Guy Duininck: Who was 1st John 1:9 Written to?

Who was I John 1:9 Written To ?

Those who believe that the first chapter of John’s first epistle was an evangelistic message written to gnostic sinners also believe, of course, that John’s words in I John 1:9 were written to and intended for gnostic sinners. Because the common interpretation of I John 1:9 indicates the necessity of works on the part of believers to initiate God’s forgiveness of their sins, they believe that I John 1:9 could not have been written to believers. The New Covenant, after all, they would say, is a covenant of faith, not of works.

Their argument does not hold up at all, however, because if the New Covenant is a covenant of faith—which it is—and if salvation is by faith and not by works—which it is—then the interpretation that I John 1:9 is an invitation to sinners to be saved by confessing their sins means that salvation is by works—the works of confessing one’s sins. The very argument some make to prove that I John 1:9 could not have been written to believers—the argument that the New Covenant is not a covenant of works, but of faith—destroys their own argument because their interpretation of I John 1:9 means that the way sinners are saved is by doing the work of confessing their sins.

In other words, the very argument that I John 1:9 could not have been written to believers because that interpretation suggests that works must be done by believers in order to be forgiven of sins also means that I John 1:9 could not have been written to sinners because that interpretation suggests that works must be done by sinners in order for them to be saved. The very argument some make, then, that I John 1:9 could not have been written to believers because that interpretation suggests a works covenant also means that I John 1:9 could not have been written to sinners because that interpretation also suggests a works covenant.

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