Confession is very important to a Christian.  It is important to confess before God and other people – to lay our hearts open and confess what we really believe. 

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 states that there are two things which are necessary for your 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 is the Son of 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.  But it is not sufficient to just believe; it is also necessary to confess – confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus.  Some translations have “confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord.’”  If that be the meaning, then the confession is that in your heart you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Master; you are willing to do what he tells you to do.  The scripture here says that the confession of the mouth is made unto salvation.  The “unto” implies that it is a step towards salvation. 

We do 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.  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 weren’t 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 for his life and denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. 

You will have many opportunities in your life to confess your belief in Jesus Christ.  You may even have your life threatened if you confess Him.  However, I hope you will boldly confess Him and be a witness for Him.  You do not want Jesus to deny you before His Father who is in heaven.

God willing, I would like to continue the topic of confession next time.