proper way to understand a text like that. God doesn't change. So in the case of Genesis, Chapter 6, it would be better for us to understand that as language that's human speak. God doesn't repent as if He does something wrong. God acts in one way, and then He may act in another way, but He doesn't change. What does that have to do with 1 John 1, 9? Well, look at the text. If we confess our sins, He is faithful. This is why Malachi 3.6 and every other passage about who your God is matters. He is faithful. Meaning, what He has promised, that He will do. If we confess our sins, He is faithful. Now, many of us have trusted in the faithfulness of people in this life. People who've promised to be faithful, but changed. They stopped being faithful. But when we get to 1 John 1, verse 9, and the Scripture says, He is faithful, we're meant to understand that with a whole host of other texts. Namely, I, the Lord, do not change. So the one who says to you as father, I will continue to forgive you and cleanse you is the one who doesn't change. He will faithfully do it. Okay, good. He's faithful to forgive me and cleanse me. But that's not what the scripture says, is it? He is faithful and just. Why would John need to tell us that God is just in forgiving us and cleansing us? Do we read this and assume that God might be unjust? I would say on the surface, most if not all of us in this room, if we're in Christ, would say, no, I don't think God is unjust. I don't think God is in the wrong to forgive sin? Unless you think you have sinned in a way that God cannot forgive. This sin is beyond God being just to forgive. This pattern of sin, this pattern of hypocrisy, this lie, this prideful spirit, this lack of charity, this lack of love, this particular lust. There's no way God could forgive it. You know what you're saying? God couldn't stay in the right and forgive me of this. I know God is faithful. But I can't be forgiven of this. I've sinned too greatly. If we confess our sins, our Father, who does not change, will accomplish what He has said. He will forgive us and cleanse us. And He's in the right to do it. He's in the right to do it. We never need question that God will place Himself in the wrong to forgive our sins. Why? Because we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous, who Himself is the what? The propitiation for our sins. So see, brothers and sisters, the next time you say to yourself, this sin which I cannot get out of my head, I cannot allow my conscience to receive the balm of the Gospel, practically, You don't mean it theologically, but practically you're saying either God can't be faithful and forgive me or God can't be just and forgive me. But a practical benefit of our justification and our adoption is the continual promise of forgiveness and cleansing as sons and daughters. And it's a blessing of God, a gift of God to believers. It's the very result of justification and adoption. And it's irrevocable. It's irrevocable. If we confess our sins, our father is faithful and just. To forgive us our sins, to continue to keep things not in between us. Forgive us, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Oh, that our repenting consciences would catch up with the word of God. Let's pray. Almighty God, we pray that Your church, Your sons and daughters would see the practical benefit of being justified and adopted sons and daughters of God. Lord, help us to take this text and see it as a blessing, a promise that You as our Father will continue throughout all of our days To forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness and that this promise is irrevocable. And it rests in the hands and work of our advocate, Jesus Christ, the righteous one who is the sacrifice for sin. Why does justification and adoption matter, Father? Because you say it does. Practically, it means as your sons and daughters, we have a father who loves to forgive and receive again and again and again his children. Lord, would you align our minds and hearts and consciences to the truth of this text? In Jesus name, Amen.