REFUSE TO CONFESS YOUR SINS & YOU WILL BE BURN IN HELL BECAUSE GOD WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU.

Apparently, some guys with PhD are saying so, and they backed their claims with 1John 1:1-10.

"Yes! Albright, Those PhD guys are right".

Don't be a joke, study your bible, don't just read it. Stop swallowing everything that you hear those PhD guys say from the pulpit. I don't have time to waste so let me make my point clear and leave you to go and study on your own.

I want to start by saying that going to church doesn’t make someone a Christian and in the New Testament churches, there were plenty of people who were not saved. I’m talking of the “false brothers who infiltrated our ranks” (Gal 2:4) and the false teachers, false apostles, and false prophets who seemed to follow Peter and Paul everywhere they went. Understand that the early church was a place of harmony and accord.

In reality those churches were fractious battlegrounds between Christians, Pharisees, Judaizers, and outright crooks. ( please take note)

If you carefully study the middle chapter of 2 Peter you will find repeated warnings pertaining to false teachers who deny the sovereign Lord, who live in error and are slaves of depravity. WHERE ARE THESE HERETICS? They are not out in the world; they are in here “among the people” (see 2 Pet 2:1).
Among the people? Which people? I guess among the believers in the Congregation)

The wonderful thing about church groups is that they are open. Everyone is welcomed. But not everyone who comes loves Jesus. Every preacher knows this and tailors their message accordingly.

They’ll have something for the saint and something for the sinner. The epistle writers are no different.

LET'S NOW BEGIN TO DIVIDE  1John 1:1-9

John says ‘we’ a lot in the above chapter. That doesn’t sound like he’s talking about them but  us.”

In fact, John says “we” 20 times in chapter 1 of 1John!

But the question i want to ask is, is he referring to “We-believers” or “We-people” or  “We-his-royal-self”?

I want to say that it will be a huge mistake to assume that “we” always refers to a particular set of people in every single instance.
So we need to consider the context:

Now, permit me to divide the chapter into two groups:

Group 1- "We"- himself (John), & Group 2-  "We-people"( John's audience)

GROUP 1: "WE"- HIMSELF (JOHN)

Verse1: That which was from the beginning, which  "we"  have heard, which  we have seen with our eyes, which  we have looked at and our hands have touched—this   we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

Verse 2: The life appeared;  we have seen it and testify to it, and  we proclaim to YOU the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

Verse 3: We proclaim to YOU what  we have seen and heard, so that YOU also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 
(please take note of the "YOU" John singled out in the above verse and verse 5 below)

Verse 4: We write this to make your joy complete.

Verse 5. This is the message  we have heard from him and declare to YOU: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

I hope you can figure out the "WE" & the "YOU" are not referring to the same people, right?

Now, let's move to:

GROUP 2- "WE PEOPLE " : John’s audience (the “You”)

Verse 6:If  we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness,  we lie and do not live by the truth.

Verse 7: But if  we walk in the light, as he is in the light,  we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Verse 8: If  we claim to be without sin,  we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

Verse 9: If  we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Verse 10 : If we claim  we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

Can you figure out any difference between the two groups?

So, Why do I say 1 John 1 is addressed to unbelievers?

To answer this question we need to look at the “you” that John singles out in verse 3 in group 1. Who are “the you”? What are they like? Well in the following verses John gives us a very comprehensive description. Let us consider how this group – whoever they are – compares with the typical Christian. See if you can spot the difference below:

Verse 3: They do not have fellowship with us as we have with God; they alienated from the life of God (Eph 4:18)

Verse 5: They need to hear the message that John has heard

Verse 6:
• They walk in darkness
• They lie and do not live by the truth

Verse 7: They need to be purified from all sins.

Verse 8: They are deceived

Verse 9: They need to be purified from all unrighteousnesss

Verse 10:
• They called God a liar
• God’s word has no place in their lives.

Now, let's go back to Group 1. "The We"- "Believers" ( John himself ), what are they like?

Verse 3:
We have fellowship with Christ and all the members of His body (1 Cor 1:9, 1 Jn 1:7)

Verse 5:
We have heard and believed the message (Rom 10:17)

Verse 6 :
• We walk in the light (Joh 8:12)
• We have met the Truth and walk in the truth (Joh 14:6, 2 Jn 1:4)

Verse 7: We have been purified from all sin (Heb 10:10)

Verse 8: We are filled with the Spirit of Truth (Jn 14:17)

Verse 9: We have received the gift of forgiveness and have been made righteous (1 Cor 6:11, Eph 1:7)

Verse10:
• We agree with God (Rom 10:9-13)
• His word lives in us (Th 2:13)

As you can see, the group 1 is nothing like the group 2. Can you see that?

Indeed, the people in this group 2 are the exact opposite of what the Bible describes as a believers  in group 1.

I guess that means that they – those John is addressing in chapter 1 – are not believers.
They are not the “dear children” John begins to address in chapter 2.
Was that hard to believe?

Anyway, am just done rightly dividing the word to you. Now,If you think the whole Bible was written for you, you’re going to end up confused, messed up, and in serious trouble.

We need to have a whole Bible theology but that does not mean “read everything indiscriminately and hope for the best.” That would be like going to the drug cabinet in the local hospital and swallowing every pill in sight. 

Conclusion: if after going through this article, you still think 1 John 1:9 is addressed to believers, that’s fine. You can go ahead and continue confessing to be forgiven. The real question here is not Who? but What? This is why I say it is essential, when reading this scripture, that we ask the right question!

Shalom.