Throughout the Church Age, confessing Christ has been a vital issue.
The Apostle Paul deemed it as essential to release full salvation in the soul who by grace alone has received saving faith: “If thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9).
Jesus stated the full expectation that those who have placed their faith in Him would then confess Him to others: “Whosoever..shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father” (Matthew 10:32).
The message is quite simple.
Jesus wants us to say publicly that we believe in Him and in His work to save us---He is Gods Son, He died for our sins, He rose for our justification--and that, to put it in in modern terms, He is our personal Lord and Savior.
That is the act of confessing Christ by mouth.
While this is enough to confirm our salvation, there are other ways we may confess Christ. Every time we do the following, our actions declare that Jesus is living and having His way in us.
And it is deeply pleasing to Him.
We confess Christ whenever we leave or voluntarily abandon the places, associations, and relationships in which we formerly practiced sin.
We confess Him by lifestyle, by not conforming to the worlds values and ways of living but by transforming our life-goals and living habits to live humble, holy, spiritually (not materialistically) driven, Christ-centered, Word -loving, Spirit-led lives.
We confess Him whenever we cultivate a loving affection for Jesus by spending time alone with Him daily in devotional Bible reading, unpretentious prayer, and adoring worship, and by loving and comforting others as He has commanded us.
We confess Him by hating sin (first in our self) while maintaining mercy for sinners, “Ye who love the Lord, hate evil” (Psalm 97:10)----knowing fully well that apathy toward sin is apathy toward Him.
We confess Him by our labor, or by working whole heartedly and steadily “as to the Lord” (Colossians 3:23), without regard to honor from people.
We confess Him by lending, or by reliving His life mission, “not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give” (Matthew 20:28), as we strive to first give, share, or lend, rather than to receive, take or hold.
We confess Him by promoting Him above all purported deities or great men as being the only God, the only Savior, and the only hope.
We confess Him by lingering, or waiting patiently for the Fathers appointed time to fulfill His plans, bless our efforts, answer our prayers, or release us from difficulties, hindrances or enemies.
We confess Him when we desire above all else to know Him more deeply, fellowship with Him more closely, do His will more consistently and fervently strive to see “thy kingdom come, thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10)
Practice daily to confess Him, by mouth and by life style.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
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