Confessing Christ, What Does It Mean?

“…to express our attachment to him in every way possible…”

Confessing Christ, What does it mean?

    Recently, I have read articles where notable Christian leaders are telling us that Donald Trump is a Christian because they heard that another Christian leader “personally led him to the Lord.”  I have not heard or read anything where Mr. Trump has personally and publicly acknowledge Christ as Lord and Savior.  Is the issue of what others say really important to the election, not really; yet it is to the degree that national Christian leaders are using Trump’s new relationship with God to justify voting for him in this election. 

     As I was weighing the significance of this issue, I began to ask myself what does confessing Christ look like in the scriptures? Do I really understand the call to “confess Christ before men” in my own personal life?  While wrestling with all this about someone else, I began to study the issue of confessing Christ and what it means in scripture and how does it apply to me.  I love and fear those moment where I sense the Holy Spirit drawing me away from a discussion that will be superficial until I examine the spiritual issue from the basis of my personal relationship with Christ.  So let us set Trump and all the other Christian leaders aside and discover what it means to confess Christ as believers.

     First, let me acknowledge I cannot do justice to the issue in one short posting.  However, I believe I can offer enough to create a valuable “Teaching Moment.”  My focus is to share with you some practical insights that will assist all in understanding and making application in our own lives.  First, let us examine what Jesus taught about confessing Him.

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

    The word confess is very powerful and is much more than just a formal verbal acknowledgement or ceremonial profession.  Confession speaks to unity of the “confessor with the confessed" according to Vincent’s Word Studies.  Vincent’s characterization of confessing Christ is very revealing.  He states, “The idea is that of confessing Christ out of a state of oneness with him. ‘Abide in me, and being in me, confess me.’  It implies identification of the confessor with the confessed, and thus takes confession out of the category of mere formal or verbal acknowledgment.”  Thus we learn that confession is much more than words.  Jesus himself addressed this when He stated,

“Matt 7:21-22 21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven - only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.(NET)

Confessing Christ before men speaks to a unity with Christ, the idea of “abiding in Him and Him in me.”  Lest we error, let us also confront the issue of works as viable acts of confession.  In this same lesson, Jesus stated,

“Matt 7:22-23 22 “On that day, many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?' 23 Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!'” (NET)

Vincent stress the point of faith in Christ is at the very heart of every confession for Christ, he states, “The true confessor of Christ is one whose faith rests in him.”  The depth of this faith is lived out in our lives, privately and publicly.  Faith is the visible submission to Christ as Lord, our thoughts and activities reflect our sole trust in Him.  This thrusts us into the arena of self-examination.  For me I find myself asking “Am I going through a checklist of Christian expectations or is my heart centered in abiding in Christ, am I seeking His unity with me?”  Each one of must wrestle every day with the question “Am I confessing Christ.”  Albert Barnes challenges us with his understanding of confession,

“The Scriptures mean, by a profession of religion, an exhibition of it in every circumstance of the life and before all people. It is not merely in one act that we must do it, but in every act. We must be ashamed neither of the person, the character, the doctrines, nor the requirements of Christ. If we are; if we deny him in these things before people; if we are unwilling to express our attachment to him in every way possible, then it is RIGHT that he should "disown all connection with us," or deny us before God, and he WILL do it.”

The core of confessing Christ before men is “…to express our attachment to him in every way possible…”

by Grace Alone! www.hcfcc.org