For many of us who grew up in the Church, we memorized I John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." While it is a very good verse to learn, we might be missing part of it's meaning without the context.
Verse 3 makes reference to our fellowship with the Father and Son. Verse 5 points out that the Father is light and in him is no darkness. Verses 6, 8, and 10 point out that we do have darkness--we sin. So verse 9 is the key that enables us, who have darkness, to still have fellowship with the Father who has no darkness. He gave us a way to have our darkness cleansed (or "turned to light" if you are bothered by the mixed metaphor).
I would say that this is a powerful message about salvation, except that I'm not convinced that it's actually about salvation (at least not completely). If you read the text completely, it is actually about continued fellowship. The "confess" in verse 9 isn't the initial act of repentance in becoming a Christian, but rather a continual act of repentance to maintain fellowship with the Father.
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