Confession
Many men have confessed that Jesus was a good man, that he was a great teacher and performer of miracles. However sometimes these same men are not willing to confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. It is true that Jesus was a good man, a great teacher, and a performer of miracles, but the scriptures say that he is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus confessed that he was the Christ, and those who deny that Jesus is the Christ are calling him a liar.
So much importance is attached to confession that when Peter said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," Jesus answered and said unto him, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matt. 16:16-18.) The confession that Peter made showed the relationship of Jesus to his heavenly Father. Upon the eternal truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Christ promised to build his church. When Jesus was transfigured, God confessed, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." (Matt. 17:50 On the first Pentecost after Christ had ascended to his Father, the church that Christ had promised to build, had its beginning. The Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles, and they spoke with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Peter preached to that large multitude in the name of the risen Lord. The very ones that crucified Christ, and made them sorry for their sins. What was the prevailing thought in the sermon that Peter preached? We can truthfully answer, Jesus is the Christ. "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:36.) "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and to rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, "Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:37, 38.) "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." (Acts 2:41.) They were added to the Lord's church, the one that Jesus had promised to build, when he said, "upon this rock I will build my church." "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." (Acts 2:47.)
Someone may now be ready to ask, What does confession have to do with meeting the approval of God today? It has much to do with meeting 'God's approval. It is not enough to make some kind of confession, it must be the right kind of confession. Some men say that walking down the aisle after hearing the truth preached, is confessing faith in Christ. I have known of men who were intoxicated, walking down the aisle after hearing a gospel sermon preached, and mumbling something that did not make sense. It is quite obvious that such men did not understand the truth, and certainly did not confess faith in Christ. There are gospel preachers who tread lightly upon confession, some say that it is not necessary for a person who is becoming a Christian, to confess Christ with the mouth. The scriptures plainly tell us the kind of confession that pleases God, and how it is made. "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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Rom. 10:9, 10.) While this confession is very important, a man is not saved the moment he makes it; confession is unto salvation, he is not yet in Christ. Man must also repent of his sins to be saved, yet a man is not saved the moment he repents; repentance is unto salvation. After a man repents of all his sins, and confesses his faith in Christ, he is ready to get into Christ by Ming baptized into him. When he is buried with his Lord in baptism, by his action he is confessing his faith in Christ's death, burial and resurrection. (Rom. 6:3, 4.) After he rises to walk in newness of life, is he supposed to quit confessing his faith in Christ? No, he must confess Christ as long as he lives. He does this by his words, his deeds, and by keeping all of God's commandments.
A Christian must never be ashamed of Christ and his words. When a Christian contends for the faith, he is confessing Christ. By living close to God, and keeping all of his commandments, he is confessing that Christ is in him, and that he is in Christ. When children of God worship God in spirit and in truth, they are confessing their faith in Christ. To worship God in spirit means to worship with a spirit of reverence and sincerity, to worship him in truth means to worship according to God's commandments. By partaking of the Lord's Supper as God commands, Christians confess their faith in Christ's death and in his final coming. "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come." (1 Cor. 11:26.) If we faithfully confess Christ, in thought, in word and in deed, Christ will confess us before his Father which is in heaven.