“We don’t confess our sins to be forgiven. We confess our sins to restore fellowship with God.”
Sounds nice, but the New Testament never teaches that. In fact, one key characteristic that distinguishes the New Testament from the Old is the fact that our fellowship with the Father is NEVER broken. Under the Old Testament, the faithfuls were out of fellowship with every sin (cf. Pss 51:4, 11). The favorite Old Testament term for this was “the Spirit departed from them” (see 1 Sam 16:14, Jdgs 16:20, Isa 59:2, cf. Isa 63:10). To restore fellowship with God, the worshippers were required to offer a sacrifice (Lev 4:20, 26, 31, 35, 5:1-10, 6:1-7).
Interestingly, these worshippers continually returned with animal sacrifices for their sins. Why? Because one sacrifice was not sufficient; no single offering permanently removed sin (Heb 10:4, 11). Thus, fellowship was never permanently restored. This continuous offering of sacrifices created sin-consciousness in the hearts of the worshippers; each offering emphasized the fact that their sins were never truly dealt with, and fellowship with God could be lost again (Heb 10:3).
In the New Testament, however, everything changes. Jesus offers ONE sacrifice to handle ALL sins (past, present and FUTURE) forever (Col 2:13-14, cf. Acts 13:38-39), and then He sat down, implying the work was finished, never requiring repetition (Heb 10:12). His offering, unlike those of the Old, perfects us forever (Heb 10:14). The sin problem is COMPLETELY dealt with (Heb 8:12, 9:24-28).
Now, the sacrifice of Christ is SO efficacious that when we sin, we sin WHILE in fellowship with God, we REMAIN in that fellowship afterwards, and REPENT, while still in fellowship with Him. The New Testament knows nothing about a Christian “losing fellowship” with God, when he fails morally. His presence never leaves us, even when we transgress. The Holy Spirit abides with us forever (Jn 14:16-17). We are sealed with the Spirit until the day of redemption (i.e. Christ’s coming), not until our next sin (Eph 1:13, 4:30). The believer who sins might grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30), but He NEVER loses Him (cf. Heb 13:5)!
Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The phrase “we have peace with God” appears morphologically in the present active indicative in the Greek, literally “we CONTINUALLY have peace with God.” This is a fact! (see also Eph 2:13-18, Col 1:19-22). We exist in a constant state of peace (or fellowship) with God. This state is never interrupted, not even by sin. We have CONTINUOUS access to the Father, through faith in Jesus Christ (see Rom 5:2, Eph 2:18, 3:12, cf. Heb 10:19-22), and NOTHING, not even sin, can separate us from Him (Rom 8:31-39).
Paul, in his opening (1 Corin 1:9) and closing (2 Corin 13:14) addresses to the saints at Corinth (an extremely sinful congregation), reminds them that that they were still in fellowship/communion with the Father. John likewise says, “…our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 Jn 1:3).
So, WHAT then should the Christian do when he sins? First, he repents (i.e. godly sorrow in this context; to have a sense of remorse), and acknowledges that what he has done is wrong (2 Corin 7:9-11, Jas 4:8-10, Rev 2:5). Second, he gives the Father thanks, because he is ALREADY forgiven of that sin (not ASK FOR forgiveness). Third, he does these, all the while knowing that NOTHING has changed in his relationship with God—God is no less his Father after he sins than He was before!
Therefore, a believer who sins, under the New Testament, can rightly pray this way:
“Father, I acknowledge that what I have done is sinful. I should not have done that. I should not have spoken that way. I am sorry, and ask for Your help to walk in obedience. Thank You that Christ has ALREADY borne this sin, that I am ALREADY forgiven in Him, and that NOTHING, not even this sin, can ever separate me from Your love or remove me from Your family.”
And peradventure he forgets to pray this prayer, or unknowingly omits a sin (we commit hundreds of sins daily that we are not even aware of), NOTHING changes in his standing with God! The aim here is simply accountability, not the restoration of fellowship or forgiveness.
Conclusively, to say our fellowship with the Father is tied to our confession of sins or remorse is to imply that the sacrifice of Christ was just as ineffective as those of the Old Covenant. Constantly confessing sins today, TO BE forgiven or to RESTORE fellowship with God, is simply a rehash of the same sin-consciousness prevalent under the Old Levitical order. It is akin to “bringing an offering” AGAIN AND AGAIN, each time we sin. It is saying that the one sacrifice of Christ is not sufficient. If every sin once again places us outside God’s fellowship (as it did under the Old Covenant), until we confess it, what then has the Cross actually changed?
© Josh Banks Ministries. 2026.
