Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
August 26, 2001 A.M.
Making Our Confession Unto Salvation
Reading - Matthew 10.32-33 & Romans 10.10
We’ve been asked to speak on the subject of Biblical CONFESSION...
So this morning... Making Our Confession Unto... or For Salvation
The word confess in the Greek New Testament is a compound word.
Homos - meaning the same or similar
Logos - meaning word or speech.
Homologos literally means:
-To say again the same thing...
-To agree...
-To consent...
-To acknowledge...
-To submit or yield by a verbal statement.
Colon Brown in his Dictionary of New Testament Theology says:
Homologos is a legal word... A man agrees with another’s statement.
This agreeing expresses itself in a promise or commitment... In a legal contract.
Homologos is a confession that is equivalent to a legal... binding oath.
Biblical Confession then is...
-A verbal agreement with another’s statement.
This agreement expresses itself in commitment.
When applied to New Testament Christianity confession has two meanings...
First... To confess one’s sins... To agree with God on what sins is and that we are guilty.
James says... Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
John writes... If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
Church... It is important that we agree with God on sin in our lives through confession.
But this is not the confession we are interested in this morning.
We are interested in the confession of Jesus as the Son of God.
-To confess the Deity... the Lordship... the Headship of Christ.
-To agree with God that Jesus is who He says He is.
-To agree that the historical Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the only begotten Son of God who came as the Savior of the world.
Let’s notice some scriptures where we are told that we must confess Jesus.
Matthew 10.32-33... Whoever confesses, acknowledges me before men, I will also confess, acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
Romans 10.9-10... If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Acts 8.36-38... As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?" And 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." And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.
1 Timothy 6.1... Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 John 4.14-15... And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.
Philippians 2.9-11... Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Hebrews 4.14 & 10.22-23... Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. (The Greek for profess is homologos). Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess. (Again the Greek is homologos). Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we confess... WHY? Because God is faithful.
Audience... Is there any doubt that confession of Jesus as the Son of God is necessary for our salvation... I believe not!!
Now, with these verses in mind, let’s see what we can learn from them and others about the subject of confession.
First... What are we to confess?
Confession is not of a church creed.
We are not to confess some doctrinal concepts... We are confessing Christ.
We are confessing a person... Not a set of rules.
Insisting that an individual confess to a church creed or some special understanding of doctrine before baptism is not taught in the New Testament... NO WHERE.
Those on Pentecost, in Acts two, were convinced that Jesus was the promised Messiah, that He was indeed the Son of God.
Acts 2.42 tells us that they accepted this message and 3000 were baptized. They knew little or no church doctrine. All they knew was that they were convinced that Jesus was the Son of God.
The Ethiopian eunuch was not asked to confess any church creed. The only confession recorded was that He acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God.
Audience... The only confession that a preacher or church has Biblical authority to require of anybody is that we confess Jesus as the Son of God.
Jesus said... YOU confess ME... And I’ll confess YOU... YOU deny me and I’ll deny you.
In the act of confessing... We are...
-Agreeing with God,
-Acknowledging,
-Accepting,
The fact that Jesus of Nazareth is the only begotten Son of God... and that as such... He has all authority in our lives.
Yes, it is true...That by confession...We are also accepting His Kingship and Lordship in our life.
We can’t confess Jesus as Lord... Without submitting... Yielding to His authority.
Genuine New Testament confession must include a commitment.
You see... God has declared that...
-All authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Jesus... That’s Matthew 28.18.
-And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over every thing for the church... Ephesians 1.22.
In our confession is embodied the concept of... Commitment... Submission... to His Deity Status... to His Lordship... to His Authority in our lives.
If Jesus is indeed... God in the flesh... then to acknowledge that fact is to submit to His will.
Only a fool would confess Jesus as God... And then not submit to His absolute authority.
You see... Our lack of submission today is inseparably linked to our lack of faith...
-In Jesus being God
-And in His absolute authority.
But this is what the Bible says... In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh and we beheld His glory as the only begotten of God.
Church... If and when we genuinely confess Jesus, we will yield to His Lordship in our lives... RIGHT?
Secondly... The confession is to be verbal.
Listen to Paul in Romans 10.9... If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Confession is an outward demonstration of an inward conviction.
Paul concludes... With the heart man believes... With the MOUTH confession is made unto salvation.
The Ethiopian treasure said... I believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
Confession is an...
-Outward demonstration...
-A verbal acknowledgment...
Of inward conviction.
Confession is a declaration of our faith.
Thirdly... The confession is to be public.
Jesus said... Those who are willing to confess me before men, on earth... Will be confessed before the Father in heaven.
Paul tells us that... Timothy’s confession was before many witnesses.
There should be no doubt that our confession should be both verbal and public.
Notice with me how many confessions of Jesus... In the New Testament... Were both verbal and public?
-The angelic host confessed Jesus verbally and publicly in Luke 2.11. Today in the town of David a Savior is born... He is Christ the Lord.
-Twice God Himself confessed Jesus verbally and publicly. Once on the banks of the Jordan... This is My Son, in who I am well pleased. Then on the Mount of Transfiguration... This is My Son, hear you Him.
-Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ in Matthew 16.16... You are the Christ... The Son of God.
-And the eunuch’s confession was verbally and public in Acts 8.37.
There should be no doubt that our confession should be both VERBAL and PUBLIC?
Next... We learn that confession is necessary to our salvation.
Allow me to give your two reasons...
First... Note that Paul says... In the King James, confession is unto salvation.
He is saying... Confession is a condition to be met for one’s salvation.
If confession is unto... FOR salvation... Doesn’t that mean that we must confess Jesus before our salvation is a reality?
This becomes very clear when we read Romans 10.10 from the NIV... For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified... And it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Salvation is not possible without a confession of our FAITH.
Secondly... John says... God lives in the individual who has confessed Christ.
If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God... God lives in him... and He in God.
Now Church... HOW and WHEN do we get into God?... Into Christ?
And when does God come to live in us?
When do we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?
Listen to these scriptures that answers our questions.
-Galatians 3.26 & 27, We are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ, have been clothed with Christ.
So we are in Christ at the point of New Testament baptism.
-Peter tells us that we receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit at baptism in Acts 2.38, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
God is in us and we are in Him at the point of New Testament baptism.
-1 John 3.24 tells us, Those who obey his commands live in him, and He in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
-Jesus made this very plain in John 14.23 when He said, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make Our abode, Our home with him.
If we can omit the confession... Then we can omit other steps necessary for our salvation.
Audience... If the word of God is perfect converting the soul... And it is... Then let us be satisfied with that perfection and God help us to adhere to it’s teaching... RIGHT?
Fifthly ... confession should be continual.
Listen to these verses again from Hebrews 4.14 and 10.23... Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we Profess... Confess... Acknowledge... Homologos... Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we Profess... Confess... Acknowledge... Homologos... for he who promised is faithful.
Professing... Confessing... Acknowledging... Agreeing with God...
-That Jesus is the Christ...
-That He is Lord & King...
-That He is head of the church...
Means that we must submit... Yield to... Obey... that Lordship.
You see... Our daily talk and walk must display our inward faith and conviction.
It’s also interesting to note that the Greek construction of Romans 10.10 indicates that confession must be an ongoing event.... just like our faith.
Faith is not a one-time event... It is an ongoing process... And so is our confession.
Then finally... Confess now to life... Or then to condemnation.
Philippians 2.9-11 tells us in no uncertain terms that all will confess Jesus... Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
You see folk... We can confess Jesus now... TODAY... Voluntarily... And have eternal salvation.
Or... We can be forced to confess Him and His Lordship at the end of time and reap eternal condemnation... The choice is ours to make.
The question this morning is this...
Have you confessed Jesus?.. And... Are we living out our confession daily?
-You can become a child of God today by... Faith... Repentance... Confession... and New Testament Baptism, immersion in water for the forgiveness of your sins.
-Perhaps we... As children of God feel we have a need to rededicate our confession.
- Perhaps we need the prayers of the church to help us live out the commitments of our confession daily.
Whatever your need... Come confessing Jesus.
As we stand and sing this invitation song together... Will you come?
