Does Jesus need a confession from you before He forgives?

See 1 John 1:8-9: "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

John was not addressing believers here, even though the verses are useful for us. We see this in the preceding verses: 1 John 1-4 (MSG-)

“1-2 From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in—we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God Himself took shape before us.

We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!”

The people John was addressing in 1 John 1 were yet to experience “this experience of communion with the Father and His Son…” They were not believers.

The word "confess" in 1 John 1:9 above is from the Greek word "omologōmen" which means "to speak the same, to agree." It does not mean catching every sin and literally “confessing” each one or else no forgiveness and hell beckons. Check it out in any bible lexicon. Many are using this verse to, intentionally or otherwise, keep people under condemnation by making them feel that unless they catch and confess each act of sin one by one, those sins remain unforgiven. Here's one - http://biblehub.com/lexicon/1_john/1-9.htm

To "confess our sins" in the context of 1 John 1:9 is to confess our state of being without God's gift of righteousness through Christ; the same way we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus because we believe that He is our righteousness: Romans 10:9-10:

"that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

To "confess" in both 1 John 1:9 and Romans 10 above is to speak the same thing as God’s word; to "omologōmen."

To "confess" in 1 John 1:9 is to be in agreement with God that “all have sinned,” hence the very next verse (verse 10:) “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” The one who says that he is sinless by himself does not have the word of God in Him.

To "confess our sins" is to be in agreement with His word which says: "There is none righteous, no, not one." It is agreeing with Him that without Christ as our righteousness, we are dead in sin and there is no forgiveness. Here's Paul confessing his sins (in agreement with and saying the same thing as God’s word) in 1 Timothy 1:15-16-

“15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His immense patience as an example for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life.”

Notice “I am the worst,” not “I was…” This does not mean that Paul was living a life full of sin. He was confessing/acknowledging his sins, in line with God's word “all have sinned.”

Remember James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

The word confess here is exomologeó, from ek and homologeo which means “to acknowledge or (by implication, of assent) agree fully.” It means to profess, acknowledge and openly declare our sinner status (but for Christ’s righteousness) to one another, just as Paul did in 1 Timothy above, in agreement with God’s word.

Many misinterpret the word "confess" to mean "catch every sin that you commit and tell God how sorry you are about it, or else God will not forgive you and you will fall out of fellowship with Him." But this way, salvation is still contingent on what one must do and not what Christ has done. This speaks of salvation by merit and not by grace, and thus, is not salvation. This teaching is not of Christ.

Just to digress a little, Romans 10:9 says "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

God raising the Lord Jesus from the dead was not just because He could. It is the divine receipt showing that we who believe (confess the Lord Jesus) have been forgiven of all of our sins and made righteous by His one sacrifice for sins. See Romans 4:23-

“Who was betrayed and put to death because of our misdeeds and was raised to secure our justification (our acquittal), [making our account balance and absolving us from all guilt before God].

See the TPT: “Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that He had made us right with God!”

Christ would not have risen from the dead if our lifetime of sins had not been forgiven. It's akin to seeing someone who went to serve a death sentence in an impregnable prison for the crimes of another walking free. As believers, we know that the wages of our lifetime of sins (death) have been fully paid and we have everlasting righteousness because Christ is risen. We are forgiven and free. To believe that some sins are not forgiven until they are “confessed” is to see Christ as not risen.

Hebrews 10:12 says Christ's sacrifice for our sins was a one time sacrifice, "good for all time." In Christ, we are not forgiven and righteous only until we “confess” our next sin as those who try to twist this word confess out of its context say. His forgiveness and gift of righteousness is everlasting and apart from works such as confession as the world knows it. Anything done to gain right-standing with God is works of the law and the one who does them does not believe that the obedience of Christ gives him right-standing with God forever.

It is by Christ's obedience that we are made righteous (Romans 5:19) and not what we do or don't do by our own human effort in order to remain saved, after we got saved.

By all means, we can talk to our Abba Father about our sins. I do this but not in order to be forgiven; it is with thanksgiving for I have been forgiven and my sins are no longer imputed to me. Christ paid it all and finished the work already according to 1 John 2:12 which is written to believers-

"I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake."

Notice "have been forgiven you for His name’s sake" and not "will be forgiven you when you confess particular sins." See the Amplified version:

"I am writing to you, little children (believers, dear ones), because your sins have been forgiven for His name’s sake [you have been pardoned and released from spiritual debt through His name because you have confessed His name, believing in Him as Savior]."

In Christ, our sins are forgiven not because we religiously catch and “confess” each sin but because we confess ("omologōmen" which means "to speak the same, to agree" ) His word and believe in Jesus as Saviour. See Acts 13:43- “All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.” Never through confession as the world knows it.

In Christ, we are children of God. My kids do wrong sometimes. What a sad, fear-filled life they would be living if their fellowship with me depended on their ability to catch every single one of their faults and report same to me for forgiveness without which they would no longer have fellowship with me! Many times they're not even aware of their errors (same goes for we who believe.) I have to draw their attention to these errors and do my best to train them up in the way that they should go; how much more our Father in heaven Who is our Trainer.

Romans 14:23 says “…and whatever is not from faith is sin.” The NLT says “If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.”

Fear, anxiety and worry are not of faith. But advocates of “confession” before forgiveness for believers don't bother with these sins.

When I do wrong (which we all do from time to time, be it in the form of bad thoughts, snapping angrily at family members, even fear and worry are sins,) by His grace alone, I talk to the Lord about it with thanksgiving that my sins have been forgiven (1 John 2:12), that “He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21) and that His Spirit is transforming me to perfection (2 Cor. 5:21.) Without Him, my default mode is sin, as is everyone else's. But there is something about the arm of flesh (e.g. human effort at confessing each sin in order to be forgiven) that always wants to be relevant in the story of our salvation. We are mere recipients in this story. Christ has finished the work of our salvation. We have nothing to add to it.

In Christ, there is no condemnation whether you remember to “confess” each sin or not. This is why Paul said in Romans 8:1 "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." If we had to confess each sin in order to get back in fellowship with our Heavenly Father, what then is the purpose of this verse? To say that one must confess each sin or else no forgiveness is to say that there remains condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus but have some “unconfessed” sins in their lives.

By all means we may talk with our Lord God about our sins but not in order to be forgiven. In Christ, we have already been forgiven. He knows all of our sins- past, present and future. He took care of ALL OF OUR SINS when He sacrificed Himself for us. Because of Him, our sins are no longer imputed to us. By His “one sacrifice for sins,” He took our sins away forever and “by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:11–14.)

Against this backdrop, the Holy Spirit testifies to us in verse 17 of the same Hebrews 10:

17 “And their sins and their lawless deeds

I will remember no more.”

Now see verse 18 “Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.”

An offering is given in order for forgiveness to happen. We are forgiven because of Christ's one offering. Confessing in order to be forgiven is unbelief in the finished work of Christ. The very next verses (19-23) talk about entering the Holy place by the blood of Jesus and “having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.”

Amplified version- “having our hearts sprinkled and purified from a guilty (evil) conscience”

An evil conscience is one that toils over the guilt of sin. The one with an evil conscience does not believe that in Christ, he is forgiven and righteous in the sight of God because of Christ's one offering, so his heart is constantly in turmoil from the burden of guilt that Christ gave Himself to free us from. He feels he has to do something like “confess" to lift this burden of guilt towards getting God to be happy with him again. Christ sets free from this evil conscience.

Even with us humans, only in an unhealthy relationship will a son have to “confess” each sin to his loving dad in order to continue to have fellowship with him and enjoy his benefits. In a healthy and loving relationship, the son's natural inclination is to please his father. If he fails, which he will sometimes, he has the assurance that his failure can never make his father "un-son" him. He knows his father will help him and uphold him. He remains his father's son and heir. But this does not make him want to sin against his father; just the thought of displeasing his father who loves him so makes him cringe!

How much more our Father in heaven?

This is how we are made righteous in the sight of God: "For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous." Romans 5:19. It is an everlasting righteousness that can only be undone by not believing in Jesus. What does it mean to believe the Lord Jesus Christ?

Nothing to do with our good works, law-keeping prowess or confessing select sins in order to be "re-righteous." All to do with our Abba Father who "made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21.