During the ministry of Jesus, some accepted Jesus and believed in Him and others did not.  Most of the religious leaders rejected Jesus because He was critical of their hypocrisy. Many of the common people were afraid to confess that they believed in Jesus lest they should be rejected by the religious leaders. John 12:42-43 “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” Knowing that many did not want to come out openly and accept Him, Jesus taught the following in Matthew 10:32-33 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.  But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” 

Jesus taught that if we confess our faith in Him, He will confess us before His Father in heaven.  We want Jesus to confess us before the Father; we want to be accepted and blessed and welcomed by the Father. However, if we love the praises of men and seek to be accepted by unbelievers and choose to deny our faith in Jesus, Jesus will deny us before His Father in heaven.  Are we so interested in what other people think about us that we would willingly deny our faith in Jesus? I encourage you to never be ashamed of your faith in Jesus.

All who believe in Jesus Christ should be willing to confess that belief in Him. Romans 10:8-10 “But what does it say?  ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach):  that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”  I believe this to be a very powerful scripture.  It here states that there are two things which are necessary for salvation.  The first is belief and the second is confession. 

There is much you can and should believe.  You can believe that God exists, that He is the creator of all things, and that Jesus came from God.  But that is not enough.  You must believe with your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead in order for you to be saved.  The resurrection of Jesus by God proved both the power of God and that Jesus is who He said He is – the Son of God. The resurrection of Jesus also proved that the dead will be resurrected someday. You must believe these facts from your heart.

But it is not sufficient to just believe; it is also necessary to confess – confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus.  We have an example of a confession made before baptism which is recorded for us in the book of Acts.  Philip was preaching to the Ethiopian eunuch while they were riding in the chariot.  Acts 8:36-37 “Now as they went down the road, they came to some water.  And the eunuch said, ‘See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?’ Then Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’  And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’”  It should be obvious that belief and confession are closely related – we confess what our heart believes.

Before Jesus was crucified, Peter was afraid to confess that he knew Jesus.  When Jesus was being tried by the Chief Priests, Peter was outside warming himself by the fire.  He was afraid that he might be condemned like Jesus, so he denied knowing Jesus three times. Luke 22:61-62 “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ So Peter went out and wept bitterly.” Romans 10:9 says to confess with your mouth.  We can believe something secretly but like Peter be afraid to tell anyone what we believe.  It requires a measure of boldness and a sincere conviction to confess with our mouth that we believe in Jesus.

“Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus.” Some Bible versions translate the passage as “confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord.’” It is my understanding that the confession is more than just an acknowledgement of our belief that Jesus is the Son of God and that God raised Him from the dead.  It is also an acknowledgement that Jesus is Lord – your Lord. Speaking of Jesus in Philippians 2:9-11 “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” God the Father wants everyone to confess that Jesus is Lord.  If Jesus is your Lord, you accept that He is the master or owner of your life.

It is easy enough to say that Jesus is Lord.  But do we really mean it? Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Jesus also said in Luke 6:46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” The confession that Jesus is Lord should be more than just words.  The one who confesses Jesus is Lord must also be willing to do the things that He says to do.

After Jesus was raised from the dead, He appeared to the disciples.  But Thomas was missing. When he was told that Jesus had risen from the dead and appeared to the disciples, Thomas refused to believe. John 20:26-29 “And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace to you!’  Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’” You have not seen Jesus, but I encourage you to believe and be ready to confess that Jesus is your Lord.