“CONFESSING CHRIST”

Confessing Christ is relatively simple. Confessing Christ is expected of every one who desire to have Christ confess them to his heavenly Father: (Mat 10:32) "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven." I find here a very important message that is not stated by Jesus Christ; it is this: “if you don’t confess Christ before Christ neither will he confess you before his Father. Don’t you want Christ to confess you? If you do why wouldn’t you be willing to confess him?

If you are not willing to confess Christ it cannot be for a lack of evidence. The Holy Spirit has given us all the evidence that we need through the inspired Word of God. In the four gospels we are informed of Christ’s virgin birth [we are even told of the location of his birth]. We are informed of how Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt to protect the young Child. We are told that he grew up at Nazareth, how he amazed the learned men at the age of twelve with his questions and wisdom. From the age of twelve to his baptism by John in the river Jordon the Bible is silent. We have all kinds of information about his ministry [including the many miracles he perform to confirm the words he spoke]. When we get to the final week of his life here on earth we have a day by day account and of his final day on earth we have very close to an hour by hour record. The Holy Spirit has inspired men to write about his resurrection and finally of his ascension through the clouds into heaven to be with his Father once again. How much more evidence could anyone ask for. If you are unwilling to confess Christ before men it is not because you lack evidence!

The apostle John wrote that if anyone will not confess Christ he is doing so by the “spirit of antichrist: (1 John 4:3) "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." I know that John hated to write the next statement because he had to report that antichrists were already in the world. Surely no one would want to be labeled as an “antichrist”. However, I must agree with John that there were antichrists in the world then and I believe that you will agree with me, they remain in the world yet today. This can be proven by their actions.

Perhaps there are some who would like to ask, “Why is confessing Christ so important”? In reply I would once again refer to the words of John: (1 John 2:23) "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also." John has written with very plain words, words that anyone can understand. If you want the Father you cannot deny Christ. If you refuse to confess Christ you are actually denying him. So you see confessing Christ is a test of being a saint.

Confessing Christ is necessary to obtaining salvation: (Rom 10:9-10) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. {10} For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." In verse nine Paul tells us what we should confess; he says, “confess the Lord Jesus” He even goes so far as to tell us how to make this confession; he says we are to “confess with the mouth.” And in verse ten he informs us why we should confess the Lord Jesus with the mouth; we make this confession in order to obtain salvation. Please don’t misunderstand what Paul has written; confessing Christ is not all that is required of us. We must also repent of our sins [Lu. 13:3]; we must be buried with Christ in baptism for the remission of our sins [Acts 2:38]. Paul is simply writing here that one step that must be taken to receive salvation is to “confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus. Of course after having done the above we still have to be faithful unto death” to receive “a crown of life” [Rev. 2:10].

Do you believe what the Holy Spirit has inspired to be written about Jesus? Do you believe Jesus Christ is truly the “Son of God?” The evidence is overwhelming. Every person who has reached the age of accountability is in need of salvation because every one of us is a sinner [Rom. 3:23]. If you know that you are a sinner why not obey the gospel; beginning with “confessing the Lord Jesus?” Tomorrow may be too late, don’t put off what you need to do today!

-Bud