December 3

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. — 1 John 1:9 BSB

“He is faithful and just.” What a powerful word that is! To me, there is hardly another word in the Bible as great, as glorious, and as comforting as this: “He is faithful and just.” “Just?” you might ask, “I know God’s mercy and grace can forgive sinners, but how can God be just and forgive them? Doesn’t His justice require the punishment of sin? Isn’t His justice seen in the eternal judgments against those who break His holy law? So how can it be that God is just, and yet forgives those who confess their sins?”

But it’s true. Divinely true, eternally true, and in this truth lies the great mystery of redemption through the blood and obedience of God’s co-equal Son. This truth is wrapped up in the word “just.” How? In this way: The Lord of life and glory became the substitute and representative for those His Father gave Him. He took their place, bore their punishment, and perfectly fulfilled the law on their behalf through His actions and sufferings. He bled and died for them, rose for them, and ascended to the right hand of the Father for them. Now, justice demands the sinner’s pardon and pleads for it. Here’s the difference: mercy asks for forgiveness, but justice demands it. Mercy, as part of God’s character, looks down with pity on the repentant sinner, but justice says, “It is their right; it belongs to them, because the Redeemer has paid their debt. The Savior has obeyed the law on their behalf, which they could never do on their own.”

When we embrace this glorious truth—that for those who confess their sins, God is not only faithful but also just to forgive them—it draws from God’s heart a full, free, and irrevocable pardon for all their sins, especially those they confess at His feet.