We

If you are a fan of sports it is not usual to consider yourself part of your favorite team. When you are talking about your team it is common to include yourself when referring to them. "We need to win this game or the season is over." "We don't play well in poor weather conditions." While you are not affiliated with the team in any form, your loyalty to them makes you feel as though you are part of the organization. It is often the same when it comes to matters regarding the Christian faith. There is this assumption that all Christians believe the same things about the faith. Therefore, you will see Christians make statements similar to those used regarding sports teams as if the entire body of Christ believes the same way. For example, you may hear Christians say, "We believe that people who die pass out of existence and do not suffer in a fiery hell of torment." Others say, "We believe that where there are six or more regularly baptized members, one of whom is an elder, there the Church exists with full power of church extension when acting in harmony with the law of God." Now, I am a Christian, but I do not agree with these statements. Yet, there are people who would lump me and all Christians together as if everything we say or is said about us is true for all Christians. That brings me to one of the most debated verses in the Bible. That verse is 1 John 1:9. John writes:

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

There are Christians who read John's use of the word "we" as proof that John is writing a command to all Christians throughout history that we must confess our sins to God in order to receive His forgiveness. Aside from the fact that Christians are already forgiven and do not need to ask God for more forgiveness, was John including himself when he wrote this verse? If you read the surrounding verses, the answer will reveal itself. John is addressing the heresy of Gnosticism which taught that Jesus only appeared to have human form but that he was actually spirit only. This belief was beginning to infiltrate the church and therefore he decided to address it. John didn't believe this and you can see this at the beginning of his letter. In 1 John 1:1-3 we read:

"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. 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. 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."

His use of the word "we" is the same as saying "in as much as" or "in view of the fact that." He is not saying he believes this, but is clearly separating what he believes and teaches as opposed to what the Gnostics believe and teach. Furthermore, this is seen when he transitions from his experience as an apostle, who knew Jesus Christ personally, to those who claimed Jesus had not come in the flesh. John says "we proclaim to you" and "so that you also" to indicate that he is addressing a separate group of people within the context of the church he is writing to. It is as if he is saying, "The apostles and I have seen Jesus Christ in person and that is our evidence that he was here in the flesh and not in spirit form." Then there is the evidence of the verses on both sides of 1 John 1:9. Both 1 John 1:8 and 1 John 1:10 give clues as to who the audience is that John is directing this portion of his letter to. 

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8) ... If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us (1 John 1:10)."

Again, John says "if we claim" at the beginning of each verse. But, he is not saying that what is to follow is a belief he holds. Each verse says that if a person claims to "be without sin" and that they "have not sinned," then they are deceived, the truth is not in them, that they make Jesus Christ out to be a liar and His word is not in them. These verses, along with verse 9, are not referencing Christians. If someone says they are a Christian, like a Gnostic may profess, yet claims to be without sin or that they have not sinned, they are not a Christian. Then, it is they who must confess their sin to God. That sin is that they do not believe God and the truth about Jesus Christ and who He is. That sin is precisely what Jesus Christ is quoted as saying in the Gospel of John. John 16:8-9 says:

"When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me ..."

The sin of unbelief in Jesus Christ is what will prevent a person from entering into the Kingdom of God. If you believe in a Jesus that didn't come in the flesh and only came in spirit form, then you do not believe in the same Jesus Christ that the Bible proclaims. Therefore, you do not believe in Jesus Christ. This is what John was writing about in the first chapter of his letter. Jesus Christ did come in the flesh. He was seen, heard, looked at, and touched by people from His birth and all the way until He ascended into heaven after His resurrection from the dead. This is what we believe and confess.