3.3 Confess Christ

If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. – Romans 10:9-10

Confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. We have seen that coming to faith (believing) in Jesus Christ and repentance from sins is necessary to be born again of the Spirit of God. Additionally, Scripture teaches that verbalizing (i.e., speaking, confessing) Christ publicly as your Lord and Savior is also necessary:

The steps of belief, repentance, and confession are intimately related and may be nearly simultaneous for you, but generally, you believe, repent and then confess in that order. Your confession of Christ should be genuine, real, from the heart, and publicly verbalized. Let’s again review what it means to confess Christ. You are making a statement to the effect that you believe all of the following to be true:

1. He is the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one of God, the Savior,
2. He is God in the flesh (i.e., the Son of God, the Son of Man, God’s only begotten Son, fully man but also fully God),
3. He died for your sins on the cross as your Savior – i.e., that His death on the cross was a complete, final, and total atonement (sacrifice, payment) for your sins,
4. He rose again (literally) from death to life after three days,
5. He is your Lord and King, to whom you are committing your allegiance and obedience,
6. You are stating a desire and willingness to repent of your sins and to turn your life over to Him in all areas, to trust in Him for all things at all times, and for His will to be done, not yours,
7. He is coming again (literally, physically, visibly in person) to judge all mankind for their deeds (sins) and to get you (literally and physically) to take you where He is, which is in heaven, where He has made a place for you,
8. He will raise you to eternal life

The Bible doesn’t prescribe any particular set of words or prepared speech that you must use when confessing Christ. As you can see from the Scripture at the end of this chapter, the examples we see are actually fairly short, such as “You are the Christ” or “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Let your heart guide you. While some may get nervous (stage fright) when speaking in public, a continued avoidance of confessing Jesus publicly and verbally may indicate that your faith and belief are not where they should be. If you are ashamed of Christ, He will be ashamed of you. If you confess Christ before men, He will confess you before the Father.

In confessing Christ, we are to do so with boldness, courage, honor, strength, and integrity; it is a victorious declaration that we now side with the “King of Kings” and “Lord of Lords,” the One “living and true God,” our “Rock” and “Our Redeemer,” “The Chief Cornerstone,” “The Alpha and the Omega,” “The Beginning and The End,” “The First and the Last,” “The Bright and Morning Star,” “The Sun of Righteousness,” “The Firstborn from the Dead,” our “High Priest,” the “Spotless Lamb of God,” our “Deliverer” from bondage under sin, Satan, and death which have held us captive, the “Son of David,” the “Son of Man,” and the “Son of God.” Amen! We aren’t supposed to sneak our way into the “Kingdom of God,” we are to boldly proclaim our entrance with courage, confidence, assurance, and with a thankful and grateful heart.

We are proclaiming the Lord Jesus Christ for ourselves and for the whole world to see. We are now joined to the “Lion of the tribe of Judah,” the “Almighty God,” the “Prince of Peace,” and the Creator and Sustainer of all things and all life, who simply “spoke” this universe into existence! We are declaring that sin, Satan, and even death itself have no power over us now or over how we live our lives any longer.

Like a massive tide sweeping over the shore, the gospel “message of truth” is going out across the earth until all nations and tongues have heard it, and there is nothing whatsoever that evil men or the powers of darkness under Satan can do to stop it! We are not afraid – victory has already been assured. We now live in victory with Christ, for He goes before us, comes after us, and surrounds us on all sides in complete support.

After you are born again (which happens at your baptism, see the next chapter!) and begin living as a Christian, you will (hopefully) have many occasions to continue to verbalize and confess your faith in front of others, as a public testimony to help them also come to belief in Christ.

FALSE TEACHING(S) YOU WILL ENCOUNTER:

• Atheism (there is no God)
• Saying a “Sinner’s Prayer” saves you
• Universalism (i.e., any name, or any religion, even one you make up, or even no belief at all, can save you to eternal life)
• Ecumenism
• You get a “2nd Chance” after death

RELATED SCRIPTURE:

…sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. – 1 Peter 3:15

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. – 1 John 4:15

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.” – John 11:25-27

The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. 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. – Acts 8:34-38

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:9-11

“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness [Jesus] will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.” – Malachi 4:2

With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. – Ephesians 6:18-20

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. – 2 Timothy 1:8-10

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” – Revelation 1:8

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” – Revelation 1:17-18

“The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze…” – Revelation 2:18b

“He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens…” – Revelation 3:7

“The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God…” – Revelation 3:14

“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” – Revelation 22:12-13

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