Can we enter the kingdom of heaven
only with the gospel of the blood?
Never. We have to believe in the complete gospel
(the gospel of the water and the Spirit).
1 John 1:9 applies only to the righteous. If a sinner who was not yet redeemed tried to atone for his daily sins according to the words of this passage and confessed his wrongdoing, his sins would not be expiated. Do you see what I’m saying here? This passage does not apply to sinners who are not born again.
There are many in this world who are not yet born again, but they take this passage from 1 John chapter 1 and pray and repent for their sins, hoping for forgiveness.
But can one who is not born again be redeemed completely of his sins through prayers of confession? This is an important point we have to consider and clarify before going any further.
Before you read 1 John, you have to decide whether the apostle John was a righteous man or a sinner. Let me ask you. Was the apostle John a righteous man who was born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, or was he a sinner?
If you say the apostle John was a sinner, you are biblically incorrect in your belief. If the apostle John was a righteous man who was born again when he believed in Jesus, it becomes clear that his faith was different from yours. You have to have the same faith as the apostle John.
Let me ask you another question. Was the apostle John writing those letters to the righteous or sinners? The apostle John was writing the letters to the righteous.
Therefore, if sinners who are not born again cited the words of 1 John 1:8-9 and applied them to themselves, it would be wrong. If you are to become righteous, confess your sins before God and believe the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Then the Lord will wash away all your sins with the gospel that has already cleansed the sins of the world.
The apostle John’s faith is like this. In 1 John chapter 5 he says that he has faith in “the water, the blood, and the Spirit.” Do you believe in Jesus Christ who came by water, blood, and the Spirit? Do you believe only in Jesus who came by the Cross, or by His baptism, His blood, and the Spirit?
Can you enter the kingdom of heaven by believing in the gospel of the blood only? If your faith is only in the gospel of the blood at the Cross, you know only half the gospel. If you believe only in the blood at the Cross, no doubt you find yourself praying for forgiveness every day. Chances are you believe your sins can be washed away simply through prayers of repentance.
But can your sins be washed away when you believe only in the blood at the Cross, repent and pray for forgiveness of your daily sins? If you are one of these people, then your sins will remain in your heart, because no one can wash away his sins through faith in the blood at the Cross alone, or daily prayers of repentance. If you are one of these people, then you do not yet know the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and your faith is incomplete.
The apostle John was born again because he believed in the gospel of the water and the blood and the Spirit. But you believe only in the blood at the Cross. When you do not have a clear idea of the gospel yourself, how can you lead others to salvation? You are not born again yourself, but are trying to atone for your sins through prayers of repentance. This will never work.
No matter how hard man prays and repents, his sins cannot be washed away from his heart. If you feel sometimes that your sins have been washed away, it is only your imagination and the power of your emotions. If you pray and repent, you might be able to feel refreshed for a day or so. But you can never become free of your sins in this way.
Sinners pray and repent, hoping to be saved from their sins. That is why they are still sinners even after believing in Jesus for a long time. They do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If you believe in Jesus but have not yet been born again, you might be one of these people. If you are trying to atone for your sins by praying and repenting every day, that is a clear testimony that you are not yet born again. You have to decide whether to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit as the Apostle John did, or to put your faith in your own thoughts and emotions. One is the clear truth, and the other is untruth.
The true gospel according to the Bible is that Jesus was baptized and took away the sins of the world once and for all and received the judgment for all sinners at the Cross. If man believes in the baptism of Jesus and His death at the Cross, he shall be saved at once from all his sins. On the other hand, if man tries to wash away his transgressions with prayers of repentance, he will never become free of his sins. Do you think you can remember all your daily sins? Does God take care of sins for which you have not repented? Are prayers of repentance a clear solution to the problem of daily sins? No.