The Real and Consistent Language of Faith and Love

We started this little series on standing for God talking of persecution. We shall end it talking of confession. This word confession is from the wonderful Greek word homologia and it means “confession, profession, acknowledgement, to openly express commitment and allegiance.” It comes from the Greek verb homologeo that means “to confess, acknowledge, agree, admit, declare.” This is the word used to describes Jesus’ words from the following:

    “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33)

It is a very dangerous thing to deny Jesus before men for a number of reasons. First, we will all confess Christ as the King of Kings one day whether we do so now or not:

    “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)

Second, by not being willing to public confess Christ as Lord and Savior puts your salvation in doubt:

    “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” (1 John 2:22-23)

Those are harsh words written by the Apostle John, are they not? That is why it is incumbent upon us to be sure they do not apply to us. This passage clearly demolishes the ecumenical myth that all religions lead to God in Heaven. We must confess the Son to have the Father. And if we do, the beloved Apostle says we surely do have the Father:

    “No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:12-16)

Why do we deny Christ at times, those of us who are truly Christians? Because we are unwilling to pay the price, which is usually persecution, but only in ridicule and not in reality. Ridicule is mere words; reality is real work. We of the American Church know nothing of real work. And what is it that compels real work for Christ? It is faith and love. Matthew Henry, commenting on our passage from Matthew 10 writes:

    “The denial of Christ spoken of here is that which is persisted in; and the only confession that will have blessed recompense here promised, is the real and constant language of faith and love. Religion is worth everything; all who believe the truth of it, will come up to the price, and make everything else yield to it. Christ will lead us through sufferings to glory with Him. Those are best prepared for life to come, that sit most loose to this present life.”

Standing for Christ, confessing Him to the world, and embracing Biblical principles against the rot of culture will always bring persecution. We cannot figure out a way around it. Jesus would no doubt have accepted a different outcome than the cross had one existed. And yet our Lord never took His eyes off the cross. It was ever before Him.

Can we look at persecution with the same eyes? Can we walk with grace my feet and faith my eyes as the song says? We can if we are true disciples of Christ. We will gladly confess Him as not just Lord and Savior, but as King. He is on the throne and He still rules the world. Our lives are easily entangled in the cares of this world world, be it career, family, finances, or politics, and yet we can in the midst of all that know that Jesus is King.

All we have to do is confess Him as King. Have you? The Apostle Paul once wrote of confession:

    “…that 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. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10)

Confession means believing and declaring.

Have you?

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2012 David Jeffers

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