FULLNESS: CONFESSION FEBRUARY 20, 2022

SCRIPTURE
If you declare 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 profess your faith and are saved. Romans 10:9-10, NIV

CONFESSION
Central Truth: Confession is defined as words and action of life that confirm salvation within the present context of community while in the midst of conflict. We are citizens of a Kingdom that is at war with this world.

Homologeō: “To say the same word…”

“I haven’t been completely honest,” is not the same as, “I have lied.”

We are to confess two things: our sins (1 John 1:9) & our faith (Romans 10:9).

Verbal expression clarifies & solidifies what we want/what we believe.

WE CONFESS WHAT GOD SAYS
1/ We must say what God says about sin.

There is an original confession frees me from the eternal consequences of sin.

“Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.” Luke 12:8, ESV

Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12, NIV

A confession can mean nothing, or a confession can mean everything.

…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9, ESV

“What you say flows from what is in your heart.” Luke 6:45, ESV

When a confession is birthed from belief, forgiveness follows.

…there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1, NLT

He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. Ps 103:12, NLT

There is an ongoing confession that frees me from the earthly congestion of sin.

Protestants do well at confessing to God, Catholics at confessing to others, but the New Testament commands both!

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9, ESV

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. James 5:16, ESV

Nothing you confess will make Him love you less.

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. Proverbs 28:13, NIV

“…and forgive us our sins…” Luke 11:4, ESV

See Psalm 51 for a beautiful example of confession.

2/ We must say what God says about us.

We are reminded of two things: Though our future is secure, our history is flawed; and though our history is flawed, our future is secure.

There is a confession that reminds me of my past.

Maturity reveals a growing confidence in Christ & a lessening confidence in self. Notice Paul’s progression (apostle, least of the apostles, least of the saints, chief of sinners).

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Exodus 20:2, NIV

Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. 1 Corinthians 6:9b-11a, NLT

There is a confession that reminds me of my future.

Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11b, NLT

But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12, ESV

…the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7, NLT

(You) are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. Jude 1:1, NIV

Revelation 21 & 22

WE CONFESS WHAT OTHERS SAY
The Creeds are not equal to, add to, or replace Scripture. They are tools. Creed-like confessions are not new to faith (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; “shema”).

1/ We must say what the Scripture & the Creeds say about core beliefs.

Confessing Scripture & Creed keeps us settled in the Kingdom of God not Babylon.

Our confessions must first reflect Christ, not culture or media or politics. Remember Daniel & the Hebrew boys.

…we are Christ’s ambassadors. 2 Corinthians 5:20, NLT

Confessing Scripture & Creed keeps us anchored in truth.

…there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them… 2 Peter 2:1, NIV

In part, the Nicene Creed was to defend the deity of Christ & the Trinity.

“I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy catholic (universal) and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.” Visit zondervanacademic.com to read about more of the Creeds.

Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. Acts 17:21, ESV

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions… 2 Timothy 4:3, ESV

Confessing Scripture & Creed keeps us focused on Jesus as Lord.

Every generation has a movement aimed to dismantle Jesus as Messiah (incarnation, divinity, humanity, virgin birth, resurrection, miracles, etc.).

Confessing Scripture & Creed keeps our actions moving forward.

Christian knowledge is necessary but never sufficient.

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. James 2:26, NKJV

“Because Jesus Christ is Lord, how should I live?!”

Confessing Scripture & Creed keeps our souls strengthened.

Verbal confession activates something supernatural within the believer.

So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. Romans 10:17, NLT

Orthodoxy should always lead to orthopraxy.

Confessing Scripture & Creed keeps our Christian community bonded.

“Confession…(means) to join oneself to a community by agreeing with its corporate testimony. …confession refers to the process by which salvation is genuinely socialized in the shared experience of the group.” William Hull, The Christian Experience of Salvation