“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.” (Romans 10:9)
Is confession necessary?
Yes, confessing Christ is absolutely necessary if we truly desire to live the Christian life. Some who consider themselves Christians want the blessings and rewards of being a Christian but hesitate to accept the responsibility of publicly confessing their faith. But can such a position be supported by Scripture?
What does public confession involve?
When we take our stand with Christ, we confess before the world that He is our Lord and Savior, that He has redeemed us, and that He has forgiven our sins. We live among our friends, acquaintances, and the people of this world as followers of Christ, striving by His grace to live according to the Word of God.
We can only truly confess Christ after we have repented of our sins and have been born again as new creations in Him. Simply claiming to believe in Christ intellectually or joining a church is not confession in the biblical sense. “Even the demons believe—and tremble!” (James 2:19). A true confession of Christ declares that we have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, that He has forgiven our sins and guilt, and that from now on we belong to Him.
When we confess Christ as our personal Savior, we also identify ourselves with His church. A public confession of Christ places us openly among His people in the eyes of the world. It is, in a sense, a declaration that we have turned away from the world and desire to follow Christ alone. Therefore, let us confess the Lord whenever we have the opportunity.
The purpose of our confession
In his letter to the Romans, Paul states: “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself” (Romans 14:7). This is especially true of the Christian. God does not save us merely for our own benefit. He saves us so that through our lives and testimony, others may also be led to Christ.
Whoever has received Christ has also received His love. The Christian begins to share the Savior’s concern for the souls of others and desires to lead them to Christ. But how can we lead others to Christ if we are unwilling to speak freely and openly about our Lord?
More than simply living a moral life
It is sometimes argued that publicly confessing Christ is a form of self-glorification. But this is a misunderstanding. Confessing Christ is not drawing attention to ourselves; it is openly acknowledging what Christ has done for us.
Being a Christian involves more than simply living a moral life. It is a mistake to believe that a person’s Christianity can always be determined by outward conduct alone, or that heaven is open to everyone who lives a respectable and moral life. Morality is good and necessary. Every Christian should live a sincere, pure, and upright life. But there are also morally upright people who are not Christians.
To become a Christian, a person must recognize his need for a Savior and experience salvation through Christ. His guilt and sins must be forgiven and cleansed by the blood of Christ. A work of grace must take place in his heart, making him a new creation.
Therefore, living a sincere and moral life is not enough, nor is it the same as confessing Christ. If a good life is not accompanied by a confession of faith, people may attribute that goodness to the individual rather than to the grace of God working within him. What distinguishes the Christian is the spiritual life he possesses through Christ. Without this spiritual life, a person is not truly a Christian.
The Christian’s confession
Possessing spiritual life in Christ is a source of great joy and blessing. Nothing gives a person greater peace and contentment than knowing that he belongs to Christ and is an heir of His glorious kingdom.
What fills the heart will eventually find expression. If a person truly rejoices in Christ, that joy will naturally lead him to speak about his Savior.
To be a true Christian and never make this known would be contrary to the nature of the new birth. A Christian naturally desires to praise his Savior and tell others what Christ has done for him. Confessing the Lord is one of the most natural expressions of genuine Christian faith. Jesus said, “Whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:33).
Denying Christ does not always mean openly rejecting Him or claiming that we do not belong to Him. Sometimes our silence and unwillingness to confess Him may amount to a form of denial.
It is remarkable how many people who speak freely and confidently at social gatherings suddenly become silent when an opportunity arises to speak about their Lord. One reason may be that they lack the burning love for Christ that characterizes a Spirit-filled life.
Confessing Jesus Christ is not an exaltation of ourselves. It is a humble and grateful acknowledgment of our Savior, what He has done for us, and the fact that we now belong to Him.
M. Hale
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