All who believe in Jesus Christ should be willing to confess that belief. 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.
Is confession a onetime act on our part? Of course not. We should be willing at every opportunity to confess our belief in Him. We should not be ashamed of Him or of our belief in Him. Jesus said 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 knew that there would be people who believe but were not willing to confess him. We have such an example in 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.” Another example is that of Peter. When Jesus was being tried by the Chief Priests, Peter was outside by the fire. He was afraid that he might be condemned like Jesus, so he denied 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.” The passage above says to confess with your mouth. We can believe something secretly but be afraid to tell anyone what we believe. It may require a measure of boldness and a sincere conviction to confess with our mouth that we believe in Jesus.
The passage says to “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 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. The word here translated as “Lord” signifies “having power” or “authority”. It is elsewhere translated as master or owner. 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, He has power and authority over you and you accept that He is the master or owner of your life. Romans 14:8-9 “For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.”
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 accepts Jesus as 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. John 20:24-28 “Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ So he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’ 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!’” When Thomas actually saw Jesus, he believed and confessed “My Lord and my God”. I encourage you to also believe and be happy to confess that Jesus is your Lord.