The Good Confession

By Timothy Glover

Paul wrote, “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:12). The human tongue can pronounce nothing more important as it is the foundation fact of Christianity (Mat. 16:16ff). This article will probe the meaning of “confession”, its demands and its necessity for salvation.

The word comes from a compound Greek word “homologeo”. Homos means “the same” or “similar” while lego means “to say” or “speak”. Therefore, the word means to speak the same thing, to agree with, or to give consent to something. For example, John 1:20 tells us that John the Immerser “confessed, and denied not; and he confessed, I am not the Christ.” Matthew 7:23 translates the word, “say” where Jesus says, “I will say to them plainly”. Titus 1:16 translates the word “claim” or “profess”. And, finally, Hebrews 15:15 translates the word, “praise”. When one confesses, he or she is promising something, consenting to something, declaring something or praising God.

John 9:22 records that the Jews had agreed that if anyone confessed Jesus to be the Christ, they would be put out of the synagogue. This is the reason given in John 12:42 for many refusing to confess. Yet, of what did the confession consist? Peter confesses, “Thou art the Christ (anointed king, emph. mine), the son of the living God” (Mat. 16:126). The Father had said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mat.3:17). John confessed, “Behold, the lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). Nathaniel said, “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the king of Israel.” Later, Jesus himself tells Pilate, “I am a king”(Luke 22:2,3). Martha confessed, “Yea, Lord: I have believed that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, even he that cometh into the world” (John 11:27). John writes, “whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God...” (1 Jn.4:15). Romans 10:9 reads, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord....” The object of our confession is Jesus Christ. It consists of no one thing that we are to confess as a sort of ritual ceremony that validates baptism. To confess Jesus is to speak the same thing about all the New Testament reveals him to be—our Lord, king, and the Son of God. The significance of this confession is that we are stating an oath of allegiance. We are in effect saying that he is our Lord or Master, our sin-offering, our priest, and the Son of the living God. Paul’s exhortation to Timothy is that he be true to his “good confession”. It is a life-long commitment. When Paul writes in 2 Cor. 9:13 of their “obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ”, he is commending them for being faithful to their confession. Similarly, the Hebrew writes exhorts, “Let us hold fast our confession” (4:14).

Yet, some would try to make confession an act of someone who is already saved just as baptism is asserted as being an act of the saved. Notice Romans 10:10 reads, “For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”. “Believing unto righteousness” is the same Greek construction as “confession unto salvation”. In other words, whatever is said of the relationship of belief to righteousness is said of the relationship of confession to salvation. The meaning is clear. Confession results in salvation just as belief results in righteousness. Do not allow a theological position to stand in the way of accepting this clear conclusion that confession is necessary. It is that which we state before witnesses (1 Tim. 6:12), with the mouth (Rm. 10:10) in order to enter a covenant relationship with God. As Christians, it is that to which we are committed all our days. We will not be ashamed to speak of our Lord publicly and to wear his name honorably. Those who confess Jesus have the promise of salvation and a reward in heaven. Jesus promises to those who confess him that he will confess them before the Father in heaven (Mat. 10:32,33). Just think: The day we are honored will be the day when Jesus agrees and claims us as belonging to him.